Brief/Session/Document Title – Picador celebrates the 25th anniversary of The Rules Of Attraction Brief Use typographic and editorial design to promote the 1987 novel, Rules Of Attraction written by Bret Easton Ellis ahead of it's 25 th anniversary next year. There is a possibility for a proposal of a special edition publication for each of his acknowledged novels.
Context The publication will exist as a separate insert in the Guardians Saturday Culture supplement .
Considerations The resolution should be a professional, considered piece of design that will reflect the high profile of both Picador and Bret Easton Ellis, attracting both enthusiasts of the author and designers alike. The final resolution should be in the form of a publication that exists to be promotional and informative on both Bret Easton Ellis and the novel. Knowledge of appropriate content will be gained through research but these could include a brief character introduction/information on the author/typographic posters as tangible objects/discs within the publication containing a downloadable version of the text for kindle. There is also the possibility of the cover of the novel to be redesigned.
Background Bret Easton Ellis is an American novelist and short story writer. His works have been translated into 27 different languages. He was regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack. He is a self-proclaimed satirist, whose trademark technique, as a writer, is the expression of extreme acts and opinions in an affectless style. Ellis employs a technique of linking novels with common, recurring characters. The Rules of Attraction is a dark comedy and satirical novel by Bret Easton Ellis published in 1987. The novel focuses on a handful of rowdy and often sexually promiscuous, spoiled Bohemian college students at a liberal arts college in 1980s New Hampshire, primarily focusing on three of them who find themselves in a love triangle. The novel is written in first person narrative, and the story is told from the points of view of various characters. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 2002. Next year The Rules Of Attraction will be 25 years old.
Mandatory Requirements – – – – –
An informative publication promoting the author and the novel, not to exceed A3. A minimum of three typographic posters to appear inside of the publication. A design for a disc element within the publication. The Picador logo as a discreet but integral part of the design. The design should be adaptable across two sizes. B format, which is 126mm width x 198mm height (standard paperback) and the larger demy format 135mm width x 216mm, should this be considered as progression to rebrand the novel cover.
Target Audience – –
People looking for a gift for Bret Easton Ellis enthusiasts Graphic Design students interested in editorial/publication design
Brief/Session/Document Title – A guide to some of the greatest overlooked films Brief Create a special edition of the bi-monthly movie magazine Little White Lies to provide the definitive guide to overlooked films. You must reference a minimum of 4 films in relative detail in keeping with the existing content driven feel of the magazine. Appropriate content will become known through extensive research. Little White Lies is an independent film magazine produced by The Church of London. Issue zero was created as the final degree project of co-founder Danny Miller in 2001. The first issue was released in February 2005, printed in edition of 2500, and distributed only in UK Borders stores. You will be creating issue 38.
Considerations Consider the already successful conventions of Little White Lies and adapt these to create a visually engaging publication that investigates the use of typography and layout. The publication should be informative and persuasive. The design of each issue of Little White Lies is inspired by its feature film, represented on the cover by an illustration of its lead actor. The cover film also influences interior aspects, such as editorial icons, chapter headings and custom typefaces. However, the overall template of the magazine remains the same.
Context Little White Lies is distributed through over 500 outlets in the UK, including WHSmith, HMV and Fopp.
Background LWLies is a bi-monthly, independent movie magazine that features cutting edge writing, illustration and photography to get under the skin of cinema. Because movies don’t exist in a vacuum, we venture beyond the boundaries of the big screen, exploring the worlds of music, art, politics and pop culture to inform and illuminate the medium we love. Bold, beautiful and unique, LWLies is a magazine on a mission – to reshape the debate across the movie landscape. When people look back on the early years of the new millennium they'll remember it for movies like The Dark Knight and Lord of the Rings. Or they'll geek out with their friends about the cult classics they discovered together, re-watching copies of the original version of Donnie Darko or spreading around copies of Idiocracy and laughing at its accuracy. Or we'll remember the prestige movies, the big Oscar winners like No Country For Old Men and Chicago. The best movies don't always get seen, the best movies don't always win the awards. This isn't a list of critically acclaimed indies which didn't do well at the box office, or films with huge fan followings. Nor is this a list of movies which flopped at the box office but later found cult success. These movies fell between the cracks and never really found the audience they deserved.
Mandatory Requirements – – –
A minimum of 2 magazines The publication must be available both in print and digitally. The existing Little White Lies logo must be visible on the front of the publication
Target Audience – – –
film and media students film professionals Little White Lies has featured in publications and books, including 100 Years of Magazine Covers and guardian.co.uk
Brief/Session/Document Title – Typed it. A collaborative brief. Brief To create a small publication that could be produced annually, providing young designers with the most current fonts and their applications. It must be informative as well as interesting to handle. It should have a level of consistency to create a brand around it, but be open to be changed within the next issue.
Considerations/Context Create a small publication that can be sent out with a magazine such as 'creative review' or 'grafik'. We want to create a limited edition so we can use a variety of different print techniques with the fonts. Simplicity is the key with this publication.
Background The magazine will focus on contemporary graphic design. Regular features will include reviews of notable design events and exhibitions, showcases of emerging and established typographic talents. There are also regular features on logo forms and letterforms, and copious book reviews of both graphic design books and those of a more general interest to the creative community.
Mandatory Requirements A small publication, focused on type with consideration for web design
Target Audience Young professional designers
Brief/Session/Document Title – 4' 33'' Brief We want you to create your own performance of 4’ 33” – in a time and location of your choice – and produce a typographic representation of the event. The location could of course be on, say, a train or bike rather than at a fixed point. Your research might include avant-garde music scores, labanotation, onomatopoeia, meditation, Silent Music or the iChing... The format, size, scale, rendering, method, etc. are totally up to you, but the piece must be designed and packaged to appeal to an audience familiar with and responsive to Cage’s work or to introduce others to it. You may need to repeat your performance several times in order to gain enough aural and visual information to work with and you should listen, draw, record and photograph the event to begin your research. Remember that digital recording devices will not necessarily hear what you hear, so you must make sure that you gain as much information as possible from as many different devices as possible. So, when considering this project, above all else, remember: ‘One simply should listen and open one’s ears’ Use print, screen, combined media – the choice is yours – as long as it expresses a solid idea, informs us and shows your typographic skills. Remember that words and language are our collateral and that your submission, while possibly incorporating sound, should be essentially typographic.
Considerations/Context Create a small publication that can be sent out with a magazine such as 'creative review' or 'grafik'. We want to create a limited edition so we can use a variety of different print techniques with the fonts. Simplicity is the key with this publication.
Background Four Minutes and Thirty-Three Seconds was written by the American composer John Cage and first performed by a young pianist called David Tudor on August 29, 1952. The event took place at Woodstock, New York, for an audience supporting the Benefit Artists Welfare Fund – an audience that supported contemporary art. ‘Tudor placed the hand-written score, which was in conventional notation with blank measures, on the piano and sat motionless as he used a stopwatch to measure the time of each movement. The score indicated three silent movements, each of a different length, but when added together totalled four minutes and thirty-three seconds. Tudor signaled its commencement by lowering the keyboard lid of the piano. The sound of the wind in the trees entered the first movement. After thirty seconds of no action, he raised the lid to signal the end of the first movement. It was then lowered for the second movement, during which raindrops pattered on the roof. The score was in several pages, so he turned the pages as time passed, yet playing nothing at all. The keyboard lid was raised and lowered again for the final movement, during which the audience whispered and muttered.’ Members of that original audience are apparently still angry today. The piece is not an extended moment of silence or an absence of noise as silence does not exist. As Cage himself said, ‘Try as we can to make silence, we cannot.’ The piece is created by the ambient noise of the audience – the environmental, unintentional sounds.
Mandatory Requirements • Research and Development • Strategy • Specif ications/Grid(s) • Dummy/Prototype(s) • Presentation
Target Audience An audience familiar with and responsive to Cage’s work or a new one.