Time tomorrow?

Hey Does anyone know what time we have to be there tomorrow?

Last Minute Changes

To the girls doing the contents page…

Under ‘Adography’, the page 15 article title is “Non‐product advertising,” instead of “I Am A Hero”…
And under ‘Phenomenology,’ Clarisse spells her name with one ‘r’ and 2 ‘s’…

If you could fix that up ASAP tonight, that would be great, thanks!

MELISSA!!

- so sorry if it is too late, but i have put my final layout in the SIGNOGRAPHY folder (page 11 final)

Elise Bouchard - Course Reflection

I have really enjoyed this course this semester, and it has been one of my favourite subjects overall. I feel I have learnt a lot about printing and publication techniques thus gaining many new useful skills.

I enjoyed the first project a lot more as it was very hands on and interesting in the sense that we had to select the most appropriate paper stock and colour etc to suit the phrase we were printing. I am more of a hands on practical person which is why this project really intrigued me. It was nice to see everyone’s finished booklet as they were all so different and it was good to see the different ways that people constructed their booklets and thought process.

Project 2 has also been fun to work on but I didn’t enjoy it as much as more time was spent on a computer, however I did find it educational because the weekly lectures and discussion points really helped me understand the history, processes and procedures I otherwise didn’t know. These discussion points were good as they were always interesting to respond to and it was great to be able to read everyone else’s thoughts on the topic.

Overall I had a great experience with this class and would recommend this course to fellow students. 

Sorry, just adding to that...

Adography

Page 16 – please align the word ‘type-setters’ like I explained it above with signography.

Hey everybody…

Thank you for putting your spreads in the dropbox folder :) – they’re looking really great!

There are just a couple of things I was hoping some of you could please have a look at and then re-submit, thanks! (These are all only tiny little things, I’m sorry if it sounds like I’m being an anal bitch, promise I don’t mean to!!)

Publication Title Page

The ffi stamp is a bit rough / pixelated. Could we smooth it out a bit please?

Cartography

Title page – Just where your initials are, we decided just to put your first initial in lower case, with square brackets, eg. [k]

Page 7 – your paragraph corners are grey, where as the other pages in your section are black.

Signography

Page 11 – could you please put a circle around the page number?

Page 10 – there is no gap between the left hand side of the folio and the grey/brown strip running down the side of the page.

And, could you all please add “type-setters” at the bottom of the page to the left of the folio (6.5mm gap between the ‘s’ and the circle)… it will sit in the middle of the two grid lines that enclose the folio space.

Also, your placement of “signography – the life of signs” is different on each of your spreads. Just a little thing!

Adography

Title page – a tiny thing… please make your initials lower case.

Page 14 – could you please centre justify your text with the last line in each paragraph justified left? And also be careful to avoid hyphens if you can.

Page 15 – again, please just fix up the paragraph justification.

Page 16 – M.I.A??

Graffiti

Page 18 & 21 – The folio circle has a grey outline with a black fill. Pages 19 and 20 use a grey fill. Also in terms of all the folios, please just make sure they’re exactly in the centre of the circle.

References

If these are being a part of the publication, could we please put the list on A3 pages like the rest of the publication and maaaybe spice it up just a little??  

Thank you!!

Discussion Point/Course Reflection: Elisabeth Parizot

Discussion Point:


I believe (and I know it's sad) that print technology is going to become entirely obsolete in the near future. While it is become less and less relevant to print these days, I do think that it will continue on as a legacy art form. Just as some serious artists still make movies on film or choose to use and old school film camera, there will be those who continue to print. There will also still be a market for books. Though more and more consumers are reading their books digitally, there will always be those tactile people who want to hold a novel in their hands. So while I believe that print will die out as a viable technology, I do believe that it will continue on as a classic art form.


A great example of this is artist Christopher Harrell. He is an artist who works will letterpress and designed a series of posters inspired by the "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series, more commonly known as HBO's Game of Thrones. He created a series of beautiful prints depicting animals that play prominent and symbolic roles in the series. He sells these prints for $35.00 each and guess what -- people really dig them. This leads me to believe that though printing is no longer a viable publishing model, it will remain forever a beautiful artform.


For any fans of Game of Thrones or print artwork, here are some of his prints:

Course Reflection


I have to admit, I was a little bit nervous about taking this course. The fact that there was the word "Advanced" in the title made me think that I might not be prepared for it. However, from the very first day of class I felt comfortable and was pleased to see that there were students of all skill levels present. I truly felt that we each had the opportunity to grow and learn without feeling overwhelmed.


I quite liked both projects that we did. The first was a great experience and I'm so glad that I got to do letterpress. I think that it's a valuable experience for anyone who is interested in art. I also enjoyed that we had to consider binding techniques as well as paper selection. A great project overall.


This second project has been great as well. Though I find myself wishing that we had more time to work on it, I am very happy with it overall. I think the course has done a good job of balancing older publication technologies with the newer ones. It has been eye opening to go from one end of the spectrum to the other. All in all, this course actually ended up being my favourite of the semester.

Discussion point & Course reflection - rowland reyes martinez

Discussion Point:

Trends will come and go, and it is the audience that will follow in the footsteps of designers with what is new.  As the global network increases furthermore, the future of print seems very minimal in the coming future.  It is the success of online networking and publishing that has characterised the technological generation of this world and it has been portrayed with such ease and succession.  As said in the lecture, in terms of type, designers at all stages have accumulated skills to creating typography, publications etc, and it is mainly due to the online sources that have been created such as youtube and Facebook.  People don't regularly look at books anymore for information, and in greater lengths, the introduction of e-books has left the print industry to a possible downfall whereby the ability to access books online or on an e-book processor seems easier than physically buying the product.  A strategy of online publications is that they are free or easy accessible, as of late, magazine designers have trended towards the free physical publications and this is relevant with Vice Magazine and Ante whereby they have not resulted to free online magazines but physical productions that are free too.  

But all in all, I believe that the printing era will not die down.  Even with all that said, it is the idea of craftsmanship and the physical product, is what captivates a designer and audience.  Having the final product in physical form is a success to see, and whether it be in the form of newspapers, magazines and books etc. the odd person will be drawn to the tactile piece then a copy seen through a screen.  Obviously i cannot see what the future holds for print design but hopefully there will still be a place for it in this day of age, as it is always good to see a good magazine in the shops or newspaper. 

Course Reflection:

This elective was fun and enjoyed it very much.  Letterpress was a standout and enjoyed that project the most but equally learned a lot more in the design of magazines with grids and all.  Best thing is that next sem, it looks like ill be doing letterpress again for graphics! 

Discussion Point - Lecture: Breaking Rules Well

Discussion Point: New technologies and global networks are rapidly transforming publishing models and typographic practices. Does this mean the end of print? Why/Why not? Provide evidence/examples to support your views. Post your response to the Studio Blog..

Printed material as we know it is going to change. There is no doubt that the sheer volume of printed to paper material of newspapers, books, magazines, advertisement  is largely shifting to be digital, accessed on line. However I do not believe that this is the end of print. With the transformations of publishing and typographic practices towards digital means I feel that those with a design perspective have embraced and in many ways encouraged this movement as an easy and cheap platform to launch what would traditionally be printed to a larger more responsive audience. It may not be print at this stage but it encourages so much talent to push themselves to greater places.

Simultaneously with the threat of the loss of print and its tactile associations a fashion/ trend has emerged for the 'handmade' . The tactile beauty of something, in many cases printed, which time and perseverance has gone into. One company where this can be seen is Ork Posters. This is small company situated in Chicago by founder/designer Jenny Beorkrem. Ork make local neighbourhood posters and they come printed in two styles; Silk screen and offset. On their website they talk of the difference visually.  While with offset printing they describe the ink as soaking into the paper to feel as one, silk screen is described as a matt ink that sits on top of the paper, where you can run your hand over the paper and feel the ink on top. It is a very appealing, very tactile image. They have been largely successful.

However their success has been completely a result of new technologies and global networks (the web).  The compony started out on etsy.com an online handmade and vintage forum and since then their main sales platform has been through their website and their success has been a result of postings by admirers on blogs. Their site states that the reason Ork Posters prices can remain low is that they spend $0 on advertising, it was 'blog wildfire' that gave them their start.

This just seems to highlight the love hate relationship between 'handmade' and technology. In today's society it does not seem that one can exist without the other.

Reflection on Advanced Typography and Publication Design

Thankyou! This has been amazing course which I have greatly enjoyed. This term I have looked forward to my Monday escape to COFA and I feel I have learnt much especially in the field of layout which is highly useful to my future. And I hope at some point I will get another chance to do woodblock printing, it was so much fun.

Group title page

Added the group title page to dropbox, have a look and see what you think and if there are any major issues let us know!

For the group doing references...

here is cartography's references for images and text....

Images:

Page 5:

x

Page 6:
1. http://www.all-hd-wallpapers.com/wallpapers/abstract/404780.jpg

2.

"The History of Cartography." Expositions. http://expositions.bnf.fr/cartes/grand/044.htm

3. "The History of Cartography." Expositions. http://expositions.bnf.fr/cartes/grand/034.htm

Page 7:

1.  Brownie, B (2011). Type Image. Published by Gingko Press. Berkeley, CA, USA. Page 50

2.  "Los Angeles." Ork Posters. http://www.orkposters.com/losangeles.html

3.  "San Francisco." Ork Posters. http://www.orkposters.com/sanfran.html

Page 8:

1. "The Typographic Tube Map." Mapping London. http://mappinglondon.co.uk/2012/01/17/typographic-tube-map/

2. "The Typographic Tube Map." Mapping London. http://mappinglondon.co.uk/2012/01/17/typographic-tube-map/

3. Brownie, B (2011). Type Image. Published by Gingko Press. Berkeley, CA, USA. Page 55.

Text:

Page 5:

x

Page 6:
Aber, J.S, (2008). "Brief History of Maps and Cartography." Academic Emporia. http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/map/h_map/h_map.htm

"The History of Cartography." Expositions. http://expositions.bnf.fr/cartes/expo_us/salle1/01.htm

Page 7:

Brownie, B (2011). Type Image. Published by Gingko Press. Berkeley, CA, USA. Page 48 -50

Ork Posters (2007-2011) "Welcome to Ork Posters Etc." Ork Inc. http://www.orkposters.com/etc.html

Anderson, H (2011). "Ork Posters ", video, Vimeo, 6 December, viewed May 2012, http://vimeo.com/33250484

Page 8:

Transport for London. "The History." UK Government. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/modesoftransport/londonunderground/1604.aspx

Glancey, J, (2009). "Tunnel Vision: a history of the London tube map." The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2009/nov/25/london-tube-map-design.

Discussion Point - Clarisse Djaja

Week 12 Discussion Point: New technologies and global networks are rapidly transforming publishing models and typographic practices. Does this mean the end of print? Why/Why not? Provide evidence/examples to support your views. Post your response to the Studio Blog.


Technology has always threatened traditional means of doing anything, including publishing models and typographic practices. I think traditional typographic practices started falling out of favour when Mac computers first became popular in the late 1980's and early 1990's. A lot of the designs in that period tried to use the computer as a design tool since designers wanted to experiment and push the boundaries. So popular was the computer in the 1980's, that it was Time's "Machine of the Year" in 1983. Below is an example of some generic Cola cans from the 1980's. Notice how the psychedelic 1970's painterly style isn't used at all.

This next example is a video by Hillman Curtis of Paula Scher, a New York based graphic designer who has been practicing since the 1970's. The whole video is interesting to watch but the section from 4:21 - 6:07 is when she talks about her typographic practices and what she thought when the computer was first used as a design tool. She's a pretty funny woman.

I'm not sure whether it's because of nostalgia, or whether it's because we're trying to recycle some old ideas and make them new - but recently people have turned back to craft. It is true that a lot of companies are doing more digital material and paper usage is discouraged, even here at COFA. But sites such as Etsy and blogs like Cutout and Keep are examples of people wanting to be more tactile with design. Flow magazine is published in the Netherlands and is a great example of tactility. Not only does its front covers use hand-drawn illustrations and paintings, it has fold-out posters, bound in booklets and different paper stocks in each issue. The bottom image even uses glitter ink for the magazine title.

I'd like to think that physical publishing models will never vanish, but I think sometime in the future it will altogether. Typographic practices however can still be preserved in online publications since there are so many softwares that can emulate traditional typography e.g. letter press.

Week 11 Discussion Point: The digital desktop has shifted the responsibility of preparing artwork for reproduction to the designer. Identify an area of file preparation you need to learn more about and provide an overview (200 word max) of the process and its significance.

From reading the lecture, it seems like I'm still lacking full knowledge in all of the printing areas! However, I find the one that I struggle most with is image file formatting. The abbreviations (JPEG, TIFF, EPS) throw me off since I associate those terms with 'complicated tech stuff'. I know that an image has to be 300 dpi or 2400 dpi for it not to look pixelated but it's frustrating when you've found the perfect photo when it's not the right size. In my quest for finding the clearest explanation for when to use the different file types for images, I came across this very succinct description from http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/input-output-workflow/2976-jpg-vs-tif-vs-eps.html:

JPG or JPEG – (Joint Photographers Experts Group) Developed for compressing and decompressing digitized photos. Use this file type for photographic imagery intended for the Internet. It supports 24 bits of color information, and is most commonly used for photographs and similar continuous-tone bitmap images. The JPEG file format stores all of the color information in an RGB image, then reduces the file size by compressing it, or saving only the color information that is essential to the image. Most imaging applications and plug-ins let you determine the amount of compression used when saving a graphic in the JPEG format. Unlike GIF, JPEG does not support transparency. If used for offset printing, make sure resolution is at least 300dpi and compression quality was set to “high”. Con: Every time you save a JPEG file, It loses some information and can degrade over time. TIFF or TIF – (Tagged Image File Format) TIF or raster graphics are bitmapped graphics. Raster images are best used for images such as photographs or paint style graphics. They are versatile and can be imported into most software but their biggest disadvantage is that they are resolution dependent. Bitmapped graphics can be reduced in size successfully but if you try to enlarge them you will be subject to serious deterioration. TIF files can be black-and-white, grayscale, or color bitmapped-images, particularly those produced by scanners. This format generally does not compress the size of the image file significantly unless the image is scanned in line art mode. TIF files have better resolution and are good for outputs such as RGB and CMYK. The TIF format is the most common file format considered a “safe” format that is very stable, widely supported, cross-platform and rarely causes problems during output. Use this file type for scanned images or photos intended for offset printing. EPS or EPSF – (Encapsulated PostScript) EPS or vector graphics are resolution independent, meaning that you can enlarge them any number of times without having their resolution deteriorate. Vector images give you crisp, clean lines at any size. They don't, however, look as nice on screen as bitmap graphics do. If you have an illustration program like Adobe Illustrator, Freehand or Corel DRAW you can import and edit the images. Regardless of how they look on screen, EPS images print beautifully to a Postscript printer. The EPS file format can be used on a variety of platforms, including Macintosh and Windows. When you place an EPS image into a document, you can scale it up or down without information loss. Use this file type for vector graphics from drawing programs and multi-channel images from Photoshop such as duotones and clipping paths. EPS files can be graphics or images of whole pages that include text, font, graphic, and page layout information. This format contains PostScript information and should be used when printing to a PostScript output device. The Bottom Line If you have a postscript printer or will be creating documents that will be output to a postscript device then your best bet is to go with EPS graphics. If, on the other hand, you don't print to a Postscript device and your software doesn't support EPS graphics (although most do) then maybe TIF files are the way to go. Finally, talk with you printer and see what they recommend.

It's a relatively easy process once you know when is the best context to use either JPEG, TIFF or EPS. JPEG is good for online publications, TIFF is recommended for all physical print jobs and EPS could be something you would use if you wanted to get something laser cut since it is resolution independent.

Knowing which file type to save your images are will save a lot of time, money and it will also ensure that the image quality is at its best. There could be no greater nightmare than finding out that your images didn't appear, or was pixelated just because you saved it as the wrong file type.

Ultimately though, I think asking your printer would be the best way to ensure that nothing is amiss.

Week 10 Discussion Point: Reflect on your perspectives and your position on the relevance of typographic conventions and traditions in contemporary publishing contexts. Discuss your views in the context of relevant examples.

Typographic conventions and traditions are important for us as young designers who are about to embark on perhaps our first professional work crusade. Most contemporary publishing contexts whether it be magazines, one-off movie posters or food packaging would have a grid that was either developed for the designer, or developed by the designer to adhere to. The grid helps create consistency with visual hierarchy and aesthetics. To us designers, this grid may help us create a design that 'sings'. To the general public that would engage with our work, the design would send subliminal messages of a balanced, well-proportioned composition. This could well mean the difference between them choosing a particular product over another.

On the other hand, if the typographic conventions and traditions were broken, it could allow for a very interesting design. I'm not sure if there's a right way to breaking the rules, but there are those who have done it successfully, like David Carson. His designs, although difficult to read, is interesting to look at and relates to his target market. David Carson's designs stood out amongst many others because he broke the typographic rules.

I would personally go with the mantra "learn the rules first to break them later". Familiarising myself with typographic conventions and traditions I think would help me build a strong understanding of what works and what doesn't. In a way, I think this would also help my intuition. If a time calls for me to break these rules, then I would happily do so knowing that I've already got a firm grasp on the basics.