Tuesday 19 February 2013

OUGD505 // What is good // Workshop - Format

From the session we had today we looked at the branding logos and print samples. This was basically a small group discussion in which we talk about out branding and how it would link into our theme and the ideas we had for it.
This was pretty good for me, because i dont have a solid idea of what i am going to do for my theme yet, but talking within the group has given me more input from everyones thoughts and some ideas were brought up which i could use.
The print based items were a talking point on how we could use them within our products, even through this isn't dead fixed yet. It turned more into a discussion on print really, but that was also good.
It was a much more relaxed workshop in which we just discussed ideas and thoughts about everyones idea along with linking in the work we had brought along for it.

At the end of this session we were given the task to go away and look into a format of design which is appealing to our professional practise. Now this for me was great, i straight away thought of book binding and creative formats for publications, so these two ideas have been what i have carried on with. In the end i have found 5 of each but i enjoyed looking around for them so it was good.
We were told to research into them and become 'mini experts' on them, but i personally think i know abit about the binding techniques i have chosen and can explain them well.

Book Binding
Binding using a elastic band and paper clip. The idea behind this is that the content of the publication can be easily changed, with more or less needing to be put in the publication. It is also an innovative way to bind the publication and is something that is aesthetically eye catching. 

Coptic stitch used along side a wooden front and back cover. A coptic stitch is used when a publication uses more than one signature, to create the stitch you put each signature on top of each other and then sew down the edges of them to join them together and join them to front and back cover. This is an open book binding technique and also leaves a nice pattern within the stitching that is shown. 

This publication uses a  ready made metal bind. To use this bind, you hole punch the publication and then slot the section which has the metal prongs through the holes, a flat metal plate slides over this and secures the publication in between the two pieces. The prongs are then folded over and held by small catches. This is quite a corporate look within a binding techniques, but also offers flexibility within the content of the publication. 


Z - bind. A publication bind that encompasses more than one publication into one. It is normally done with 2 seperate publications and used if they are both on a similar thing or run on from each other of if the are apposing each other. The z-bind can also be extended and used for as many publications joined together as long as you can fit it onto a stock size. To bind the publication to the base / covers you could use saddle stitch or a simple sewing bind down the spine. 



Binding method using an elastic band, this goes down the spine of the publication and holds one half tight against one of the covers. As you look through the book the pages are loose, but held together. This is also another way to be able to add or take away the content of the publication. 




Long Stitch binding. This method using two binding techniques, the first being the coptic stitch at the top and bottom and then in the middle there is a series of sewing down the spine of each signature. This keeps each signature attached securely to the publication covers and the coptic stitch ties all signatures together. 

GFSmith colorplan. Within the GFSmith publication it has two seperate publications which both are held together in this bind. The binding technique uses stock has creates a loop in which each publication slots into. The best part about this bind is, you can only take one publication out at a time, because it has to be opened at one side to access and allow the publication to slide out of the bind. 

Publication bound with skewers. This also uses a piano hinge in order to get the curved shape and for the skewers to actually hold it together. Basically you create loops on the each of each signature by cutting in to the spine of each signature, this allows the skewer to slide through the edge. Once all the skewers are in place, you stitch along the top and bottom of the publication both tying in the publication and the skewer into the stitch, this holds everything in place. 


Creative Formats
Creative formats are great to use when trying to design something eye catching and moving away from the standard A format works best in this case. But you dont always have to move away from that as a basis, the format can change within a standard a format to make it more interesting. 

Multi-page document. Here you can see there are 4 different documents within one publication and each one uses a different format. This makes it much more interesting to look at and both when you are reading it too. But it is an effective way in breaking down content of different areas, so that its in smaller chunks and the reader will then pay more attention and not just flick through all the information. 

This publication uses a standard a format as the basis of it, but as you can see cutting away the corners makes it more interesting, especially with the use of the colour. This could be great if you had multiple categories or needed to show different types of stock etc within one publication. 

Creative 'publication' that also doubles up as packaging to hold CD's. This publication folds out to reveal a poster / information on the given subject, but as a secondary purpose it is packaging for the CD's. 

This publication uses a coptic stitch as the binding method, but as you can see it can move within being bound, or the pages are different sizes. Either way experimenting with different binding methods can create a more flexible spine to be more creative with the photography of a publication. 

Again GFSmith you different formats within the Colorplan publication. The main one is the angular cut publication. This is to display the range of stock that is color plan, so they wanted to show the colour ranges of the stock and how the interact together, by cutting away an area of the page, the next one will show through and so on, so this creates a way to see all the pages interacting with each other and also displays all the colours at once. Not only is it more interesting to look through but you can start to pick out which colours of the stock will work best together. 


Session
In the workshop today we looked at the above images in small groups, we had to present this and explain what the images / processes were and how we would use them within our projects. 
In the discussion i spoke about the different binding techniques and how they work within the publication and what aspect it adds to the aesthetics of the publication. Along with this i explained how to actually do them, so this linked in with how to do it in the studio. I think that showing these and explaining the methods was good for some of the people in the group as they were asking me more about them etc. 

From this we did another 5 of exercise this time it was about the formats and processes we had been looking at over the past 2 days. 

5 things i dont know about the formats:
- how to do them
- how durable the binds are
- can it be mass produced
- how to print the publication in order to use the bind
- other methods similar
- does it fit within the aesthetics
- how easy to produce it myself
- what sizes work together in a multipage document
- what thread to use in binding
- maximum numbers of pages in the publication
- how does it fold
- print finishes - where to print publication. 

5 processes to explore:
- letterpress
- emboss / deboss
- using vinyl
- spot colour / varnish
- screenprint
- laminating

Choosing one of the formats - piano hinge and skewer bind. 
Bad things about:
- not practical - sharp edges
- long and tedious process to make them
- aesthetics very minimal to content - more arty look.

Improve:
- use something different to skewers to improve aesthetics of it
- get rid of sharp edges. 
- link the bind into the publication. 

Good:
- inventive bind
- interesting to look at
- can be used in various ways
- adds an aesthetical appearance to publication
- hands on - craft - actually binding it yourself.

From this exercise and the workshops we have done this week, we are now going to move on the project and start to focus it down to make more sense into making it into a brief. 
We have been given 5 lenses to research our theme through:
- A brief history of...
- A collection of...
- An introduction to...
- Things you need to know about...
- An exhibition of...

We need to start to research into our theme through one of these areas to produce 5 presentation boards which show the research, formats, processes and the idea behind it for TUESDAY

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