Design for Print II

Despite some very unfortunate last second catastrophes during binding, it went well.
The final result, rounded corners and all, turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself.

Binding Process Shots

Alternate Cover Testing

Printing File
Dfp_Monograph_Print_v6_4 (8.4mb zip)

High Res Pdf
Dfp_Monograph_v6_5 (1.6mb pdf)

http://www.markstokoe.ca/files/Dfp_Mono_v6_5.pdf

At this point, the majority of the stylistic decisions are (finally) done. The last illustrations are being put in, along with the technical copy and captions.
In order to keep the content approachable, the body text will be the serious, true, and academically acceptable, and it will be accompanied and annotated by humorous and predominantly fictional captions and illustrations.
Some of the illustrations are still being tweaked to give them a bit more life.

High-Res File
DesignForPrint_Monograph_v6_1 (pdf 520kb)

Process Shots

So, after a fair amount of feedback in class and a separate critique at “Crit Night 3: The Reckoning” I seem to be on the right track (more or less), but have a few things to address.
Issues
Too much happening on each page. Illustrations, text and photos are a bit much.
Simplified it down a bit so that it ends up with just one or two separate elements on each page to reduce the clutter.
Still a bit over people’s heads.
Making the language simpler will help to make it approachable. The text will take a two-tone approach, with the captions and pulls providing layperson language, and the text providing the useful factual information.
The illustrations could use a bit more character.
I’m planning on going through and jazzing them up a bit, making them a little less “bathroomy”

The Latest Iteration
Typeface/Layout Tests

Pagination

Latest Draft

High Res Print File
DesignforPrintII_Monograph_v5_2 (pdf 264kb)

So, a week or two later, a lot of hair pulling, and some tinkering in illustrator on test spreads, here’s where thing stand…

“I was wrestling with the content for a while, and that was one of the
main things slowing me up. My initial idea of relating quantum physics
to simple everyday analogies was a fair bit more ambitious than I
originally realized. Considering that only about ten percent of
physicists even partially understand the topic, tackling it from an
outside perspective with no solid information resource was rather
foolish.

Keeping that in mind, I still want to keep a similar audience, so the
adaptation I’m persuing is to create what is, essentially, an amusing,
but not particularly factual, interpretation of the subject. Taking a
very uneducated layman’s understanding of the topic, and making it fun
and engaging. The tone of the work would be reminiscent of the
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy novels/movie/radio drama/television
show by Douglas Adams, if you’re familiar with them.
I’m still hoping to integrate the idea of the poster with the
monograph as a method of displaying it. Potentially as a modular
poster that could use diagrams on the reverse to form a large
illustration.”

Planning for the little/BIG layout.
The use of the multiple sizes would be to create a bit of a jigsaw puzzle effect when pulling the full poster together.
…ugh, I’m burned out. This day has been painful. More later.

Project Brief
Create a monograph that investigates a subject of your choosing.
It must be at least 24 pages.
It must be bound or collected in some manner.
That’s pretty much it.

The Problem
If you say “quantum physics” to someone, their first inclination is generally to quietly sidle away or stare blankly.
Most people who aren’t particle physicists who talk about it have little to no idea what they’re talking about.
Anyone who hasn’t read about it has no idea what they’re talking about when they bring it up in conversation.

The Solution
Provide the reader with a digestable collection of informative tidbits on the subject of high-energy physics and how they make up to the world around us.
Make something fun for armchair geeks to interact with, and facilitate making them more bearable at parties.
Relate the information back to understandable everyday analogies so that the information can be shared with others.

Project Proposal
Dfp_Mono_Proposal_v1 (pdf 1.7mb)

Today was the review of our fleshed out concepts. And that’s all I have to say about that.
More to come after I’ve had some eats…
Alright, now that I’m thoroughly sushied, time to assess.

Natasha was quite pleased with the direction the form is taking. The cd is definitely a go on the client end, and I also made the call, as it reinforces the idea of the music as more permanent thing. While there are numerous methods for hosting content on the internet, and that does make it easier to update, the scene of which Natasha is a part seems to have a certain adherence to a sort of revised 1980’s aesthetic, and I think tangible music helps to convey that.

The digital approach was something that I was hesitating on, since I didn’t know if that would quite jive with Natasha’s approach, but it was extremely well received, particularly the lips icon (although the gold tooth will have to go, as Cherchez doesn’t have one).

All this said, the overall form is pretty much set, and it’s time to start planning out the solid visuals, and getting down to attempting a hand-written poster.

Link to the presentation
DesignforPrint2_ConceptPresentation_Sept29 (pdf 2.7mb)