Typography Reflection

I am all finished! I checked I was happy with everything first thing this morning, then went into the print room to get assistance printing it in the right way to make a book. I then used thread to bind it. I handed it in this afternoon!  I was worried about the printing and binding as I know that can easily go wrong, but I didn't have any problems and I finished it all really quickly.  I am very happy with my outcome. It looks very professional. I didn't think I was going to do very well in this module as I have always struggled with type but I am very pleased with the progress I have made. I am nom longer going to say "I can't do type!"

Today I had my learning team with Kate. This time it was much better. She got us to all show our work and gave us feedback. She liked mine but thought the title page needed work. I wasn't a huge fan of it, so was happy to re-work it. She also asked me to change some other little bits like the font size of the article titles and the leading, plus get rid of widows and orphans. I worked on the title page while sitting with my flatmate Niahm who was also working on her book. It was nice to get something vaguely resembling studio culture going. I came up with a much better title page fairly quickly. I then did the fiddle bits on my own later. 

Today I had a 1 to 1 with Matt. He told me most of my spreads were fine and looked like they went together, but there was one that was too crowded and one that looked over-designed. He said my page numbers were too big and my guttering was too small but the rest was fine. He also told me not to worry too much about the introduction. They aren't expecting it to be perfect. Talking to him reassured me that I was on the right track.  I made all the changes he suggested, then wrote the introduction and added it in. This time I wasn't overthinking it and that made it much easier. 

Today I worked on my book for a few more hours. I created my contents page, which looks really good. I have finished everything except for the introduction. I am a little worried though that my page layouts are too different, and that there is too much variety to have a sense of unity. I will ask Matt on Monday.  I am also really struggling to write the introduction. I have no clue what to put in it! I can ask Matt about that too. 

Today I spent lots of time on my publication. I finished typesetting all my articles. I found it quite hard to come up with new layouts by the time I had got to the third one, but I managed it. I like how the colour scheme is working.  I am very happy with how my book is progressing. I think it will easily be done by the deadline. 

Last night fate brought me the answer to all my problems!! I missed the bus coming back from Badminton and didn't want to wait in the cold, so I snuck into the library. Whilst waiting in there, I casually picked up a copy of Creative Review and found the most beautiful contents page I have ever seen! I know exactly what I am doing for the contents in my book now!  Today we had textworks. I got up early and watched the lecture before the meeting. I struggled again with the visual notes but found the topic interesting and easy to understand. In the meeting, we got our essay brief. I have no clue what I am going to do for that yet! I should probably start thinking about that sooner rather than later! I understand what I need to do though so that is ok.  Then we were given part of a radio program to listen to, which I found interesting. The seminar was fun but not partly constructive.  I planned to work on my publication more today but I felt really sleepy so didn't. 

Today I created a paper flat plan to decided what was going where in my publication. I then used this to create an InDesign document for my final publication. I added the grid I have picked, which took ages, but I have sorted it now. I then created my first spread. I chose to do one of the article text spreads, as I thought this would give me a good sense of whether my grid and page size was working. I found that the page was too narrow for me to have 3 columns of text, so I ended up widening the page a little. The grid worked fine. I then created the spreads for the rest of the article pretty quickly. I am really happy with my first text spreads. They are imaginative yet readable, and my chosen typefaces work well. It has given me confidence that I may actually be able to create a good standard publication in this brief.  I panic slightly when I remember I only have 9 more days, but I think it is going to be ok. 

Today I had my learning team with Kate. Instead of asking us how we are getting on like usual, she just launched straight into how she thought we should be starting.  Although what she showed us was useful, it is something I would rather do once I have made some of my key decisions about voice, theme, audience, style etc.  I did then get to show her what I had done so far which she liked, although I didn't get to show her my typography options because they didn't print. I didn't get to see anyone else's work either, which was disappointing.  At home, I looked again at my type options. With fresh eyes, it was clear that one pair of serif and sans serifs worked far better together than the others. I also experimented with possible colour schemes, and how they could be used to create structure. I have now ticked most of the questions off my list and am ready to start looking at flat plans and making spreads.  I didn't do as much as I would have liked today as I wasn...

Today I started designing the publication. First I watched all the videos, then in the afternoon, I began the brief. There were quite a lot of elements to consider, so I started by writing a list of all the questions I would need to answer before I made my publication. I then started to try and answer my questions. I decided on which articles to use and the page size very quickly. I even chose a grid to use fairly easily, by drawing out several different options and seeing what variety of layouts could be created on each grid. But I am really struggling to pick my typefaces. The amount of choice is overwhelming. I have created a list of options and I will show them to my learning team tomorrow. 

I borrowed "Making and Breaking the Grid" from the library and it is brilliant! I have been pouring over it all afternoon. I think it will really help me understand which type of grid to use when and how to get the most out of using a grid. I have also borrowed "how to use type" so hopefully that will be just as informative! 

Today we had textwork. I got up early to watch the lecture before our online discussion. I struggled a little to make visual notes this time, as we were discussing abstract concepts that were hard to illustrate. The lecture was interesting, but a little confusing at times, as she talked about many different theorists complex ideas and didn't really explain any of them in detail. I will have to do some of my own research to ensure I understand. I then did the reading we were required to do for textworks. It was interesting but I didn't understand how it linked to what we were studying or what the author was trying to say.  Then I had a go at one of the extra tasks Kate set me. She has asked me to have a go at copying a layout on InDesign. I thought this would be really quick and easy but it was much more complicated than I realised. I managed to make my version look pretty similar though, except for my choice of font which wasn't quite right. It made me realise how many comp...

 As I had pretty finished my work, I went to Falmouth library to get some extra reading. I found a very helpful book there called "Making and breaking the grid" which I think will improve my skills in this area. The I had my one to one with Kate. She told me how to improve my layout. Plus she also gave me a couple of extra things I could do and gave me some advice about how to cope at the weekends when I get a bit lonely.  I took her advice and edited my layouts in the afternoon. 

Today I had a workshop. We had to create a layout that was very readable and one which was not. Initially, I designed something very simple and a bit dull, but then I thought back to the designs I had seen the day before and moved the elements around to create something much more dynamic that used white space really well. Steve said he really liked it and just got me to change one tiny thing. It is the first layout I have ever created I am really properly happy with.  I feel like I am have improved so much in the last 3 weeks. I started this module having never created a layout I thought looked good and now I can create something Steve is happy with in less than 2 hours!  I then started moving the elements around to make them less readable. I created something I am pretty happy with, but it is not quite so perfect as the first one. I might have another look at it tomorrow.  I have felt really fed up when I first woke up this morning, but after my workshop, I was really re...

Today in the stage meeting we got to see some of the best pieces of work created last week. They were all much bolder and unusual than mine. I think I played it a bit safe last week. I need to be braver and create something risker. I also noticed that many of the best ones used lots of white space. I will keep this in mind when designing my next layout.  I then did activity task 1. I used the books in my room rather than the internet, as I have plenty and I like looking at physical books. I found I had completely finished by 12.30, so after lunch, I had another go a playing "find the grid" with a few of the books in my room. It was very interesting to do this with whole publications rather than just single spreads, as you have to find a grid that works for every page. A few of my books didn't appear to have a grid, and I had no way of knowing if I was right or if it just couldn't find it, which really bugged me. 

My housemate tested negative for COVID so I am free to leave!  Today I got up early and watched the textworks lecture before our group discussion. This time, we had to make visual notes. I wasn't keen on this idea because I am a girl who likes to use a lot of words, but actually, I found it worked for me really well. I found I could convey an idea that would usually need a whole paragraph with just a few images. It made me think about what I was being told and what it meant, rather than just writing it down without analysing it.  We had really useful discussions in both the larger group meeting and our seminars. I also met someone I had never spoken to before. He seemed really nice and I will be seeking him out in future.  Then I worked on activity brief 2, creating my third idea on InDesign. I thought 2 out of 3 of my ideas looked really good and couldn't pick between them, so asked my housemate who does graphic design to come and have a look and give me her opinion. I t...