1A-Z ProjectProject 01

Daniel Apt APT11334035

FdA Design for Graphic Communication, Year 2 Group 1 with Karl Foster, Chris May & David Simms

6th of December, 2012

2Introduction

This was the first university project Ive undertaken dur my second year of FdA Design for Graphic Communication.

I was placed in Group 1. I had classes with Karl Foster, Chris May, and David Simms.

My one-to-one tutorials were with David Simms.

3Contents

Project Words

Practice Area

Engagement

Role

Secondary Role

Brief

Plan

Experimentation

Decisions

Development

Final Outcome

Evaluation

Credits

4

5

6

7

8

10

12

14

18

20

22

24

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4Project Words

Fibonacci

A series of numbers which reccur in nature. All the numbers come from the mathematical function Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2 F0 = 0, F1 = 1 Thus: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc.

Binding

The method of attaching objects to eachother. In my research I mainly focused on bookbinding, the physical act of creating a book. I also investigated Chinese foot binding, but decided not to pursuit this subject for my project.

5Cartography

The study and practice of making maps. Both old and new maps had been investigated. Also non-navigational maps had been investigated.

Calligraphy

The visual art of writing. Often performed with a broad-tip instrument. Each culture has its unique calligraphic style. I investigated Western, Middle-Eastern and East-Asian calligraphy. Also contemporary calligraphy was looked at.

6A lot of my work is very digital. My designs are created behind the screen, if they are tactile, they come out of a printer. They are too clean.

Why not design with my hands? Step away from the computers and printers!

Avoid Aspire

Practice Area

7The final outcome needs to be touched, felt, and handled by users.

Then the audience can admire the physical work that has gone in to this project.

The audience will be young people who are active on Twitter (more on that later).

Engagement

8For this project Ill be an artisan designer. Ill need to put an effort in to learning the necessary skills.

My stance for this project is purely for self-benefit. I want to learn and experience new fields of design, and creating the final outcome will be my method of doing so.

Role

9I will be an artisan designer, but even then Ill need to create something which has a purpose. What will that purpose be?

I want to make people aware of behaviour I heavily disagree with.

I have a distaste for people who are disrespectufl to others, are narrow minded and endanger others by their words and acts.

If anything Im a whistleblower. Im making others aware of the wrong-doings of other people.

Often these wrong-doers are young people, and most of this wrong-doing is done online, on platforms like Twitter.

Secondary Role

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BriefThe brief I created was created in such a way that it would require me to acquire new skills.

Fibonacci

How familiar I am with the following subjects:

Cartography

Binding

Calligraphy

To step out of my comfort zone, the main design element for my project became calligraphy.

The content I would write out would be silly, stupid, and shocking tweets. The combination of the stupid tweets with sophisticated calligraphy would create an interesting contrast.

The calligraphy needed to be showcased in a certain way. I decided to present the calligraphy in a self-bound book.

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Content

Design

Medium

Im not racist, I just like saying racist shit #sorrynotsorry @a_xo_dro

My hair looks like shit and my cleaning lady said it looks nice. I dont pay you to lie to me bitch. @keykeyvictoria

etc

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0 4

16

4

20

Content

Find despicable tweets which will be showcased.

0

EarliestStart

Duration

Extra Time

Earliest Finish

LatestStart

Activity

Activity Description.

Latest Start

33 days till deadline

Thursday 6th of December, 11.00am.

Legend

0 3 3

3

Materials

Buy calligraphy pen, nibs, ink, folding bone, sewing thread, etc.

0

3 15 18

18

Practice

Practice calligraphy, until it is at a decent level.

3

18 2 20

20

Decide Binding

Decide what bookbinding technique will be used.

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20 5 25

25

Development

Create the final calligraphic pieces and create the book.

20

25 8 33

33

Document

Create a PDF, showcasing the whole process.

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Plan

13

0 4

16

4

20

Content

Find despicable tweets which will be showcased.

0

EarliestStart

Duration

Extra Time

Earliest Finish

LatestStart

Activity

Activity Description.

Latest Start

33 days till deadline

Thursday 6th of December, 11.00am.

Legend

0 3 3

3

Materials

Buy calligraphy pen, nibs, ink, folding bone, sewing thread, etc.

0

3 15 18

18

Practice

Practice calligraphy, until it is at a decent level.

3

18 2 20

20

Decide Binding

Decide what bookbinding technique will be used.

18

20 5 25

25

Development

Create the final calligraphic pieces and create the book.

20

25 8 33

33

Document

Create a PDF, showcasing the whole process.

25

14

ExperimentationThe experimentation process was just as much a practicing as a learning stage.

Binding

Since the start of the project I had been attending evening bookbinding classes at Book Works.

During the workshops I learnt how to use the following binding-related techniques:

Odd-number stitch Coptic Stitch Link Stitch Kettle Stitch Japanese Stab Bind Hardcover Multi-Section Binding French Folding

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ExperimentationThe experimentation process was just as much a practicing as a learning stage.

Calligraphy

One of the most useful resources I was given was by Hasan Gzlgul. This great 128 page PDF about calligraphy. Including instructions on how to write in all the different (Western) calligraphic styles.

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DecisionsAfter experimentation a lot of content had been created. Now I needed to decide which methods and materials I wanted to use.

Binding

Most people reacted the most positively to the hardcover book I created. The initial book was a multi-section book, with 40 pages.

I wouldnt be able to fill 40 pages with my own calligraphy. If I wanted to create a hardcover book, I needed to learn how to create a single-section book.

A multi-section hardcover has too many pages.

A single-section hardcover is a better medium.

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Calligraphy

To make the contents look good, my calligraphy needed to be good as well. I experimented with several styles, and Ive been able to write beautifully enough with the following styles. Insular Majuscule Caroline Minuscule

Textura Quadrata Square Capitals

Foundational Hand Gothic Capitals

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DevelopmentTime to put my skills to the test, and create my final outcome.

Calligraphy

Professional calligraphers write in books, which already have been bound.

Because Im far from professional, I needed to first write the calligraphy, and afterwards bind the book.

Nib calligraphy with a 3mm square nib

Bootleg Lightbox Improved the lightbox

Pretty scary when you spill all the ink

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Binding

The final binding technique I chose was a five stitch single section book, with a hardcover block.

The size of the book is close to an A4 landscape book. This allowed me to write the calligraphy at a natural size.

Trim the edges Roughly cut the fabric

Glue boards to fabric Cut fabric to size

The binding, I was very clumsy

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Final Outcome

This was the final outcome after a marathon of calligraphy and binding. It actually almost went wrong, when the contents and cover were glued incorrectly to eachother.

Luckily I was able to correct this by trimming the pages. It is far from perfect, but the book is reasonable enough to pass.

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Evaluation

I was extremely pleased with this project. I have learnt two skills which I was terrible at beforehand.

Learning new skills is the most important thing I can do at university (and life in general), so I couldnt be more pleased with the outcome.

The outcome itself can be improved. The pages arent stuck properly to the cover, and it feels a bit woncky. This might be due to the small amount of pages in the book.

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Credits

Ina Baumeister for teaching me how to book bind at Bookworks

Hasan Gzlgul for supplying me with a PDF of The Art of Calligraphy

Blythe Aislinn for teaching me how to use scalpels, glue, and all other things Im terrible at using.