Discussion point 5 + Course Reflection

As vulgar as McLuhan was when he described us as the sex organs of technology, he was also correct in saying so. If you can describe human beings in one two words it would be "Constant Evolution", so how do we keep up?

While, as mentioned in the lecture in regards to Blurb publishing, designers love nothing more to pick up a brand new personalised book with their name on the cover, it could be an aspect that may die with our generation. In the long run, the bigger picture, our love of print of which we were born and raised may be a nostalgic trait of our age. Rather than Golden Books, we now see children in prams with iPads and tablets and as such consumed in a digital realm; this is what they will be neurologically attached to. It's the next step up from "Generation C". ¹

As Jean Baudrillard predicted, semeiotics will replace the real equivalent, in this sense digitally - masking the basic reality of humanity ². Marketing will create needs that digitally represent the real via the hyper-real through online social media, shopping and more. This will only keep evolving until we are in an entire simulation of reality that has no more trace of reality. 

As a result, I do believe this will be the end of print. We've seen the decline of Kodak and the rise of digital photo frames. We've seen the world finally embrace e-readers as they've been integrated smoothly into iPads, an interface which we accept. As a human race, we must get ready to accept the inevitable - the simulation which will soon overpower reality and the physical as we move further from hardware devices and into the digitally created future.

[1] McArthur, Ian. "Contemporary trends in Publishing." Online Lecture. College of Fine Arts. 07 10 2012. Lecture. URL <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h2hJZV9lkzn87Te1mGr-WshEm9fk3582JGpl0cb0TC8/edit?authkey=CKvqjJUB>

[2] Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation. . Ann Arbour: University of Michigan Pr, 1994. Web.

Course Reflection

I initially thought this course would be more focussed on kerning, the anatomy of a typeface and more 'hands on' like it was at the beginning. In retrospect, I can understand why the course skipped these generalities - as the course was Advanced Publication. However, sliding in a few more principles of design as a refresher would have been useful. What I truly found valuable in this course was working as a group with the whole class. We got to see each other's work which was quite motivating and inspirational. I liked the class discussions where we all worked together to try and find solutions regarding the magazine. I felt the class was quite agreeable. I also found the letterpress segment of the course, although tediously frustrating at times, very insightful. The excursion to the distillery was exciting and again very useful to see how the printing world works on the 'other side' of things. I think if the inDesign workshop went through I would've gotten more from the course, but my own experimentation in the last assignment did allow me to feel my way around the piece of software.

Discussion Point 4 - Andrea Agathocleous

Importance of Colour Space Management

Remembering the first time I designed something on a Mac and viewed it on a PC with different gamma, colour space management has always been something that frustrates me. Why can't something look the way I want it to look from the start? Similarly, switching from RGB to CMYK is always a shock. Where are all my bright, vibrant colours? 

The way to overcome this is through making everything as close to standard as possible. An abundance of precautions can be made to ensure an image that is printed close to what is viewed on the monitor. 

Calibration ¹

Monitor Calibrators work especially well with desktop computers that don't move and are not affected by light, allowing them to achieve a near-perfect shade that is close to standard.

Color Profiles ²

Working with the correct ICC standard colour profiles for your medium can help prevent colour issues later on down the track. Every country has their own standards, these are usually embedded in Adobe software. 

The significance of this standardisation can be seen in the following example:

(88, 249, 17) in Adobe RGB  The same RGB value in sRGB 3 Printers, Computers and Cameras all speak different language and as an image is passed through, the colour map differs. This is the importance of using ICC profiles to ensure good communication between software and printer.  To put it simply, this is just another area of design where good communication is key!!!!

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[1] "Color Management." Calibration. Wikipedia, Web. 6 Oct 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_management#Calibration>

[2] "Color Management." Color Profiles. Wikipedia, Web. 6 Oct 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_management#Color_Profiles>

[3] "Color Management Introduction." Dry Creek Photo. N.p., 2012. Web. 6 Oct 2012. <http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/color_management.htm>.

Font - Alana Dimou

Papyrus is a very popular script/decorative typeface created in 1982 by designer Chris Costello, whom to this day speaks of its severe overuse.

The typeface is a decorative font, the creation of which spanned over 6 months; letters were hand drawn on textured paper by Costello to recreate what English text may have looked like if using ancient Egyptian writing apparatus, or a quill on papyrus. It was released in 1983 by Linotype who describes it as “a roman calligraphic

typeface with distinctive human touches... it imparts a warm and friendly ambience to everything from restaurant menus to book covers”. And every primary school assignment about ancient Egypt, might I add.

The typeface indeed possesses human touches with its distinctive irregular curves and high, horizontal strokes in its capital letters. The notches and frayed edges are indicative of sketching on a rough surface, however, it remains consistent with its irregularities thus restraining its supposed free, rustic and “warming” charm.As aforementioned Papyrus fits a script or decorative classification. There is the occasional small serif with a light stroke weight to accentuate the notches. There are mostly large and rounded counters, however with its high horizontal strokes, especially in capital letters, this is not always the case (for example capital ‘B’ has one large and one small counter).

Papyrus has, unfortunately, become the stock- standard font for anything and everything Egyptian and/or Mediterranean and Simon Garfield even states “Papyrus is the font you use to spell out the word ‘Egypt’”. The typeface is often inappropriately used from everything ranging from restaurant menus to natural, organic products. It is ridiculed to the point whereby dedicated websites such as www.papyruswatch.com have been founded to outlaw and humiliate inappropriate uses of the font.

Considerable controversy was sparked around the release of James Cameron’s Avatar when people came to realise Papyrus was the film’s default font. Its archaic nature may have

seemed like an appropriate fit for its title screen however many argue with such an enormous budget a new and more appropriate font could have been developed in lieu. The typeface was also used for subtitles throughout the film; a peculiar choice considering most script fonts aren’t terribly easy to read, especially from the distance of a cinema viewing.

Although many fonts seemingly appear to be everywhere (ie, Helvetica, Gill Sans) Papyrus possesses an uncanny ability to rub me the wrong way. Unlike other typefaces Papyrus lacks a sense of subtlety. There’s nothing neutral about it, it is unable to inoffensively blend in with the landscape when plastered on ill-fated signage and is nothing more than a novelty; a typographic faux pas. I believe the ultimate stereotypical relevance of anything vaguely controversial is The Simpsons test; Papyrus can be seen here in the signage for the health food store The Picky Vegan.

Refrences

Linotype, “Papyrus Regular”, http://www.linotype.com/173439/PapyrusStdRegular-product.html , last accessed 21 July 2012

Brown, S., ‘5 Terrible Fonts You Shouldn’t Use In Print Design’, 2007,

http://modernl.com/article/5-terrible-fonts-that-you-should-not-use-in- print-design, last accessed 21 July 2012

Garfield, S., ‘The 8 Worst Fonts In The World’, 2011, http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665318/the-8-worst-fonts-in-the-world, last accessed 21 July 2012

Anonymous., “Avatar is Papyrus?”, http://www.papyruswatch.com/2009/08/avatar-really.html, 2009, last accessed 21 July 2012

Discussion Point 5 + Course Reflection - Alana Dimou

It's no surprise that new technologies and global networks are quickly transforming publishing models and typographic practices however this does not spell the end of the printed format. At least in entirety.

eBooks and eZines are everywhere. Online archives are commonplace and this speaks volumes in terms of our need for immediate information. Who wants to flick through pages of encyclopaedias when CTRL+F exists? There is a definite lust for ease and accessibility for information today in a business and education sense however I believe it's the aesthetic quality of print that will keep it in practice. For example, The Distillery's opening in Surry Hills has warmed a plethora of designer hearts with it's rejuvenation of the old letterpress process. Vintage and secondhand book stores are still very alive and kicking (Gould's in Newtown, anyone?) and, despite the presence of smh.com.au many, many people still choose to purchase newspapers simply for their tactile quality.

It's sad to see entire libraries of books being destroyed however the same was said about vinyl records, even cassette tapes years ago. And as we all know vinyl is the new vogue. The printed format, although experiencing a lull in popularity at the moment, will never go out of fashion. Despite technology ploughing through our libraries with gusto I believe there is still plenty of life left in printed format.

Course Reflection

This course was nothing like I expected it to be, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Before enrolling in this class I had never heard of the term "letterpress" and working with everything tactile in the first half of the semester was a great (albeit frustrating) learning experience. I do wish there were more resources available to ease the letterpressing stress, however. The online magazine project was a lot of fun as I was able to work with fellow digital media students to produce our spread and having the option to choose our topic was great to showcase our strengths and interests.

This was a good elective as it was a nice eye-opener to the world outside of Illustrator, InDesign and general screen life.

Discussion Point 4 - Alana Dimou

Speaking very personally I would like to discuss the preparation of the book I've created for my end of year project. Sadly, some printing errors occurred and are currently begin rectified however these mistakes have provided greater understanding of a few processes.

As this was an extremely visual project containing many photographs, maintaining the integrity of the colours as very important.

Working with a printer's specific ICC profile in InDesign and Photoshop proves to ve incredibly useful when fine-tuning images. As it mimics the "printed version" of your images you're able to broadly lightgn/darker images or even fine tune specific colours in an image to allow for gamut.

When preparing for print sharpening images is also incredibly important to allow for a crisper print. The unsharp mask filter in photoshop is a fantastic tool however is to be used with caution; overusing this privilege can result in what I refer to as "grainy sand eye"; over-sharpened images with grain about the images edges making for an incredibly tacky and low-quality image.

Discussion Point 3 - Alana Dimou

Traditional typographic conventions are more relevant than ever. Considering the ease, speed and availability of designing tools I believe it remains paramount certain rules are maintained and respected. Though the aforementioned accessibility of tools gives rise to experimentation in layout design in every good spread lies at least some remnants of traditional rules.

This page from an old Women's Weekly magazine of the 50s is evident of a very strong grid. The page is divided in half horizontally with the lead image at the top and columns of recipes and instructions towards the bottom broken up only but a small graphic of the flag. There is little white space so as to fit as much information as possible onto the page.

This image from 8 Faces magazine still show evidence of a grid however on a much more subtly scale. The page is divided into thirds vertically with lead quotes paralleling each other in the same, highlighted green. White space plays an important part for the sake of aesthetics. It's obviously not as straightforward as the Women's Weekly example however without the grid and colour scheme this modern design would at risk at looking, well, a mess.

Therefore I believe traditional typographic conventions should remain and important part of modern design.

References

http://bessgeorgette.com/blog/2011/09/16/springtime-fashions-16-september-1950/

http://www.typetoken.net/publication/8-faces-magazine/

Discussion Point 2 - Alana Dimou

John Baskerville although a successful businessman is best remembered for his development of the typeface Baskerville.

With solid foundations in stone-cutting and paper-mache work he founded his own business whereby he gained popularity from the likes of Ben Franklin and as such many of his designs were incorporated into official federal publishing. Some notable works include Milton's Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained but more notably his Bible, printed in 1763.

With his evolution of print work and expanding business he was able to develop a technique to product a smoother white paper to showcase his strong, black type. HIs large leading and margins soon became his trademark.

The typeface was revived in 1920 by designer and classical typographer Bruce Rogers.

Carol Twombly, an American calligrapher, worked as a type designed for Adobe Syste,s in the 90s. Her typefaces are of a much more commercial nature drawing inspiration from ancient scripts; notably Lithos which drawn inspiration from ancient Egyptian type (think a more refund Papyrus) and Trajan, an epic Roman style typeface, which has iconically made it's way onto almost every single movie poster in the past decade.

References

 http://ilovetypography.com/2007/09/23/baskerville-john/