Physical Book

Kindle Version

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the Kindle version on a actual Kindle, as I did not own one and found it difficult to find someone in Leeds who would let me borrow it to put my book on. However, Amazon lets you preview your files before they go onto a Kindle. I decided to show this on a variety of different Kindle models it is available for, as well as an iPad. This is shown below:

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I have definitely gain a deeper understand of contextual theories and history of Art & Design, as well feeling much more confident in analysis in my writing. I have also learnt a greater understanding of layout and grid, due to producing a publication with quite an abstract grid.

2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

Bookbinding – I have learnt how to Coptic stitch, when previously I had no idea on how to do any stitching.

Metal Etching/ Embossing – Another process I have never used before. This was frustrating and took 2 days to get right, but I feel it was vital, and intend to use it to produce producs with a professional finish in the future.

Using a variety of stock – I have never used more than one type of stock in my work before, and it as interesting to see three different colours interact with each other.

The questioning of an actual book – The’ Brief History of’ Brief has taught me a different approach to look at book design. This is not only in my own work, but also in class seeing where my peers have reacted to the brief.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

I have identified that I have a strong ability to research in an in depth way. I have also realized that my essay writing skills have not slacked since A Level, and I still have the confidence to write work at mass.

I have also realized that I have learnt to respond well to crits. With my “Brief History of” Brief, I had to change my ideas dramatically. This did not knock me down, and if anything, gave me more motivation to work harder and to impress not only my tutors, but produce something I would be proud of.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

Time management. I feel I have been unlucky with my work, as producing the metal plate for the embossing failed 3 times, meaning it took 2 days to produce, as oppose to half a day that I planned. I also struggled with print as a result, and had to rush around an Industrial Estate an hours walk from my halls only to find the shop did not even exist. I also struggled to find a printing place in town after that which was capable of printing double sided on stock that I brought in. In the future, I intend to organize printing much earlier on in a project, and book printing slots at college weeks in advance, in order to ensure I have a place to print.

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

1.I will look at various type of book binding so that I can work out exactly what type of bind will work best with the materials that I intend to use. I felt like I explored binding, but could have experimented with different versions.

2.I will consider content which I have more passion about. I often felt that my content was boring, and so I lacked confidence to work on it. It was also extremely dense. I did like it in a way, but I think it was slightly too dense. In the future, I intend to look at a topic which doesn’t have such a rich history, so I can focus more on the physical designing.

3. I will try not to be so ambitious, and focus on less data to look at. This way, I will give myself more time to focus on design processes, which may take longer than initially thought.

4.I will manage my time more effectively, so that I don't get all worried towards the end of the deadline when I've realized that I haven't booked a print slot in time and have to print the publication by myself in the studio, leaving myself a few days to cut and bind the book.

5.I found that my lecture and seminar notes maybe weren't as strong/consistent as they could have been, and will try to work on this in the future. Taking my laptop helps, as I can blog the work there and then.

6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance					x
Punctuality					x
Motivation					x
Commitment					x
Quantity of work produced					x
Quality of work produced					x
Contribution to the group					x
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

I intend to use pagination imposition, print marks, and an exposed grid involved with the layout of my publication. Here I have researched into each of them, in order to see how they could affect my design.

Imposition

Imposition is one of the fundamental steps in the prepress printing process. It consists in the arrangement of the printed product’s pages on the printer’s sheet, in order to obtain faster printing, simplify binding and reduce paper waste.

Correct imposition minimizes printing time by maximizing the number of pages per impression, reducing cost of press time and materials. To achieve this, the printed sheet must be filled as fully as possible.

The Task

The arrangement of pages on the printer’s sheet is affected by five different parameters:

Format of the product: The size of the finished page determines how many pages can be printed on a single sheet.

Number of pages of the printed product: The compositor must determine how many sheets are to be printed to create a finished book.

Stitching/binding method: The compositor must understand how the sheets are placed to form the signatures that compose the finished book.

Paper fiber direction: Many papers have a "grain," reflecting the alignment of the paper fibers. These fibers must run lengthwise along the fold, which influences the alignment, hence the position, of the pages on the printed sheet.

Finishing and Binding

To understand how the pages are related to each other, an imposition dummy may be used. This is made by folding several sheets of paper in the way the press will print and fold the product. A little copy is then created, and this can help paginate the product.

In the example above, a 16-page book is prepared for printing. There are eight pages on the front of the sheet, and the corresponding eight pages on the back. After printing, the paper is folded in half vertically (page two falls against page three). Then it is folded again horizontally (page four meets page five). A third fold completes this process (page nine meets page eight). The example below shows the final result prior to binding and trimming.

Printing Marks

Relating to Colour:

Relating to Cropping: 

Exposed Layout

Unfortunately, I could not find any work where the grid has been left on the page, but here are a few images that Phil showed in a lesson, where he had added the grids onto of the pages: