Be sure you are in CMYK mode with Black as 100% K.
1. Use the following template to setup your final 2 plate designs. [Download .ai file]
For steps 2-3, files should be named: "UMNLastnameMMDDYY.extension"
2. Save a .pdf of your final setup file for an electronic proof
3. Save an .eps (Illustrator) or .tif (Photoshop) of your final file
4. Email me the above files
5. Print a hard copy of your final file setup and give it to me
Despite the incredible advances in technology, fine crafts like typesetting and letterpress still hold a certain aesthetic appeal. However, because of technology, we can create digital designs that are output to polymer plates and print them in a similar process, using a type-high (0.918") form to create a relief print. This relief process is what gives letterpress printed pieces their tactile quality, an element not replicable through offset printing.
For your final project, we will be using the New York based companyBoxcar Press to make polymer plates which we will use to create prints on a Vandercook press. As with any craft, understanding and being sensitive to the process is integral to the success of the final piece. Not only should you understand the technical aspects of the process, but also consider the strengths (and weaknesses!) of the technology when conceptualizing your piece.
For the Greenway promotional piece, a major consideration is how the final piece will be distributed and mailed. There are many specifications regarding what and how things can be mailed. The Addressing and Mailing Dept. at the University is a great resource for information surrounding these issues, including size and format regulations:
http://www.a-m.umn.edu/home.htm
Remember that your process blogs are meant to be an electronic sketchbook of sorts, allowing you to pool your ideas, inspirations, links to resources, and digital images of your work in one place. Your blog should also showcase your progress throughout the course; include multiple entries for each assignment to relate this sense of progression. Most of you are already doing this, but two blogs that stand out are:
http://elliesketchblog.blogspot.com/
http://amy-berg.blogspot.com/
Also, remember to include the link to your personal website in a visible location on your blog and vice versa.
Research is always a critical step in the design process and can be inspirational as well as informative. For class on Thursday, Feb 21, find at least two sources of factual information related to your series concept and three sources of inspiration that will inform and guide your designs (these can be campaigns, series pieces, and/or innovative examples of grid structures). Blog these examples, being sure to provide source information (i.e., the article name and location and/or the designer and campaign name) and how it will shape and inform your design(s). We will be sharing these in class on Thursday.
When creating a series of related pieces, it is helpful and effective to develop a grid system on which to base the designs. Grids help to inform your individual layouts, and – while they may seem limiting at first – can actually aid in revealing new and innovative designs that effectively balance consistency and variety within your series.
Grids should be developed before your designs in order to provide a framework in which to work. In your planning and brainstorming phase, consider how a grid could be implemented to create hierarchy, structure, and unity within your series.
As you design, ask yourself:
-Do you want your grid to be highly visible or subtle?
-What are the proportions of your grid?
-How do your elements (i.e., headline, image, supporting copy) occupy the spaces? Will this vary?
-How will you break out of the grid, in order to introduce variety and interest in your designs?
Your second assignment requires you to engage the art of persuasion through the use of striking imagery and limited text in a black and white poster. It is appropriate to reflect on the classic persuasive methods of rhetoric (logos, ethos, and pathos), as rhetoric can be defined as the art of influencing the thought and conduct of an audience[Source: Dictionary.com]. Today, Aristotle's methods hold as much relevance to advertisements and poster design as they do to effective verbal communications.
Consider which of these methods is most suitable to your content by conducting some research on their individual use, purpose, and resulting effect. The sources below should get you started with your search:
Basic definitions: Learning How to Use the Three Main Rhetorical Styles
Comparison chart: Highlights the characteristics and resulting effects of each method
Examples:
Note: The above examples may exhibit characteristics of more than one persuasive method. I have simply chosen the one that seems most evident in order to help categorize.
On the eve of our first project presentation and critique, it is important to reflect on the value of this critical diaglogue. Critiquing is a critical part of being a designer: besides the personal growth that is fostered by having our own work analyzed, it helps each of us to refine our communication skills and sense of design principles by critiquing the work of others.
The critique helps students to deal openly with criticism while it trains them in the important verbal skills of explaining the reasons behind their solutions. They must go beyond "I like it" or "That stinks." Critiques help students to internalize standards of excellence, to develop a shared vocabulary for discussion, to learn to incorporate useful suggestions from others, and to evaluate their own and others' performances.
Critiques will be incredibly important this semester, accounting for nearly a fourth of each assignment grade. To help you organize your thoughts as you evaluate the work of your classmates and peers, remember the following structure . . .
I can't put up with it anymore. Your poorly planned [noun] and [adjective] design are making my life miserable. I refuse to put up with your constant [verb] and incessant [verb]. Unless you change your [adjective] [noun], I'm afraid I'll have to [verb].
Sincerely,
Ange
From coffee thermoses that drip to round shoelaces that constantly untie, ineffective designs are the source of many of life's daily irritations. For every good invention (i.e., ink jet printers, plastic, email), there are several issues that arise (i.e., the cost of ink, clamshell packaging, and spam). This month's WIRED issue addresses these and many more common annoyances in its aptly titled article, "Why things suck."
Spring semester is just around the corner, and what a better time than vacation to sit down and curl up with a good [design] book!