The first three books I looked at I mainly studied their physical form and how they were put together during production. The first book, Pictoplasma, was showcasing a library of other designers animation and illustration work. It has a hard back book cover design with the main titled applied using the foiling technique. The texture of the cover and the pages also are made of a gloss material. These things combined gives the book a very professional and clean finish. Glossy paper stock is usually prone to more damage as it could possibly be scratched rather simply. This is perhaps why the cover is in a hard back form. The layout of the images on the pages are bold and placed within a multi column grid of two. This is done to give the audience the full impact of each image and there is no distraction of type whatsoever. Finally, the book is glue bound, giving it an incredibly sturdy finish with each page locked into place very accurately without fault.
The second book I looked at was called Monogram Logo. This had quite a few differences in its production in comparison to the previous. The subject matter was of a similar theme, showing a gallery of monogram logo designs, however the way it has been displayed is quite different. This book does not have a hard cover and the paper stock used throughout is of a very organic and rough character. The book is also in a more compact shape compared to most books. This could reflect the tidiness and precision of the logos within. The layout of the logos within is very compact however it doesn't feel to busy at all as each one is labeled with a number and the corresponding text can be found on a separate page. This is once again bound by glue, creating an extremely tight bond between the cover and all of the pages.
A final bit of research I conduced into the production of books was this book here, Concrete passages about closeness and coldness ... and a couple of songs. The reason this grabbed my attention was because the packaging that this book came in was a solid concrete sleeve with the title engraved into it. The reason for this was because the book within was a photo book with images showing the work of a specific architect who would build with a very minimalistic state of mind and obviously only in concrete. The way the texture of the outside reflected the images within really inspired me to perhaps do something similar with my publication.
I then began researching the concept of books and how they translated their ideas through some form of median. This small zine called The Destruction of Challenger 520 did exactly what it says on the front. It shows the destruction of this camper van conducted by these two boys. The progression can be seen throughout each page and is beautifully shown with photography. Showing a story like so through photography could be quite hard but if done well like this can be very effective. I feel like this could fit my brief quite well but not perhaps to tell a story from beginning to end but for comparison instead.
Finally, another photo zine I studied was this one named The University of Leeds. It photographs the university when there is no one there and highlights the brutalist architecture. The photos have been taken in such a way that makes you view the building in a different light and highlights parts that you would never normally notice. Its almost like a Where's Wally book because every time I see the university now I see something new. I think I'd like to apply this style to my work somehow. Make the audience see something they wouldn't normally notice and teach them something new.
No comments:
Post a Comment