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Assignment: Spot the differences
Create identical pictures (set of 2) displayed together in front for your friend to put forth a challenge for him/her; figuring out the 10 changes you have made in the adjacent picture.
In limited time (six minutes) your friend has to identify these ten changes.
On May 3, we will test the challenge against each other.
Make the task as difficult as possible for your friend and vice-versa.
Original Image
Edited Image
Solution
Homework: Make final changes to booklet. Post a final version of your booklet to the blog, both as screenshots of each page, and as a PDF. Discuss your final decisions and the feedback you received in the critique. Final due in class on Thursday, April 26.
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Front cover
Final front cover
For the front cover, I changed the text to left alignment, because it reads more easily. I also changed the color of the subtitle so that it contrasts more with the background.
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Spread 1
Final spread 1
I changed rearranged the elements on the page so that the layout looks cleaner and neater. In addition, I restricted everything to be inside the top and bottom margins (I did this for all the spreads), which gives the pages more white space. I also made changes to and completed the text and captions (I did this for all the spreads).
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Spread 2
Final spread 2
For this spread, I also restricted the images to be within the top and bottom margins. I also made some minor adjustments to the layout and placement of elements.
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Spread 3
Final spread 3
Just like the other two spreads, I restricted the elements on the page to be within the top and bottom margins, and I also made some minor adjustments to the layout. I made the calligraphy image vertical so that the layout of the spread is more similar to that of the other two. In addition, I desaturated the large image a bit, because I felt that the previous version was too oversaturated. I changed the location and color of the caption text.
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Back cover
Final back cover
For the back cover, I added an about the author section.
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Critique comments:
Front cover
Spread 1 page 1
Spread 1 page 2
Spread 2 page 1
Spread 3 page 1
Spread 3 page 2
Back cover
Homework: Make three possible book covers for your booklet, front/back.
Booklet cover draft 1
Booklet cover draft 2
Booklet cover draft 3
Booklet Cover draft 4
Homework: Refine your three interior spreads based on feedback from the critique. Make a color palette for your booklet (can be two to five colors). Post them to blog with commentary on your decisions.
Spread 1
Shopping spread second draft
Spread 2
Education spread second draft
Spread 3
Recreation spread second draft
Color Palette
Color Palette
Homework: Post your grid sketches and three spreads, with notes on your work. Bring printouts of the spreads to class on Thursday for critique.
# Sketches
Spread layout sketches
# Spread 1
Spread 1 draft - shopping
# Spread 2
Spread 2 draft - education
# Spread 3
Spread 3 draft - recreation
In-class: Mood boards! Make a mood board for your book with your own images. Show and tell your mood board with your booklet team. Come ready to work with your own content. In-class work session. Layout three spreads using a grid from your early sketches.
# Fast-paced, busy
Fast paced, busy mood
# Laid back, relaxed
Laid back, relaxed mood
# Relaxing, zen
Relaxing, zen mood
Homework: Post raw content for booklet project to blog (your text and images). Have all content (high resolution photos and written text) ready to go for next class.
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TITLE: Another Side of Beijing
SUBTITLE: What tourists usually don’t see…
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Front Cover:
Front cover
Text: So many travel books exist that only point out the most popular tourist locations in Beijing. I want to show readers a side of Beijing that is less frequented by tourists, though these locations are extremely popular among locals.
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Spread 1:
Spread 1 - Shopping
Text – Shopping. Usually, tourists are directed to locations such as WangFuJing and XiuShuiJie. However, the one stop destination for shopping among locals is Xidan Shopping Center. Xidan actually consists of multiple malls in the same general area. There are high end malls where locals like to shop for brand name products. Xidan also has many swap-meet-style buildings, where the entire mall consists of private vendors. These are the places to bargain… and since Xidan is more directed towards locals, the prices of goods are the cheapest in Beijing (it’s my favorite shopping destination). For more of a traditional shopping experience, locals frequent QianMen, where the architecture remains the same as it has been for hundreds of thousands of years. Again, the shopping experience is similar to a swap meet, but it is definitely a sight to see. After hours of shopping, what could be better than having a frozen treat? Shaved snow is this tasty looking frozen treat. It is definitely worth trying! (Master Kong’s)
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Spread 2:
Spread 2 - Education
Text – Education. Can you believe is a college campus? To me, some parts look like an imperial garden. This is, in fact, Tsinghua University, the highest ranking university, the Harvard of China. Unlike in America, the highest ranking universities in China are public schools rather than private schools, due to the fact that public schools receive loads of funding from the government, while private schools only rely on the tuition of students. The architecture and overall feeling of the campus is very unique in that it is very inconsistent. There are Western-style buildings (both traditional and modern) as well as many traditional Chinese-style buildings. Nevertheless, it is definitely a sight to see.
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Spread 3:
Spread 3 - Recreation
Text – Recreation. Even retired people have loads of fun in Beijing! There is so much to do in Beijing that one never has to worry about being bored. Early every morning at every park in the city, retirees gather to do morning exercises. Some choose to dance t0 traditional music, some choose to do tai chi, and others practice their calligraphy on the ground with giant brushes dipped in water. Tourists tend to frequent the imperial gardens, but another destination that deserves more hype is the Beijing Zoo. Visitors can see the animals at an incredibly close proximity… Though it may not be very humane, it is a once in a lifetime experience to encounter these beasts so up close and personal. These brown bears have learned how to do tricks for food from visitors by doing ZuoYi (作揖)… which should be illegal, but its cute I guess.
Homework: Post grid exercise to blog. Gather your original content (text and images) for booklet assignment.
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Manuscript Grid:
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An example of manuscript grid
An example of manuscript grid
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Column Grid:
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An example of column grid
An example of column grid
An example of column grid
An example of column grid
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Modular Grid:
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An example of modular grid
An example of modular grid
In-class: Grid systems lecture. Discussion on grids in magazines and websites. Trace two pages of a magazine story with tracing paper and one website page of your choice. (some examples could be etsty.com, gap.com, tmz.com, nytimes.com)
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Magazine (Harper’s Bazzar, April 2012, pg 81)
Magazine page
Page grid
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Magazine (Harper’s Bazzar, April 2012, pg 150)
Magazine page
Page grid
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Website (Uniqlo.com)
Website snapshot
Website grid
Homework: Read the Grid chapter in Thinking with Type. Please spend no more than 2 hours on this reading. Don’t try to remember every historic fact about grids. Focus on understanding what type of content works best for each of the common grids – one column, manuscript, column and modular.
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Answer these questions in a blog post:
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What is a grid?
A grid divides up a space into many uniform sections. They help to establish a system for arranging content within the space of page, screen, or built environment. It is more of a flexible structure than a rigid formula. Its rules can either be followed or broken to prove a point.
What are margins and why are they important?
Margins are the bordering white space that is left blank. Margins allow for a page to maintain its framed look. Margins can be considered as the user interface of the page because it provides space for page numbers, running heads, commentary, notes, and ornaments.
Which sample design do you like best from this chapter? Why?
The sample design that I like the most from this chapter are the ones that use the modular grid. This is because the modular grid creates a very modern and sophisticated feeling to the layout, as long as it incorporates enough white space. I like the example that she used of what seems like a spread in the book. The modular grid is very versatile, and you can create many different personalized formats with it.
What grid(s) are used to layout the “Grid” chapter of this book?
This chapter uses mainly a modular grid. (pg. 151) This type of grid is very open-ended because it contains both vertical and horizontal divisions. Use of this grid allows for many different formatting options. For example, images can take up multiple “block” in the grid, and descriptions of the image can either take up one “block” or multiple blocks on the grid, depending on the amount of content to be shown.
What type of grid is best for simple documents?
The type of grid that is best for simple documents is the single column grid, surrounded by margins. This type of grid is the default in word processing programs, such as Microsoft Word, and it allows for the the user to just make basic formats. It is assumed that this type of format only contains block text, and nothing fancy– no images, weird indenting, etc.
Sheila Chan 