OUGD501 - Quick Experiments with Subjectivity

Based on initial research and brainstorming of ideas, it was decided to put these into practice and produce a few quick experiments aiming to communicate ideas of subjectivity. It was decided to use a very slap-dash method in these designs, throwing ideas onto the page as soon as they came to mind, without too much thought into them as to break the rules of design.

These first two experiments work specifically with ideas of overlaying text and image, along with both hand-drawn and digital approaches to design. The paragraph of my essay based on arguments of subjectivity within graphic design has been used as the main body of text in these experiments. They have been used in conjunction with photographic images of Van Toorn, an influential Dutch designer who promotes the use of subjectivity within design and his own practice. Parts of this text has been overlayed onto the images in order to show the direct links between the arguments presented in my essay and Van Toorn himself.

These initial layouts were then printed for further modifications by hand. Low ink in the printer meant that these images were printed with a grainy effect and streaky lines which alter the colour, however it was thought that this added more texture and further developments to the work, since the uneven use of colour and image worked well to give it an 'unconventional' element of design in that it would not necessarily be considered professional standard of printing. Large type was handwritten across these layouts using various colours along with basic shapes, based on styles found present in both Van Toorn and Carson's work.

The next set of experiments looked at further overlaying image and colour onto text. This one uses a strip taken from one piece of Van Toorn's own work and stretched across the page. It was decided to work with basic shapes such as these, since they presented bold use of colour as well as allowing for some of the detail/ image to present through which could potentially help in communicating certain messages. For instance, it was thought that if more obscure shapes were used, although subjective, the aim of my idea is to show how subjective design can still communicate messages effectively just in different ways from that of objective pieces of design, and therefore obscure shapes may inhibit this.

Another element which presented itself in this experiment, was a blue box around one column of text. This was accidental, however potentially any mistake which presents itself in the final outcome could be kept in since this would give an additional element of subjectivity.

This experiment does the same as the previous, however includes the additional element of a quote used in my essay as bold text overlaying everything else, something seem presented in the work of David Carson.

These experiments allowed me to develop quick outcomes without much thought in order to provide subjectivity in them whereby no particular rules have been followed, unlike objective design. Although working well to convey such an approach, the premise of my essay was that subjective design still works well to hold a function and purpose, particularly one in communicating a desired message. Because not much thought had been put into these experiments, it was considered this meant they did not hold much purpose as a piece of design (although they were simply just experiments with process). In further developments towards a final outcome, therefore, the placement of objects (text and image) will be more carefully considered in order to communicate the arguments presented in my essay whilst still using elements of subjectivity, such as a disregard to the grid.

OUGD501 - David Carson Research and Ideas

David Carson is probably one of the most famous and controversial graphic designers. The designer is best known for his magazine designs (particularly for Ray Gun magazine), and his use of experimental typography. The alternative music and lifestyle magazine was debuted in 1992, with Carson never having his designs approved by anyone before sending them off to print. His work is controversial in nature due to the overwhelming subjective choices he makes in terms of design. With many believing the main definition of graphic design is 'to communicate a message', Carson completely breaks all boundaries and rules, such as disregard for the grid. One issue of Ray Gun he typeset an entire interview with Brian Ferry in the typeface Dingbat, a font only containing symbols, based on the fact he thought it was a dull.

Based on this research, further ideas were brainstormed and quickly sketched out as done before, which looked at ways in which information could be communicated in an alternative subjective method. Ideas include, using lots of white and negative space (think carefully about what could be communicated through this), typewriter fonts (use messy, inky aesthetics), again think about how text and image could be combined and used together (overlap text and images, stretch over multiple pages by altering the size/ leading/ kerning of type, use basic/ unconventional shapes with block colour). This brainstorming sheet was again something of interest in itself due to the subjective nature of it.

OUGD501 - Jan Van Toorn Research and Ideas

Jan Van Toorn is one of the most significant and influential Dutch graphic designers to have emerged since the early 1960's. Van Toorn was a part of the 1972 debate between himself and Wim Crouwel, one of the most famous debates within graphic design history, which focused on three main areas: the social and professional role of the designer, the value of grids and typographic tradition, and the function of the graphic designer when designing for museums and art galleries. Van Toorn took the side of subjectivity, as he practices in his own design work, and supports the notion of the designer as an interventionist, in favour of criticism and intervention. In this he rejects the use of grids suggesting that this means "the country is inundated by waves of trademarks and house styles and everything looks the same", therefore do not serve any purpose in communication. Instead, Van Toorn wanted the public to measure the motives of both the client and the designer who mediates the client's message against their own experiences of the world. He hoped in this way to stimulate a more active and sceptical view of art, communication, media ownership and society.

Based on this research, ideas were brainstormed and quickly sketched out. These looked at potential ways in which information could be presented in my final outcome taking a subjective approach as Van Toorn does. Ideas include, purposefully mis-aligning printed images, stretched type which fills the page (use ideas on typesetting principles, such as the alignment of text), take a mixed media approach (use both handwritten/drawn and digital forms), use collage and experiment with the combination of text and image - how would these work together?

This brainstorming sheet was something which in itself was of particular interest, the way in which images have been drawn and written over, using quick sketches and approaches such as highlighting text/ adding notes. It was thought that this seemed quite subjective on its own, and therefore something in this format could also potentially work within my final outcome to communicate the arguments in my essay - combination of both type and image.

OUGD501 - Typesetting Experiments

In response to research into Page One: Great Expectations: Seventy Graphic Solutions, it was decided to produce responses to this same passage of text in order to experiment with typesetting before implementing this into development towards my final outcome. The idea for this task was to generate quick ideas and produce a range of outcomes through typesetting that communicate particular ideas and concepts, which could affect the ways in which we read text.

The first idea was based on the section of the passage which reads: "To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row beside their grave, and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine".

Based on this, it was decided to typeset the passage of text into the shape of a typical 'stone lozenge', which Dickins used to describe the shape of the tombstones. To produce this effect the text was initially left aligned then by altering each line length. In this instance, hyphenation had to be used for many words and paragraphs were discarded to produce one large passage of text. This affects the readability of the text since it is hard for the eye to track the next line and the individual hyphenated words.

The next idea was based on the section of the passage which reads: "Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea" and "To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row".

Based on this, the idea was to arrange the text into five columns, representing each of the five stone lozenges which were said to be arranged in one neat row. One variation used this idea on its own, the other then used this combined with the description of rivers and marsh country given in the passage. The text was centre aligned in order to produce what is know as 'rivers' in typography, where the white gaps in typesetting appear to run through a paragraph of text due to coincidental alignment of spaces. However, in this instance the rivers were made deliberately in order to communicate this idea of rivers described within the text.

The next ideas were based on the section of the text which reads: "The shape of the letters on my father's, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair".

Based on this, it was decided to highlight the description of Pip's father by setting this in a bolder font weight compared to the rest of the text. This was done in order to represent the idea that this man was dark, with black hair. This section has also used justified text and has been set within a square frame to mimic the 'square' appearance of his father. The remaining text has then been left aligned and worked around this highlighted section in order to produce a slightly obscure squared shape that enhances the communication of the father's description.

In this idea, the same principles have been applied from the first, however, the remaining text which appears after the father's description has been left aligned into one wide column which continues down the page, rather than working around the highlighted section like the first. This has been done in order to represent the individual tombstone of the father lying next to his description, with the white space underneath representing 'empty space' and Pip's loss of his father which has left a gap in his family.

Giving myself this tasked has helped me put some of the researched typesetting principles into practice, showing the different effects of text alignments, spacing and shapes, for example. Ideas such as these could be transferred into work towards a final outcome in typesetting my essay in interesting ways, but ones which do not come a cross too overpowering and illegible, since the main argument of my essay was that subjective design still holds a function and purpose in communicating specific messages.

OUGD501 - Page One: Great Expectations: Seventy Graphic Solutions

Page 1: Great Expectations is an unusual typographic experiment designed to explore the relationship between graphic design, typography and the reading of a page, revealing the power typography has to influence and affect the way we all interpret a text.

The book collects the responses of 70 international graphic designers when posed the same brief - to design and lay out the first page of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, a text chosen in part because it directly references lettering as Pip searches for clues about his family and the letterforms inscribed on their tombstone. The brief encouraged the contributors to explore, challenge or celebrate the conventions of book typography. Each layout is accompanied by a short rationale explaining the designer's decision-making process.

Examples:

Jonathon Barnbrook

One of the ideas taken from this research that could be transferred into my own publication and designs was to think about how everyday things are presented and/or produced - are they objective or subjective? Are they universal? For instance, newspapers. Other ideas thought about how the text of my essay could be translated into something else, something more visual, for instance imagery, QR codes, mark-making, etc. Also think about potential contrasts between text and image - what could be communicated from this? Pick out quotes from my essay and highlight these in some way - bold, outlined, framed?

OUGD501 - Typesetting Principles

TYPESETTING is the composition of text by means of arranging physical types or the digital equivalents. Stored letters and other symbols (called 'sorts' in mechanical systems and 'glyphs' in digital systems) are retrieved and ordered according to a language's orthography (the conventional spelling systems of a language) for visual display.

Typography can be split into three separate elements:

• The letter - design of the individual characters, glyphs and anatomy.
• The word - how these glyphs fit together.
• The line - combination and arrangement of words in a body or sequence.

Typesetting can be used within publication and communication design in order to help present clarity of information, as well as using these principles to convey particular ideas and concepts which could affect the ways in which an audience read the text. These ideas could have direct links to themes or concepts present in the production of a piece of work.

Heirarchy

In communication, some messages will be more vital than others. Type size, style, weight, colour and treatment can all add emphasis to any elements that require prominence. A hierarchy of different sizes, styles and weights can be used to denote the degree of importance of each individual line.

Alignment

Left-aligned, right-aligned, centred and justified text. In typography, "rag" refers to the irregular or uneven vertical margin of a block of type, often on the right edge. The rag typically follows a pattern of 'in, out' until the end of the text.

Leading
Leading refers to the distance between the baselines of successive lines of type. The term originates from hand typesetting, in which strips of lead were used to increase vertical distance between lines. Lack of white space impairs reading as the eye struggles to track from one line to another. For body copy, leading should be slightly greater than the font point size and increased or decreased proportionally.

Tracking
Tracking refers to the amount of space between a group of letters to affect density in a line or block of copy. Readability decreases when negative tracking is applied. Wide tracking opens up the type, however also becomes less legible if used in extremes. As a rule, below -40 and above +40 tracking are not advised.

Kerning and Pairs
Kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between individual characters and letterforms in a proportional font to achieve a visually pleasing result.

Hidden Characters
These invisible characters, including spaces, returns, tabs or indents, end of story, line breaks, only appear when you have 'show hidden characters' turned on. They indicate the structure of your body text and show how the type is set, which can be useful for finding unintentional line breaks and double spaces.

Line Length
Efficient reading depends on a comfortable line length, typically between 40 and 75 characters or 7 to 12 words. An overly sort line length causes a more extreme rag in a body of text, whilst an overly long line length can decrease legibility and the eye finds it difficult to track the next line.

Widows and Orphans
Widows and orphans are lines or words left hanging or separated from a complete block of text, which includes single or two short words left at the end of a paragraph. Tracking and line spacing should be altered to remove any of these.

Dashes and Spaces
Hyphenation is the process of breaking words between lines to create more consistency across text. It is important to consider that hyphenation is somewhat a subjective design decision, which can affect the aesthetic appearance of a piece of body text.

• Hyphens (-) function as the formation of certain compound terms, those that consist of more than one word, but represent a single item or idea. The hyphen is also used for word division.
• The en dash () is used to indicate range, distance or time. Depending on the context, the en dash is read as 'to' or 'through'.
• The em dash () can take the place of commas, parentheses or colons, in each case producing a slightly different effect.

Rivers

In typography, rivers are gaps in typesetting which appear to run through a paragraph of text due to a coincidental alignment of spaces. The rivers are most noticeable with wide inter-word spaces caused by full text justification or monospaced fonts. Rivers can be tested for by turning a proof sheet upside down, as the eye is less likely to recognise words from this perspective and instead view more easily as patterns.

Baseline Grid

The baseline grid is a technique used in modernist typesetting, which aligns all text to a vertical grid where the bottom of each letter is positioned onto the grid in a similar sense to writing on lined paper. The text must sit on this baseline regardless of size, weight and spacing.

OUGD501 - Further Ideas

The Brief:
Produce a body of practical work which compares objective and subjective methods of graphic design. Present these in the form of a zine or publication, contrasting the two different approaches.

Initial Ideas:
1. Typeset my essay into the format of a publication - play on objectivity and subjectivity in terms of typographic design. Should this focus on the whole essay or just specific sections and arguments that can be linked specifically and help to inspire design decisions in this body of practical work? How can images additionally be presented within this? How would they work around the type? Remember to make it playful.

2. Produce a publication using similar ideas and process to that of the idea above - instead of using my essay as the content, present information on various different artists and designers - Typeset the publication specifically for each individual page and spread in order to communicate ideas on the creative practices of the designers the information relates to. Add plenty of imagery. Where do these designers stand in terms of objectivity and subjectivity within design and their own creative practice? Convey this in the publication.

3. Use collaging methods relating to Jan Van Toorn's approach to design - layer text onto images using various styles and formats.

Contextual References:
David Carson - Ray Gun Magazine.
Chapter one, page one of The Great Expectations: 70 Graphic Solutions.
Look at designers referred to within my essay: Josef Muller-Brockmann, Wim Crouwel, Jan Van Toorn and Nieuwenhuizen.

OUGD501 - Brief Feedback

• The content of the publication does not necessarily have to be the debate on objectivity and subjectivity, but could potentially use my own essay as content/use plenty of images.
• Communicate objective and subjective elements in the publication's design - refer back to the conclusion of the essay, find a middle point between objectivity and subjectivity to show how they can work hand-in-hand.
• Creative Review.
• Typesetting - look at Page One: Great Expectations: Seventy Graphic Solutions as to how the publication could be typeset based on ideas and principles communicated in the debate of Crouwel and Van Toorn, and my own context of practice essay.

OUGD501 - Writing a Brief

Context of practice 2: Practical brief template

Name

Megan Keighley.

Brief title

- A Designer’s Guide to The Debate: The Legendary Contest of Two Giants of Graphic Design OR - Needle and Thread.

Brief (outline the general aims of the project)

- To produce a body of practical work which aims to compare the use of objective and subjective methods of graphic design and how well they communicate an intended message. - Inspired by David Carson’s Ray Gun Magazine, analysed within the essay, produce a zine which contrasts objective and subjective methods of design. - Aim to communicate the debate on objectivity and subjectivity by Wim Crouwel and Jan Van Toorn. - Design the zine and communicate their individual arguments based on the arguments themselves, for instance use objective layouts and methods for Crouwel’s arguments, subjective ones for Van Toorn’s arguments, make and break the grid, etc. (A Designer’s Guide to The Debate: The Legendary Contest of Two Giants of Graphic Design).

Background / considerations

- Constantly consider and refer back to the initial research question to ensure this and the presented arguments are being communicated through the practical work. - Consider counter-arguments presented by Wim Crouwel and Jan Van Toorn through their debate and how these would also be communicated – the intention of the practical work is to support the initial research question and conclusion, try not to critique this too much – aim to show that design does not have to be purely objective to be functional and that objectivity and subjectivity work hand-in-hand. - ‘Good design is a thorough merging of form and function’, (Kaufmann, date unknown) ‘Idea and form are the needle and thread, and I have never heard of a guild of tailors that recommend the use of thread without the needle, or the needle without the thread. Good design satisfies both idea and form, the needle and the thread’ (Rand, 1987). - (Needle and Thread).

Deliverables

- A significant body of research, documented through blog posts. - Ideas generation and prototypes. - A finished outcome in the form of a zine, communicating the intended message and research question. - 5 – 6 design boards documenting the process.

Mandatory requirements (essential requirements that must be followed)

- Must be related and respond to the research question (does design, in particular, layout and type design, have to be objective to be functional?). - Must demonstrate you are able to make sense of and use theoretical research in the development of graphic design work. - Must be embedded within some kind of graphic design practice (type and layout design, objectivity vs. subjectivity). - Must demonstrate design process – brief analysis – research (visual, contextual, theoretical) – ideas generation – ideas development – prototypes – further developments – outcomes. - Develop contextual and critical awareness in the development of graphic design work/practice – demonstrate your process, criticality and creatively.

Research: references to reading (essay)

- The Debate: The Legendary Contest of Two Giants of Graphic Design by Wim Crouwel and Jan Van Toorn. - Ray Gun Magazine by David Carson. - Kaufmann and Paul Rand, 1987, analogy of form and function as needle and thread. ‘Good design satisfies both the idea and form, the needle and the thread’.