During the breifing with the final year students, we established that there would be aprox. 25 students, with around 4 pieces of work to showcase, plus a small amount of text. After looking at exisiting book binding examples, the students voiced that they would like the kettle stitch binding to be exposed on the spine, with no hardback cover; each student would also like to have their own signtaure, so that it feels almost like a 'book within a book'. As for materials, I provided a GF Smith sample book, and we chose Gmund Action paper in Electric Blood.Following the meeting, I established a draft design, so that we had a PDF that could be supplied to both the paper [GF Smith] and the print company [Hill and Garwood]. As the design would need to be very minimal in order to showcase the photographic images, I decided that the communication and 'design' of the catalogue would be through the final production and the typography. I decided to use Bureau Grotesque for the headers, as I wanted something quite bold and to emulate the effect of organic, letterpressed type. For the body, I needed something readable, as the final catalogue size would be A6 (1. to keep down costs and 2. an A6 catalogue is nice and pocket sized plus it would have more of a thicker feel in relation to the overall size), then it would mean the pt size would have to be fairly small. I chose Avenir Book, as the humanist sans-serif font is contemporary (to contrast the heading type) and is also clear at any pt size. Avenir Bold and Italics have been used for creating a hierachy within the body text.
As each student would like their own siganture, I opted for a 4pp binding with the exposed stitching, so that each student would commence on the verso and end on the recto, with a spread in the centre. There would be a 'title page' for each student, showcasing one of their images and their name, while the spread houses the Project Title, body text and also the photographers website. Opposite that would be some more images, and once again on the 'back'. The design would repeat this way for each student, with the exception of one student. There was one project which did not follow this format, as the photographs are overlayed with text and are horizontal - I was advised that they did not want any images to be rotated. Due to this, it means the images would be printed smaller than A7, rendering the text too small to read. As a solution to this, I am playing with the option of having a fold out page, so that the images can be full bleed on an a6 spread fold out, or across the middle page. The result depends on the budget and quote from the print and paper company, as we are requesting a run of over 700 copies.
For the paper stock, as the main focus of the catalogue is the photography, I opted for coated paper as I wanted a silk finish. Gloss would have reflected too much light and would interfier with the readbility of the text and also the full view of the images, while uncoated paper would have made the images less vibrant and would read differently to the photographer's intentions. As we are hoping to have GF Smith sponsor the catalogue, I was limited for paper options. The closest stock to what I was looking for was PhoeniXmotion, so I have selected this for the internal paper, in the colour Xanur as I didn't want a bright white. I wanted to look of the paper to be more subtle and not so blinding. For the cover, I have requested a quote for Gmund Bier Wiezer and Chevreau Cult. I wanted something with some texture and an uncoated feel to juxtapose the internal design and to complement the industrial feel of the exposed stitching. Keeping the cover sleek, the Disembark logo that I designed will be debossed on the cover, with a clear foil to emphasise texture and rawness with a sleek and elegant finish.
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| Gmund Bier Wiezen |
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| Chevreau Cult |
