HTML, Dreamweaver, Photoshop & InDesign

I used your course fees to enroll each of you at lynda.com for 30 days. I hope you take advantage of the following movie tutorials:

• Dreamweaver CS3 Essential Training


• HTML Essential Training


• Photoshop CS3 for the Web Essential Training


• InDesign CS3 Beyond the Basics


• InDesign CS3 Professional Typography

Reading Assignment No. 3/Blog Assignment No. 6

Reading Assignment No. 3
Publication Design Workbook, pp 64–65
Publication Design Workbook, pp 182–191
Creative Characters
Rising Stars
In Your Face
Fontshop Newsletter Archive
Emigre News

Blog Assignment No. 6
Compare and contrast the examples of printed newsletters in Publication Design Workbook to the email/HTML newsletters above:

• What similarities do the different formats share? What visual clues indicate the serial nature of the publications?


• What are the major differences? How does the format limit the presentation of the content?


• Of the printed newsletters shown in PDW, which layouts do you think would readily translate into an email newsletter? Why?


• Fontshop and Emigre publish digital newsletters as well as more traditional printed newsletter style promotions? Why?

Perfect binding

Though the project handout specifies a saddle-stitch binding for the magazine, you are welcome to experiment with perfect binding. Keep in mind that craft is a significant part of the grade.

More magazine design

An extensive, informative and insightful description of the redesign of The Atlantic, by Michael Beirut and his team at Pentagram.

Advertisements

I've been asked a number of times now about the inclusion of advertisements in your magazine designs. I am not opposed to them. They can lend your finished project a sense of authenticity. However, I am more interested in you concentrating your efforts on the assigned magazine elements first.

Magazine layout research exercise

Pick up a recent (within the last 12 months) copy of Wired magazine, or even better, head to the library to compare multiple issues. Each one is a master class in typography and page layout. Examine the typographic variety and marvel at the skill with which the designers combine typefaces – in one issue I counted eight distinct typefaces used on one spread, and it looks effortless.

Study the Contents, Departments and Feature Articles. How many grid variations can you find in one issue? If you lay the various grids over one another, how do they relate? Are all of the columns the same width and depth, do they start and end in the same place? Why, or why not?

If you buy your own copy, take it apart. If you go to the library, take tracing paper and lay it over the pages. Using the text provided for your issue of Baseline, reconstruct the grid of a Wired feature article that has at least 3 pages of text. Print it in black and white and bring it to class on Monday.

Blog Assignment No. 5

Research a magazine designer or art director that was active between 1930–1960 and post a short bio. In addition, discuss what made their work groundbreaking and influential. Include images of magazine covers or spreads.

Think about what Pentagram designer Luke Hayman said in the short interview we watched in class on Wednesday. He said, "I'm a big fan of copying, but not copying directly from your peer." Hayman encourages researching the design archives. He specifically mentions the internet, but what other design archives are available to you?

Magazine project: feature article

Click here to download the feature article to be used in your redesign of baseline.

As you read through the article, notice the typographic conventions used, specifically the quotations and punctuation. The magazine is published in the UK so it uses British conventions. In keeping with the tenet of designing appropriately for an audience, please use American typographic conventions and spellings (e.g. color, rather than colour) when typesetting the article.

REFERENCES:
James Felici, The Complete Manual of Typography, Peachpit Press, 2003
Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style, Hartley & Marks, 2002
Timothy Samara, Publication Design Workbook, Rockport, 2005

Project: magazine design

Click here to download a PDF copy of the magazine design project handout.

20 text faces

I mentioned this writer/designer/software developer during the first or second class (he developed the core of the content management system called textpattern). This link is a great resource discussing the pros and cons of 20 typefaces that were designed specifically for setting extended text (keep in mind he is presenting educated opinions – highly educated, but still opionions): Twenty Faces.

Reading Assignment No. 2/ Blog Assignment No. 4

Reading Assignment No. 2
Publication Design Workbook, pp 33–48

Blog Assignment No. 4
Find a book that is the same format as the series you are designing, or very close (5 x 8; 6 x 9, etc.), and contains a similar style of content – a biography, for example. Tell us the title, author, publisher, publication date and ISBN. Analyze the typography and address the following questions in your blog post. Use images to illustrate your findings.

• Typeface/ What is the typeface and why do you think it was chosen? Is it appropriate? Refer to the Book Design project handout for a refresher on the issues that influence the selection of a typeface.


• Type size/ Using the scale on page 36 in Publication Design Workbook, give an educated estimate of the size of the type used.


• Interline space, or leading/ Looking at page 39 in Publication Design Workbook, which example most closely resembles the text setting of the book you are examining?


• Indent/ If the paragraphs are articulated using an indent, how deep does it appear to be? Is there a relationship to the size of the type or the leading?


• Line length/ How many words per line, on average? Is it comfortable to read?

Now, compare the book series you are designing. How do your design decisions compare?

Blog Assignment No. 3

Most of the examples we saw during your book series presentations used a single-column grid, also called a block or manuscript grid. Discuss at least 2 other kinds of grids, show visual samples and use vocabulary that describes the specific anatomical features that make up a grid.

Reading Assignment No. 1

Read through page 25 in Timothy Samara's Publication Design Workbook. Discussion and quiz on Monday, September 15.

Textbook

Remember to bring the required textbook to class on Monday, September 8.

Blog Assignment No. 2

1. Comment on 3 of your classmates' blogs. In each comment discuss one aspect of the design that is successful, and then offer constructive criticism in an area that shows room for improvement.


2. Select a book (any genre) whose format appeals to you. Tell us, your faithful readers, what the format of the book is, post a picture of the cover, and hyperlink the image to where we can purchase the book online, because we will surely run right out and do so.

Book design: format specifications

For this assignment, the publisher of the 4 books in your series (yep, I'm specifying the same format and same publisher for all of you) will be Princeton Architectural Press. The format of the books will be 5 inches wide by 8 inches tall (portrait orientation). For the PDF you will show front cover, back cover and include a 0.375 inch (width) spine.

Project: book design

Click here to download a PDF copy of the book design project handout.

Blog Assignment No. 1

Using Blogger (a hosted software package), set up a blog specific to the purposes of this class. Your blog should follow these parameters:

• Use the default layout template, called Minima


• Add the My Blog List gadget


• Create a 660 pixel wide by 100 pixel tall graphic header and apply it in place of the default text header. The header at the top of this blog is a visual example of the specified dimensions.

Once your blog is set up
Write a post in which you define publication design. Add a link in your post to a well-designed text based (e.g. not Flickr or YouTube) publication. Discuss and defend your opinion. Why do you think the publication is an example of good design?

Experiment with the default post settings. Change the colors of the headers, body text, the styling of the comments. Try changing the fonts. Consider the relationship of the fonts, colors and layout to the graphic header you have created.

Send me an email with a link to your new blog. I will compile a list of links and send a group email to the class. You will add each classmates blog to your My Blog List.

Content Overview

This class is concerned with publication design. Readings, discussions, exercises and projects will examine the history, terminology and technology related to publication design, typography and visual communication.

Course Objectives
Click here to download a PDF copy of the syllabus.

Upon successful completion of this course a student will be able to demonstrate:

• Knowledge of the historical development and contemporary issues of publication design


• Comprehension of typographic/publication/visual communication terminology


• Application of technology related to typography, publication design and visual communication


• Synthesis of visual skills


• Critical evaluation of composition for the purpose of communication

Required Text
Please bring with you to class on September 8, 2008
Publication Design Workbook
by Timothy Samara