Future of Publishing

Publication Design

See previous post “Alternative Publishing Methodology” [link]

Graphic Expression of Internment

MFA Thesis

Three Photo Albums From
The United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum

PREFACE

Graphic Expression of Internment refers to the specific representation of shared graphic art and artifacts of the Holocaust. The graphic nature of the three photo albums/scrapbooks addresses the planned or articulated language of design. The design process connotes editorial decisions made in the process of articulated planning in their planning and creation. By definition, graphic design is an art or profession of visual communication that skillfully combines images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience. Graphic design can also be a form of personal expression that reflects the attitudes of the community for which the work is intended. This collection looks at the expressive nature of design in its ability to structure content, creating a greater inclusive narrative. Unlike a stack of collected photographs and album presumes a continued theme or progression. Un affected photo albums have no notation of content; there exists no context that identifies cohesiveness themes of known categories for inclusion. Often photo albums are a chronological placement of people, places, and events placed in rhythmical sequence directly ordered according to the prescribed time-line. Photo albums may contain prescribed descriptions, or identify people, places, and dates.

MFA thesis, circa 2008, Graphic Expression of Internment (cover)

Graphic Expression of Internment (title page)

Photo albums or scrapbooks have a different agenda. The photo albums in this collection have specific purpose and intent—to document and preserve the experience of place through the extended narrative of applied design. Organized albums imply careful attention to drawn similarities and the process of editing is crucial. The focused attention connotes a cohesive selection. One can imagine a vast subjective material, the critical methodology used for selection, or negation, delivers a finished cohesive album. The specific graphic attention expresses common visual themes such as documentation, preservation, dedication, and memorial; reinforced by the medium itself.

“To a family with a golden heart.
They’re gone but the memory stays.”

This book is dedicated to the creators of theses photo albums and their extended families in remembrance, Mrs. Trude Friedler, Mrs. Phyllis Prosaw, and Mrs. Mimi Peckham.

May their memory never fade.

There were many forms of designed objects and ephemera. Items created in harshly restrictive environments have different visual characteristics than objects in comparatively relaxed situations. The graphic works created in Jewish ghettos for example have a feeling of immediacy about them. I am repeatedly drawn to graphic works created by Jews during the Holocaust. Common forms of graphic communication include: maps, signage, camp insignias, newspapers and periodical, and documents of many forms. In rare instances, Jewish designers worked for the resistance creating forged Nazi documents for the direct survival of individuals. It is hard to imagine design to be so active in such a dire state of existence. Design commonly reflects cultural and social development, so to does design aptly capture the visual aesthetics of life in internment. These albums do not present us with ‘graphic’ images of death and destruction, pain and suffering, or darkness one typically associates with the Holocaust. The graphic attitudes in these three albums celebrate optimistic rehabilitation.

FRIEDLER | PROSAW | PECKHAM

There has been previous research offered of artwork created amidst the Holocaust, often focusing on children’s artwork, or clandestine subjective representation of experience and observations. Rarely historical research looks to analyze ‘designed’ artifacts from the Holocaust. My intentions are to illuminate and highlight such works, and to place them in the history of graphic design as important contributions to the expressive history of the medium. The objective nature of design better justly suits strict documentation of the Holocaust. However, the deeply personal experience of the Holocaust embeds the personality and circumstances of the individual and the collective experience of the community.

Graphic Expression of Internment Web Archive, MICA_GDMFA, circa 2008 [link]
USHMM [link]

Dwell Magazine Article Archive

DES220 — Introduction to 2–D Digital Imaging

InDesign

Project Three

DESCRIPTION —

Objectives:

• To develop an understanding and be able to utilize the tools of Adobe InDesign.
• To explore design, creativity and composition by composing a 4-page magazine spread.

Fig. 01 — Dwell Magazine cover design sample

 Fig. 02 — Dwell Magazine back cover design sample

Assignment:
Redesign a Dwell Magazine Article, which can be found here – www.dwell.com

• Design a Four page magazine style spread using Adobe InDesign. Choose an article from the archived magazines that they have listed.
• Many of the articles come with a slide show, in which you must use the images for your design spread. Choose an article that has at least several paragraphs in it so that you have some text in which to work with. Choose a slide show with a minimum of seven (7) images
• The magazine page size is (8.5” x 11.0”). Feel free to use a physical Dwell Magazine (glossies) as a sample and inspiration for your layouts. Copy and paste text and images from Dwell.com, adding them in to your project file and place them into InDesign. You will need to develop, create, and upload a four page magazine spread in PDF format to the dropbox.
• The specifics: layout needs to include a minimum of 6 images to relate to the idea you are presenting, and at least 5 bodies of text, titles, and/ or other text based information of various size fonts. You may need to use Adobe Illustrator, and/or Adobe Photoshop along with the skills you developed on the previous two projects, for all of your imagery.

Dwell Magaizne Article, multi-page publication [PDF File]

Your Final spread needs to have:

• Minimum 6 images for the layout.
• Text overlapping an image or object,
• Text around an object or image.
• Utilize a grid and columns within the spread.
• Sidebar
• Call-outs

Optional:

• Cut-out
• Opacity
• Folio headers

Fig. 03 — Dwell Magazine article Double page design sample

Design Development:

• Two (2) different sketched solutions for the 4 page layouts. Meet with instructor to choose the best idea.
• Spreads need to utilize appropriate imagery that is bitmapped and/or vector based.
• Use text from an article at Dwell.com for the article.
• Pages do not need to be numbered.

Collaborative Publication

We Make Adventures With What’s Called Choice

By UWS Fall Publication Design

Available at blurb.com [link]

This collaborative book was created by a Publication Design class at UW–Stout. The predominate theme of the book is a collected data set. The content is collected through a Q & A format. The group determined a series of fifteen questions based on general categories of interest. A sixteenth question, based on Occupy Wallstreet and The Other 99%, was uniformly asked through social media sites. Each student authored their own series of questions in order to obtain a unique set of responses and given sixteen pages to expressively present their research in whatever aesthetic they determined as appropriate. The title of the book, We Make Adventure With What’s Called Choice, was concocted by combining words from a collection of favorite quotations gleaned from the collection of responses.

Book Design

We Make Adventure With What’s Called Choice

Cover design by Susie Lepro

••• —  — — ••• — — — •••

Project Description

by John P. Corrigan

Publications are inherently collaborative. The working relationship between contributors can vary. Traditional book and magazine design separates authors creating content, and production artists, translating the ideas of others into a visual form. Contemporary book and magazine publications encourage artists and designers to author meaningful and expressive content beyond the idea of a “published” monograph. Today, many designers are initiating their own projects, wielding their visual skills and knowledge of the publishing industry to become their own producers. The designer as publisher is in a unique position to unify text, imagery, layout, and final production into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

As an educator and teacher of design, my pedagogy dynamically integrates the creation of books and collaborative projects among students. Collaborative books require each student to act responsibly, creating content that is both social and interactive. The creative act of making a book becomes a physical archive to the learning process. Graphic design is bound to the written word. Strong language and narrative skills allow for a better understanding of hierarchy, structuring content in an appropriate and meaningful context for an intended audience. Books demand the rigor of aesthetics, editing skills and production considerations—the book itself becomes a reflective didactic.

This book project was loosely designed and reflective to the needs of its participating students. As the faculty adviser to this project it was my intention to fully allow, and openly encourage, the students to define and structure the books parameters. As a group the students determined the subject, established the ‘rules’ of engagement, outlined the structure, defined the creative parameters, and maintained its aesthetic voice. Each student was allowed the freedom to work independently within his or her designated pages. As the thematic content shifted, each author/designer respectfully reacted to the needs of the group and overall integrity of the book.

A predominate theme of the book is a collected data set. The content is collected through a Q & A format. The group determined a series of fifteen questions based on general categories of interest. A sixteenth question, based on Occupy Wallstreet and The Other 99%, was uniformly asked through social media sites. Each student authored their own series of questions in order to obtain a unique set of responses and given sixteen pages to expressively present their research in whatever aesthetic they determined as appropriate. The title of the book, We Make Adventure With What’s Called Choice, was concocted by combining words from a collection of favorite quotations gleaned from the collection of responses.

The student’s dissemination of this project has produced a richly diverse book. It is both reflective and personal. Each of the authors varied interpretations present a diverse and varied cultural snapshot. Each collaborator presents a critical exploration of personal connectedness.

••• —  — — ••• — — — •••

Collaborative Book Design
BFA Graphic Design Studio
Fall 2011 Publication Design
DES 386 001_Cat.#1936

Faculty Advisor
John P. Corrigan

Proof Readers
Susie Repro
Caitlin Teague

Cover Design
Susie Repro

Title & Half–Title
Caitlin Teague

Copyright & Contents
Lou Vang

Biography Page
Micayla Sipe

Illustration and Design
Jennifer Hackett, Timothy Hirschey, Susan Lepro, Hailee Mierow, Ashley Moncrief, Leah Monson, Mackenzie Owens, Micayla Sipe, Caitlin Teague, Daniel Thiede, Lou Vang