almost done.

i added the page all about minimalism explaining what it is and where it originated. Using photoshop to edit the images to black and white to fit in with the rest of the book.

what is print, issu

A book of what i consider being the top 10 things to consider when preparing for print. 
Before starting the book i had to decide what i considered was actually the most important things to consider being important when printing to make sure you get the perfect print. 
The 10 i decided to include where;
-what are you printing - knowing what your print is and who it is for before sending to print to help you decide which print method would be better suited.
-preparing for print - making sure your document is correctly set up before sending to print
-colour modes - making sure you are aware of colour modes and which colour mode you should be working in.
-stock - knowing your stock and which would work best for your design
-imposition - to help when printing a publication.
-pantones - using pantone swatches to help achieve the perfect print.
-types of print - showing a few of the printing methods and how they work to help you decide which would be best for you
-finishing - consider the finishing on your print to really make your design stand out.
-binding - which binding method would be best suited for print when designing a publication
- cost - the most important factor when designing for print, finding the cheapest yet best suited print method for what you wish to design.


I then began creating the layout for the book, here is the grid i used throughout the book, to try and keep a similar style and layout running through each page.

With the design and layout of the book i wanted to continue running with a minimal style to fit in with my other work with this module, using minimalist compositions and layout within the editorial, however sometimes this was quite difficult with the small size of the book and the amount of information we had to include. I designed the layout for each page before including any information to help try and keep a running style throughout the book. I used just 2 colours within the design to kind of help keep the minimalist style, also using cyan to keep it print related 'uknowatimean.'

I then began adding the content, coming from the research i have conducted throughout the brief, summarized the information into the key most important parts.
finished book.

Open publication - Free publishing - More no

Open publication - Free publishing - More how to print

bad bad bad

basically the illustrator file with all the typography development and page compositions just got deleted.
it was pretty much the file ive had open for the whole project, with about 40 artboards which i used to build up the designs for the whole book, with pretty much every design for within the book mocked up and developed.
the file was overwritten by saving a different file as the same name and when it asked if i wanted to replace it i foolishly said YES.
erm.. i know theirs probably nothing that can be done about this but ill speak to fred or lorenzo in the morning about it.

this isnt a lie btw, as i have several screen shots from this file already uploaded onto this blog.

so yeh pretty annoyed that ive just lost allot of work, well not really because allot of the designs and typography are actually in the book, but still the designs that didnt make the book and the development.

spot vanishing by hand.

One of the other students in the class thought of this clever way of doing some vanishing, using clear varnish nail polish and hand painting the design which you wanted to spot vanish so i thought id give it a go.

I started by trying to cut out a stencil from acetate and running over that with nail polish however the polish just seeped between the gaps in the stencil and just left a like a blog, i couldnt really get decept photographs of this where it showed the light from the varnish but you kind of get the idea.

so i then tried to do it free hand, drawing out the design with the nail polish brush however the outcome of this didnt really work as well as i'd hoped, looked messy with the lines not being as neat as id hoped or anything. Still worth having a try though.

foil printing.

One of the other students on the course had sussed out a way of how to foil block at home, well atleast get a similar effect within their work so i thought id have a go.

here are a few mock up designs which i though might look nice foil printed before settling on the hexagon style.

The process was simple, you just run a print through the lazer printers and wherever their is ink you place the foil ontop and when heat is applied the foil transferes onto the ink, i tried this a few times and ended up getting some really interesting results.

embossing

An idea i had from the start was to have to cover of the book embossed into the cover, just to add something a little different to my outcome to really make it stand out from others.

So i decided to experiment with the embossing to see how it would look within my design.

I created a template in illustrator for cutting out the design into thick card and began drawing it up.

cutting out the card took ages, trying to get it as neat as possible and absolutely perfect. however even though it took me all day i had the cut out ready for embossing which i thought would work quite well.

Experimented with different stocks and with embossment and debossment to see what would work best for my outcome. I did get some quite nice outcomes however the template itself was no where near neat enough to get a perfect print into the stocks, they all just looked messy with the lines not cut out %100 perfectly, also using card was fine but after running it through the press a couple of times it became flat and no good. Next time i will have to use the lazer cutter to cut out my template neater and into wood to get a perfect emboss.

testing stocks.

before printing my book i thought it would be best to test out some stocks to see which would work best with the colour theme running through the book, and which stock would hold the ink best when printing.

sugar paper

pear grey

black card

newsprint

antique white

light sandpaper

water paper.

I really liked the colour of the antique white and newprint, both similar colours, liked the way it worked with the black ink, also took the ink from the paper very well very crisp print, however even though the newsprint is cheaper the antique white would be the better stock because it is slightly thicker thus would be more durable within a book.

The water paper was the worst, it didnt seem to take the ink from the at all well, came out with a blotchy print.