THIS WEEK

TUES April 16.
Complete Practice 7 and Concert Poster (A7) in class

THU April 18

.Due . Quiz 4 will be taken in Class; A#7 Final Concert Poster due FOR CRITIQUE start of class; P7 Page Layout Tutorial must be completed before class today.

.Plus.Bring a Magazine to class to work with for A#8

Assignment #7

Concert Poster 

10 points

Objective: While this project is a design assignment, you may use any Adobe Creative Suite software or combinations thereof to produce it, as long as the final art is “press ready” as both an InDesign and a PDF print document when completed. (Final size should be no smaller than 14 x 17 in.)

Poster by Alex Wexler

You will design a concert (or other event) poster including relevant details about the event. The artwork may be original or “borrowed and enhanced” but the overall design, typography,and layout must be yours alone. Pay particular attention to creative typography—I’ll be looking for unique type treatment or other creative graphic design elements.

This assignment is meant to be a showcase of what you’ve learned about unity, composition, and impact this semester—so show off a little. If Illustrator is your best medium, then design part of your work in Illustrator, for instance.

When you have accomplished the overall layout and the individual design components, you may need to consult with me in class to receive instructions for how the final files would be prepared for press from InDesign as a print-ready PDF. (This includes bleeds, crop and registration marks, color bars, and art and fonts packaged into the ID file.)

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT USING BLEEDS: When you bleed a photo or any color background or art to the edge of your document, you need to allow your printer one pica to one-quarter inch of bleed that extends off the page. What this means is that the printer is going to cut away that much of your content wherever you indicate a bleed. So keep this in mind when designing! Have a 1/4" of content on any side of your art (or display type) you want to bleed that you don't mind losing. (As a rule of thumb, leave yourself choices when working in Photoshop or Illustrator; get in the habit of leaving extra content around the image edges so you can crop or bleed effectively in InDesign.) Start your new document in InDesign with the bleed included before importing the art (set the bleed to.25 in or 1p0). In InDesign, your page edge is the black line, the red line is the printers' bleed (the blue or purple line is the frame around the "active area" indicating where you set your margins). Anything between the red and black lines will be trimmed away. (Bleeds give the printer's trimming apparatus room for error so ugly white paper doesn't show at the edge if the trimmer should slip up.)

When Finished: Export the finished poster as a print-ready document in PDF format and email it to me, keeping the final ID file in your drop folder on Server 8. Package (see the ID "file" menu commands) your fonts and images into a folder you keep in your drop folder for my access. (A written component is not required with this assignment, but your email should describe to me the group or event you’ve designed your poster for.)

Evaluation Criteria: (each objective is worth 1.00 point)

• Sophistication/Professionialism of Presentation
• Overall Composition Choices/Unity
• Balance/Eye Path/Use of Negative Space
• Complexity of Work/Demonstration of Design Skills/Meets Assignment
• Effectiveness of Typography
• Attention to Detail/Finesse
• Use of Color
• Theme/Communication of message
• Creativity
• Showcases software skill learned over semester 

Resources:

• Thoughts on Poster Design
• Poster Examples
• Gestalt Concerns

Assignment #8

Magazine Spread  

(10 points)

Before you begin this assignment it is important that you have read the assigned readings in the online Adobe Manual: grids and guide lines and creating pages and spreads

Layout by Adjiah Daley

Objective: In this assignment you will carefully examine how a print magazine (that you choose) is laid out and how the pages hold style continuity within a particular grid system (as explained in class). You will then replicate one double-page spread (2 facing pages) from a feature article as a full-size mock-up in InDesign, using the same grid-system. You are copying the layout but introducing your own subject matter, art or photos (which may be borrowed from the Internet), and display text choices to give it your own "signature."

Preliminary: To begin this project start by watching the video on Magazine design found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cu5FuAdOVY&feature=related

. Next, bring to class a magazine of your choice to work with, along with a ruler, pencil, a few pieces of tracing paper, and your sketchbook. 

Step 1. Measure and Create an Accurate Style Sheet. Examine your chosen magazine for its page-to-page, article-to-article continuity. Find the imaginary rule lines (psychic wire) used by the art director to create the design grid. Note the consistencies--what repeats--and the small variations that seem to be within an acceptable range. Take notes and make a visual guide as you study the publication, writing notes and column/gutter measurements directly on the pages of your magazine or a piece of tracing paper. You will be turning in the original magazine spread plus your notes and/or sketches with your final InDesign document. (Note, if you turn in this assignment AFTER the last day of class, you MUST scan your notes and visual guides and send them along in the email!)

After examining the magazine for recurring fonts and other repeating stylistic choices, fill out the Style Sheet provided below. The Style Sheet is intended to guide you through the process of  notating such details as page size, folio location, column widths, typographic and stylistic continuity, use of horizontal anchor-lines (weight lines), etc.--all things that make up a publication's unique "look." 

In summary, you are to write down your observations as you go, take notes, sketch your ideas, and attempt to understand the "science" behind your chosen publication's continuity and layout. On the final project you will be evaluated on your attention to detail for things such as point size and style of body text and accurate measurements throughout (alley widths, common headline sizes, and consistent artistic styles--such as BW vs. color photo vs. illustration, etc.). 

• You can DOWNLOAD the Style Sheet guidelines HERE 
  

Step 2.  Create a facing-page template a Skeleton Frame of an existing feature article. Once the style sheet is completed, find an example of a typical feature article in your magazine with a 2-page opening spread. (Note that recurring departmental or column articles are a different animal from the feature article and are inappropriate for this assignment! Choose wisely.) Set column widths, margins, anchor guidelines etc. as they will appear in InDesign while adhering PRECISELY to your publication's measurements. 

Produce a visual map or preliminary "skeleton" replicating the grid of your chosen article in InDesign with margins and column accuracy and with frames but without any text or art included--just the geometric shapes. 

Step 4. Plan/Think Gather your art, choose your display fonts, and get ready to follow the layout as you interpret it. Your layout needs to include effective typography with important elements like pull quotes, teasers, subheads, captions, and anything else that might appear on a “real” page of the magazine, so get these written. Select any photos you wish to use at an appropriate resolution (240 to 300dpi for print). This is also a good time to search out interesting fonts to use as your display text and sketch some details in thumbnail. Use negative space efficiently and don’t clutter your layout. ALWAYS pay attention to readability, focal points, eye path, and other effective magazine design rules.

Step 5. Create the final mock-up InDesign Document. Your final layout should look like a published article (pictures/text/and all). Use any old text as a placemarker for body copy in your mock-up. You can use the Placeholder Text command found in the InDesign Menu by choosing Type>Fill with Placeholder Text (this is the gobbledygook designers use called “greeking”).

Step 6. Export the finished article as a print-ready document in PDF format and email it to me. First, package (see the ID "file" menu commands) your fonts and images into a folder you keep for yourself. When exporting to PDF (for print) include all printers’ marks (IN THE EXPORT DIALOGUE BOX that appears after "save" choose the command "MARKS and BLEEDS"). This final InDesign file is the finished mock-up (it does not have to be prepared for lithographic printing with color separations but should look as professional as any page in the magazine would and be ready for a printer to understand and take it from here.)

Evaluation Criteria: The finished assignment will show an understanding of page continuity, magazine design traditions, effective typography, and readability, accurate translation of an existing design grid, and effective use of repetition and rhythm. You will be evaluated on how well your article looks like it came out of the same publication as the one you are "duplicating"--but also for your creative ability to put your own unique signature on it, with attention to focal interest, and evidence of effective planning with accurately measured detail.

Email the final PDF doc to me. In addition, turn in all evidence of “pre-production” to me or your grade will suffer severely. (Obviously, in order to create a professional-looking spread you must first have determined the “rules” of layout for the magazine you’ve chosen and followed the directions above.) The final project should look like a published article (pictures/text/and all) and needs to include:

• the final mock-up exported to pdf, printer-ready with all printer mark/emailed to me
• any lists, notes,and thumbnails you've made 
• the completed Style Sheet (provided at the link above)
• a copy of the original magazine layout (the pages you were imitating) with your measurements and notes (or, a visual sketch/parchment tracing of the original article with accurate measurements written in the margins
• a brief note in your final email providing any details about the publication you feel are pertinent to your evaluation

USEFUL TIP: To identify typefaces, your Mac contains a simple tool for viewing all the fonts on your PC--entire alphabet and numbers--in a utility called Font Book/or, check out 
http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/

Other Resources for Asmt. 8: 

Powerpoint from Class (w/Examples)

Blank Magazine Style Sheet
Magazine Tutorial at NET.TUTs
The Official UM Style Guide
Sample Student "A" Style Sheet
Setting up InDesign Pro Style Sheets 
Rule of Thirds Structure
Setting up margins and columns...
What the heck do these link notices mean? 
The many ways to resize images
How do I wrap text around images?g with justified type:

• Video 1
• Video 2
• Video 3

Magazine Tutorial
Step-Thru Tutorial
Create Your Grid & Guides
Working w/Text & Images
Step by Step Doc Creation
Creating a Sample Spread 
The Future(?) of Magazine Design