Introduction
During my final week, I compiled the book which allowed me to harness my art direction, design, editing and curation skills. Aesthetically, I took inspiration from the Barbie: The World Tour coffee table book, similarly to work we have done in Introduction to Fashion Media, Brand Identity & Design and Fashion Journalism. This week, I extended my learning in layout, composition, type, imagery, photo editing and using a flat plan; as I would do in an editorial environment working for a magazine.
Independent Study
Compiling the Book
After my amendments were installed by the proofreader on Google Docs, I chose to compile my book on InDesign as this is industry-standard. Based on the measurements of the Barbie: The World Tour coffee table book (245mm by 330mm), I followed this for my own publication, as I feel the imagery and text need to be seen at a larger scale, as a luxury coffee table book. I included margins of 12.7mm on the top, bottom, inside and outside. As well as a 3mm bleed for printing.
Brand Identity
(Mukamal & Robbie, 2024)
I want my book to emulate luxury, aspiration but also have a youthful, fun element through its branding. While designing my cover, I forgot to design the back cover, which was later inspired by the book in the compilation process.To ensure consistency within the publication, I decided on the following elements. I tried to follow the brand guidelines closely to the Barbie: The World Tour publication, where different sized fonts are used in a black and white colour-scheme, a classic serif font is used to emulate luxury, and the book is image-based with a hand-written font used for these particular segments.
Didot font in capitals for titles with small kerning as this is the font used by the Met and Vogue. As this is a proposed publication for these companies, it is vital to follow their house style.
Bodoni 72 Book for Heads (Size 25) and Sells (Size 14), then for subheadings (Size 17) for an elegant feel.
Caveat Regular (Size 12) for image captions and references, for a handwritten youthful feel.
I will use black and white typography, depending on which is more visible with the background for a classic look.
For the lining of the book to match the front cover, I used an off-white colour colour-picked from the cover of the publication (C = 5, M = 4, Y = 8, K = 0).
For a consistent layout, I used the A-Parent feature to add page numbers and ensure heads and sell’s were in the same place consistently.
Example of Fonts Used
Designing a Logo
I designed a logo identifiable to The Met, that was unique to this specific Met Gala and can be amended year on year. I utilised my learning from the Brand Identity & Design module to formulate a logo and create consistent brand identity. I capitalised the Didot font and made the kerning as small as possible so all the letters were attached, to create a more unified look.
Curating the Book Using the Flat Plan
I came back and used the flat plan to plan exactly which content would go where, which saved a lot of time figuring out what would go where and made the process efficient and smooth sailing. Here, I have used my organisational, methodical and pre-planning skills which has aided me further down the line in my IFP.
The highlights show what work hasbeen uploaded to the InDesign from Google Docs:
Reflecting on Encountered Problems
I underestimated how long it would take to individually alter my images on PhotoShop to CMYK and 300 DPI as this is the best platform to convert images for printing purposes which caused me to worry about finishing the project. In order to do this, I had to persevere and adapt to unforeseen circumstances as I didn’t anticipate it to take as long as it did. Thankfully, by following my schedule so far, I have allocated the entire week for curating and putting together the book, so I have enough time to hand select imagery and ensure they have the correct properties for printing. Additionally, after making my previous Images Catalogue, I was able to shop there for pre-referenced imagery and add it to my document and a separate reference list for used imagery quickly. This pre-planning made the process a lot smoother, meaning I only had to amend image properties; not reference at the same time too. This shows my time management and organisational skills furthermore. In future, I will use image catalogues again to minimise workload when compiling a publication.
Finalised Book
3rd 1-2-1 with Hannah
In order to prepare for the final week, I prepared some questions to ask Hannah during our 1-2-1 tutorial.
I asked her to read and give feedback on my 2 written features (A Psychological Angle on The Legacy of the Met Gala & The Garden of Time: The Met Gala’s Response to the Inevitable) as it felt there was overlap and was unsure on whether or not to combine the two features to make one large piece. She advised there were definitely two features there, so I took her feedback as an editor with critical thinking.
I also hadn’t heard back from various professional contributors which was a cause of concern as I felt I didn’t have enough sources. She advised me to reach out to people like Paul Tierny, Alexander Ron and Terry Newman. However, since the call I had heard back from my wanted candidates meaning I had a plethora of professional sources so I stopped doing outreach, as the turnover would be too fast to amend my work accordingly.
During Week 10, my objective is to produce assignment 3 (the presentation). However, I was confused as to how to present this as my IFP is effectively a written portfolio and I didn’t want to only read during the presentation. Hannah suggested I link my reasoning for the IFP back to my IRP with critical commentary.
Hannah suggested I use a website called Issuu to create a digital flip through of my portfolio, which can be showcased during my presentation for visual proof.
Creating a Digital Version of the Publication
To create a digital version of my book, I used Issuu to convert my PDF which can later be used in my presentation. Despite this looking great, you need to pay to export this feature. Additionally, the images loading individually during the presentation would not look professional so I have opted to avoid using this during my presentation and use my prior video.
Key Takeaways
Using brand guidelines can be beneficial for creating a consistent brand identity and house style and can translate a tone-of-voice without the written word.
Flat-planning is an effective way to plan large bodies of work like books (as mine is 200 pages).
I have organised my time effectively through pre-referencing my images in the image catalogue, meaning when changing printing properties of imagery to CMYK and 300 DPI took longer than expected, I didn’t have to worry about referencing imagery too.
Next Week
Next week is the final opportunity to work on my IFP. I must focus on completing assignment 3 and prepare/rehearse for the upcoming oral presentation.
Reference List
Mukamal, A. & Robbie, M. (2024). Barbie: The World Tour. New York: Rizzoli International Publications.
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