a mushtaq: Publication

Here are my initial thoughts and responses (in red) to the feedback from the final crit (18/5/12) on the publication.

1What is the publication trying to communicate?

Hitchcock's style and techniques. Background info on life, influencing films today.

This is interesting. I wanted my underlying inspirational message to be quite subtle, so people in all walks of life can enjoy it. An inspiring quote can be taken towards someones design practice, workplace or just overall approach to life. It's a little broad but as a fan of Hitchcock, I wanted to create a publication for film fans too. It could although, have been a little stronger if the inspirational message was a little clearer, especially on the intro first page. Definitely aair point which I'll take away from the crit.

Strengths

Saul Bass style looks good. Relevant to the era.

Visually pretty crazy, lots to see.

Cut out circle (Rear Window page)

Improvements

Press the book, flatten it with a weight

Make sure some current design styles are backed up with why you've used them

I'm happy with the fact that the viewers that the visuals are pretty crazy, this is pretty much the way I wanted the book to look. On the topic of backing up current styles with reasons, it would have been cool to maybe look more into the graphic designers of each period more. Such as Saul Bass, he must have had graphic designers collaborating with him for his early movies and later movies when Hitchcock and Saul were not collaborating. I didn't research into this and didn't include this into the book which is a shame. If I was to do this again or revisit the content, I would definitely look into this. I also didn't touch upon Bernard Herrman, the music composer who was instrumental in Hitchcock's work, especially the Psycho scene.

2. How is the format of the publication relevant to the content?

Strengths

Book - clearly laid out. Shows a direct visual journey.

Appropriate layout

Interactive - good visuals

Good use of type on front cover - simple. Manageable size publication

Improvements

Could have been a contents page - bit mixed up

I deliberately had certain aspects of the book mixed up such as the macguffins and cameos appearing randomly but a contents page definitely wouldn't have done any harm, just to give a heads up to the viewer of what to expect throughout the book and set the tone for the book straightaway. If I revisited the content I would look into a contents page. Could even make it a look like a film intro somehow, like intro film credits maybe.

3. Comment on the practical, conceptual and/or symbolic considerations of colour?

Strengths

- There is a link between the colours used and the films which helps section off the publications

It also makes it visually interesting and engaging, exciting almost.

Improvements

Sometimes when the text is smaller (especially the green on the read) it's hard to focus and read. Perhaps consider how the text relates to the background colour more.

The Alfred Hitchcock rope page is distracting with the yellow text behind it. Not legible (is it meant to be?)

I like that some readers thought it was interesting and engaging. This is good! It was my aim. The comment on the red and green being hard to read was kind of intentional. I was experimenting with juxtaposing sombre content (frequently cast actors) with colours that make you work when you wouldn't expect it to. I was trying to make easy reading, a bit difficult. I went into this deeper in the earlier post on colour.

Although the yellow text on the Rope page is a good point. It's not nice on the eyes and it doesn't really justify itself being there, It would probably not lose anything if it wasn't there, so if I was to design it again I would just get rid of the yellow overlaid text or adjust the positioning of it at the very least.

4. Who is the target audience?

I think the target audience would be film/Hitchcock fans as well as people who enjoy design.

4. Assuming the role of audience, what is your reaction to the publication?

The film posters are really strong. The Saul Bass influence shows through the work. The book visually is strong. The read window page is interactive and goes with the content.

I don't think the book is as strong as the posters. The binding needs improving. Too many typefaces. Layouts get slightly repetitive. Investigate films with more depth. The plot doesn't seem enough research.

I think the research into the plot wasn't needed that much, I knew a decent amount about the films but I felt too much text into the books wasn't needed and the book wasn't designed to be too text heavy from the research, I think the amount of text at the moment is still pretty heavy for what I was after, but it's still a fair point and it's noted.

The layout is a good point, looking back on it I had a fairly regimented plan for the book. Visualised scene > poster > info on the facing page.

It can get quite repetitive, for a normal book it would be ideal to have a common layout but for a book which I designed to be quite unpredictable and 'un-gridlike' it's still pretty regimented and linear in this sense. Looking back on it I could make it more unpredictable, but try and find a healthy balance with communication and it being understandable and readable.

5. Do you think this is the intended response? Explain your answer

The intended response is spot on when it comes to the posters. You instantly know the posters are based upon a Hitchcock film. The colours in the book used go with the films/posters.

The book has too many mixtures of typefaces/styles.

I keep sounding like I'm defending myself or trying to justify the criticism here but I think the worrying issue for me is that some of the feedback sees things I meant to do on purpose - as criticism. It's a red flag because for example I wanted the varying styles and typefaces to suit the content in question, for example 20s styles for 20s movies. If it wasn't noticed then it's my fault not the readers and I need to go over it again and redesign.

Although overdoing the typefaces is a fair point. I was finding it difficult to nail the visuals in the black and white movies stage and was having difficult choosing typefaces.

7. What context(s) would the publication be appropriate for? Explain your answer

Suitable content - library bookshop, colleges/university

Could come as a supplement in a film magazine/journal

8. Would it be appropriate for this publication to be viewed worldwide? Explain your answer.

Yes. Everyone knows of Hitchcock

Colour appeals to all age groups

OVERALL CONCLUSION & EVALUATION

Overall I'm pretty happy with the feedback although there's definitely area for improvement. It's the first book I've ever made and probably the biggest project I've done to date, in terms of content and time spent on the visuals. Although with the quantity of content, the quality of the content is not as consistent as it could be.

I also could have handled the type better, for me the black and white stage is a bit dodgy visually, I wasn't as comfortable with the 20s style as I could have, and probably should have been. Once it turned to colour, I could allow my own personal Saul Bass influences show through a little more and I started to have fun with it more. I'm happy with my posters, which are also shrunk down into my book. I'm glad that I made something out of my own comfort zone and went for it, and didn't limit myself.

The content could maybe be a bit clearer, people didn't seem to pick up on the macguffins/cameos and transitions to colour and visual styles etc. Although this may be noticed if the viewer reads through the book page by page and lets it soak in. A contents page, and a clearer sense of trying to inspire is needed.

In the end the only thing I didn't achieve, that I wanted to, was a more sleek method of binding. I was aiming to perfect bind but for someone who hasn't done it before and had nothing to test it on first, time was also not on my side so I went for the safer option.

Overall I'm quite happy with the book, although it could do with some improvements on the whole I think I've merged Hitchcocks visual styles and techniques, with his design practice and an inspirational message. I wanted to translate his aura and effect on the viewer, with macguffins, cameos etc and they're in the book. Some scenes could have been visualised better, I think the 'knife' and 'dusting crops' scenes are the strongest although the 'knife' type could do with some refining. I'm happy with how it's turned out generally and I hope people enjoy it and its inviting to read, as that's what I wanted to achieve.

It is by no means perfect. Some risks probably didn't quite pay off, but I'm glad I tried them.

Throughout the book, especially when I tranfer to the colour period in Hitchcock's career, some of the colours are purposefully pretty vivid, in some terms I'm breaking 'design' rules, for example combining red and green is often seen as 'bad'. Red and green are opposites of the colour spectrum and clash, making your eyes feel funny.

I thought it would be a interesting experiment to use colour to, again, manipulate the viewer experience like Hitchcock did, but in this case a book. I tried to juxtapose colour with the content.

Here, I had a red and green colour pallette where the content in question is simply sharing frequently cast actors and actresses in Hitchcock's career. By contrast to the rest of the books content, it's fairly sombre and isn't regarding any particular suspense scene or so on. But i've tried to juxtapose the content with the colour, colours which make you feel a little uneasy and it's not as easy to read as it could be, definitely.

Even though the content should be pretty pleasant reading, I'm still trying to make the reader work.

I think I was inspired to do this by scenes such as Scottie's hallucination scene in Vertigo. Use of colour is clearly very important and the scene appears at a moment you don't expect it to.