Tuesday 13 February 2018

Applications - Production

The text of the publication was already written, so it was a matter of finding what the design was going to be.

Experimentations started with the cover. Since it was a publication about my interests, I'm very interested in Swiss design lately, so the design could follow this line and create a consistency.

The size of the publication was thought to be a B5, as it is a good size to send in an envelope and it keeps the productions costs low.

At the time of making these drafts, there wasn't a clear title for the publication.




The design eventually found the title "Things & Stuff" for various reasons. The first one is that the publication is not about anything, in particular, more of a series of random thoughts put together. The way some people finishes sentences as "and stuff" makes noticeable that they don't really know what they are talking about, and that's how I felt a little bit when talking about these topics. The titles and other pieces of text use Helvetica, the essence of Swiss design as well as Gill Sans for the text. These two typefaces were chosen due to their relaxed, kind but with witty vibes. For the quotes and some beginnings, it was used Memphis, a slab serif that made a small piece of text stand out from the rest in a very solemn but still warm vibe. Regular text is of the size of 10 points and side notes are 8 pt.





Some of the experimentation with typography and layout:















Eventually, the design decisions were made in terms of what worked best with the kind of vibe that the texts wanted to convey. Something realistic and kind of pessimistic but actually positive and humorous. As the publication is also a way to show off design skills, impact with typography and layout was something that was constantly evaluated.

The following images show how the layout and typography were acquiring its final shape before working with colours and photography. The photography used is taken on a 35mm camera by myself and they were set in black and white to provide a more plausible continuity and focus on the text and the ideas.

Tight margins were used for it to enhance the critical approach and to use more space, as it is a b5 publication and it's important to use the space wisely.

Please, note some of the comments in the pages below.


The table of contents was displayed in a playful way and as a way of welcoming someone to Swiss design. The publication doesn't follow this style exactly, but it establishes the mood.
 Active mediocrity in vertical and unevenly typed with a heart drawn on a dusty surfaced is a way of representing the concept of active mediocrity.

The section of "You are going to die" starts differently to bring variety to the small zine. It also changes the tone and states an uncomfortable truth. The photography is a dawn taken from an airplane. It represents the skies, heaven, etc.
"You (pause) what?" with a face that makes the audience think they can be that person that makes feel others uncomfortable.



Chaos repeated alongside the right page over a photograph of someone holding his head, waiting for the storm to pass. The picture is also glitched to bring more chaos to it.


There wasn't supposed to be any type of title in Helvetica on this page, but this is chaos.

The dog represents the ultimate way of kindness and love.




After an extensive experimentation with colours, white was completely removed from the design and it was replaced by a cream colour. This new tone for the backgrounds in combination with yellow typeface and black text and pictures made it look more raw, sarcastic and authentic. Yellow was the most appropriate colour to represent criticism and nonconformity. This combination enhanced wittiness, critical thinking and a kind of tired and a bit negative feeling. The 2 colours evolved from the colour Sulphur Yellow from the Dictionary of Colour Combinations by adjusting its values.

At this point, I looked for feedback in different sources (people in the studio, The Designers League and Designers Creed) that helped me to re-define some of the pages and give them more visual impact. This is the final result, which was later translated into to Spanish and adjusted.









This is a smaller page that was added as if it was the ultimate thought (which in some ways it is). As a secret, as something the reader has to open to know more about. This page also serves as a pause for a laugh.






The quotes were re-defined and displayed in a very Swiss style to finish the publication as it started.




The publications were printed using an SRA3 to fit 2 in one sheet (Top in English and Bottom in Spanish) to keep the costs low. It was printed on a Cyclus Recycled stock 90 gsm that maintains the colours off and help to enhance the mood of the publication. The zine was stitched by hand with a black thread and using 3 holes to keep it simple and be able to make as many as possible (initially it was printed 10 times).





This was a page with a mistake in the spelling ("Becauase") that was eventually reprinted and replaced.



Final feedback from Alec was to remove the credit photography on my self, just put it at the end and, instead, credit the only picture that wasn't mine (the 93 year old man). I totally agree with this feedback, and I will keep it in mind when reprinting it or producing future publications.