Hi everybody. I'm too sick to make it in today – I do feel better than yesterday, and am planning on being at school wednesday and thursday.
This is my agenda for today – I was going to orchestrate looking over your six pages, and coming up with a title and cover image for the book. Let's see if you guys can can wrangle that yourselves today, with a little bit of written instruction. Extra credit for anyone who takes the lead on this.
Here's the drill – everyone pull up their six pages on screen, and just go around the room showing off the pictures, just so everyone can get an idea about the content of the book. It doesn't have to be an in-depth critique, just a look at what everyone's cooked up. Maybe there's some "theme" that sort of emerges from all the work that might suggest a title - but probably not.
Have somebody go to the small whiteboard in the room (you can erase what's on there), and brainstorm some potential titles. They can be completely off the wall - you can look at the past books, on the bookshelf by the window, to see what other classes came up with. The best titles, I think, are the somewhat random ones. The worst title was definitely "Moobs." I tried to talk them out of that. But failed.
So - someone should stand at the whiteboard with a marker, everyone should stand in a circle, and just run clockwise around the circle, with each person calling out their idea for a title. This is just brainstorming, no one gets to opt out because they think their idea is lame. The person at the whiteboard writes down the title options. Once everyone has given out a title, you can open it up for people to call out a few other suggestions, or possible combos of the titles that are already up.
Then it comes to a vote. One thing to keep in mind is that a good title isn't just something that sounds good - it should also lend itself to a good, strong cover image. Whichever title gets the most votes wins - and then, spend the remainder of the class having each person create their own version of what the cover should look like, including the title. Same dimensions as the interior – 7.75" square, 300 dpi, with and eighth-inch bleed.
On Thursday, we'll take a look at all the covers, and take a vote on the one we'll use. Second place winner gets the back cover.
Hope that all makes sense. If not, feel free to have someone call me at 415-845-5670. I'll sound like a dying muppet, but can still talk.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
The "Sequence" or Book Project
Next Thursday will be a work period for your six-page sequence, so come prepared with whatever raw materials you need (images, ideas) to use the work period profitably. A portion of your grade will be your initial proposal for the sequence, which is due at the beginning of Thursday's class – you need to have at least a basic sketch (drawn out on paper, or cobbled together in Photoshop) of your general idea for the sequence, or a one-paragraph write-up of your idea (printed out).
Here are the specs for the images in your "sequence" project -- the one we're printing up as a book through lulu.com. You should have the images you need at the start of the class, so you can just jump into it when class starts.
Dimensions for Lulu book project
You will have 6 pages to fill in an art book we're publishing through Lulu.com. One page is like an intro page for yourself and your work, which should include your name. It can be a sort of "artist's statement," or it can otherwise set the stage for the images to follow. The following five pages should be a series of images that somehow work together as a sequence.
The dimensions at which you should create the work are:
Final page size will be 7.5" x 7.5" at 300 dpi.
The pages need a 1/8" bleed all the way around, so you'll create your photoshop files at 7.75" x 7.75" (at 300 dpi, this comes out to 2325 pixels by 2325 pixels).
Keep in mind, as you're designing the sequence, that you will have three "two page spreads," where the image on the lefthand page will be facing the image on the righthand page. Think about how the images on those facing pages will affect each other, in terms of content, color, composition, and so on.
If you're still chewing through what a "sequence" is, remember that a potential starting place could be:
1. Time changes through a fixed location. What is a single place, that goes through changes as time passes, and how are those changes made visible? Think of R. Crumb's "History of America."
2. Spatial changes with a fixed subject. Is there a character, or object, that travels through different spaces?
3. Transformations of a character or object. Think of Klinger's "glove" etching. Is there a common image that goes through a variety of changes of scale, of stature, of meaning? Is there an object that can pull the images together along the thread of a visual theme?
4. Different aspects of a single thing. Think Hokusai's Mount Fuji series. Is there a thing, a person or a place that can be looked at through a variety of lenses -- the lens of history, of myth, of geology, etc?
5. Formal variation and rhythm. Remember that abstracts images can function in sequence, riffing on common formal elements throughout the multiple images.
6. Storytelling. Any sequence tells a story of some sort. Is there some sort of narrative that could occur through the five images? Think of Hogarth's "Harlot's Progess," or the comics examples I showed.
And you should "own" your artwork in this project -- you can shoot your own images, or draw your own images. You can use stock images (free or purchased).
Here are the specs for the images in your "sequence" project -- the one we're printing up as a book through lulu.com. You should have the images you need at the start of the class, so you can just jump into it when class starts.
Dimensions for Lulu book project
You will have 6 pages to fill in an art book we're publishing through Lulu.com. One page is like an intro page for yourself and your work, which should include your name. It can be a sort of "artist's statement," or it can otherwise set the stage for the images to follow. The following five pages should be a series of images that somehow work together as a sequence.
The dimensions at which you should create the work are:
Final page size will be 7.5" x 7.5" at 300 dpi.
The pages need a 1/8" bleed all the way around, so you'll create your photoshop files at 7.75" x 7.75" (at 300 dpi, this comes out to 2325 pixels by 2325 pixels).
Keep in mind, as you're designing the sequence, that you will have three "two page spreads," where the image on the lefthand page will be facing the image on the righthand page. Think about how the images on those facing pages will affect each other, in terms of content, color, composition, and so on.
If you're still chewing through what a "sequence" is, remember that a potential starting place could be:
1. Time changes through a fixed location. What is a single place, that goes through changes as time passes, and how are those changes made visible? Think of R. Crumb's "History of America."
2. Spatial changes with a fixed subject. Is there a character, or object, that travels through different spaces?
3. Transformations of a character or object. Think of Klinger's "glove" etching. Is there a common image that goes through a variety of changes of scale, of stature, of meaning? Is there an object that can pull the images together along the thread of a visual theme?
4. Different aspects of a single thing. Think Hokusai's Mount Fuji series. Is there a thing, a person or a place that can be looked at through a variety of lenses -- the lens of history, of myth, of geology, etc?
5. Formal variation and rhythm. Remember that abstracts images can function in sequence, riffing on common formal elements throughout the multiple images.
6. Storytelling. Any sequence tells a story of some sort. Is there some sort of narrative that could occur through the five images? Think of Hogarth's "Harlot's Progess," or the comics examples I showed.
And you should "own" your artwork in this project -- you can shoot your own images, or draw your own images. You can use stock images (free or purchased).
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