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Micropublishing: FINAL BOOK

You made it! This is the FINAL project!

And as previously discussed in class, you’re in charge. You determine the content, page-count, images, etc.

However, there are some expectations:

This project should be ambitious, creative, and a culmination of what you’ve learned not only in this class, but also in Typography, Type + Image, and Publication. Pay attention to type size, margins, and image quality.

And, of course, there should be a solid concept upon which you build the entire project. What is the story you want to tell? What is the subject you want to address? Why should someone pick up this book and read it?

DUE WED DEC 7

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Micropublishing: Feature Article

em-dash

Your objective for this project is to design a feature article with the text provided by Em Dash. You will design the pages, and create/edit any accompanying imagery. When the project is due, you will submit two boards (one for each layout: opening and continued article), as well as a PDF of the layouts.

The final layouts will be submitted to Em Dash, and a “winner” will be selected to receive scholarship money from Em Dash.

Step 1: Research! Always! Once you’ve received the text for the article, you should read it. Then start researching the ideas discussed in the article.

Step 2: Start sketching. Use thumbnail sketches to consider layout ideas. How will those ideas affect or involve the kinds of images you want to use and vice versa?

Step 3: What about those images. Don’t use Google Images to find something and plop it into InDesign. Either create your own illustrations, or take your own photos, or somehow *make something* that is your own.

Step 4: Fire up InDesign to start laying out text and images. You may have to go through a few ideas to get the display text, body copy, and accompanying images to work together as a cohesive layout.

Project Timeline:

Mon Oct 24: Begin Project / Research / Thumbnails
Wed Oct 26: Edit Images / Start to combine into layout
Mon Oct 31: Typography
Wed Nov 02: Group Critique
Mon Nov 07: Implement changes
Wed Nov 09: Work Day / Design Philosophy
Mon Nov 14: Review work
Wed Nov 16: Project Due (Boards + PDFs)

(Here’s the body copy.)

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MICROPUBLISHING: Contemporary Mythology

Guido Reni - Apollo on the Sun Chariot / Google Art Project
Guido Reni – Apollo on the Sun Chariot / Google Art Project

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

This project will be a digital/analog hybrid. We can move into InDesign to start laying out spreads, but there should still be an element of design-by-hand. That could be in the form of hand-lettering, illustration, cut paper, or something else entirely. Think back to Bootcamp Magazine, bootv01_01which we looked at on the first day of class. They have a great mixture of both analog and digital elements.

The content will be based around the theme of Contemporary Mythology. What is contemporary mythology? Start out thinking about what you know about mythology in general. Historically, myths have helped people to understand the world around us when it might not make sense. Does Apollo *really* drive a chariot across the sky, pulled by fiery horses, and that’s what makes the sun illuminate our world? Probably not, but it helped people think about the sun, and how it works.

With that in mind… what could be a contemporary version of a myth that helps explain things we don’t understand? Scientific discoveries have made many of the myths we know and love seem obsolete, but they still serve their purpose. Not to mention the fact that there are still a great many things we do not fully understand.

No superheroes.

PROJECT DETAILS

20 pages (including covers)
Separate cover stock from interior pages
Your own writing/content
No color
Layout in InDesign
Some element of hand-design

PROJECT TIMELINE

Wed Oct 05 – Begin project / Research / Start writing
Mon Oct 10 – Work day
Wed Oct 12 – No official class meeting
Mon Oct 17 – Work day
Wed Oct 19 – Work day
Mon Oct 24 – Project Due

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MICROPUBLISHING: Poetry Zine / Chapbook

zine01

Your next zine will not be your own writing, but that of a poet. Your assignment is to create a zine that merges type and image in an expressive and reflective way. This zine will be a poetry chapbook that synthesizes the words of a chosen poet, with your creative and expressive imagery.

There are going to be a few rules to follow for this project, but try not to think of them as limitations, so much as opportunities for expression.

  1. 20 pages (including covers)
  2. Black and white, unless…
  3. No internet images whatsoever
  4. You may print the text once (make copies, enlargements, etc. from that)

In particular, I want you to think about illustration vs. interpretation. Are the images/layouts you are creating showing the reader what they’re reading in the text? Or is it adding to the impact of the text by doing something else?

Project Timeline

Wed Sept 21 – Begin Project / Get text
Mon Sept 26 – Review progress
Wed Sept 28 – Group Critique
Mon Oct 03 – Implement Changes
Wed Oct 05 – Project Due