OUGD603 Brief 5: Evaluation

Evaluation

This has been a great project to work on. Working collaboratively really made the project for me as we would have some great discussions for the content and on each other’s work. We were very liked minded and motivated to work on this self-initiated project which made working with each other much easier and enjoyable.

The book itself came out really well. Having it finished and bound really brought all the work into it together. Both me and Kyle were very happy with how it came out and we’ve started talking about taking it further after uni. We’re hoping to make a series of these books that look at different aspects of history the same way we looked into the Mayan culture. Looking forward to work collaboratively again.

Taking a proper look at the book there are a few bits that have become apparent after a heavy-handed person tried to rotate the cove. Because they didn’t hold the book when they rotated the cover they pushed the book which has made the cover much looser than it originally was. Due to it being so close to the hand in we were unable to rectify this. To combat it though we told people who handled it how to properly old it which was to hold the book closed in your hands and rotate the cover with your thumbs.

Apart from this, we didn’t find any other hiccups for the final piece. Altogether, both me and Kyle have really enjoyed this project and would call it a success for what we set out to create.

This has been a great project to work on. Working collaboratively really made the project for me as we would have some great discussions for the content and on each other’s work. We were very liked minded and motivated to work on this self-initiated project which made working with each other much easier and enjoyable.

The book itself came out really well. Having it finished and bound really brought all the work into it together. Both me and Kyle were very happy with how it came out and we’ve started talking about taking it further after uni. We’re hoping to make a series of these books that look at different aspects of history the same way we looked into the Mayan culture. Looking forward to work collaboratively again.

Taking a proper look at the book there are a few bits that have become apparent after a heavy-handed person tried to rotate the cove. Because they didn’t hold the book when they rotated the cover they pushed the book which has made the cover much looser than it originally was. Due to it being so close to the hand in we were unable to rectify this. To combat it though we told people who handled it how to properly old it which was to hold the book closed in your hands and rotate the cover with your thumbs.

Apart from this, we didn’t find any other hiccups for the final piece. Altogether, both me and Kyle have really enjoyed this project and would call it a success for what we set out to create.

OUGD603 Brief 5: content and layout

content and layout

Kyle had created some amazing content for the book (and I was able to add one or two of my own pieces of work as well). I wanted to make sure that these were the focus within the book, so we went about creating the layout. As the book would be Coptic bound and would sit flat when it was opened, it would be easy to create double page spreads to fully show off the content designed for the book. With the book being a Coptic bound one, we have to keep the book to multiples of 4. After adding the content to the layout for the book, it ended up having 20 pagers which was perfect to fit within the thick covers.

To get a print slot to print our book out, we had to book the slot before Easter as the print resource was getting overwhelmingly busy with it coming to the deadlines for everyone’s courses. Thankfully, booking it weeks in advance meant there was no stress or hassle for printing the book out. We had a few misprints but the resource staff really helped us out to make sure everything was printed right which was a huge help.

Binding the book together was such a great feeling as it showed all the work put into this project come together and we were very happy seeing it finished.

OUGD603 Brief 5: Paper Stock

Choosing Paper Stocks –

To keep the book as close to the Mayan culture as possible, we wanted to make sure that each aspect of it was inspired by their craft. So, for the book, we took inspiration of the ancient Mayan Codex’s and the way they are made.

https://youtu.be/GMKDiaha_qEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=630e2bFLbfYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO5ktwPXsyM The codex’s pages were made using a paper substitute known as Mesoamerican Bark Cloth, or Huun-Paper, that were held together with thick red thread. The cloth was made from the inner bark of certain trees, the main being the wild fig tree or amate. The Maya developed their huun-paper around the 5th century, which is roughly the same time that the codex became predominant over the scroll in the Roman world. Maya paper was more durable and a better writing surface than papyrus.The Bark cloth has some very prominent texture to it due to the way it was made and the grain of the bark used. With the texture of the cloth and the off white colour they have become over the years, I set out to find a paper similar to it. -          After speaking to mike in the print room, he mentioned Japanese paper as it had the handmade look and feel to it while also having the off white colour of the cloth. Cons: pretty expensive to make a few books on and the hand made ones cant go through the laser printer (http://www.japanesepaperplace.com/wholesale/naturals/naturals.htm )

-          There is Bark Paper made in America that would be perfect but the shipping cost alone would skyrocket the price of the project

-          The library has a really nice paper stock called antique paper which has almost the same colour to is as that of the Bark Paper

-          Fred alders had a vary wide variety of of stock to choose from, there was two that would work really well for the book but unfortunately there wasn’t enough there to use and the next delivery would cut close with the hand in date.

After discussing the possibilities with Kyle, we settled on the antique paper stock due to the availability and the affordability of the paper

OUGD603 Brief 5: Final Cover

Final Cover

With the prototypes showing that this movable cover is doable (even if I accidently glued all of the prototypes down) it was on to the next step of creating the Mayan calendar design. We both set out to design our own version of the calendar. We went for Kyles design as it was much closer to an actual Mayan design plus it was easier to put onto the rings.

To add the designs onto the cover we had one of two options, either to screen print them on or laser cut them into the mountboard. We decided to scrap screen printing as there’s a chance that as people rotate the calendar it will smudge and get rid of the design whereas laser cutting it into the mount board improves the overall durability of the book. Laser cutting gave us some issues as the laser cutters at the Uni can be very temperamental, we found that rastering the design onto the mountboard would just but the whole lot of rather than give it an engraved effect. To combat this, we recreated the original design to remove the filled areas so it could be engraved into the cover. It proved to have different results each time we used the laser cutter, sometimes it wouldn’t cut deep enough and in one case would basically set the section it was cutting on fire. After a few attempts we chose the best two so we could both have a book for submission.

The saving grace for the book would have to be the use of double sided tape as it holds the book together solidly and is also great for the moving pieces by removing most of the friction that was causing issues during prototyping stage of this project.

Feedback

“It’s really great to see the transition from the book that you made from stone last year. Maybe include an instruction sheet for the best way to rotate it.”

“To fully show this design off on your blog, make a gif of someone rotating the cover to full demonstrate your design. Would be a shame if it didn’t come across to whoever picks it up.”

“I can’t get my head around how you’ve thought of this. The only thing I would say is that maybe add something else to the cover but it might make It too busy. Just a thought.”

OUGD603 Brief 5: Idea development

Idea development / Prototypes

From the initial ideas, the Mayan calendar kept cropping up within the designs. After speaking to Kyle and my peers within group crits, it was decided that the cover should incorporate it within the design as the calendar is one of the more known aspects of the Mayan world and it is what is mentioned when you ask people to name something from Mayan culture. I wasn’t happy with just having it sit flat on the cover and I wanted to make it stand out. So, after looking into the Mayan calendars and how they would be moved I began to look at how to incorporate the moving pieces into the cover.

After sketching up some ideas and creating some 3D digital mock ups of the designs on sketch I was happy with the concept. The idea itself was to have a material like mountboard as its relatively thin while also quite strong and stack it with different sized circles that would ultimately hold in the moving pieces of the cover so they won’t fall out. The rings themselves will have the design put on them either by screen printing them on or laser cutting them into them into the rings. Once the digital mock up looked right we began to prototype.

Prototype 1: for these early prototypes we kept them small so that we could make them on the cheep side. We settled on mount board as it was much thinner (and cheaper) than the likes of the foam board. This prototype began seeing how the book would be bound. Its design would be that of a regular hard back book, but it would have the contents stuck to the back page. While it looked nice at first, there was issues with flipping through the pages and the lack of double page spreads meant that it limited the layout of the content.

Prototype 2: To allow the book to be opened and it to sit flat on a surface we tried Coptic binding it which allowed us to include double page spreads. We were happy with how this looks, and the use of the red thread is a throw back to the thread used within the codex’s for the Mayans. We chose this design to take forward.

Prototype 3: Laser cutting the piece out to the square size of the book (based on the style the codex’s had) which is 20x20. We found that the needed to be more space between the moving pieces and the rings that hold them into place. We also found that there needed to be less friction between the mountboards as it proved difficult to move them, so we needed to add a smother surface.

Prototype 4: Having 1 mm space around the moveable parts proved to be the best to keep them in place and to allow them to move. The bottom of each piece has double sided tape without removing the backing to give them a smooth surface to remove friction and to allow them to rotate easily.

OUGD603 Bref 5: idea generation

While Kyle began to work on the content that will be included within the book, I began drawing up some ideas of how the book will be put together. With the research into the Mayans culture under our belts there was one main trait that we would take forward with designing the book was the handmade nature of their culture. With that in mind we began coming up with initial ideas to take forward.

From the success from my Set in Stone book from last year, I aim to work on the feedback I got from Stefan Sagmeister for that project. In in he said “While the usage of unusual materials on covers are of course possible (we just did one made out of copper and another one of plastic), this requires careful consideration as far as production, binding and usage. For your next book project, I'd go into the opposite direction: Use the most pedestrian production means possible, say stapled thin paper without any cover, and try to design this as gorgeously as you can.” for the generation of this book, this would stick with each idea for the book.

From each of the ideas, the ones that stood out was:

Having the pages as pull out slides / postcards that would be held in side a square box that would resemble the hieroglyphics that they used. This idea was scrapped as we decided that we wanted a book you can hold and flip through. That and the slides / postcards meant that the layout for each page was limited.

Having 3 covers that would fit together to form a Mayan calendar as this is one of the more famous piece of Mayan culture that the general public know about. We moved away from this as having three covers fit together and come apart proved to be more of a chore and would become a gimmick.

Another idea based on the last is use of the Mayan calendar and having it embossed into the cover which would be a more simplistic version. Both ideas would ultimately inform the final outcome.

One other idea that didn’t make it was the book concept based on the Mayan codex which where thread together by the corners of each page and would open up similar to that of a map. This would have been very large to open up and based on the prototypes that I made to test it, we found that people had a hard time opening it fully then trying to close it again. We ruled it out as it was too cumbersome for readers to just pick up and read.

OUGD603 Brief 5: Mayan Culture within Pop Culture

Mayan Culture within Pop Culture

(mainly the simpsons)

OUGD603 Brief 5: Research

Research

(Image dump of research)

Due to the nature of our self-initiated project and the fact we wanted to be as true to the culture as possible, we made sure to do as much research to make sure what we we’re taking inspiration from was historically accurate. To do this we took from a wide range of sources, from books to galleries.

The Henry Moore Institute hosted an exhibition of sculpture art earlier this year. It focused on the inspirations that Henry had that informed his practice. One of these were the inclusion of ancient Aztec and Mayan sculptures which was perfect for our project as it shown how he incorporated them within his postmodern designs.

We also took to the library as they had a great selection of books that span across a wide range of the Mayan culture. A few of the more inspirational ones were:

Breaking the Mayan Code by Michael D. Coe that gave us a basic understanding of Mayan arts and communication they used within their culture and the hieroglyphics that they were famous for.

The Sports of Life and Death bey E. Michael Wittington explores the pass time / ritual sport that was a big pass time to the Mayans known as Hip Ball. This sport and the atmosphere around it showed the Mayans were a very sociable community not to similar to our own. This helped identify key points of their culture to use within this project.

MAYA by Henri Stierlin focused on the agriculture of the Mayans and its effect on the art and architecture that they were famous for. It was interesting reading up on how similar the Mayans were to the Native American tribes as both had a religious belief and respect for the land and materials they used. Everything from the Mayan culture was handmade. A big take away from this book was the focus on the Mayan Codex’s that have lasted for thousands of years which are made from bark cloth. This was a big influence on the overall design direction for the final book for the project

What was amazing about researching into the culture of the Mayans was how rich it was. The colours used within their designs from their clothes to their hieroglyphics. The awe-inspiring architecture that is still visible to this day in the mountain ranges of south America. Their religious and cultural belief systems had some really interesting stories to tell. All of this and more of their culture made both of us really appreciate it and gave is the inspiration to make sure we keep true with it in our project.

OUGD603 Brief 5: Concept to move forward with

Idea we're moving forward with

Mayan culture in present day UK. Approximately present day.

Mayan Cultural Traits to include

• Colour structure of gold, red, yellow, black, jade
• Pictographic language, mayan script
• Mayan architectural materials include limestone
• Mayan building techniques include
• They had good scientific knowledge and social organisation
• They used lunar, solar and ritual cycles as dates
• Cyclical concept of time
• The ballgame was an important religious ritual that represented a conflict between the sun and the moon, night and day.
• Cities used the landscape around them, various levels, stairs, etc
• The outsides of buildings were typically covered with a layer of stucco painted several colours, particularly red
• Gods include: The Dragon, Itzamna, Kinich Ahau, Chaac, ah puch, etc
• Saunas were popular
• Weapons and tools were made from obsidian and volcanic glass

Rules/Restrictions

• Based in Leeds/surrounding area
• Restricted to preferred mayan materials and building techniques, i.e: limestone
• Worship of mayan gods still prevails. Toned down, no sacrifice.
• Sports?
• Graffiti and street culture intertwined with mayan culture
• Tattoos and piercings more acceptable.
• Fashions and headdresses, how have they been adapted to modern day living?
• Is it restricted to an old street?
• Consider what would be sold in shops

Meso-British zine/book

• Fashion
• Food
• Architecture
• Technology
• Military
• Religion
• Street Culture
• Sports
• Design/Art

Research/Films

Apocalypto

Volcano

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgeXOUPy_Mw

http://mayaarchaeologist.co.uk/index.php/2016/12/28/maya-numbers/

http://eindtijdinbeeld.nl/EiB-Bibliotheek/Boeken/Encyclopidia%20Of%20The%20Gods%20And%20Symbols%20Of%20Ancient%20Mexico.pdf

http://www.famsi.org/mayawriting/codices/pdf/dresden_fors_schele_all.pdf

OUGD603 Brief 5: Initial Ideas and Concepts

Initial Ideas and concepts

Completely original idea. Set rules, restrictions and backstory to work with. 5 stores/locations each?

Ideas:

• Field Guide/Art Book
• In movie print props
• Sci-fi physical prop
• Street Design: Could include store fronts, signage, street signs, posters, flags, a boards, advertising,
• Fantasy theme park similar to the one in Jurassic world (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a39EzErXCCs&t=90s) I really like this idea, lots of scope, could create the maps, advertising, signs, promo, tickets, etc. Could still have a theme/genre
• Create a fantasy, sci fi product and its packaging / marketing

Potential Themes:

• Sci-fi
• Western
• Period/Medieval/Fantasy
• Alien World
• Alternate History - What if x had continued to rule
• Post-Apocalypse
• Future City

Alt-History Ideas - What if:

• There was a current ice age
• The Egyptians conquered england instead of the romans (in the past? Current? Future)
• The Egyptians discovered America (Mayan/Egyptian Culture develops)
• The spanish lose against the Mayans. Spain conquered by the mayans.
• The Japanese had colonised Australia (Past? Current? Future?)
• Humans not dominant race
• Modern Speech & Writing never developed. Primitive art, pictograms and visual communication is used instead.
• Medieval England invented space travel
• Egyptian or Medieval times, but electricity was invented 4000 years earlier
• Russia conquer and set up a base on the moon/mars
• Easternized world where china becomes the dominant cultural and political influence
• The roman and Egypt empire had grew to the point that it had take over the western world. Maybe have it as one the modern day worlds super power. An opposing power could be the Chinese empire
• A world were the Vikings had conquered the seas having England as their base of operations in the modern world. Have the culture based strongly on the gods and an underline magic belief. Don’t believe in using long distance weapons. (maybe have mastered the world of flight)
• When America set foot on mars they stayed there and began to colonise it with maybe bio spheres. Could also be Russia or China just to give it a completely different aesthetic
• Egypt uses there pyramids as citys that move over the world (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZbkF-15ObM)
• Atlantis never sank, it has always been underground, they’ve grew over the years, expanding their under world city. Light comes form artificial sorces. Power source could be based on the use of: lava, glow worms,
• Britons overpowerd the romans and uk has been a country people are too scared to try and invade due to the barbaric and celtic nature of its people. Culture is very mistic and specialise in the connection between people and the earth. Expand the borders of the uk, connecting it to Ireland with manmade land bridges
• Countries turned into space ships (based on the dr who starship uk episode) Could be really cool to see a city entirely indoors and how the streets would look, how the signs would look, etc.
• Zeplins took over the skys and planes wernt invented. Have sky docks for them to land in and have these docks as mini citys based on obtaining hydrogen/ helium form the air
• The wheel was never invented
• Mortal engines
• Skyscapers where thought to be redicus so instead of building them up, they started to build them downward into the ground to the point the was a second city below the ones on the ground
• Space elevator was fully developed and leads to a city like space station for the best and brightest
• Alt history ideas:
  • The roman and Egypt empire had grew to the point that it had take over the western world. Maybe have it as one the modern day worlds super power. An opposing power could be the Chinese empire
  • A world were the Vikings had conquered the seas having England as their base of operations in the modern world. Have the culture based strongly on the gods and an underline magic belief. Don’t belive in usig long distance weapons. (maybe have mastered the world of flight)
  • When America set foot on mars they stayed there and began to colonise it with maybe bio spheres.
  • Egypt uses there pyramids as citys that move over the world (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZbkF-15ObM)
  • Atlantis never sank, it has always been underground, they’ve grew over the years, expanding their under world city. Light comes form artificial sorces. Power source could be based on the use of: lava, glow worms,
  • Britons overpowerd the romans and uk has been a country people are too scared to try and invade due to the barbaric and celtic nature of its people. Culture is very mistic and specialise in the connection between people and the earth. Expandd the borders of the uk, connecting it to Ireland with manmade land bridges
  • Countries turned into space ships (based on the dr who starship uk episode)
  • Zeplins took over the skys and planes wernt invented. Have sky docks for them to land in and have these docks as mini citys based on obtaining hydrogen/ helium form the air
  • The wheel was never invented
  • Mortal engines
  Skyscapers where thought to be redicus so instead of building them up, they started to build them downward into the ground to the point the was a second city below the ones on the ground
  • Space elevator was fully developed and leads to a city like space station for the best and brightest .