Studio Brief 1:Design Production Evaluation

The design production outcome is a product of a large range of tested design decisions that encapsulate the theme of neon lights in the night through it's photopaper-like reflective cover encapsulating the theme of light in black and the method of photographing, a typeface that represents the function of neon signage in forms of tubes, an exciting use of glow in the dark as a miniature feature and the well recognised and established symbol of Manchester which this part of a 'series' is all based.

From the beginning, through research and found admiration of enticing and dramatic picture books, choosing to produce a visual publication with a high contrast between the glow of the neon signage in the night time set the theme for the accompaniments of the production. After print tests of the images fully blown and double spread, the glossy stock gave the images a glamorous showcased feel which neon signage can be associated to in terms of nightlife usage and Vegas/bar references, whether people feel they are used in glamour purposes tacky or not, I wanted the publication to feel very sophisticated and showcase the illumination of the letters I photographed in Manchester town centre.
Having the quote as the introductory set the personal ambiguity of the photo book and instantly alludes the reader to the glow of the neon signage's, and is made fluorescent pink to blend in to the content being one of the colours in my photographs but still in the tube styled typeface used on the cover.

As well as glossy stock within, a magazine size and a step up from the 4x6 photo size my images were developed as were printed and showed within crits, and stepping away from a magazine feel and having my page sizes as an actual 5x7 photo size displayed the type and mysterious detailing of the locations well and related to my film camera theme. As the photographs are mainly black due to contrast and level adjustments to my original photographs, I felt also having my publication magazine sized and more of a coffee table book was unnecessary.

As for the cover there were many struggles and adjustments, which went from a hardback cover using greyboard to whiteboard for a lighter feel, to in the end not having a hardback as with that it would feel less of a creative photobook and more of a serious, text heavy publication, therefore I steered away from this last minute as it didn't feel correct. Neither did using bookcloth as my material for the front cover;although previously justified and related to the location of Manchester's industrial revolution of cotton where the worker bee on the front originated from, it felt too much like a text heavy old style book. Although this could have worked if my photographs were more unedited, this publication is a modern take on the views of neon signage in the modern busy city centre illuminating the glowing colours and more available typefaces and possibilities of neon signage than there were originally (which I found within research). This publication having a modern feel became evermore important and clear as experiments with the cover went on and the clear style relation of the photos within which I was really happy with, needed to be reflected on the cover and the covers production.

The saddle-stitch binding was where I could tie in the relation to Manchester's infamous mills past by using thread and a more durable option for where I was producing the publication. Although tests were done with perfect bind and were successful, I was unsure of durability with it not being done professionally. These binding methods were favoured as they display the images within the publications fully and although mostly black, having the full bleed images are important for the dramatic effect and the attraction I want the creatives eyes to glue to the fluorescence of the signage's. If done professionally, saddle-stitch would have still been the choice but using a genuine cotton thread to celebrate the origin of the photographs and resonate with the full symbol on the front cover.

As this publication's target audience is creatives such as photographers or graphic designs, and lovers of items more quirky, distributed in Manchester's creative hub of the Northern Quarter in shops such as Fred Aldous and Magma, my excitement and focus of the cover was to make it stand out on a book shelf.Between ideas of a fluorescent glow in the dark cover or a complete glow bar on the spine, I finally settled on an all black cover with black page edges (which I had seen on a book in our library which had such a unique attraction) and a humorous title which I felt would appeal to my target audience, 'Get Lit' Manchester version in tube type which glows in the dark. I feel a title like this would grab attention to those interested in neon signage or not, and if displayed cover forward, the large bee would be ambiguous and mysterious such as the style of my photographs inside, and give visitors whether they be Mancunian or not, a will to pick it up due to pride of the city.

The covers material was chosen as it was sturdy enough for a casing of the photographs, yet also replicated a photographs texture and reflective feature. Despite this meaning marks can be made easily this would prompt buyers to look after the book as they would their own photographs (which I want my publication to prompt people to take of neon signage, which is the reason for 'film's not dead' a popular hashtag of my target audience online) and due to the unique design features of the publication such as neon and fluorescent inks, all black pages and a lot of mystery and ambiguity, the focus is on the lights and having the reflective surface of the front cover celebrates that to reflect whatever colour/type of light wherever the person is. The publication feels personal, like a photograph, and has features a creative can appreciate as it is a visual publication.

Personally, design production has been the most challenging brief to date due to the very practical side of it. Grasping bookmaking and all the options for it was quite boggling, and my determination to incorporate fluorescent and glow in the dark inks with all the screenprint mistakes happening with my first time was disheartening at times but the design production decisions were right for the publication. Reprinting and getting screenprints wrong was quite annoying, time consuming and cost every time, however I know the capabilities of other printers elsewhere and I know this publication would be easy to recreate professionally in a professional binding and printing distributor as the photo-size, inks, and binding were all attainable for me, just putting them together by hand was a challenge.

If recreated professionally, ideally I would want a glossy stock that doesn't crease and mark as well as the stocks used together in this publication which would be off-putting as a new book to a new customer. The binding would be of course tighter, measurements of pages and cover more perfected, the glow stronger and preferably waxed and bevelled to reduce the ink rubbing off due to wear, and the fluorescent ink inside and all inks on the front a lot tidier which a machine could do easily.

I feel I have produced a quite quirky, personal, mysterious publication which would hopefully ignite creatives of Manchester to appreciate what the city has to offer visually and to capture these moments, hopefully collecting and shooting film as there is a surge in analog currently which I have witnessed in both Leeds and Manchester among the creative types that I know. The design production  would be replicated by professionals for many reprints easily as the decisions are distinct and match well to the content.