The use of Text
Talking about books, it automatically leads us to think about the text that shows the story. However, I would like to present it in a more visual way, as taking a series of photos of 'US'. That does not mean I won't include in any text, as I think it is important to lead the audience through my storyline, and see what I was trying to communicate. Based on this, I would control the amount of writing to a minimum, which in this way, I would be interested to see how people think about the story based on their personal experience. The way of using the text should be also interesting, for example, a question, a set of numbers or even a punctuation, so making them paying attention to the fewer words and making them involved.
Love is..
By listening to different love stories and reading romantic books, I wondered if the story is too sweet and perfect. From my own understanding, love is always imperfect, it happens through many different relationships, to take one of the most obvious and most common examples pf 'love; type of book is based on couples. Personally I've only hung out with one boy so far and I assume it has changed a lot compared to when I was single. I felt pressure, I cover the actual me up with someone else, just to show a 'perfect' me, I follow his step, I try to be someone he wished, in a certain period, love for me can be explained as inferiority, lost, disguise, desire, controlling, forcing and selfish. For my publication, I would like to present a different love myself and the boy who has this relationship with me, as to how we see the word of 'LOVE' in a unit of 'US'.
Contextual practice
Today a speech was given by GCD teacher Claire, who is an excellent bookmaker and graphic designer, she has talked through how to manage the layout and how to meet the client expectations. She has met a lot of case when the client contact her emergently to change the design of the book, and from what I've seen the first step is she decided carefully of what is the theme of the book/poster, what is it trying to communicate, and beyond that, she will take out the main element that she thought could be kept in her design. Then she comes up with a brand new cover, that is more simple and attractive. From her presentation what I thought is important for book publication is not making it too complicated to keep it simple, decide carefully the use of colors and making sure the layout is not over crowded.
Text
The idea of instead of pregnant they would not say a word of themselves being sexually assaulted has reminded me of, during the breeding of the mantis, there is a chance of female mantis eaten the male mantis for a baby mantis to born, which I found the love in these both ways is quite extreme, as one of it has to sacrifice. Based on this idea started mt research base on the "EXTREME LOVE".
I did think of making my book into a storytelling book of the Jewish holocaust, but me myself, my friends even the tutor thought this might be too heavy, so I decide to make the audio as one of the inspiration/references for me to further generate.
Deciding the different types of paper
The types of paper decide the quality and the mood that the audience feels. Based on my photos I would like to have a hardcover with texture paper inside, the paper should be matt instead of glossy, as also I have around 40 pages the paper should not be more than 250 grams. The grammage affects the paper’s texture to the touch and its level of transparency, which will be lower if you choose a paper with a higher weight. After all, I decide to print on a recycled paper. (Recycled paper is produced using between 60% and 100% recycled paper pulp. To be truly eco-friendly, the white recycled paper must be bleached without using polluting chemicals, or contain virgin cellulose fibers from FSC-certified forests.
Poses plan
At the beginning of the planning stage, the plan was to find a couple or two students to act out the relationship, however, I'm afraid the effect won't be as real as me doing it with my boyfriend, so I had to change many of the poses that were originally planned in my planner. This is because everything in the planner was drawn under the condition of me holding the camera, but now it is the tripod who's holding the camera, and I'll also need to make sure that I can run back to my position, then make the pose and be ready to be taken.
Outcome Contact sheet
The photos are taken nicely and I'm very happy with it, it has a good color palette and well to look at, as it also corresponds to my theme.
Publication final PDF
The photos that I like
REASERCH
Adrien Mondot and Claire Bardainne
These two artists colaborate together to give a different meaning to the book, they've presented it in an AR way, which is something that is very out of concept and fund for audience to explore and see.
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2019/11/acqua-alta/
Christoph Niemann
Christoph published a book celebrating what he calls “the joy of reading magazines and newspapers.” The presentation of the whole book is hand-drawn with simple illustrations and based on the colors pink, black and white, depict people engrossed in magazines and newspapers, which has made it very pleasant to look at. Personally I liked the way how it was presented so clear and simple, each page seems to contain its own story, and in this situation, I assume everyone would have their own thoughts towards it, so a book without any tet can be very playful as well.
黑猫警长 (Chinese childhood cartoon clip)
By listening to the audio, it has reminded me of a cartoon clip which I used to watch when I was young. In one of the episodes, I clearly remember it was about the wife mantis killed its husband and left me a strong impression because at that time it was quite scary for me and found the love they show is super extreme. So I searched up today and it is actually happening!!! Sexual cannibalism could benefit male praying mantis, The research suggests that when a male mantis is eaten by the female after mating, more of the male’s body material is passed into the female, and in turn, a higher number of eggs are laid. So in my photoshoot, I might also act this scene out as well.
Johan Deckmann
He presents existential notions of life, love, and self-doubt as self-help titles on hand-painted books, the word choice, font and the material of the color are very important as well as the message inside the book.
https://www.collater.al/en/johan-deckmann-self-help-books/
Ben Denzer
Toying with the concept of what a book can be, American designer Ben Denzer (through his publishing house Catalog Press) binds unusual collections of objects to create humorous volumes that you’re unlikely to find in a library.
Jane Haemin Lee
Jane is an illustrator and also graphic designer, the thing that I love about her design is the chose of color, the color palette was all very soft and peaceful, which made me feel really relaxed to look at, so for my shoots, I would also like to do something the same as to decide a soft and calm palette color.
Martina Matencio
She is a photographer who lives and works in Barcelona, The images portrayed by the artist create a sensual and nostalgic atmosphere, in which the protagonists of the photographs, illuminated by natural light and desaturated colors, reflect the fragility and beauty of the ethereal moments captured and immortalized by the lens of the camera. I loved the way she took the photo which somehow is very detailed, and closed up shots, so I want to try some shots based on this.
Ray Bradbury
Bradbury has very carefully considered the material that should be used for the book, and she has chosen a heat-sensitive paper, which has increased the quality of using it when looking at it.
Brooke DiDonato
Brooke DiDonato talks about ideas of surrealism and magic realism found in DiDonato’s work, the deep lines of inspiration drawn from her family, and her observations of the world around her. From her shoots, what fascinates me is the composition, the use of colours and the idea of two bodies that combine.
Guy Laramee
Using the books as a tool for sculpture, presenting it as in an unusual way made it more interesting and attractive, when looking at it people would think it is something that needs to look after and kept carefully compare to the normal books, this is another strategy as well, as how to , make the book important.
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/01/guy-laramee-carved-books/