Assignment 5 Book Layout

This post is in preparation for submitting my 5th and final assignment for my Body of Work.  As previously mentioned, the work is now split into two books which are then connected along one edge and then folded to create a single book.  My intention at the moment is to send my tutor a PDF of each book and then use the following to explain how they work best when viewed together over a four page spread. Once I have gained feedback on this I will then create a physical ‘dummy’ of the combined books ready for assessment, and then take it to a more professional level within the next module.

Before I start with the layout, I just want to acknowledged that whilst the following shows my intended experience of viewing this book, the advantage of the final product will be that the viewer can decide for themselves how they want to approach it.

The following is the front cover for the combined book, which will have the title ‘Land Values’ below it.  To make this work, this front cover will actually be printed onto the rear cover of the Thornhill book (its how the folding works):

When opening this cover you will be presented with two further covers, one for each book.  Physically, the one on the left will be the front cover of the Thornhill book, and the one on the right will be the rear cover of the Glasgow book (confusing I know, but please bare with me).  The text introduces the concept of values to the way we might value land:

From now on, the Thornhill book (left) will be read from front to back and the Glasgow book (right) will be read back to front – to create the following comparative four page spreads.  For this next spread, the blue page is the inside cover and the text is the inner title page alongside my name:

In this first spread the text introduces the two places of Thornhill on the left and Glasgow on the right:

The following shows all the other four page spreads, noting that I have highlighted where text will be placed but the PDF of the final product will need to be viewed to see what the text is.

Book Layout notes

This post is merely a placeholder for my layout grid notes for the two books I am preparing.  This will allow me to reference them if there are any future amendments to make:

• Each page is designed on a 28cm x 21cm landscape layout.
• Each image has been designed and cropped to a 4×3 ratio.
• Each image is set within a 4cm  left and right margin, and a 3cm  top and bottom margin.
• Each book page is to be bound with a flat layout therefore no account has currently been made for gutters etc, but this may need to be reviewed at publishing stage.
• The small shop images are 4.2cm high
• Each text box is centred on the page within a box with a 5cm top and bottom margin, and a 7cm left and right margin.
• The title within any main text is Arial Bold 12 font; the main body text is Arial 9 font with a 14 point leading.
• The cover image has a 7cm right and left border, with a Arial Bold 24pt font.

A final montage

Its been a little while since I last posted but as I have come closer to the end of this module I have found myself more absorbed in working on the final outcome of this body of work than needing to keep an update on progress here, particularly as most things have been progressive rather than big issues to show and share here.  However, there is one thing that I have been working on that is new and something I want to include at the end of my book; which is a Kennardphillipps inspired montage.

This idea came about following a Scotland study visit to an exhibition ‘Here Comes Everybody’ by kennardphillipps (a collaborative practice of Peter Kennard and Cat Phillipps), held at the Stills Centre for Photography in Edinburgh between 31 July and 25 October 2015.  One of the key messages I took from this visit was to not be scared about drawing attention to the political element within your work and, as they do, have a go at ‘playing’ with montages of images to help project that message.

I was inspired to have a go at this and after some thought began to play around with a montage of the images found within my work Land Values, to project my thoughts on what this means to me and the underlying message of this work.  I decided early on that I didn’t want this to become a polished Photoshoped montage where all the elements seamlessly merged together as though it was a single panoramic image, and thus wanted to it to be clear that this was a collection of images placed together to create a new message.  Each element is therefore relatively crudely cut out and placed within the image.  I have put some effort into refining this but also held back in being too precise.  I had thought about printing each image out and then cutting and gluing them together but felt that this was a bit too cumbersome.

The interesting aspect of creating a montage is the further significance that each element is given through the act of selecting it and placing it within the montage.  There becomes a metaphor associated with each individual element as well as how and where it has been placed within the image.  Even though I now appreciate that the viewer will bring their own interpretation on this, some of the features and connections I have tried to bring to it include the associations with the dominant fence which is an object to keep things in or out, the No Ball Games No Cycling sign being on the opposite side to the bike and football; the contrast between modernist pylons dominating the skyline on the left and today’s skyline filled with wind turbines on the right; the seats which allow you to sit and view the scenery pasted on to a coffee hut; and the idealistic parkland where people can relax but which is surrounded by the temptation of fast food shops, cafes and restaurants.  These are just a few of the thoughts I have had when creating this, which I hope and anticipate will create many more; whilst acknowledging that this is a fairly light and playful message about our relationship with land.

The final outcome is something that I have now decided to include at the end of the book as a four page layout spread to become a final surprise element .  I haven’t had chance to get any feedback on an audience’s perspective on this therefore I intend to include it within my final Assignment 5 submission but may then review further at the next stage.

For now, here are the set of images that make up the montage:

And this is how it is intended to look across a four page spread: