Double Page Spread - General Layout

These are my designs for the double page spread layout. I experimented with the size and placement of headings, images, grid systems and margins and columns. All 8 are annotated.

This is the design that inspired my final double page spread.

Double Page Spread - Body Copy

Here I have experimented with different fonts for the body copy. The font needs to be neat, clear, and easy to read. I have decided to use Arial as it is a well recognised sans serif font that is easy to read for all ages even in small font sizes.

Double Page Spread - Sub Headings

Here are my initial sub-heading designs. They are hand drawn versions of real fonts. I tried each font in lower case and upper case to give me a wider choice of sub-headings.

 

I chose to use this font. I first discovered it on an album cover but couldnt find out what font it was or who designed it. I then cropped the album cover saving only the text, and ran it through a site that identifies fonts. It came up with 5 fonts, one of which was on Adobe software.

Here is the cropped text from the album cover. It is a slightly different version of the font, as the edges are a lot sharper whereas the standard 'Onyx' font on Adobe is more curved at the edges and on the serifed sections.

Double Page Spread - Heading

Here are my initial heading designs for my double page spread.

This is the design I chose to develop. It is inspired by David Carson as he has a design whereby the background behind the main text, is made of text itself, pasted over itself numerous times overlapping one another.

Body Copy

Discover the creative explosion of London fashion during the 1980’s in a major exhibition at the V&A. Explore a range of sub cultures throughout the exhibition, in combination with 80’s music, florescent lighting and a club atmosphere.

Glam Fetish

Vivienne Westwood’s shop SEX introduced fetish and bondage wear to the club and music scene. The look was enriched with Glam Rock elements such as gold leather and flashy jewelry.

Knit Wear

This style varied from vintage-styled hand knits to machine knits that offered a sleek body hugging look while deconstructed, punk influenced jumpers were a familiar part of the alternative scene.

Hard Times

This phase is the complete opposite to the New Romantic phase that was due to come. Ripped t-shirts and leather jackets emphasized masculinity and being tough.

New Romantic

The look was androgynous, dripping with diamante and laden down with eyeliner, and that was men. Eyeliner, frilly shirts and clothing that is aimed at the opposite sex represented the New Romantic era.

Rave

A number of DJ’s to recreate the sound and atmosphere of ecstasy-fuelled Ibiza dance clubs. The shapes of the early 1980’s disappeared and tight fitting wear evolved which featured Day-Glo colours and metallic tones.

Goth

The gothic era featured black leather, black make up, with Dr. Marten boots and studded accessories.The Goth look emerged from a combination of punk, fetish and the 80’s obsession of with dressing.

Political

Over sized T-shirts with political messages in large, bold text, were a way of protesting through fashion.

Body Map

Body map took leisure to the 1980’s and using jersey velor and lycra, mauled them to design shapes and the addition of striking bold graphic patterns, prints and a splash colour. Body map produced a blend of form fitting knits, layered sketch, and jersey rhythmic print.

Tradition & Subversion

Traditional British textiles such as wool suiting’s, tweeds and shirting provided a palette of colors and materials, which also appealed to womens wear designers.

John Galliano recalled, “Thursday and Friday at St Martin’s, the college was almost deserted. Everyone was at home working on their costumes for the weekend.’

Typography Poster Development - Grid Lines

Here are 12 grid system experimentations with relevant type fitted in.

These are 3 developments on a 10x10cm square (Scale 0.5 of the 20x20cm magazine size i'd chosen) with all the information on. This includes the 'V&A' logo, the name of the exhibition, the dates and the open times. I chose the third one to take into Adobe Illustrator as i felt it was the most unique, eyecatching and would be a challenge.

Magazine Analysis

We got given a booklet full of typography terms and their definitions. To demonstrate our understanding we found examples of them on existing magazines.

Then we had to analyse magazine front pages identifying colour schemes, heirarchy, fonts, bleeding images and how the differences of these can symoblise target audience.

New Wave

In design, New Wave refers to an approach to typography that actively defies strict grid-based arrangement conventions. Characteristics include inconsistent letterspacing, varying typeweights within single words and type set at unusual angles. Credit for the introduction of New Wave design is given to Wolfgang Weingart. April Greiman is credited for popularizing it in the United States.

Wolfgang Weingart (born 1941 in the Salem Valley in southern Germany) is an internationally known graphic designer and typographer. His work is categorized as Swiss typography and he is credited as "the father" of New Wave or Swiss Punk typography. According to Weingart, "I took 'Swiss Typography' as my starting point, but then I blew it apart, never forcing any style upon my students. I never intended to create a "style." It just happened that the students picked up—and misinterpreted—a so called 'Weingart style' and spread it around."

April Greiman (born in 1948) is a designer. "Recognized as one of the first designers to embrace computer technology as a design tool, Greiman is also credited, along with early collaborator Jayme Odgers, with establishing the ‘New Wave’ design style in the US during the late 70s and early 80s.As a student of Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart, she was influenced by the International Style and by Weingart's introduction to the style later known as New Wave, an aesthetic less reliant on Modernist heritage.

Dan Friedman (1945–1995) was an American educator, graphic and furniture designer. He as a major contributor to the post-modern and new wave typography movements. He was also tought by Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart.