workbook storytelling

project description The purpose of this project is to gain a better understanding of pacing and sequence. With a better understanding of sequence we can come to better understand how to properly pace our designs in the future. For this project we will be recreating a children s story with collage-like effects. 2

research AFRICA One of the first steps to this project was coming to understand two things: Africa, its people and culture How we perceive Africa, its people and culture One very noticeable difference about Africa is their wide variety of COLOR and TEXTURE in the way they dress and in their culture. I wanted to use this to my advantage in my storytelling. African is recognized by its flat, dark trees that fill the strong yellow and orange sunsets with animals in the background. 4

AFRICA LIKES TEXTURE 6

research COMBINING TWO IDEAS {A LION & A WOLF} The idea of the lion fit in quite nicely with the original plot of the wolf. The changes that were made to the story helped to deliver the message in a clearer way. I chose to eliminate the sheep. Instead the village took on the role of the sheep. I felt this was appropriate because in small villages the lion can be just as much of a threat to the people as a wolf can be to the sheep. PACING Part of the research as a class was to look at the animated pixar clip of lifted. This helped immensely. After this study I learned to pay attention to the small details that make a story great. Considering every design is a story in it self, it applies to almost everything I do. I started paying attention to TRANSITIONS; what got me from place to place. TIMING was catching my attention, how fast how slow. ANGLES started to make a difference in how I saw things. I started noticing how COLORS affected my perception, my mood, my opinion. SOUND was not just background noise, but helped me feel the correct emotion according to my setting. Not just in design, but I started noticing it everywhere. PACING IS IN EVERYTHING 7

collage research MY FIRST TIME DOING A COLLAGE WAS IN SECOND GRADE That s right. Second grade. I am a little behind. I didn t even know where to start. I had all these great ideas about Africa flowing through my head, but then reached a designers block on how to assemble the dang thing. After a bit of research my eyes were opened to possibilities. OVERLAYING PRINTING TRANSPARENCY FABRICS PAINT PAPER GLUE STICKS TEXTURES COLOR GLASS PLASTIC BRAYER INK PATTERNS 8

COLLAGES ARE LIMITLESS 11

Texture research & experiments TEXTURE RESEARCH A big part of any collage is the texture that goes into it. Texture can help with your setting, emotions, contrast, details, a lots more. Part of my research was looking into what others had done. By seeing others work it helped inspire me and open my eyes to the possibilities. It also helped me understand the power of texture. I learned in class that texture is literally everywhere. On everything that is produced it has a texture. Especially in rooms such as the walls, floor, counter, baseboards, even mirrors which use the texture of what it is reflecting. DETAILS CAPTURE YOUR 12

ATTENTION 13

Texture research & experiments TEXTURE EXPERIMENTS Now that I had received some inspiration from other I tried my best to open my eyes to the textures that surrounded me in my everyday world. For example this morning in my readings class, while I was intently listening to Brother Griffin I also noticed every texture in the room. Starting from the ceilings to the chairs, white board, walls, carpet, podium, piano, floor boards, desks, EVERYTHING has texture. I tried a few experiments to get some ideas for texture in my project. These experiments really helped me to understand different ways of getting texture, as well helped to incorporate texture into my project. THE FAN OUTSIDE THE CROSSROADS. CROSSHATCH, STRAIGHT 14

ACRYLIC PAINTS WITH A BRUSH, CHEESE CLOTH, TOOTH BRUSH AND TREE TWIGS REWARDS CARD AND ACRYLIC PAINT 15

EPIC FAIL. 17

typographical exploration & experiments TYPOGRAPHY EXPLORATION The type had to flow with my piece. It had to help emphasize the dramatic parts while complementing the slow paced parts of the story. A lot of this has to do with the laying of the type. The typeface should be bold communicating a strong, dangerous environment. I learned in class about the difference between narrative text and vocal text. Narrative is when the narrator is reading while vocal text is what the characters appear to be saying. This really helped in my piece to distinguish the difference between these two. 19

I want to create an effect like this. After last week s critique I have a better grasp on how much technology is available. I will photograph the background I create (as flat as possible). Then I will photograph the tree I assemble...as flat as possible! Then in illustrator I will create two layers of the tree and make the one on top textured and the one on the bottom a cut out. I think I want to do this with the boy and the villagers too. It would create more depth, which would help with the night scene. In the critique I learned the difference between Narrative text vs vocal text. I need to find two styles of type that can distinguish the difference for the reader. For the vocal I am thinking about this: 20

I want to create this effect. The typography will be textured to help represent the scene and the mood. I could dedicate an entire spread with just typography to help with pacing. 21

24 TYPOGRAPHY FROM AN OLD 1953 COLLIER S MAGAZINE

typographical exploration & experiments TYPOGRAPHY EXPERIMENT I wanted a typeface that helped to communicate Africa immediately. Problems I faced were typefaces were often cheap and had legibility problems. This led me to experiment making my own typeface. This was a very fun experiment. A form of printing and cutting out letters. The first step was to draw out the letters in the most exact and precise form. I used a grid to help me get exact proportions. Then the letter was traced onto a Styrofoam plate and cut out. 25

The next step was the inking using a brayer, a sheet of glass and ink. I then coated the letter on its opposite side that it would appear on paper. After the inking the letter could then be transfered on another sheet of paper to be printed. Using only a plastic spoon to make the ink print onto the paper I created a printed letter. 26

I created more letters including an L, an N and a T. 27

Process sketches TYPOGRAPHY The process sketches are where I planned all the pacing of my project. After studying the pixar film I felt a lot more confident trying to plan out a story. The content is what should drive the design, we should always start with the story and then design around that. Otherwise your design is suited to visual elements and not the content itself. One of the first experiments was layout out just the typography. This step helped me to articulate pacing. Areas of fast pacing and slow pacing, climax, and transitions. It also helped me to visualize how much information I wanted on each page. 28

PACING This was the fun part. In class we learned to pay attention to consistency throughout the scene. It helps with pacing and flow if there are connections and stability throughout the scene. A BOOK END is when you finish your story where you started. Using a BOOK END can help to GROUND the reader. When you want a scene that is confusing, anticipating, use a different ending them the start. This is what I will do with my book because there is such a dramatic ending. SCALE can be a very effective story telling element. For action scenes, have the scene take up a large portion of the spread. If you want a less confident, smooth, slow scene have the content take up a small amount of the spread. The reader should subconsciously recognize the CONCEPTUAL SHIFT which is the shift in pacing in the story. When it shifts from fast pacing to slow pacing. 29

See your PROJECT AS A WHOLE. By laying out your project you can make connections between scenes to help to ground the reader. Draw CONNECTIONS between scenes to help ground the reader. 30

Process collage After all of my research, experiments and understanding of collages I was ready to start assembling my collage. I gathered fabrics, tape, paint, Popsicle sticks, crumpled up paper, glue, tissue paper, beads, any sort of texture I could get my hands on and made a HUGE MESS. ATTEMPTED PANORAMA OF MY MESS 34

First stop: PAINTING with a brush. I wanted to experiment with my background and what colors it could be. Next stop: PAINTING with a credit card. I liked the texture that the credit card made instead of using a brush. It created harder edges which is what I wanted to help communicate danger. 35

I TRIED AND FAILED. I used modgepodge on an old print I did in print making and it failed. BUILDING. I used lolly pop sticks to assemble my tree. And Styrofoam plates to cut out the shape of the leaves. 36

FABRIC. I went out and bought any fabric that I thought could relate. It started out kind of busy, but after some critique and advice from peers I figured out a way to simplify. One the left is my first try, the right is my second. I got rid of the giraffe texture as well changed it out for a more contrasting green fabric. I also changed the background to a sunset. Rather than a stark sky. LASER CUTTER. I used the laser cutter to my advantage on this project. Some of the pieces were quite intricate and came out much more refined by using the laser cutter. One example is the villagers. They started out as these very detailed and organic shapes. After some critique I changed it to geometric shapes to -1. Make them more legible and 2. Make a stronger connection between the huts and the villagers and more of a contrast between the boy and the lion. 37

TRANSFORMATION OF LION The process of simplification. The colors are what really needed the most refining. The first spread was with the yellow, after some comparing to other spreads I came to see that it was not consistent enough. I wanted to portray the lion in a sneaky way and then a strong contrast with the boy getting eaten. 38

39 EXPERIMENTING WITH TYPOGRAPHY

SCANNING The next part was to scan in all of my spreads. I started scanning everything at once, but later discovered it was much easier to scan items in individually. I also discovered the bigger pieces would let light in the scanner so I fixed that by putting a blanket over top. 40

TEST PRINT I was very happy I went in for a test print. It helped me decide what paper to us. It also helped me with the colors, there were some colors I had to change. 41

learning summary This project introduced me to the idea of pacing and sequence. Before this class I didn t even know what it was or how it applied to anything. I have now dipped my feet on the water. Ever since the Pixar animation analysis I started to see signs of pacing and sequence in everything. Not only in design, books, movies, but literally in everything. It is amazing how we can have so much control over a person s experience. How they feel, what they look at, what they look at first, their pacing, so much. I realize the impact my work can have on others. By coming to better understand pacing and sequence I feel like I have a better understanding of user experience. I want to try my best to incorporate the process of pacing and sequencing into some of my more regular designing such as web design, print advertising etc. Pacing not only applies to the design such as scale, contrast, etc but also with copy. The exercise we did at the beginning where we wrote out just our type was very beneficial. This step helped me to articulate pacing. Areas of fast pacing and slow pacing, climax, and transitions. It also helped me to visualize how much information I wanted on each page. Overall one of the biggest things I learned from this project is that the content is what should drive the design, we should always start with the story and then design around that. Otherwise your design is suited to visual elements and not the content itself. 45