a r t 2 4 1 3 | t y p o g r a p h y | f a l l 1 5

p r o j 2 A | m e t a p h o r i c i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f a w o r d

Design emphasis on type, expressiveness and introduction to identity. This project looks at language in its connotative and denotative forms and appropriates them into a visual metaphor. This will utilize Adobe Illustrator for the first part and Adobe Photoshop for the second part of the project. This will also prove your craft when mounting work.

The pieces shown above are from earlier semesters where the canvas size was a square and only black ink was allowed.

Start with a word, write it down. Write another word. Keep going until you find a word that interests you. Look for words that are verbs, adjectives and adverbs. You want a word that describes action or a state of an object. Typically they seem to be easier to use and more versatile. The word you choose will be the object and the way in which the word is handled on the page will be your metaphor. You will do two final “words” to create a spread in a fake magazine mock-up in Photoshop.

This is similar to Project 1B; however, you get to create everything from the very beginning including whatever word you would like. You may not use any of the words from Project 1, even if the word is not one you actually used.

Please be cautious about the size of the word itself. Some words need to be large for effect, while most will need a size that is sensitive to the space around it – consider the entire space of the page. Make sure you do not get stuck on only one word and have a few ideas developing at once.

You will be limited in the selection of typefaces you may use. The faces that may be used are as follows*:Garamond Helvetica Baskerville *Other typefaces may be used onlyUnivers Caslon Gill Sans if Prof. Arnell approves themCourier Arial News GothicMinion Letter Gothic Times New RomanFutura Bodoni Franklin Gothic

• Drop shadows are not allowed and horizontal/vertical skewing (distortion) is discouraged. Find another solution.

• Do not add any illustrations. Save those for later assignments. Letter forms only.

• You may vary the size, spacing, placement, and orientation of the letters. You may repeat, omit, slice, block, or overlap letters.

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• Though the design is constrained to black and white, you may use ONE color as a focal point of some sort that makes sense for the design. This is optional and not required. The color does not need to be the same between the two designs.

• Remember to think of the letters as shapes in reference to the surrounding space.

• The word must be legible to the reader.

• All letterforms must have a solid fill. No outlines. No stroke to any of your letters.

Create two separate new documents in Illustrator. Each should be: 8.5in w x 11in h with 0in margins, RGB color mode with 1 artboard each. Create artwork. Remember the skills used in both Project 1B and in Software Review and consider outlining text soon after you find the correct typeface(s) for your design. Using Pathfinder is not necessary for the project, though it would be a cleaner build if you feel like sharpening your skills.

Be careful that all artwork is 100% Black fill and no stroke. IF you choose to use the one highlight color per layout, it must be a RGB color build with no stroke.

Be sure that the artboard has a white background by creating a box with white fill and no stroke behind all other artwork. (You could also have a black box with no stroke and create your artwork in white. The point is that the entire page must have digital information and nothing that will translate to transparent in Photoshop.)This is to help in the second part of the project. Otherwise, there would be no need to do such a thing for the AI file.

• You should have 2 AI files with outlined text (= artwork and not a font file) with a solid background (either white or black).

• They should be saved as “YOUR LAST NAME_Proj2A_1.ai” and “YOUR LAST NAME_Proj2A_2.ai”.

• You do not need to worry about artwork that bleeds off the artboard because we will crop it via selection in Photoshop.

For all of Project 2, the following will be needed:• Pencils, sketchbookTo mount work for presentation: • 18-24in metal ruler• X-acto and #11 blades• Self-healing cutting mat (you may use the one in the mounting room, but beware

that it is very difficult to cut on because of age and years of spray mount)• Roller/burnisher (you may use the one in the mounting room IF you put a piece of

clean paper between the dirty roller and your final work)• 12in x 8in black mounting board - black on all sides

(this can be foam core if you would like a slightly cheaper version, just be aware it’s actually more difficult to cut foam core perfectly vs mounting board. And I expect perfect cuts. This CANNOT be poster board.)

• Spray adhesive (spray mount, not K-77)• Time to mount the work correctly

See both at the end of the Project 2B sheet.

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a r t 2 4 1 3 | t y p o g r a p h y | f a l l 1 5

p r o j 2 B | m e t a p h o r i c i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f a w o r d

The second part of this project will involve placing the Illustrator file into a Photoshop mock-up that will show how this message would live in a magazine or book spread.

Mock-up files are available online (sometimes free or always for sale) to download and use. If the file is PSD, there is usually a place to enter one’s artwork in the layers and then filters/effects automatically make the artwork look like it’s really in the piece. Though a designer could do all of this work and/or take a professional photograph, this new form of a professional-looking (and quick!) mock-up is growing in popularity.

Using this mock-up for the second part of this project does not provide challenging Photoshop skills, as most of that work is automated in the file. However, it does provide students a glimpse into the powerhouse that is Photoshop.

The mock-up above is available to students on nikkiarnell.net via a Dropbox link. See Prof. Arnell if you have a problem with downloading this file. Students may also peruse the internet to find other free psd mockup files that show a two-page spread in a magazine or book. Do not spend money on these. Show Prof. Arnell for approval before working with a different mock-up file than the one provided above.

1. Open Photoshop. Open the Photoshop file Proj2_MockUp.psd. Save As YOUR LAST NAME_Proj2_MockUp.psd.

2. Window : Layers. Open the folder: “magazine”, then the sub-folders of “left page” and “right page” (see next page).

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3. Double-click on the layer “put design here” under the “left page” subfolder. Another page will open called “Rectangle 31.psb”, which contains 2 layers. The following steps are all within this “Rectangle 31.psb” file.

• File : Place Embedded. Select one of your AI files. Place.

• A box will appear that reads “Open As Smart Object.” Select “Page”. Crop to “Media Box”.

• It will place with an X over the top. Click return and it will place as a Smart Object. Don’t worry too much about what that means yet. You know it is a Smart Object because of the icon in the Layers palette that will appear after you hit Return..

• The image should place perfectly. Adjust slightly if necessary.

• Remove the layer “magazine mockup 2”. File: SAVE. Close the page and check out the YOUR LAST NAME_Proj2_MockUp.psd!

4. Do the same thing for “right page” subfolder. Double-click on the layer “put design here” under the “right page” subfolder. Another page will open called “Rectangle 2.psb”, which contains 2 layers.

5. Follow directions above for your other AI file. SAVE and go back to your Proj2_MockUp.psd. Perfect! SAVE this file. The next steps are going to get this file ready to print at a larger size. As one can see by Image : Image Size in Photoshop, the file is 5in x 3.277in at 300 DPI (or 1500px across if you were thinking in web terms instead of print) I want to enlarge the image to print on a letter-size paper, but you can’t just enlarge it and be ok. “Photoshop Math” (my term) means you must consider the DPI too. If you want to enlarge the length and width, you’ve got to reduce the DPI or it will look pixelated. Because our laser printers only do something closer to 150 DPI anyway, it’s ok to change the Image Size this time.

6. Therefore, in Image : Image Size, change the file to 10in width (keeping in mind generous margins on the 11in paper) to whatever the height is when proportions are constrained (locked). Then change the Resolution to 150 DPI. NOTE the file size of the document did not change much once you brought the DPI down.

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7. Open InDesign. File : New : Document. Intent: Print NO FACING PAGES or Primary Text Box. Page Size : Letter, but horizontal Orientation (so should be 11in w x 8.5in h) 1 Column .5 in margins

8. Using rectangle tool, draw a box on the margin lines.

9. File : Place. Find your PSD file and select it.

10. With this image box selected, > Object : Fitting : Fit Content Proportionally > Object : Fitting : Center Content (neither should have done much because the size was set the same and the image imports centered)

11. File : Save as YOUR LAST NAME_Proj2_print.indd

12. File : Export (to Adobe PDF) as YOUR LAST NAME_Proj2_print.pdf.

13. Open this PDF file in Preview or Acrobat. Print at 100% (not Fit To Page, as margins have been considered) to Letter size paper.

See next page for visual of final mounted work.

1. You need black mounting board (black all the way through - be sure you cannot see white on the back or sides) OR foam core. Cut this down (or have Hobby Lobby cut down for a small fee) to 12in x 8in. CUTS MUST BE EXACT. Poor craft = reduced grade.

2. Remove all white around the image you printed. BE EXACT. Use a NEW BLADE.

3. Using a pencil, LIGHTLY draw marks on the board to guide you where to place your print. It must have 1 inch on the left and ride of the print out. You must vertically center also, so measure from each edge .75in.How did I get that? 8 (height of board) minus 6.553 (height of your artwork when you changed it to 10in wide and constrained the proportions), divided by 2 (you have 2 sides to worry about). This equals .7235. For our purposes, we can use .75 inches.

4. Spray mount the back of your paper, all the way to the edges.

5. Place the paper on your board and use a roller/burnisher (piece of clean white paper between the roller and the front of your paper if the roller isn’t clean!) to press down the page instead of using your hands.

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6. Using a white gel pen that I will supply in class, write NEATLY Metaphoric Interpretation of a Wordin the top left, flush left with your artwork - SPELL CORRECTLY!Your first and last namein the bottom right, flush right with your artwork NOTE: If you do not have neat handwriting, perhaps ask somebody who does to write the words on the board. ALL OF THIS is part of your grade.

Put all of the following in a folder entitled YOUR LAST NAME_Proj2• YOUR LAST NAME_Proj2A_1.ai • YOUR LAST NAME_Proj2A_2.ai • YOUR LAST NAME_Proj2_MockUp.psd• YOUR LAST NAME_Proj2_MockUp.pdf

(I do not need your .indd file, though you should keep it for yourself.)

Mounted printout to spec (see above)

FRI, Sept 18: Collect all Software Review files on a disk in class. Begin Project 2.

DUE MON, Sept 21, 1:05pm: 40-50 thumbnail sketches. Create thumbnail sketches in a rectangle relevant to the size of the final artwork (8.5in x 11in). Do not sketch in a square or a horizontal rectangle. Remember that space is just as important as shape. Work day when not reviewing sketches.

WED, Sept 23: Midway critique

FRI, Sept 25: Project 1A is due so that we can begin Project 1B.

DUE MON, Sept 28, 1:05pm: Project 2 (A and B)I will collect the files on a drive when class begins. Please have them prepared as explained above. I will also collect the mounted boards and we will begin critique.

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Your final grade will take into account how you did on both Project 2A and B, giving more weight to 2A. 2B does not challenge your creative skills. The final grade also takes into account the craft of mounting your work correctly, so take it vey seriously.

You will be graded on the following: PROJECT 2A:• Directions were followed accurately with absolutely no errors.• Ideas successfully conveyed per objective via composition and awareness of positive/negative space.• Awareness of how cropping for visual tension affects design. • Word(s) is (are) legible. • Each design clearly conveys word picked.• Ambition - How much did you challenge yourself? Did you plan your time well?

PROJECT 2B:• Directions were followed accurately with absolutely no errors.• Ambition - How much did you challenge yourself? Did you plan your time well? • Mock-Up looks real.

OVERALL:• Craft in mounting artwork• Handwriting legible and no misspellings• Professional Presentation.• Participation in critique.

Do more than 2 designs for Project 2A! If you’re on a roll, keep going!You may place them into the mock-up if you would like, but you do not need to print and mount all of them.

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