OUGD406 - Studio Brief 4 - Speaking From Experience - Process + Problems

Indesign Layouts

For the titles I used a Univers Bold which is a sans serif font. I wanted a neo-grotesque sans serif font to create a simple, minimal aesthetic within the page layouts. I wanted different sections of the zine to be identified clearly. Courier was used as the body copy. Courier is a monospaced slab serif font. I chose courier because it seemed to communicate across on a personal level quite well, as it has been used on letters and messages for a long time. I think it creates a homely/typewriter/print aesthetic that comes across more personal than a regular serif or sans serif. As the font is quite wide spaced it meant that on some pages I had to change the font down to 11 instead of 12. The introductory text to pages in courier was in 12, where as the rest of the information would be in 11 pt so it could fit around the images and within the white space. 

Layout of all of the spreads took quite some time and I think it had something to do with not drawing out templates before hand. I feel that If i had done this then my time on Indesign wouldn't of taken as long. I took so long arranging the images and making sure the text was informative but also had my own tone of voice or a tone that would seem casual at times. I was spending a lot of time to perfect the image and body copy within the white space, however I think it turned out well. 

I had problems with printing my test booklets. The pagination of the booklet was confusing at first because I wasn't printing the whole booklet. I was selecting a range of pages and not all of them. I found out soon enough that you have to include the front page and back cover page within the booklet and have the total number dividable by 4 to allow the pagination to work for duplex printing. I inserted a couple blank pages for the front and back of the zine so it could be able to print and flow better as a more realistic booklet. Not all books start with information on the next page after the cover, there are often blank pages with very little writing. 

I had to check 'Print Blank Pages'

My final zine was smaller than the other A5 test prints which I actually preferred. It actually made the end result much more nimble and easier to hold. I had to scale to fit and place crop marks so i could chop down the A4 paper. 

In order for my printer to do a double sided print on the pages I had to select 'Short-Edge binding'

After I had printed my final layouts on my chosen stock, I used a guillotine to cut across the crop marks and I then folded the pages carefully using a green cutting matt to align the edges to the horizontal lines. I used my bone folder to make sure the pages were folded properly and made it a better fit for the pages. 

Test printed zines.

A4 paper.

No Cutting, which means that theres a white boarder around some of the pages. These test prints were very helpful in me trying to get my head around how to duplex print in indesign. I used my own printer for the final zine. I would of liked to use digital print however It was fully booked up and I wasn't sure if I could finish laying out the zine in time for a slot. On the test prints the printer managed to get some ink pressed on to some of the pages and made it look messy. I was concerned for when it came to my stock I had chosen for the final zine, thankfully everything went alright.

Another problem I had at the end of my process was stapling the booklets. I found out that it was hard to align up the staples to the spine/fold, it was my first time stapling with a long edge stapler. It didn't help that the stock I used was quite thick all together. I also printed my cover for my final booklet at a larger percentage, when being scaled to fit,  so it could cover up over the edges of the inside pages and not look as sloppy.