Content. Design for Print. OUGD504.

In my publication I want to include different sections for each bit of information about design for print. These sections will include:

• Colour
• Format
• Stock
• Process and Finishes

Colour

When designing for print it is extremely important to consider colour from the very beginning. The use of colour can make or break a piece of design and knowing how to use colour effectively and efficiently can produce accurate and consistent results. One thing that must always be considered is how many colours or plates are being used within a design, as you don't want to be using more than yo actually need. Creating designs that are cost effective benefits both you as the designer and your clients.

• Colour Modes

The colour model that you choose to design with is particularly important so that you create designs that are exactly how you wish them to look. CMYK colour mode (also known as process colour) refers to Cyan [C], Magenta [M], Yellow [Y] and Black [K]. These are inks used in all printing techniques from inkjet printers to professional scale lithographic printers. 
On the other hand, there is RGB which is used solely in screen based design. RGB has a much wider range of colours than CMYK as it is based on light, and so can create much brighter and almost florescent colours that cannot be reproduced with process colours.

• RGB

Digitally based colour model that is used in web design and also in photography. 

The RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colours. In additive colour models, white is the "additive" combination of all primary colored lights, while the natural 'blank canvas of RGB is black, which is the absence of light.
RGB is used purely in screen based design as it uses light rather than inks to produce the colour. This means that the RGB colour mode has a much wider array of colours including very bright colours and florescent. This is a digitally based colour mode that is used in screen based design such as web design and photography.

based on modeling light to produce colors. Red, green, and blue light can theoretically be added together to create any color of light, the “100%” mixture resulting in white. The natural “blank canvas” of RGB is black, or an absence of light.

• CMYK

The CMYK colour model (process colour, four colour) is a subtractive colour model, used in colour printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some colour printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black).

The "K" in CMYK stands for key because in four-color printing, cyan, magenta, and yellow printing plates are carefully keyed, or aligned, with the key of the black key plate. The CMYK model works by partially or entirely masking colours on a lighter, usually white, background. The ink reduces the light that would otherwise be reflected. Such a model is called subtractive because inks "subtract" brightness from white.

• Halftones

With CMYK printing, halftoning (also called screening) allows for less than full saturation of the primary colours. Tiny dots of each colour are printed in a pattern small enough that human beings perceive it to be a solid colour. Magenta printed with a 20% halftone, for example, produces a pink color, because the eye perceives the tiny magenta dots on the large white paper as lighter and less saturated than the color of pure magenta ink.

Without halftoning, the three primary process colours could be printed only as solid blocks of colour, and therefore could produce only seven colours: the three primaries themselves, plus three secondary colours produced by layering two of the primaries: cyan and yellow produce green, cyan and magenta produce a purplish blue, yellow and magenta produce red (these subtractive secondary colours correspond roughly to the additive primary colors) plus layering all three of them resulting in black. With halftoning, a full continuous range of colors can be produced.

• Spot Colours

offset technicians around the world use the term spot color to mean any color generated by a non-standard offset ink; such as metallic, fluorescent, spot varnish, or custom hand-mixed inks.

When making a multi-color print with a spot color process, every spot color needs its own lithographic film. All the areas of the same spot color are printed using the same film, hence, using the same lithographic plate. The dot gain, hence the screen angle and line frequency, of a spot color vary according to its intended purpose. Spot lamination and UV coatings are sometimes referred to as 'spot colors', as they share the characteristics of requiring a separate lithographic film and print run.

• Pantone colour systems

The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System, a proprietary colour space used in a variety of industries, primarily printing. The Pantone Colour Matching System is largely a standardized colour reproduction system. By standardizing the colours, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colours match without direct contact with one another.

One such use is standardizing colours in the CMYK process. A majority of the world's printed material is produced using the CMYK process, and there is a special subset of Pantone colours that can be reproduced using CMYK. Those that are possible to simulate through the CMYK process are labeled as such within the company's guides.

• Tints

Tints are opacities of a particular colour, allowing you to use a single colour plate with different tints, rather than 10 different plates making it a much cheaper alternative. The single colour plate applies colour in varying opacities, giving lighter and darker tints of a single colour. This can make it look as if more than one colour is used within a print and give the print more depth and tone. Tints range from 100% of the colour down to 10% which gives a full range of tones to create an image with. 

Format

Format is the paper size conventions for paper, which is very important to know when designing for print. There is much more to paper sizes than the standard A sizes that we are all familiar with and knowing about the hundreds of different formats is very import when designing for a particular product or publication. 

• A Series

The international paper size standard, ISO 216 is the most commonly used paper sizing series used, especially within the UK. The main advantage of using the A series is that the system allows scaling without compromising the aspect ratio of square root on two, from one size to another. For example an A4 page can be folded to create an A5 booklet without compromising any margins. 

• B Series

Paper sizes in the B series are a half, a quarter or further fractions of a metre wide. While less common in office use, it is used for a variety of special situations. Many posters use B-series paper or a close approximation, such as 50 cm × 70 cm; B5 is a relatively common choice for books. The B series is also used for envelopes and passports. The B-series is widely used in the printing industry to describe both paper sizes and printing press sizes.

• C Series

The C series is almost only used for envelopes and is defined in ISO 269. The area of C series sheets is the geometric mean of the areas of the A and B series sheets of the same number; for instance, the area of a C4 sheet is the geometric mean of the areas of an A4 sheet and a B4 sheet. This means that C4 is slightly larger than A4, and B4 slightly larger than C4. The practical usage of this is that a letter written on A4 paper fits inside a C4 envelope, and C4 paper fits inside a B4 envelope.

• North American Variants

The current standard paper sizes used within North America, Canada and Mexico are based on traditional inch based 'loose" paper sizes. These are by far most commonly used in everyday North America, as well as in countries such as Bolivia and Chile. 

• Newspaper Sizes

Within the UK there are two main sizes of newspaper, tabloid and broadsheet. A tabloid newspaper is smaller and more compact than a broadsheet, and although there is no standard size to be called a tabloid newspaper, they are typically around 280mm x 430mm. Broadsheet newspapers are larger than tabloid newspapers, but do not have a standard size and are usually associated with a higher standard or journalism than a tabloid newspaper. There is also another format that is used widely throughout europe called the Berliner, which is slightly larger than a tabloid and slightly smaller than a broadsheet. Its size is 315mm x 470mm. 

Stock

Stock is the base material on which you print. It can be a huge number of things, ranging from a standard sheet of white paper, to more unusual materials such as wood, metal, plastic and fabric. Designing for print is about how it will look and feel after it has been printed, and so choosing the correct stock is incredibly important. Careful consideration has to be taken into the stocks ability to take the printed design, its ability to be folded and manipulated in the way in which you need it to and many other considerations that are specific to a design. 

• Weights

The weight of a stock, most commonly in paper, is measured in gsm which means grams per square metre. The higher the gsm, the thicker the stock. Standard office paper is 80 gsm, cartridge paper is around 120-180 gsm and watercolour paper is 300 gsm. 

• Paper Types and Finishes

Paper types refer to the type of stocks that are available and the different classifications and uses of each stock. A very basic way of differentiating between stocks is whether they are coated or uncoated stocks. All paper begin life being uncoated in the base preparation and manufacture of the stock. These stocks tend to feel much rougher and inks can be absorbed into the stock when printed upon. Coated stocks have a small layer of white clay or clay and caulk filler material that smooth over the surface of the stock. This means that inks printed upon a coated stock will not sink into, but sit on top of the coating. 

Newsprint - Newsprint is made from wood pulp and is very inexpensive to use. However it has a short life span as it can tear easily and cannot hold a lot of ink.

Uncoated Wood free - Nearly all office paper is within this category as it is very strong and has a non-glare surface suitable for reading and writing.

Mechanical - produced using wood pulp, mechanical paper is useful for short term uses as its colour will fade and yellow. Sunlight and temperature can also change the quality of the paper and ink. This is used for newspapers and dictionaries. 

Art Paper - A high quality paper with clay filler to give a consistent surface. Colours are very bright and it is often glossy.

Cast-Coated Paper - Cast-Coated paper has a high gloss finish, achieved by applying heat using a chrome plating cylinder. 

Grey Board - Lined or unlined stock usually made from waste paper. This usually has quite a bit of texture to it.

Matt Paper - Matt paper has a texture to its surface, meaning that less light can be reflected off of it giving a duller finish to the print. This can be coated or uncoated.

Silk - This is similar to matt paper in that it does not reflect much light off the surface, but it does reflect more than matt paper, meaning that the image quality and readability is high.

• More unusual stocks

Almost any material can be used for print, however you must carefully consider any type of stock so that it is appropriate to the design, otherwise it can detract from the design rather than add to it.

Wood - Wood is used a lot in signage and branding as a stock and can be drawn upon, painted, laser cut and many other things. 

Metal - Metal is also used a lot in signage, but is also used when making object or sculptures.

Fabric - Fabric can be used for a huge number of things from clothing to signs and banners. It is hugely versatile and there is a huge range of fabrics to choose from when designing for print. 

Plastic - Plastics such as acrylic come in a huge range of colours and thicknesses that can be used for books, business cards and signage to name a few. 

• Colour and Stock

One of the most important things to consider when choosing a coloured stock is the effect the colour will have on the inks you are printing with, particularly when printing on uncoated stock. Inks can sink into the stock or can let some of the stocks colour show through and so changes the look of the colour of your print. This is easy to avoid or manage by simply testing out your stock and designs before going to the final print. 

Processes and Finishes

• Lithographic (Offset)

Lithographic printing is where separations are exposed onto separate metal plates and are transferred (offset) via a rubber blanket to the stock. The metal plates print layers of CMYK and spot colours to build up the design. It is high speed and high volume and so it appropriate for larger runs of prints that are consistent in quality. using lithography you can print any number of inks, but the more plates you use, the more expensive your print will be. 

• Digital Print

Digital print is the most recent development in the printing process. It can be done straight from the computer and does not require much human interaction such as preparing inks and plates. Digital printing it not often used for mass production due to the time it takes to print and it would not be cost effective. There are two types of digital printer, inkjet and laser. These both print using the CMYK colour mode, but apply inks in very different ways. Inkjet printers use wet inks and apply these in varying amounts over the page, whereas laser printers use toner that is applied to the paper with a process using static electricity. There are many limits to using digital printing, mainly with the size of stock that you can use and the weights and type of stock that you can print on using a digital printer.

• Silkscreen Printing

Silkscreen printing is a very traditional method of printing that is most often used for creating a short run of prints. A silkscreen has a very fine mesh that ink can be pushed through using a squeegee. A design can be exposed onto a silkscreen using a UV sensitive ink, that hardens when exposed to UV light. This design can then be printed in any number of colours on almost any stock, giving many different uses for this type of process.

• Letterpress

Letterpress was the first type of commercial printing, most commonly used with individual metal letters. It is a form of relief printing, where the letters are arranged as needed and ink is applied. This is then pressed against a stock and the print is produced. This is a very time consuming process, especially when using a large amount of text and the print is not always consistent. 

• Lino Cut

Lino cut is a low volume type of relief print, where a design is cut out of a piece of lino and is then printed onto stock. This is a very time consuming process and you must always consider how the print will look after it is printed, as it will be the reverse of the cut. No two lino prints look the same, which can either add or detract from a design, but a benefit of lino print is that the actual lino can last for years, so a print can be recreated at any time.

• Foil Blocking

Foil blocking uses colour foils to print upon a design, using heat to 'glue' the foil onto a stock. Traditionally this would be applied using a thin layer of glue, placing the foil shiny side up on top of the desired area and the applying extreme heat, but in more recent years it has been done using a laser printer and a laminator that can reach very high heats. However, using the laminator technique can only do small designs and gives a varying quality result. 

• Embossing and Debossing

An emboss or deboss is a design that is stamped into a stock to create a raised or recessed impression, sometimes with the addition of inks or foils. Embossing and debossing can give a print more depth and texture, creating more interest in the piece of design. This is created using a die, with added heat and/or pressure to create the indentation in the stock. 

• Laser Cut

Laser Cutting simply means using a laser to cut materials. A laser can cut through almost any material apart from metals, and gives a number of different finishes such as cut through, engrave, kiss cut and raster. A design is put into special software on the computer that tells the laser cutting machine exactly what to do, and as long as the machine is set up correctly it gives consistent results. 

• Marbling

Marbling is a fairly simple technique that creates interesting patterns on a page. This process uses inks that float on top of a tray of water. These inks can then be moved around on top of the water and then an absorbent stock is placed on top of the water that soaks up the ink. The results are always different and only uncoated, absorbent stocks can be used.

• Binding

Binding is the process of attaching more than one page together, such as in books, magazines and leaflets. This is probably the most important finishing process when it comes to creating a successful publication that functions in the proper way. The function of the publication needs to be taken into careful consideration when choosing how to bind a publication.

• Spiral Binding

Spiral binding uses metal or plastic spiral that is fed through holes cut into the edge of the pages. This spiral is fed from the top to the bottom of the pages to bind many pages together and is a fairly secure way of keeping the pages together. 

• Perfect Binding

Perfect binding is the most common way of binding magazines and many soft cover books. The pages are formed into a block making sure that all the edges are completely straight and aligned. An adhesive is then applied to the spine and the cover is wrapped around. This is a very cheap and secure way of binding a publication.

• Saddle Stitch

Saddle stitch binding is very straight forward and simple way of binding pages together. It uses strong thread or wire to stitch along the spine of a publication in a single line. However this can only be used for smaller publications, as the more pages there are, the weaker the stitch will be. 

• Folding

Folding is a very simple and cheap way of binding a publication. This uses just one page of any size, which is then folded and/or cut to create small booklets or leaflets. This can be done in many different ways each with varying quality and strength.

• Coptic Binding

Coptic binding uses sections of folded pages that are sewn together, linked together with chain stitch linkings across the spine. This is a traditional way of binding larger amounts of pages and can be made with or without a hard cover. 

Design for Web. OUGD504.

Designing for web has many different components, the most important being navigation around the site. There are many different ways to navigate around a website, and these are some of the common and uncommon conventions of navigation. For my website I need the navigation to be simple and easy to use as my target audience is quite broad. 

Looking into the content of my website, it is clear that the restaurants I choose need to be lesser known and mainly independent and not a chain. This is because the aim of my website is to give the user a new experience of eating out, which needs to be new and exciting, different from anything they have seen before. This website is for someone who is looking for something special, for an occasion or to wind down at the end of a bust week and so the restaurants need to reflect this. I have researched restaurants around leeds and there are a lot of exciting independent restaurants for me to choose from, but for the sake of keeping my website simple without too many pages I have chosen three of my favourites to focus on. 

• Friends of Ham
• Little Tokyo
• Cielo Blanco

These three give a wide range of prices, flavours and atmospheres and so of the purpose of my website, will work really well together.

The website needs to include a lot of information without being cluttered or confusing, and so the content is really important. The most important aspect is the information about the restaurants. This pages(s) need to include the name of the restaurant, its address, the type of food they sell, the genial atmosphere and the price range. However I think that the address and location could be put onto a separate page with a map and so on. 

The home page of my website needs to be exciting and inviting, making the reader want to carry on through the site and find what they are looking for. A holding page with just a logo or image could work, although it isn't necessarily needed. I think that a simple design with a logo and a short piece of information would work well and would be clear to the user. 

The website would have to flow easily and all f the pages need to be able to link between each other so that the user can easily navigate around and find what they are looking for. I think hat it is important that the navigation bar stay the same throughout the website so that it is consistent and the user knows where to look for information. I also think that it is important that the home page is linked up to everything on the website so that it is easy to navigate. 

The layout or my website needs to be fairly simple and easy to navigate, as my audience is quite broad and so it needs to be easy to use and understand. I have chosen to use a very simple grid system as I think this it the best way to set out a simplistic design that is easy to understand. The logo and the navigation bar will remain in the same place throughout the whole website so that the user understands easily where to go to look for things and also to keep the running theme throughout. 

The colour scheme for this I want to keep fairly neutral, but perhaps with a bit of colour to keep it interesting and so that it appeals to my audience. However, I think I will keep it to a two or three colour minimum so it is easily understandable and doesn't get over crowded like some of the other restaurant websites I have been looking at.

I want to website to look ilk this in the way that it is very simplistic and stylish, and looks very professional. I really like the use of overlapping text and image, although I don't know how well this would work for my concept. 

 Home page

Restaurant Page

Feedback

From the feedback I got int he session from these initial layouts, I was told that the layout was too cramped and that I need to spread the information over the page rather than have it all squashed into the centre. I think that this is a good idea as it would make the pages more easy to navigate for all users. I also got feedback on the colour of my font, and my peers thought that using the yellow as the font colour was slightly too difficult to read, especially on a bright computer screen. It was suggested that I swap the colours around and use grey as the font colour and yellow as the highlight colour to underline and show when a button is being clicked. 
Taking this feedback into account, I have made some changed to my final layout designs for each of my pages.

And so from here I went on to draw up my final website layouts and wire frames for each of the pages.

The wire frames show me exactly where to place each of my components on each page, and also give me the exact measurements I will need for coding my website. This will make it much easier for me to code my website, rather than guessing where and what size each of my components needs to be. 

Design Process. OUGD503.

As part of this module we were asked to find at least 5 live and competition briefs to do. So far I have found these 4, plus a couple from YCN which I am interested in doing. Initially I think I will start with just one or two to start things off and see how I cope with a live brief.



http://www.posterheroes.org/brief/?lang=en

This first brief is from Poster Heroes, and is to create a poster in response to "Towards Systemic Food". This brief is great for me because it combines my love for food and my love for design. I am passionate about food sustainability and want to raise awareness of this, and so this brief will be a good start. 


The posters can be designed in response to one of four categories, and I can submit two poster designs.

The Challenge of Biodiversity
The maximization of agricultural production and the demand for alwaysavailable products led to the spread of non-native crops, chemically treated or genetically modified. The importance of seasonality and of local crops can be reaffirmed by the final consumer: actions and behaviours towards this claim are the challenges that creative people are called to tell.

Obesity and Malnutrition
The change in lifestyle and nutrition cause a dual and contrasting effect: the problems of overweight and obesity in industrialized countries, the phenomenon of malnutrition in the developing nationalities. The daily choices that creative people are called to tell, are the way to promote a more balanced global food system.

Emigration and Immigration 
The contemporary phenomena of emigration and immigration are boosting a multi-cultural society, where traditions and lifestyles meet and sometimes collide. The food has a strong cultural value, and in its simplicity may become an effective way of social integration. It is necessary to rediscover the cultural identity: the task is to show us how to do this.

Territorial Interconnected System
The material and immaterial value of food cannot be claimed or imposed from above, but it must be perceived and promoted by the people in their land of origin. The food is a local and precious resource, which generates multiple systems made by an interconnection of elements. The focal point is to build a system of actors, foods and territories, in order to create the basis for a bottom-up development.



http://www.graphiccompetitions.com/graphic-design/type-directors-club-annual-call-for-entries

http://www.graphiccompetitions.com/graphic-design/typoday-2014-poster-design-competition

http://www.graphiccompetitions.com/students-only/design-talent-2013-international-student-contest


http://www.ycn.org/awards/ycn-student-awards/2013-2014/briefs/fedrigoni

http://www.ycn.org/awards/ycn-student-awards/2013-2014/briefs/bear

Creative Suite Session 3.

Working in InDesign to commercial print specifications. 

InDesign basics

• Bleed - allows any inaccuracies when trimming the final piece. 3mm is the standard amount but this can change for different purposes.
• Slug - specifies the area outside of the page used for fold marks and crap marks. It is trimmed off after we go to print.
• For saddle stitch publications, the page number needs to be a multiple of four. 
• Facing pages - displays the pages as a spread, how it will be once its printed. useful for editorial publications such as magazines, leaflets and books.
• Primary text frame - will put a text frame on each page on every page of your document. This is good for text heavy publications.

After initially creating your document, it is still possible to go back to document setup to change a lot of options to do with the document.

You can also change the columns and margins by going to layout>columns and margins.

The swatch palette in InDesign is the exact same as in both illustrator and photoshop.

It can be used in much the same way as before, but this swatch palette has an extra option for when working with type, where you can select the area and the 'T' button in the swatch palette and all of the text within that area will change colour.

All swatches, including spot colours in InDesign are global colours, meaning that all objects of this colour throughout the document will change when the swatch is modified.

To create a new tint swatch, you first need to select which colour you want to create a tint of, and then in the optins menu select new tint swatch, and this will allow you to make multiple tints.

When working in Photoshop we need to be aware of:

• Colour mode - converting to CMYK before you save the image(s).
• Image size - need to work at actual size that we nee it to be for our InDesign layout. (shouldn't enlarge or reduce image size in InDesign.)
• Make sure the photoshop images are 300dpi resolution.
• File type - TIFF files or Photoshop files. JPEG files are lower quality and can add to the processing time of an InDesign document, specifically when converting it to a PDF.
• Photoshop documents can have transparency. TIFF files cannot support transparency. 

When working in Illustrator we need to be aware of:

• Colour mode - default colour mode of illustrator is CMYK, but it is possible to use RGB colour mode in Illustrator. Specifically, making sure that the colours used in your document are CMYK.
• Image size - If the file is a vector, saved as an Illustrator file, the image is infinitely scaleable and can be sized and resized within InDesign.
• It is possible to copy and paste the vector artwork from Illustrator over to InDesign, but never do this with a photoshop file.

When opening up spot colour duotone photoshop documents in InDesign, it will automatically bring over the swatch colours from the original photoshop document. 

This same thing also happens when opening up illustrator files in InDesign.

How we get from our InDesign layout, to the finished print.

Separating your colour - Separation

For a cmyk print, we would get 4 print outs. From each one of these a plate would be make to print each colour, much like how you would when screen printing with cmyk.

To view the separations, go to window, output and then separations preview. Then in the pop up box, go t view and turn on separations and you will be able to see the separations of each ink that will be used to print this. 

 This allows you to check that sop colours are actually spot colours, and will not be used up of CMYK. 

When it comes to printing these separations, in file then print we need to select the black and white printer and then go to output. In colour, we can choose the separations option and then we'll see the option to print all the separate colours. If there are any colours in this option that you do not need, such as extra swatches that were not used in the image there is an option to not print these, this would lessen cost.

Frequency (or lpi) is best at 40-60 for screen printing, but for commercial printing it is best 120-170 lpi. 

Moiré patterns can happen when two patterns overlay each other.

On the marks and bleeds option when printing, there is an option to view page information, and so the name of the ink (cyan, magenta etc) would be written so that you know which ink that particular positive is for.

Overprint preview is to do with the decisions that InDesign makes when printing your image. When two inks are printed on top on one another.

knocking out - when inks are laid on top of each other, and so when one ink or spot colour is printed on top of another, the ink below is 'knocked out' so that the colours don't bleed into one another. The one exception is that black ink will always over print.

In attributes, you can choose an object and see how these will over print, or choose the option to over print and not knock out. This means that you can work with overprinting to use two inks, and create an extra colour with only two inks. 

Spot varnish works in the same way, that the thing that you want to be spot varnished needs to be over printed and not knock out the ink behind it. 

You can only see how inks are going to over print or knock out when the overprint preview is turned on.