The final project consists of designing and producing an accordion book that utilizes at least 8 of the lessons covered over the course of the semester. In order to reinforce the lesson learned in the midterm project the final project will also concentrate on the narrative quality of images through the retelling of a story.
Telling the story
For this project you will need to re-tell a published story. Allowable source material includes: novels, movie scripts, graphic novels, songs, plays, white papers, scientific and academic papers. In the case of an animated movie script or graphic novel you must reinvent any characters that appear in these types of works. Create your own!
Content and Application of 2D design devices
The layout of your story will be typical of visual story telling, each page in your book could represent a specific scene or event in the narrative. How do you clearly convey your story through only using images (no narrative text)? For each page of your narrative you must apply/reiterate your understanding of the concepts covered in class - primarily focusing on the formal elements and principles. For example, the opening scene in your story must also utilize the concepts learned in one of the lessons covered in class (shape for example) and the work you create for this page must tell the specifics your story and also utilize the concepts learned in the shape lesson. How will you let the viewer know that this page is about shape, but also convey the story clearly at the same time?
Each page of your story must utilize a different lesson covered in class. Therefore each page in your book must take on specific visual criteria while also progressing your narrative. The arrangement of lessons applied to each page does not have to follow the order of the class (it does not need to be chronological from our syllabus), for example, you do not need to depict the line lesson on the first page of your book. You can determine for yourself and base it on what you think is best for re-telling your story which 2D lesson to apply to each page. In addition, the imagery of each page should slightly bleed into the next page thereby allowing the book to be seen in a page-by-page format or allow for all the pages to be seen all at once. (see example below)
Final Project Requirements
Each page must represent a scene in your story and one concept covered in each class
The concept on each page must slightly bleed into the next page
Your book must be, at least 8 pages.
Your book must have a front or back/transition cover
You must use both sides of each page.
This project must be digital and hands on.
Assignments covered over the semester (book pages must reflect these assignments)
Line
Balance
Unity
Shape
Space
Rhythm or Repetition or Pattern
Text
Value - Grey scale
Texture
Optical mixing or Designing with color wheel or Color
Scale
Proportion
Emphasis/Focal Point
A sketch or design of the book layout – a rough sketch of what is going to happen on each page can be helpful for planning ahead and can help guide you before you begin working digitally or by hand.
You might have to make several detailed drawings of you 8 page thumbnails (small/quick sketches - they do not need to be in color) as you plan and change aspects of your book.
Your minimum dimensions for your book are 4x4 inches. Your book can certainly be bigger and it is not restricted to a square or rectangular format. Think about the content of your story, if it make more sense to have round pages, triangular pages, or star shaped pages, go for it! If changing the shape/dimensions of the pages doesn’t make sense, you can always make a larger front and back cover that reflects a shape or form. You are not required to change shape of your book - this is just another option.
If you decide to complete the digital book option, you will maintain the rectangular/square format of the art boards.
Getting ready and questions to ask your self for planning (THINKING):
Design is essentially the opposite of chance. As artists and designers we plan the arrangement of elements to form visual pattern. No matter how and in what order the result is always visual organization. What we have discovered is that art, like other careers and occupations, is concerned with seeking answers to problems. Art, however, seeks visual solutions in what we explored as the design process. This book is a way for us to put together everything we’ve been learning over the course of this semester in an intentional manner to reinforce our content.
First ask yourself, what is my story?
What are the stylistic components that I need to plan for?
How will my story unfold visually? Then, what class concepts can I link with a particular part of my story?
How does adding a class concept alter my story, or a character? Do I need to account for that in some way?
Will a character require a redesign? How much redesigning will a character require? Can I make this character my own? Do I become the character?
What is happening in the background of each image; should it be a solid color, pattern, or full color image with a graphic foreground? How will this help tie my story together? What role will the front and back cover play in my book?
What part of my book is digital and what part is hands on?
Step 2: Gathering materials and images (LOOKING)
Gather all the materials you need in one central file or one central place if you are working hands on so all your materials are easily accessed. Stay organized. Seeing all your materials together will help you see what you have and be able to edit and move things around much easier.
Create a specific file folder for all jpg. images and illustrator vectors you are using in your book.
Step 3: Making the accordion book (DOING)
This is an important step, make sure you take your time and not rush through this part of the process. The cleaner the hand made part of the book is the better it will look in the end. Below are some suggested tools (though not required).
Follow the link below on a tutorial for a HOW-TO on accordion book making:
Step 4: Inserting the printed component into the accordion book and adding any hands on elements. Again, if you decide to go the more hands-on route with your final project, try to fill and activate the entire page with visual information. The easiest/most straight forward way to do this is to create an environment for your story to play across.
Learn how the golden spiral relates to the golden ratio, how to change its orientation, and how it might be used to improve the composition of a photograph.
Art21 is a celebrated global leader in presenting thought-provoking and sophisticated content about contemporary art, and the go-to place to learn first-hand from the artists of our time. A nonprofit organization, Art21’s mission is to inspire a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists. Art21 produces the Peabody Award-winning PBS-broadcast series,
The Rule of Thirds is one of the most fundamental concepts in photo composition. And if you understand what it really means then you'll know when to use it.....
Ruscha achieved recognition for paintings incorporating words and phrases and for his many photographic books, all influenced by the deadpan irreverence of the Pop Art movement. His textual, flat paintings have been linked with both the Pop Art movement and the beat generation.
Art21 is a celebrated global leader in presenting thought-provoking and sophisticated content about contemporary art, and the go-to place to learn first-hand from the artists of our time. A nonprofit organization, Art21’s mission is to inspire a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists.
