Month: May 2026

RESEARCH SUMMARY AND MINI READER DRAFT:

TUTORIAL 210526

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NOTES:

General – cohesive, coming together. Only thing that feels off is the boarding pass.

BOARDING PASS

– Massive HELLO at the start! Something to get some interest in there

– Perforation is enough to mirror the conceit of a boarding pass, does not have to mimic too overtly.

– Needs to contribute to the reading experience rather than be a gimmick.

– Flip 180 degrees…

– Set text straight too

– QR code at the bottom

– All set in Axo sans to match the main booklets

– Worth investigating a lighter stock

– Add something for adults about bibliography etc at the end

MAP

– Lose the lines, ‘draw form the UK to JAMAICA’.

– Add instructions for kids to connect the countries, put that at the top maybe, don’t need the lines? Not sure.

– REVERSE – confirmed to include ‘Outro for adults’, ‘Index of Key Terms’ for adults, list of Figures of each booklet (fig 1, fig 2 etc). Citations need to include the adults, so both kids and adults can go deeper.. 

– INDEX OF KEY TERMS

– Add colophon

– Mention where the map comes from in the text

– Could there be an intro ‘go deeper’, on the folded back page where typography line is currently?

FOLDER

– Name on the inside front (commission stamp, Axo)

– Piece of copy about learning together, or a CLOSING STATEMENT on the back inside panel (commission stamp, Axo sans). Well done for learning together.

– Title on spine, commission stamp Axo sans

– Heavier impression with main copy on back

BOOKLETS

– Card outer covers confirmed, slightly lighter card stock to stop the bounce, print at home, revise positioning. BOUGHT FROM SHOP.

Riso block colours will get quite messy, lots of rubbing.

– One more pass over the last three booklets, HISTORY spread of UNIFORM as an example, quite sparse compared

– Setup is flexible enough for have some spreads more photography heavy

– IF TIME – look at standardising the stamps, customized Axo sans instead of the very stamp-like

– Is there an argument for stamping everything? Restrict it to the outer folder? This is probably too much (time and money also)

– Add self inking stamps to the pack, present it with it

MINI READER

– Lose thumbnails

– use ‘ME’ not ‘DAD’

– Standardize position of black boxes throughout, Ella conversation a nice conceit

RESEARCH SUMMARY

– Add in personal stance and Matthew C comments

– Can glossary of terms be folded in to the writing? 

– Confirm own position in relation to  the project, can I do this at the end? ANSWER THE QUESTION at the beginning

SUMMATIVE SLIDES

-WHAT ARE THE KEY MOMENTS THAT GOT ME TO THIS PPOINT AND HIGHLIGHT THOSE 

– NEEDS A STARTING POINT, could this be a previous iteration

– Timeline conceit, focussing

– Image of daughters hand stamping 

SHOW

– Broad overview, but what you do say do in detail .e.g structure of booklets grounded in interview with teacher. ‘Informed by’

– Starting point needed – 

Filled-in iteration for the show, ask a family or Ella to do it

– Present with self inking stamp

TO DO:

COMMISSION STAMPS

LAST PASS OVER BOOKLETS 3-5

PRINT COVERS READY FOR BINDING, paper sourced today

MAP REWORK FRONT

MAP ADD CITATIONS ETC BACK

GET MAP PRINTED DIGITAL PRINT

RISO FILE PREP- PAGINATE 2 UP ON A3

XEROX FILE PREP – PAGINATE CONVENTIONALLY

Here is a file containing latest visuals, Mini Reader draft and Projected Contribution in a single pdf…

TUTORIAL 140526

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HOUSEKEEPING

– 1 to 1s next week (assessment activity otherwise)

– Complete physical mockup ready for next week (can come late to tutorial for stapling

– MINI READER digital version needs to be paginated for print, without bleed

– MINI READER Digital version for submission TO BE ADDED to RESEARCH SUMMARY for submission

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MAIN TUTORIAL NOTES

– Length good, feels longer without benign longer, but also looks good at this body copy size. Plenty of space.

– Contents notes on inside cover good, keep them.

– Brands – should they be more ubiquitous? No, overtly named them from an ethical standpoint but followed up with what the brand names are doing about colonial history

– Tutor likes the out-to text on inside back cover, 

– References, that would be separate, back of the map? Map could be printed in 5 colours, a key system.

– Origins discussed – on close inspection of the packaging, Tate and Lyle sugar as an example, you can’t find the origin of the sugar. BUT I t has Union Jack flags on it, made it Britain since… etc.

– Note from tutor – quote marks, en dashes/hyphens marked up in tutorial

– MAP. Can work, collage good. Annotate with facts about it. Intro to the wider physicality of the Empire. That change of pace is good, A5 to A2.

It could bring it all together in a few ways. Previous unit map issue has persisted.

– MAP – bring in participation, drawing lines between the destinations and the UK. Knocking back some of the detail in the map.

– MAP. Flow and pace applies here too, A5 booklets and then a change of pace to the map. ‘It’s a really nice addition’. Tinker with it as discussed. 

– Be less worried about production, open up and be more expressive. 5 colour, all the objects, each of them in corresponding colours.

– MAP – map being borrowed is appropriate.

– Image sources – kept mainly to Wiki commons, Wellcome Collection, Library of Congress.

– Next steps – see below 

‘• Riso booked for 29th May

(• Zerox booked for 29th May, backup)

(• Bath-based Riso printer approached as backup)

• Professional photography booking 28th May

• 21st May – all 5 booklets drafted, ring binder hand stamped with copy and front cover, map?

• w/c 28th May – finessing, prep Riso files for 29th

• 29th – printing and binding

• 30th-1st – Photography at home, prep Summative pdf, revise/typeset Research Summary

• 2nd June – PCSA submission’

– COVER. Go back to passport? Probably not. Simple stamp on the front, hand done, name and title on spine, copy and objects on the back.

Foiled cover wrong, this is much more sensitive. Described clean look of the cover. KEEP IT SIMPLE. Overriding title (Where’s That Really From?).  Try a minimal cover using your hand stamps, try a version that’s a passport design, heat transfer versus commissioned stamps discussed

– Back cover – write copy, add the 5 objects on there, commission a stamp or do a heat transfer, as front cover

– Keep the links for binding

– NUMBER THE INNER PUBLICATIONS.

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ACTION POINTS

– Buy folders (done)

– Next week’s target – all the booklets complete. Can be late to tutorial next week.

– Design map

– Do 3 outstanding booklets, HAVE FUN! 

– Experiment with binder – transfers, stamping, commissions a stamp

Engaging with and situating words in new contexts, I found this really helpful and a reminder to question and interrogate words and languages. Fascinating to hear the different meanings of favourite or detested words from the group, and to get into the ‘why’ of my word ‘HARM’. I chose it because I tell my kids ‘do no harm’, but the word can mean so many things, positive any negative. Does a white lie do harm?

Interesting references:
– allora and calzadilla
– BEN VAUTIER
– claire fontaine
SHILPA GUPTA

PDF WITH TUTORIAL PRESENTATION, INCLUDING ‘CONTEXT’ DRAFT:

TUTORIAL 070526

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MAIN TUTORIAL NOTES

– Step back and look at the roughs before getting into the rest of the objects.

– Maybe make the stamping manual inside the publication? Could be a problem for mass production, looking ahead.

– Riso still an option, lend itself to the colour combination, but it could be a time issue – priority is design and content for submission. Could be for showcase.

(- Riso will give you the stamp-like quality without having to stamp manually.)

– Riso will elevate this, where colour is such a crucial part.

– Use extra week to do it? You have showcase period of time too.

– Content – working really well, but what isn’t quite clear are the ‘Sections’ which would be useful for a user of it. Clearly showing history, object and action parts. How would I title them? Nothing boring, open and funny one of voice. Could be ‘THEN’ ,’OBJECT’, ‘NOW’. How ca I differentiate each section?

– Contents on inside of the binder?

– Page numbers?

– Intro paragraph on inside of the folder too?

– Number each of the publications, important for kids’ usage

– This can have a life beyond degree

– Context writing presented.

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ACTION POINTS:

– Try and do 2 more object sections for next week, add sections

– Consult with publications on Riso, make a booking.

(- Don’t rule out testing at the end of the month, tbc with school)

– Extra tutorial with Matthew C today.

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EXTRA TUTORIAL WITH MATTHEW C (UPDATED 5pm)

– Prioritise design over material priorities of Riso at this stage.

– Other decisions have bigger impact on how this functions  as a piece of design

– Guiding information inside of binder, contents, numbers for the publications, names on the spines, instructions

– Same, Rhythmic, Edirtorial feel in these pages. They are patterned. Could this be enriched by thinking of it more as an ATLAS?

– passport motifs are implicit, publication reads more as ‘travel’ , or ‘atlas’

– Therefore, could I handle the layouts more loosely? Something that spans a whole page, not every page has a fill-in-the-blanks. What if one page is simply a map? A page that is images or just images. That would draw readers in for the quality of the design as much as anything else.

– Way-finding elements, dotted lines, arrows for added depth. Same content, different structure?!

– What is the central enquiry of this work? Have led so far with the critical questions about Empire and colonialism, the stuff that’s not graphic design. Exploring those things USING graphic design. Is it that or is it an exploitation of the tools that produce this critical engagement with colonialism? So lens on object or GCD, or both?

– So it’s both, but can I reflect that in the writing?

– In the writing, am I focusing on the FORM of the passport or the contexts or both? Can this be done easily. 

– Flipped the passport, no forensic depth on guilloché, heraldry etc. This is intended to get people to think twice. M happy for me to dictate what the balance is, but this should  become cleat through the writing. 

– Say ‘these are the formal gestures that dictate’. The writing should focus the attention. COULD SLIDES REFLECT THIS JOURNEY TOO?

– INCLUSION OF A MAP at the end to bookend the experience for kids and parents, a lay-in at the end? A3 tip in can make this feel more expansive.

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MEETING WITH PUBLICATIONS WORKSHOP

– Riso booked for 29th May, Xerox booked for 29th May as backup. Sourcing local option in the meantime

– Source a local backup? Does this need to be printed formally now, or can it wait for the show?

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