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Summative assignment reflection

Georgia Campbell Group 14 reflection - Designer: Alistair McCready

My final 12 page publication about Alistair McCready has exposed me to his design work and life as well as teaching me various new skills on Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop. McCready is a designer that focuses majorly on type design. His signature colour palette in early works is often black and white. In more recent works and collaborations colour has been introduced. I found by looking at his work throughout his career green seemed to be a common colour used even in some of the older projects. I felt that I could acknowledge his signature aesthetic of black and white through parts of my publication and the use of green would create a second layer of cohesiveness. The green I chose was a median of the ones I had seen in his work.

Another reason I chose to add colour stemmed from some of Alistair’s ideologies. For him, acknowledging the origins and history of design - specifically typography- is an important factor when creating his works. He also believes in balance in various ways whether that be; analog vs. digital, grids vs. no grids, old vs. new. From my findings Alistair’s origins are black and white type, the basics, perfecting the basics. He is also from Napier, Hawkes Bay too which is also where I grew up. This connection also gave it a full circle feel when designing because I knew the places he was talking about. Alistair’s balances that I discovered was incorporating his own personal design aesthetic that was reflective of the past while still adding subtle modern and refined elements. The way I applied the themes of origins and balance to my publication was by keeping the text black and white, something simple, readable, classic and also acknowledging his roots with the illustration of Te Pania, a statue well-known by Hawkes’ Bay residences. To balance my publication I had variation in grid systems and added in the colour green/green lines for that modern twist, I also tried balancing the analog and digital process so I wasn’t restricted by one or the other.

The way McCready positioned his body text in his own publications inspired me to use a wider line length rather than skinnier columns. He often has wide and long rectangles of text which can be seen prominently in his Stemme Magazine publications.

Something I included in the poster was a chalk background that was inspired by his Huia typeface. The Huia work displays character sketches with chalk. Instead of using the chalk background for every page - as it would look too busy- I changed it to black background with white text to hint at that chalkboard theme and the origins. This publication process has taught me so many new skills from grids to postscript files and many more inbetween. Something I want to improve on for next time is my stapling skills. I had trimmed everything and was ready to staple and they were off by quite a bit from the spine. I was going to attempt to take them out and restaple but I didn’t want hole in my work and since I used 160 gsm paper which was quite thick I didn’t want it to distort the paper by bending and creasing trying to get the staples out. I am proud of my design that I have done, for never having used adobe applications before I am proud of my outcome. There are small bits and pieces that I can see that could be improved, like my text alignment but those skills also come with time. I’m sure there are other things to improve when a professional designer might view my work and I am excited to find out what those improvements are so I can work on them.

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Week 12 Update/Hand in

I have successfully uploaded and completed the Summative assignment for GRAD 503. Above is my final publication. 

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Week 11 update: I am nearing the final stages of completing my 12 page publication. I researched more grid techniques for my last pages. Continually adding to my multipage pdf. Now is the time for refinement and preparing to print. I have also done test prints of body copies and in black and white to test compositions and point sizes.

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Week 10 Update: I have completed a first draft of my 12 page publication. I definitely want to add some changes but this is a good base to start refining with. I am also working in my Mulit-page publication. I have found as I go back and look at my brainstorming more ideas are coming to me that I have forgotten about so I can use those while refining my draft.

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Week 9 Update: Making further iterations and samples of pages. Editing my content that is going to be used and have started on my multi-page pdf. that goes along with the publication. Next steps are to keep refining and test print point sizes. 

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Week 8 updates

I have been gathering my resources and testing out layouts. I have gone some books out from the library to help me with my layout design. I have discovered I like making decisions as I go as I can play around with it more. Im getting some good ideas with font styles and sizes. My next steps are to keep research and curating ideas. I also need to start writing an Introduction for McCready.

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Ideations of layout designs. Another research illustrator document with far more of McCready’s work and images I want to use. I have som many ideas but I still have a sense of direction where I want to go. I have been analysing his layout style and will emulate them as best as I can. 

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Some initial thumbnail sketches. Currently get my research sorted before making more so that they can be a little more developed as I am a bit stuck for ideas. The research I have been doing has been hugely helpful. More ideas to come soon.

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Holiday update 2

I am currently working on putting all my research together from the holidays. I have finished watching the Indesign starter tutorials and have been looking through given resources to assist me in my process. I looked at Ellen Lupton’s thinking with type. I also discovered far more of McCready’s work that was on the Best Awards websites which I didn’t even think to search his name on till now. I found a rich collection of possible photos I could include in my publication and add to my existing collection. I have also drawn up possible thumb nail sketches for my 12 page plan which I will include in my next post.

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Holiday Work Update

I have watched the lecture we missed on Good Friday and have completed the Where’s the Grid activity (uploaded to MS Teams) I have also worked my way through some of the Indesign tutorials. I have also been watching different episodes of Abstract on Netflix for some more relaxed learning. 

My plan for the following week is to finish the InDesign tutorials and produce sketches for my 12 page layout. I will also go through some of the course resources like the Grid Systems and Thinking With Type. My overall theme for the week is just to experiment and play with Indesign and my ideas so I don’t forget everything. 

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Proper final poster with correct crop and bleed marks. Also fixed the mistake on the last date and changed it from 2012 to 2021. 

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Self Reflection

Self Reflection

My final poster was far from my first ideas and I am surprisingly much happier with it. I was focusing more on my strengths at the beginning rather than my designer's strength. I made it clear in my research that my design aesthetic is far more colourful and graphic based compared to McCready’s black and white typographic focused aesthetic. I started off trying to draw and incorporate my own graphics but I discovered that they didn’t add as much to the poster as intended. I had feedback that pushed me to focus more on the type. As I did this my poster began to fall into place. I was also made aware that sometimes when we spend time on things and they don’t end up working it can be quite difficult. Letting go of using the graphics I had drawn was definitely frustrating but necessary. I was successful in a sense I was ridding myself of unsessarcy content. Once I found a poster I enjoyed I made several different variations of it to make sure I got the best of each element. I am completely new to Illustrator and Photoshop so that was a challenge earning as I went while I was creating. I struggled with lining up my content and was then made aware of the ruler tool which I now use all the time. I was having a difficult time doing image tracing of my graphics for drafts and making the background transparent, a combination of youtube tutorials and directions from lecturers helped me to solve this problem.I had trouble saving it a bunch a times at first the wrong size then some things were out of line and skewed but I finally got it. Next time I would spend more time on creating the right graphics and testing more ways I can edit them instead of altering them during the process, so then, I can just stick them on the page. To improve my skills and abilities for my next project I could watch through the Illustrator tutorials again and perfect the skills. During the break I can also attempt to make my own personal projects to put different tools to use.

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A visual progression to the final poster. I began by placing my graphics and type choice on the page to get a feel for everything. I changed around my colour palette a few times to finally settle on back and white because that is McCready’s focus. My graphics weren’t working so then I went back and explored how he displayed his work via book spreads. I tried that out and again I didn’t feel it reflected my designer well enough so I used the positioning of the type to reflect the book element. At first I settled on an all black background but then after some feed back adding a texture chalkboard effect gave the poster more depth it was missing. I also added in Chalk lines in his name to connect to his work which is something he uses a lot. I had trouble saving it a bunch a times at first the wrong size then some things were out of line and skewed but I finally got it and included is a screen shot of the final thing.

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This is illustrator file I have done to bring all my thoughts and research together. The first describes some ideas and beliefs McCready. Three key points or ideas he emphasised was, balance, fulfilment, and what interest you. Then some visual images I found inspiration from. Then time line posters I found on Behance and Pinterest. The bottom left poster gave me the idea of incorporating images in the typography. Next page is full text I’m going to use. I also got his birthplace wrong in previous posts he was born in Auckland not Hastings. Next is graphic assets and type I want to use. Some sketches I did to use. I’m still unsure about using photographs yet I think I have to start creating before I decide. Then some sketches of possible compositions.

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I have started to begin to create graphic assets for my Poster. I searched through Adobe Fonts to find some inspiration and possible direction for the Typography I want to include. I am leaning towards Le Monde Livre, due to the similar serifs used by McCready, also Azote because I feel it has the Chalkboard effect I want to go for. I drew up some icons like Te Pania of the reef from Napier as not only is it a monument but also where Alistair grew up. I was thinking of doing some line drawings of Te Mata Peak ( a place he found comfort in) along with a few others. I will continue to brainstorm compositions. I also came to the realisation that not all the typography has to be the same as it is a timeline that shows changes not constants. 

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Preparing for Brainstorm

Before I get started on thinking of graphic assets for my chosen designer I need to finish some extra research to develop my ideas further.

I played around on Illustrator and the Bezier Game which I found very difficult but also very helpful. It took a while to get the hang of it and I kept forgetting to press ‘option’ to redirect it but I got it in the end.

My comment on my blog was to include ‘more visual references of my designers work’. So I have included some extra pictures in this blog post (will add more in the next too). I’ve noticed in his work often the ‘R’ letters have interesting and more decorative serifs. One of my favourites I have found is the one that almost looks like a tombstone promoting health and strength. It has maintained the old-fashioned sense to it but has been cleaned up with modern technologies.

McCready emailed me back with some amazing answers to my questions to help me gain first hand insight into himself as a designer. I took some notes as you can see on refill. He sent me an email with a document attached with some answers about his design process and his ideologies as a designer. I have enough dates now for the timeline and this email provides a more solid direction.

I have an idea to do a mixture of typographic and pictorial conventions for the poster. Te Mata Peak in Hawke’s Bay was somewhere he resonated with while he was growing up - it was where he often did some reflecting. I have been there many times before and I thought of doing some simplistic line drawings of places like Te Mata Peak and playing around with the scale, placement etc. The Barbican in London was also a place he enjoyed while living in London and I could incorporate the architecture in an abstract way. In his document he often talked about how important it is for him to acknowledge the past in the work he produces which I think is a great link the the previous paragraph above.

He also said how people often see typograph as something ‘dry or dead end’ and to be honest I thought the same when I was first assigned McCready. However, I have also grown to become more and more intrigued by it. He talks about the restrictions in typography that make it so interesting. You can take it as far as you want but an “‘a’ still has to read as an ��a’.”

Another thing he wrote was “The truth is that the world doesn’t really give a shit about design- most of my family have no idea what I do for a living.” Although, a harsh statement made me come to the realisation that the world doesn’t really have to care about what I’m doing as long as I am fulfilled by it it doesn’t matter. I don’t really care for things like physics or chemistry and I have very little knowledge on the subject but if it makes someone feel fulfilled and happy then who cares. This has taken a very philosophical turn but I am not mad about it. I think the key point is to do what interests you because no one really cares in the end. From reading McCready’s replies I have not only gained more information but my ideas have significantly developed, I have made some bonus philosophical learning and I am more than ready to get stuck in and start creating something.

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1984: born Hastings/Napier

2005: Takes EIT course

2008: starts Black Rodin screen printing with Lee Hanson (Hastings)

2011: Gets married to his wife Becky April 16

2013: attends AUT to begin his degree

2014: becomes a part of the student Stemme Magazine

2015: Obelisk typeface, celebrating Students best, DINZ student council

2016: graduates from AUT

2017: Winner of AGDA student award.

2017: moves to London with Studio Juice

2018: left job at studio juice

2018: Huia come home book makes shortlist for NZ best book design

2019: moves back to NZ

2021: his son is born.

These are the timeline dates I want to include and I will change the wording but these are the foundations of it/basic summary. I am super interested in making his timeline a chalkboard inspired by the piece from the previous post. I also thought of using small chalk sketches of different monuments for different places in his life. This is inspired by his typography of historical monuments and I thought it would be a subtle hint towards that. I am going to continue to brainstorm layouts and different fonts. I notice he uses a lot of serifs in his type and wants to attempt/include multiple styles of serifs. I am also keen to experiment with scale when using the type. I was thinking I could enlarge the more actionpacked parts of his life like 2015-2018 as that is where most of the information I found is from.

As I was saying in my first few posts I was finding it really difficult to get some solid answers for my dates. After I had a look at his facebook I decided to message him asking if he could help me out. He responded not long after and was very polite. He told me to email him with the questions as it was easier to. I emailed him but he hasn’t responded so I’ll keep a look out if he does. This could mean some of my timeline dates are taken away or added if he replies but I am still in the early stages of planning so there is definitely room for shuffling around.