Reflection

Setting up the exhibition was a new experience for me, and an interesting one too. We all had to work together to organise the space; and the tutors did really well to curate the whole thing.

I decided to show a few different things in the exhibition. Not only did I show my 2 finished, bound booklets; I also displayed the best outcomes from my screenprinting sessions, and the booklets my little cousins did. I also included a photo of them engaging with the activities. They loved it, and I got some great feedback!

I have learnt a lot from this unit. Although I didn’t make something completely different to what I have done before, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and tried things I may not have otherwise done.

I believe that I have been more engaged in this project than I may have with others.

The brief has excited me from the start, which has made me want to commit as much as possible. My sketchbook has been a big part of this project, so it is a shame it will not be marked. I have never been assessed on a blog before, so it will be a challenge to include everything I have learnt and made.

The research stage is always the most important part of any project - I got some great insight and inspiration from this. The Whitworth itself motivated my choices mostly – their saying ‘playful, intelligent and personal’ really stuck with me, and the talks I had with Whitworth staff were also seminal in this project.

Finding out about the children’s magazine Anorak was a great moment, as this informed most of my aesthetic decisions. I went to almost all of the inspirer series lectures, and have attended all tutorials. Most of my design decisions were made after tutorials - if there were any suggestions to be made, I always took them into consideration. I was also very interested in what the students from other courses had developed, so the tutorials were never dull.

During the final stages of my book production, I managed to collaborate with a fellow student on this project, Sophia Quinn. I had problems thinking of what to put on the front cover – so she drew a wonderful pen drawing of Joseph Whitworth for it.

I edited this slightly in Illustrator, to be used on my front cover

I wanted to screen-print my whole booklet, keeping with the hand-made feel of the product. I figured out that I would have two A2 screens, each with three of my booklet spreads on it. I had one of the screens made first, as I hadn’t quite finished the other spreads.

Before I got my second screen made, I had a tutorial with Elle. She suggested I didn’t need to screen-print the whole booklet, but could use screen-printing to do prototypes – I needed to think about the paper stock and colour options. So I decided to use the screen-printing sessions to test my options, just using the one screen. 

However, only one of the double page spreads printed properly through the screen. From the three hours I had booked to screen-print, I learnt a lot about how to print and which papers worked better than others.

The mellotex paper worked best

This recycled paper was a bit thin, I used a bit too much ink so it bled through slightly

I didn't quite use enough ink for this one

This spread didn't work well at all. Some of the detail is too fine

Nothing printed perfectly on this darker paper

It worked slightly better with the paler recycled paper

I bought 2 different types of recycled paper from MARC the printers, in keep with The Whitworth’s ethos. A speckled one, and a brown one. Afterwards, I realised that the brown paper couldn’t be used, as there are colouring in activities.

I printed the finished booklet twice – on Mellotex and one of the recycled papers. Mellotex is thicker, so gives the booklet a higher quality finish. However, I didn’t use the crease machine, so the fold isn’t very neat.

I used a simple thread stitch for them both, using black thread for one, and white for the other. I had to ask Caitlin how to do it, as I hadn’t been to bookbinding in a couple of years.

The booklet printed better on mellotex, and I think the black thread looks better

The recycled paper looks good, however the title on the front page smudged a bit

As I also hadn’t printed a booklet for a long time, I ran into quite a few problems doing that. My document wasn’t printing from InDesign, even with help from staff. The paper feed also didn’t work for some of my recycled paper.

I have broadened the skills I need to be a better graphic designer in many ways. I've always found it difficult to make decisions - but having enough contact time with tutors and other students, I’ve found the feedback I’ve received to be very helpful. I’ve become more confident in talking to other students, which is also very important, as you don’t always get professional help when you need it.

Stepping out of my comfort zone, and overcoming all the problems I have experienced has been a good thing – I have learnt from them. Now I know what to do, and what NOT to do. Although this hasn’t been a Graphics based project, I have still learnt a lot about printing techniques and paper stock, especially with the help from workshop technicians.

If there were anything I feel like I could develop further, it would be the activities. I think I could have designed more activities and make them more thought provoking and educational. Also, I could have made the whole booklet appear more hand-drawn.

I have enjoyed making work for an unfamiliar audience to me. It's much more exciting producing work for a children's market and it is also great to have a known context for the work. I have loved working with and for the Whitworth. I've learnt a lot, not just about the gallery and park, but also about my own skills and area of practice.