OUGD603 - Research led brief - Initial sketches

For initial sketches of the layout I was inspired by the books I'd looked at in research, and the ways in which the books flow and how they document objects like I aim to do in the book. Design monographs again proved a helpful resource to reference as they combine multiple pieces of work and celebrate each one sufficiently. I sketched layouts to get an idea on how to show images within a composition, from collating content I knew I had a variety of images to include. Some work in a series while some are best effective to work alone. Therefore, the sketches allowed me to think of ways to create consistent compositions for the images. As the book will be cover a variety of content, keeping consistency is the key. Experimenting with grids will follow in development but in sketch form I started to think of how to create rules within the editorial design. This included page numbers, headers etc.

I also thought about the form and binding of the book when sketching. I deemed something smaller would be best for the size of the book. Roughly A5 as I wanted it be compact, similar to the Beazley design of the year catalogue. Also I had the idea to have the book influenced by one of the key factors behind Japan's economic miracle. In research I looked into the impact of Juran's Quality Control Handbook had on Japan in the post war years, the small handbook helped change the perception of 'Made In Japan' as it introduced quality to the production line.

To have something like this inform the book adds a charm to it I believe. Although, I tried to find an image of the original handbook I couldn't seem to find any. However, handbooks in general are small and often disposable books. With the official Oxford Dictionary being  "any book...giving information such as facts on a particular subject, guidance in some art or occupation, instructions for operating a machine, or information for tourists" This again links well with the purpose of the book as its giving information regarding the economic miracle.

I analysed handbooks in general and they are commonly used in the workplaces similar to Juran's handbook. The vast majority of the examples I looked at are either comb, coil or wind binded. These types of binding are cheap and flexible, so at this stage I considered using either of these types of binding. Using a Japanese binding technique did cross my mind but I felt using a Japanese bind, just because the book is based on Japan is cliche move. Binds such the stab stich bind are aesthetically pleasing and do add value to a book, but aren't always necessary when creating a book on Japan. Additionally, they can affect the function of the book many of the times as they are rigid.