Responses

Please post your reading responses in the Comments field below. There is no need to include your name or the date. Please just make sure I am able to tell which reading you are addressing.

47 thoughts on “Responses

  1. dsinitskii

    http://www.uprinting.com/
    http://www.uprinting.com/booklet-printing-short-run.html

    Size: Custom Size is 8″w x 5.5″h
    Pages: 24pp (Cover = 4, Inside = 20)
    Cover type: 100lb. Paper Gloss
    Binding: Saddle-stitch, left side.
    Type of press it will be printed on: Offset press
    Number of colors: 4
    Paper finish: Gloss
    Paper weight: 100 lb.
    Paper brightness: not listed
    Color profile: not listed, unless getting proof
    Bleed: not specified unless register to download templates. I know the company proofs the file and corrects for bleed.
    Set up costs: $153.75
    Proof costs: Free
    Minimum quantity: Short-run Booklets 25 copies
    Total cost: $164.49
    Cost per unit: $6.58
    Pros: not too expensive for the quantity
    Cons: seems good for financials. Not fine art. Specs are very basic. Details not clearly listed or listed at all.

    Reply
  2. Andriy

    During this week I picked up an interesting book for me called “The World’s Worst Weapons.” First reason is that I like the subject and I am into all kinds of gear. Second, this book is small but tick, 320 pages long. Third, it’s informative, interesting and fun. It is minimal on text but right to the point, which is easy to remember. Also, full of pictures and art illustrations. Simple but effective design, something that I like about this kind of books. First page is text and small image and second page is full image and some text to label items. The book is well made. It has a thick smooth cover with image. It makes it pleasant to hold it in a hand. Inside pages are of high quality. Probably, premium semi-glossy but never the last feels good to the touch of fingers. Book size is around 5.5×7.5 inches. It is very well banded together, 4 leafs banded with a string in the middle creating total of 8 pages and then banded to the rest of the sets. Overall, it is fun book to have in a book collection and a big red title and a funny front-page image just speaks “buy me.”

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  3. Jose Dones-Mustafa

    The one book that I am excited about is “Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop” by Timothy Samara.

    This is soft book and is saddle-stitched and glued. The cover has a interesting design element and the title is centered flushed left. The size of the book is about 9 x 11 inches. The cover of the book is a heavy card stock.

    The pages are stitched together for a total of 208 pages. After carefully examining the book I can see that about 4 pages are folded in the middle for a total of 8 pages per signatures. So it’s safe to say that book has about 26 signatures.

    The paper used inside the book appears to be a matte finished. Not glossy or bright but the texture feels smooth. This type of paper usually last for a long time before deteriorating.

    The book weights about 1 pound. Since there are 208 pages
    I would say the paper used is about 80 pound stock/ 500 sheets.
    I believe the book was printed on larger paper and trimmed down to 9 x 11.
    This would make sense since 8 pages per signature are folded.

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  4. dsinitskii

    The printed book that I used to make my observations is “Inspirability,” by Pash.

    The cover is hardcover and is perfect bound; Stitched and glued to the spine. The cover is wrapped in felt. The areas on the cover that show the title and author have been exposed through a die-cut on the felt. Same is on the back of the book; The barcode has been cut out using a die-cut on the felt, which leaves the barcode exposed.

    The inside pages come stitched together to have 16 numerical pages, only 8 sheets, folded in the middle. So I would say it is around 16 Signatures.

    The inside of the book uses paper, which is not very bright, and it is almost antique looking and feeling. There seems to be a cheap stock used, because the book is aging fast. The paper is already turning sepia around the edges. The paper is not very bright, but it does have a Luster coating, although not a smooth pearl finish; It is glossy, yet it feels sort of rough. Similar to the cover, the paper stock inside the book has almost a rough cloth feel to it. On the other hand the cover is literally cloth, which is rather cottony.

    The book feels like it weighs around 1 pound, which is comprised of cover and inside pages, all 120 of them, which numerated comes to 240 pages. So having those numbers in mind, I am thinking the paper used is around 6 pound stock per 500 sheets that size.

    On the other hand the paper around the exposed edges is very smooth, which only seems right that the sheets were not trimmed, but instead, printed on exact size sheet, which is then folded in the center, to create 4 Signatures and bound into 16 Signature sections. I don’t see ink seeped into the white of the paper, on the edge; Which, only brings me closer to believe that the sheets were not trimmed.

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  5. Shuhua Chen (Chara)

    Here are some technical considers for my proposed project, tea book. First of all, I need a photographer to gathering different kind of tea and food. It is great that I can find a tea shop or sponsor to show the different kind of tea to us, and we can take the pictures. I think we need some copyrighted images if we find better images match our theme, but most photos are taken by our photographer. The ways I know the printing place are Rumson, I think they can do a better job and cost not too much money. I don’t sure that Rumson can help us check the proof, so we must check the grammar and misspelling, color, paper, lending and spacing by ourselves. The budget I use is 50 dollars maximum. For the proofing of grammar, misspelling, lending, spacing, and layout, we can print it on black and white to get proof. We also can use tiling to print it out some large size paper. For the timeline, we may spend first month to get the design down, and the last two month, we may spend on the paper discussion and print problems.

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  6. Andriy

    I have a suggestion to create a book project by using services of blurb.com, which has good tools to complete the project fast and easy. The design layout of the project is simple yet striking with minimalistic approach. To create suck book will approximately cost between 20-50 dollars but only when all the elements will be put together the exact price will be determined. This project is easy to be completed with four people. Book layout can be finished in one or two weeks. The main goal of the project is for each member to create a real work of art that will be used in the book as a portfolio piece. The artwork should be serious, meaningful and unique. This will be the artwork that you will share with everyone from professional studios to your friends and relatives. Because this is your own work there will be no copyright issues. For the convenience creating, proof printing and printing is best to use the same facility to eliminate unnecessary hustle. This is a simple project, but there is much to consider: type, illustrations, layout, text information, cover thickness, paper quality, sheets, colors, file management, copyrights and most important to be able to test all the combinations before printing. Extra cost may apply for testing. Project will be done as soon as all the artwork is finished and can be imported into the book. Other services than blurb.com will be researched. This is a portfolio book project and is not for sale, unless agreed by each member of the project. If it’s put on sale, then the purchase will be made only through online. Hard copies will be special. This book is made to recognize you and your work.

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  7. Angel Nunez

    My proposal for this project is to create a book that can help to benefit the kids from different part of the world that and work with “International Children”, that has work since 1936, Children International has worked tirelessly to ease the burdens poverty places upon poor children.Today, our most urgent effort is to fight poverty by connecting sponsors with children around the world.But there are thousands of very poor children who are waiting for someone to give them a hand up. Someone like you. we as a sponsor we willing to A sponsor’s regular contributions help provide impoverished children with basic necessities through Children International’s transformative set of benefits and services. Sponsors help provide:

    Medical and dental care
    Educational assistance
    Durable clothing and shoes
    Improved living conditions and much more.
    The image that i will take it will be from the web site: http://www2.children.org/en/us/Pages/home.aspx?sid=B09695F-5488-4632-B9B7-7D6437E71DF71 that provide all the image from the project.

    The time line for this months it will be around 2 months. The book will content around 20 pages talking about the idea of how much you can help someone with only 20$ at month. but i will try to go far from the typical idea of a poor kids asking for money. i wanna make sure that when you donate that amount of money you make sure that it will benefit the kids with your donation.

    The book will need to be create in the future in different languages because we operate 17 sponsorship agencies in Central and South America, Asia, Africa and the United States. To find out more, select the country of your choice.

    Because all of us have a goal mine as well of the Program International Children is to truly affect the lives of impoverished children, their families and communities through our programs to relieve the burdens these people face and improve their quality of life.

    I hope you can support me on make the different for thousand of kids that need our support.

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  8. Jose Dones-Mustafa

    The production aspect of my music magazine can be completed by a typographer, graphic designer, photographer and perhaps an illustrator. Not sure who would the ideal illustrator, photographer or typographer in class would be but each will their role define according to skill. Since this is a music magazine, I would a use Dynodan Magazine Printing Company for both printing and binding. For large runs I would get the proofs from the same printing company. I don’t foresee any customizations, upgrades, additional printing or packaging will be needed. The only shortcoming I can see is time. This magazine has be done under 2 months and be ready to sent to the printer at least 2 weeks before the last day of class. In reference to images, I would either get them for free from the actual artist/musicians that are featured. If that is not possible there is photo stock images that can also be licensed for a fee. I would say that the total cost can roughly be about $50 – 75. Once the magazine is done and printed, I would like to have it distribute to Guitar Center and Sam Ash. Each store would have to be contacted individually.

    I

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  9. Pedro Ferreira

    Execution of Proposed Project:

    For my proposed project, I think it will take anywhere from one and a half to two months to execute. For this project to fall through, all members have to assist with the topic proposals. I want everyone in the group to have some input, so everyone will partake in “brain-vomiting” sessions. All ideas on the table will allow us to dissect the project and put it back cohesively. From there, two of the members, depending on who can do what, will be in charge of coming up with the written parts (I’ll most probably be involved with that). Then, whoever is comfortable and shows illustrational skills, can handle the illustration parts of the book. I’m not looking for any Norman Rockwell, just someone who can take ideas and illustrate them in a simple manner.
    All the designing for the book will take place amongst us. The only process that will be out of our hands will be the proof and final print out. As the project starts to come together, I want to see proofs of each section to see how the project is coming along and to make corrections. Once all the designing aspects of the book are complete, we will research publishers (online and otherwise) who are willing to print out our book. We will have to research costs and the timetable for printing and binding the book.
    As far as setting a budget, the group will have to sit down and discuss this when the time comes (or when the group is formed). I think that a comfortable budget will be around $200 (about $50 per person), as this book will not be too long (about 30 pages).
    Distribution of the book will be the tougher part. We will have to look into any bookstores that would be interested in displaying and selling this in their store. I’m thinking someone like Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com would be the top candidates. I also have plans of making this an e-book, so Amazon and iBook will be top considerations for distribution of the e-book. For this role, I will need people who have strong communication skills, someone who can sell anything from a pen to a used jock strap.

    -Pedro F.

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  10. Nanda J. Mangal

    My project to create a book that shows the benefits of a printed book over an e-book requires some time and skills to accomplish in the time left for this semester.

    I am not too sure of the skill set of my classmates, so I’m not sure who would be perfect for which job. I like photography and feel that I would do a good job at it. The printing of the book will, of course, be done by an outside organization. But everything else can be accomplished by my classmates and myself. There is a printing facility close to the school named Rumson, that I feel would do a great printing job on the book. I’m sure they would be able to handle a bigger printing job as well.

    The distribution is not something I have thought about at this time because I don’t know anything about the distribution process. My budget would hopefully stay under $50 and this is mostly due to the higher quality of paper I would like to use. I’m sure that having great images will add to the printing cost along with the type of binding used on the book. The timeline will have to be under the 3 months that’s left in the semester.

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  11. acearty

    My project proposal will be a look of how my major album debut packaging would look like. I would like it to be a collectable, harder then the other cases in stores. I would like it to have an embossed cover where the art and the words are. The cover will be shiny and smooth. I will bring examples to class of similar projects or artist I love. I am guessing the budget for the packaging will be around $1 a case. I would need cardboard, plastic and a glossy material. The audience for this project will be people who are into good music, Hip Hop music and collectors.

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  12. Andriy Dorodkin

    Proposing a project of creating art book of a personal artwork on theme today’s war conflicts around the world. Project name is “War, Peace and Art.” At least 16 pages long spread containing minimal text on first page and illustration on the second. The artwork may consist of illustrations, photo collages, and drawings all black and white. Goal is to keep minimalistic style with a lot of white space. Also use black, gray and minimal red. The project use high quality paper and glossy. Every member creates his or her own artwork for this project. The minimalistic style of design and theme is used to create web portfolio of Andriy Dorodkin. Design of hard cover and pages layout have been sketched out. The project: “War, Peace and Art” created and is under development by Andriy Dorodkin.

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  13. Jose Dones-Mustafa

    My project proposal would be a magazine dedicated to the unknown struggling artist/band. The magazine will focus on the daily lives of artist or band struggling to make it to the next gig. What obstacles they have met with and how they overcome it.

    The magazine also has a second purpose and that is to educate. Most artists or bands only keep their eye on the prize, but do not fully understand what sacrifices were made to succeed in the entertainment industry.

    I would like for the magazine to be released monthly at all music stores, such Guitar Center and Sam Ash in New York City only, with the expectation of going national soon. Some issues of the magazine cover will probably resemble Wax Poetic (very little typography, image is the main focal point), while other covers will have very strong typography.

    Every issue will feature about 4-5 artists or bands that perform on a regular basis regardless the style of music. The magazine will also cover the latest technological advances in music production, copyright law, music business contracts and so forth. The overall design of the magazine would be a combination of Vogue Magazine and Musician Magazine. I want to have high quality pictures of artist plus interesting grids for all the features.

    This magazine will be an average size magazine and could be anywhere from 20 to 30 pages long. A digital version will also be available by subscription only.

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  14. Pedro Ferreira

    Serious Project Proposal:

    The ideal final project for me would be to create a comical handbook. I know it’s a recycled proposal; being that this was one of my previous proposals, I think it’ll workout well. I want to create something that sets the mood and engages readers from start to finish and well beyond that. I believe that making people laugh is the best way to socialize. Humor is a great mean of “setting the tempo” and inviting people to engage in conversation.

    The handbook will follow a “How to” format, with the topic being the theme. The topic will be broken down and presented to the reader in different situations. From there, the situations will in be broken down and details of how to resolve such situation will be stated, all in humorous fashion. The book will eventually lead to a series of handbooks, implementing day-to-day situations we, as individuals, go through. With the expansion of the series, I would also like to make it available to people in other media, including audio books, e-books, instructional videos and even braille.

    As far as cosmetics, I’m not sure of what I can use for a cover. I’ll probably have to research colors and layouts that are in style and do the complete opposite. I don’t like to go by what everyone does these days, but I will pull up some reference if need be. The inside pages will be simple… half-image/half-text, large image/few lines of text and image-only pages. I want the book to be interesting and not bland, so I will play with type and see what sparks my interest and is legible. As for the images, they will consist of icons/simple figures like the ones used on bathroom signs. Simplicity and abstraction easily overpowers anything busy, any day of the week (Well, at least in my opinion)!

    This guidebook would be small in size, about 4”x 6” or 5”x 7”, something that people can hold properly in their hands and stick into any bag. No one wants to be carrying large and heavy books around. I want people to be able to take this book out anywhere, be it while riding a train, at a boring meeting or evening while handling business in the good old stall at work. The book would be anywhere from 20 to 30 pages long, depending on topics.

    For this project, all I need is everyone partaking to work in unison and agree with everything. Rebellion is punishable by death…

    Three main influences to this project are the “… For Dummies” series of books, the ever-popular MTV show ‘Guy Code’ and my awesome ability to make people laugh (some call it “sense of humor”).

    -Pedro F.

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  15. Nanda J. Mangal

    Project Proposal.

    Printed books are better than e-books. The e-book will never completely replace the printed book. That’s why my final project idea is to state the best qualities of the printed book over the e-book.

    The book will consist of 50 pages. Enough to give the history of printing and paper and information on how things have changed a lot in the past decade. But I will also have a humorous side on how printed books are better. The color scheme will be brown and tan to give the sense of an antique book with antique typeface to match. On the inside using parchment type paper will continue the theme of antique very nicely. The parchment paper will also compliment the history of printing and paper section of the book.

    I will include examples of printed material that have been associated with collector item such as comic book and copies of what a signed rear book looks like. This is to bring about memories of those readers who grew up with books and not e-books.

    Lastly I would include the humorous ways of how an e-book just does not cut it many of the times. examples would include how you just can’t curl up in bed and read a good e-book in bed, the smell of ink and paper over a screen is lost, taking an e-book to the beach and you come back with a paper weight if it gets wet, or how a printed book never runs low on batteries.

    Some contributions from others to accomplish this project would be good typographers, artist for humorous section, lots of researchers on the history part, great layout skills. Knowledge of color schemes that would work best and how does parchment paper feel and look like.

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  16. dsinitskii

    Box-set calendar is what I would make as the final project. The calendar will be a new twist on postcards. The calendar will be unique, because the proceeds of the sale of it will donate money to a Preservation Wildlife Fund. The calendar was inspired by two ideas. One, from seeing the Pantone fun postcards, presented in class. The other was ispiration from seeing animals interact in the wild, on the discovery channel. The calendar will consist of a couple of parts.

    First, I would like this box-set to consist of 31 calendar days printed on postcard or business card stock. This being the weight of paper, will definitely increase cost, so to compensate for cost, the trim of the product will be approximately 3.5in by 5.5in. Second, there is a new twist to the calendar. The calendar day will contain photos, illustrations and clever text , which will be a creative interpretation of a wildlife animal name. A part of the calendar will have a postcard note section, with a stamp placeholder, to be mailed as a postcard. It may include 4 double postcards, which will depict 3 months of the current year on each double card.

    The group members will be responsible for collaborating and communicating with each other. Since this project will require other student work, such as, photography, illustration and/or written text, there needs to be a way for everyone to agree on the content. So the group will function as a board of directors, who will decide on the art that gets put in into the project. If the job will be printed commercially, there will need to be someone who will make sure that the content is delivered in a proper format, including, correct
    in-document settings for ideal output. Also the job of the group will be to provide enough content that the board has options to choose the design interpretation of the day.

    One main purpose of this unique project, is to showcase creative visual work done by fellow students and colleagues. This will allow for the best content to be shown, while retaining functionality in this printed calendar. A lot of inspiration came from various sources, such as:

    •Pennsylvania Save Wild Animals Licence Plate
    •Pantone Spoof Postcards
    •Contemporary typography
    •Paul Chan
    •V. Kandinsky
    •Contemporary Blog sites, such as CargoCollective.

    The choice of paper is very important for this project. As differnent artwork has something unique to say, the paper should reflect the unique qualities of the creator. There will be a lot of experimentation, and that is what will bring out some of the best work forward, thus there will definitely be experimentation with the different coated papers available on the market. Also not all paper will be glossy, as the postcards should ,invoke different moods as felt by touch of substrate. I would really like to stick to different paper for the insides of the box-set, while the box itself can be experimental in the medium choice.
    Last, but not least, there is a lot of content to be created, so every group member must contribute time and effort to get this project rolling. Deadlines are critical and there is not much margin for error, as deliverables have to be on time. Since commercial printing is the way to go, the printers must have files ready in advance, in order to get proofs, as content is about quality. These proofs will show the designers how to maximize consumer appeal and value. Everyone wants to pay for something worth the value. With this project, designers will be challenged and all their creative thinking will come into play. This quality standard, will allow for designers to expand their creative limits, in order to provide the best visual experience of printed materials, to the consumer.

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  17. Nanda J. Mangal

    Organizations.

    For my project idea of how to show that the printed book is better than an e-book, there would have to be some organizations I would have to develop a close relationship with.

    One such organization is the American Printing History Association. This organization “encourages the study of printing history.” I would have to obtain a lot of information to pass along to my readers so they would become more familiar with the history of printing. The more the reader knows how far we have come from the first printed material to what we have now, I feel that they would have a deeper appreciation for books.

    Other relationships that would be very important to my project are publishing companies like Random House, HarperCollins, and McGraw-Hill Companies. They would be very instrumental in getting my book published and would benefit as well form such a book because I would be promoting their industry.

    Other industries I would have to work with are Paper Mills. I think it would be very interesting to include information on the paper industry in my book-from the history to how much paper is used to publish a book. Other useful information to pass a long to my readers are how the printed industry has affected the paper industry and what steps are taken to ensure that we will have a huge supply of paper, not to mention the measures taken to recycle used paper.

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  18. yuki abiko

    My proposal for the final project is a children’s book, with which kids can learn color principle, “Like what is red?” “Which color is blue?” and “what colors are needed to make orange?”
    The color palette consists primary colors, red, blue and yellow. Also, it consists black and white. Later in the book, it introduces purple, green and orange and shows to kids how to make purple, green and orange from primary color.
    Each color use spread with a correspondent illustration and story. For example, in the orange spread, the illustration could be pumpkins and some Halloween story. It consists 18 pages. The page size is 8.5inch by 5.5inch to keep the book not too heavy and not too big in order that small hand less strong kids can hold easily. Papers are coated glossy heavy weight since it is more durable so that kids can read again and again and can treat the book not too so careful.
    This project will need a typographer, a copy/story writer, a designer and an illustrator within the group.
    The idea of using primary colors is from Roy Lichtenstein paintings as he uses those colors mainly and consistently. Giving each color a spared pages is from “One Spooky Night” by Kate Stone, a Halloween children’s book, each page consists one or two similar color and black and white. I will bring the book to the class with me.
    yuki abiko

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  19. dsinitskii

    There are many ideal projects I would like to create. Projects range from creating fun postcards, to playing card decks. Although many of these projects seem viable at first, there are a lot of challenges a graphic designer will encounter in producing any of the printed projects. Since there are lots of challenges in the various projects, I would really like to work on a weekly calendar, which, if done right, will allow the sale of the calendars to benefit wild animals. The calendar will consist of daily facts that deal with exotic animals. Such facts will include notes about particular animals and their environment, as well as, facts that show the problems the animals face to date. The calendar will be a small, but powerful resource, for understanding how to save animals, as well as, be aware of the problems that may cause these animals to survive and not become extinct.

    This project, at first, was not supposed to involve other organizations in the production process, but at a second glance, the project will rely heavily on other organizations. The project will require a printing company, which can manage and produce the collateral monthly. This is necessary because the project itself deals with dates of the year, so the collateral has to be prompt and on time. Also marketing organizations have to be involved. Marketing will make sure that the calendars sell to the right consumer, which is very important because the calendar will donate money to help save and preserve wild animals, so the consumer, must be conscious of the problems these animals face, in order to make a difference.

    The government and non-profit organizations will definitely play a big role in this project. Non-profit organizations can raise the funds for this project to become a reality. Since the profits of the sale of the calendar will go to a fund for saving animals, the non-profits can generate the revenue that will be used to pay for the production of the calendars. The government will play a huge role, because it will regulate the way the content is shown in this calendar, also will regulate the location of where the calendar is legally allowed to be sold. Dealing with facts and information, there are definitely government organizations that can give access to such information as, the yearly animal reproduction rate, the death rate of these animals and other facts such as, the amount of animals that were poached during the year.

    Another big organization that will impact on the process of this project is WWF, which is World Wildlife Fund. This organization has an enormous fact resource library, which will help in the design of the calendar, by providing facts and information which will be printed. Discovery and National Geographic can have a great impact on this project, by providing imagery and photographs of the wildlife in an appealing way. Such organizations have photographers in the field, so the photographs will be unique and exciting, as opposed to stock images from The Internet.

    There also seems to be an important role of large corporations in this project. Companies that want to boost their brand image, can participate in this project and become sponsors. Sponsorship will credit these organizations, so it will boost brand image by showing that companies like Google and Apple are paying attention to the preservation of wild animals, which, in the eye of the consumer, makes the company seem professional, caring and legit. This can also help companies boost their profitability, as more conscious consumers will become brand followers, because companies will clearly show that they are trying to help in some way by becoming sponsors.

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  20. Angel Nunez

    My project proposal is a magazine for the young generation that are interest in fashion but they cant spend a lot money to get it. The magazine will help to educate younger people about fashion show, horoscope and mainly focus on their dream to become someone famous in the society and telling truth story of struggles towards fame. There are several organizations that I can anticipate having a relationship with. The first would be with the The Association for Youth Empowerment (AYE) in the United States. Daily News America. Their function is to inform the society about the news of New York performing rights royalties on behalf of its members, composers and fashion publishers. There is one more PRO that is a nonprofit organization that collects statutory royalties from, internet radio, cable TV fashion channels.

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  21. Shuhua Chen (Chara)

    My project is to publish a tea book which explaining different heath concepts and benefits of tea. However, publishing a book is a difficult process; there are some organizations that may help me complete it.
    First of all, as a student, I don’t have enough money to publish a book. So I need sponsors. AIGA – American Institute of Graphic Arts is an organization that can help me find sponsors who interested my tea book. AIGA is a tool to connect designers and society. Also, AIGA can give a lot of suggestion for me according to its experiences.
    Second of all, NPES-The National Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing, and Converting Technologies can help manufacture my book. This association provides manufacturers, importers, and distributors of equipment, supplies, systems, and software used in printing, publishing, and converting process from design to distribution.
    I want my tea book to be international, it publishes in different countries. ICC-International Color Consortium allows users to get the right color or image when transform different countries. Also, ICC allows a printer manufacturer to create a single profile for multiple operating systems.

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  22. Pedro Ferreira

    The one project that I would like to work with is the comical “How to” guide series. Humor is a way to relieve the body of stress and is a method of bringing people together. That is what I would like to achieve with the creation of the “How to” series.

    One organization I would associate this project with is the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). For many American graphic designers, this is the go to organization because of its renowned social networking. With tens-of-thousands of members, AIGA has opened doors for many graphic designers by allowing them to communicate with other designers, thus enhancing collaboration and employment possibilities within the graphic design field. This would help me with marketing my project and allowing me to pick up advice from other designers who have experience creating and publishing books.

    Another organization that I would associate with the project would be the Association of American Publishers (AAP). AAP is one of the largest publishing organizations in the United States, being made up of over 200,000 individuals who have been or currently are associated with publishing companies. This organization would assist the publishing process by introducing me to a variety of publishers who would be accommodating to my needs and willing to work on what might be an “obscene” series of books. Also, AAP could possibly help me with finding a publisher who can convert the project into other medias such as online, e-book and audio in order to increase availability and revenues.

    These days, pertaining to certain organizations can open doors for those looking to get a project running. The AIGA and AAP would be very beneficial to upstart my project by allowing me to tap into resources that would not necessarily be available to me if not for these organizations.

    -Pedro F.

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  23. Jose Dones-Mustafa

    My project proposal is a magazine for the struggling unknown artist/musicians. The magazine will help to educate musicians about show business and mainly focus on their daily struggles towards fame. There are several organizations that I can anticipate having a relationship with. The first would be with the 3 major Performing Rights Organizations (PRO’s) in the United States. ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) and SESAC. Their function is to collect performing rights royalties on behalf of its members, composers and music publishers. The PRO then distributes these royalties to its members, minus the PRO’s administration costs. How can this organization improve my project? Songwriters can learn that there are various ways to earn an income than just performing. There is money that can be earned if their song(s) is featured in film, television or radio. There is one more PRO that is a nonprofit organization that collects statutory royalties from satellite radio (such as SIRIUS XM), internet radio, cable TV music channels and similar platforms for streaming sound recordings.

    Since this magazine is about the struggling artist, the second organization I would have a relationship with would be SXSW (South by Southwest). SXSW features over 2,000 musical acts alone and staging concerts at over 90 venues around Austin. This information is key for a struggling band regardless of what genre they are. The magazine will have contact information for bands to register and dates for some or all bands performing at this event.

    As a graphic designer or Art Director (hmm, I like the sound of that), I would be the one designing the overall look and feel of the magazine, but I would consult with the Society of Publication Designers (SPD). Why? They are dedicated to promoting and encouraging excellence in editorial design. What better way to be the magazine of the year than to consult with the same society that promotes excellence. They may provide insight what typeface I can possible use or what grid may work for certain parts of my magazine.

    Not sure which printing company I would use but it is has to be one that has a very good and is able to deliver a high quality product on time. Time is a very important factor. The magazine has too be shipped and on shelves for customers to buy. Any delays can result in lost of revenue. Not good for a magazine company.

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  24. Branon Vasquez

    My project proposal in class was a print book focused on entertainment to keep any type of audience interested. It’s said that print is dead and with many library stores closing and newspaper companies making layoffs it’s hard to think otherwise. I bring this up because books like No Easy Day and 50 Shades of Grey are making books cool again because they have this entertainment factor attached to them making it easy to pick up and read. I decided my book would be about Top 10 Worlds Deadliest Martial Art Moves. I also want the book to educational so I decided to make the information in the book about not how to perform the moves but mostly about the damaging effects it has on the human body. In order to get my book made and published I would have to associate myself with organizations. The first organization I would have to use would be the Better Business Bureau. I would use the Better Business Bureau to look into other organizations to make sure they are legit organizations. I believe making my book would involve the following organizations. The American Forest and Paper Association to give my book a green environmentally friendly mark. The National Association for Suppliers of Printing to print my book. Publishing, and Converting Technologies Protection Agency to get my book published. The obstacles that may present its self with my book would be the violence so this is why I would form a relationship with the World Health Organization to show my readers that I don’t encourage violence.

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  25. shuhua chen (chara)

    Group collaborate is a very difficult challenge, some people may enjoy in it, some may hate it. I think a group collaborate is very useful in our society, we can learn a lot during the process. Therefore, a success collaborate needs well communication and a good leader.
    Communication is a major element in the collaborative process. According to communicate with other group members, we can solve every problems. For example in our group, we know each other’s personality and skills first during communicate; we can easy to separate our jobs. I think that can improve the efficiency. In the other hand, during the communication, group members bring a lot of different ideas; it also can provide the diversifications to the project.
    A good leader is very helpful during the collaborative process. The leader should lead the members into the right direction. He or she should make a right decision after members have different opinions and conflicts, so a leader should be smart and decidedly. A good leader also needs to provide a happy and relax environment to the collaborative process. Having a better emotion and condition, it improves efficiency and quality of the project.
    Collaboration is necessary in our society. Only one person doesn’t have enough ability and effectiveness to complete a big project. Instead, working as a group not only improves the abilities and efficiencies, but it also improves our confidences.

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  26. Shantel

    When working in a group or even with others the most important quality to focus on would be communication. Without communication there’s no way to get an assignment done yet alone started. There must be communication to assign certain roles and guidelines to each individual participating, to deliver a final product to a client.
    After last weeks class assignment, I realized that it is actually difficult to communicate on a class project. Being that it was the first time interacting with each other for the first time, no one knew really what to expect. No one was familiar with the others capacity of designing or whether they would put in the effort into communicating and delivering.
    One thing I did enjoy while interacting with my group members was exchanging experiences and knowledge in the industry. For example, listening to members strength in programs they had used before for certain projects and how they went about it. As well as, what design programs each one of us felt we had a better understanding of or felt more comfortable with.
    When it came down to assigning roles, certain experienced members jumped towards certain job descriptions. Some had either had experience in the department or were familiar with it. Overall, I believe my group does need a better handle of communicating. Hopefully, as time passes we’ll be able to grasp this technique to accomplish all assignments in our current and future groups.

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  27. Jose Dones-Mustafa

    I personally prefer to work alone, but I understand the importance of working with a team. By understanding what each person is capable of, is only, but a piece of the puzzle to a successful team.

    Communication. This can be either difficult or easy to established, especially with a new team. We have to check our egos at the door and start thinking as designers. We have to respect what each individual has to offer. No one should feel that their opinion does not matter. I learned that opinions from someone else can open the door to many new ideas.

    Workflow / Time Management. Time can easily become our enemy if we don’t dedicate ourselves to the task at hand. This can cause a team to fall behind on schedule and what I call design strife.

    About the team I see great potential in everyone. I personally see myself as a junior designer. I still have a lot to learn before I take on the mantle of Art Director

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  28. dsinitskii

    Working on a team brings on many unique challenges. As no two people are alike [unless they’re twins, and even that, is debatable,] no two teams are identical. One major challenge to overcome for a team to function successfully, is communication. Once communication is established, the work-flow starts.

    Workflow is hard to establish, unless there is a dedicated person who can put the time and energy into figuring out how to appropriately place a person into a role that best suits the individual. Such a person may be an Art Director or an Office Manager. Although communication was not fully established in our team, there still is hope. I feel that I can make a good leader for our team because I am willing to put in the time to get the job done right. Even if I am not chosen to be the leader, I will gladly accept other responsibilities such as: Junior Designer, Typographer, Pre-Flight Technician and others, so long that we succeed as a team.

    I have learned that to succeed in this industry, one must make sacrifices, even if it means accepting an unwanted position. When the team accomplishes set goals, the individual benefits from this by learning. When there is a successful outcome, all members benefit.

    In order for our team to succeed, we need to organize better and stand firm by what it is that we are trying to accomplish. So far, there is some lack of enthusiasm, which only brings the rest of the team down and lowers morale. I think we need to be aggressive and really decide what we are best at in this industry, stand by for what it is we want, and use our abilities wisely to further our advancement in graphic design. We are all capable of achieving successful outcomes, as long as we participate and put in sufficient work ethic.

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  29. Nanda J. Mangal

    The best way for a small group to tackle a big project would be a combination of many things for a successful outcome. You need to have communication, a knowledge your strengths and weakness of everyone and a willingness to do a great job.

    Communication is key in any group, without it the task becomes more difficult to accomplish. Everyone in a group needs to have a say in the process and should never feel that they do not have a voice. An individual should never feel that their ideas are not valid.

    By determining each person’s strengths and weaknesses the work can be better divided into section. By creating sections for each individual has more of a sense of responsibility and accountability. But there should also be process for each person to have an input in others “section” because this allows for a fresh eye which would have not originally been there.

    Last there has to be a willingness on each person to want to do the best job ever on a project. Participation from everyone, no matter how big or small is very important. Everyone has a strength that can help in on way or another. My better quality is being able to talk to everyone and get the conversation going. The hardest thing in a new group is starting a conversation and getting everyone headed in the right direction, but I’ve had some great group experiences where I got the conversation going at the beginning and then there was no stopping us.

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  30. Branon Vasquez

    At first I didn’t like the collaborative process. I would say it was more frustrating than it was difficult. I have never done well when it comes to working in groups because of my anxiety. I don’t let my anxiety attacks defined me I will always pull through and do my best. The group came together, and roles were quickly taken for the first task which was to correctly define types of Printing Process jobs leaving some members without anything to physically do but to wait. I personally took the time to know some of the group members better. Andriy Dorodkin is one of the group members and is an experienced art designer with skills ranging from illustrator, Photoshop, flash and body art. The first task was complete and our next task was to assign job roles to members who believe they can handle and then apply them to the workflow chart. I know my strengths and weaknesses so choosing roles for my-self wasn’t difficult. I picked Develop a timeline, Scan archival and “analog” imagery, Color correct and convert files and Convert files for web or digital format. I believe a potential problem in working with a group is that you’re put in a position to depend on somebody else to follow through with their work. A single person can hold a whole team back from doing what they need to do. If this was my ideal team and I was in charge. I would make sure all the members were up to date with the latest adobe programs or at least know the basics, and everyone is able to get their work done in time but more immortally all members of the group have to love what they’re doing. If a person doesn’t love what they do it would show and reflect on his or her work.

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  31. Angel Nunez

    I really love the class today. we can really interact with my other 3 classmate. we need to start developing ideas and trying to come on with solutions to problem that will solve in our basic day as professional. we divide in each person as working as a body where every single part of it have to make a function and at the end bring a solution to the problem. we divided the tittle that our team or industry have in different idea. in conclusion i love it, because show me again that we need to work in team and we need to be able to help each other.

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  32. yuki abiko

    I have been working as a freelance web master/programer for a long time. I am get used to working in team. I tend to think outside the box, so I can sometimes give unusual ideas. I also listen to other team members. However, I tend to compromise easily especially when there is a suborn person in a team so that the project can go on smoothly rather than can make the project better- Yuki Abiko

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  33. Crystal Eley

    Wut Is a Book, by Paul Chan is a history lesson in book production, necessity of books and there contribution to civilization. While using contemporary images and ideas to relate to past events for example “In soviet Russia Friday gets down on you “ (p7.) This quote is placed over the singer Amanda Black Image and is a play on the song Friday. The content of the book is written in a poetic rhythm, nontraditional large font collage over vertical small print. The small print used as the background. The small type can detract from message of larger font.

    The experience of reading Wut Is a Book in hard copy would give a tangible feeling of holding a book and the ability view the binding techniques used and also details that are decreased while reading using electronic devices.

    The Design of the book can be described as collage of text, images, and non- traditional design. Design elements like page numbering, standard font size in relation to hierarchy, and layout. Art is whatever and the aesthetics of the book are based on individual opinion. I think Paul Chan layout was intentional to challenge the traditional idea of books.

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  34. Jenelle Clarke

    After reading “Wht is a book” by Paul Chan, I noticed this is not your average type of book. This book was beyond difficult, when it comes to reading and understanding. Honestly I truly didn’t enjoy reading this book because it wasn’t understandable. In some way I still found it interesting. I enjoyed viewing the images that were in the book more than anything.

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  35. Angel Nunez

    I really can’t understand how Paul Chan play with the order of images and text at the moment to create a book. i really have a headache of trying to read this book. but as a piece of art we can really see how Paul try to explain the difference between balance. the main focus that he wants that the reader understand is that less is more and at the time to create a good book we must take in consideration that we need to make a balance, between text, image and layout. but i really have a funny time sharing this ugly book with my friends.

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  36. Shantel Escobosa

    Reading this pdf was informative but wasn’t my cup of tea. It was extremely long and all I kept repeating in my head was “why am I reading this?” But after getting past all the excessive information in the passage, I actually learned something. I didn’t know that the highest quality of codex was made out of skin of young calves (Vellum). Nor that paper was an invented in the Eastern cultures.
    Ignoring the fact that I did not want to read this, I did like the way the pages were printed. Text overlapping newspaper articles, old pages, maps and pictures. The random statements within the passage actually caught me off guard. I’m referring to the “In New York concrete jungle wet dream tomato!” / “In Soviet Russia friday gets down on you.” On that note… Thank you -Shantel

    GRA3532 Fall 2012
    9/6/12

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  37. Shuhua Chen (Chara)

    It is a book even I read 10 times; I still don’t get it. The background images are so abstract to me, the images make me very hard to read the text. Since the internet become more popular and trendy, people use internet to do everything, such as reading a book. Through the internet, it brings a lot of convenient to people. However, I would like have a hard copy of book when I am reading. I like the texture and the smell of a book. During the reading, I can write or draw something on the page freely. —response of “what is a book”

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  38. Nanda J. Mangal

    This book is not meant for reading and is more of a collector’s piece. I know that this would be considered art to someone, but not me. Whenever I tried to read the words, I became distracted by the images the words were sitting on and found that I was more interested in the images. I honestly can’t remember what I read a couple minutes ago.

    The actual book would look much different from viewing on line or in any digital format, and would probably look much better than what I’ve read here. I say this because I’m one to buy a book instead of downloading it. The thought of downloading any book is not something that appeals at all to me.

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  39. tundexxdisu

    Please note, the punctuation and grammar in my comments above were a deliberate attempt to imitate P.Chan’s writing style. PAYBACK! for having to read the winsome eyESOre!!!

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  40. tundexxdisu

    In the style of Paul Chan
    Informative, random run on sentences. Ignored punctuation tedious. Text in large print and wide kerning & tracking space make it a bearable read.” Wht” a book is ambiguously stated leaving reader with sense of “wht th hck?. A masterful artistic blend of frustration and intrigue.

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  41. Brandon Vasquez

    I am not really sure what to make out of Paul Chan’s Wht is a Book? The reading was like nothing I have experienced before. The book covered many historical early stages of print with lot of good information I didn’t know for example “In the Netherlands, by far the most frequently produced texts were school-books”. I thought religious reading material was the most produced text. Paul Chan asked some questions on his website one of which being “How does knowing become doing?” An example of this would be if someone learns to cook it would result in cooking. Another question asked was”Does it matter if knowing only knows?” My answer is yes because if knowing only knows but never does knowing it is meaningless. Finally, Paul Chan asked “What is a book”. My answer to Paul’s question would be a book is just information converted into text to be received by someone else. Paul Chan takes lots of information and puts it in text form and shares it with the world. The information wasn’t clearly received for words are scattered all over the pages, misspellings and distracting backgrounds which at times made the text unreadable. In conclusion, I believe the point of Paul Chan’s wht is a Book is to show us that a book is meaningless if it has no structure.

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  42. Jose Dones-Mustafa

    At first glance “What is a book?” is poorly design. There is no grid system. Background images are randomly placed, and text are placed over the images. The majority of the paragraphs have either widows or orphans. There appears to be no kerning or tracking, but the one thing I did noticed is that out of all the clutter, I actually found myself reading the actual text. The clutter or noise suddenly disappear and I was able to read the entire book. It made me wonder what is a book?

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  43. dsinitskii

    Assignment #1, Dmitrii

    Read book “Wht is a Book?” by Pul Chn. The book has everything written in quotes. Do not know who the author is quoting, but it feels like he is quoting himself. Most quotes are preceded by chronological page numeration. Not to go too ahead, but after finishing the last intentional sentence, I felt as if I had just read Paul Chan’s Essay, rather than a book.

    The book, although hard to read, made me want to read it in its entirety. Something about the short and sweet sentences made the book interesting. I will re-read this book again, because many ‘facts’ seem unreal, yet they are convincing. The purpose of this literary work is to keep the reader reading. There is definitely a lot of missed information, as the underlying text is hard to read or even to process, as the information is not fully connected. The large serif quoted text seemed to connect a main idea, which was focused on “printing” and “book-making.” This is definitely not an average legible nor pristine book. There is a message that the writer/artist wants to get across, but I don’t know that message yet, despite reading all of the quotes about the history of print in “Wht is a Book?” Although some may say this book demonstrates all things wrong with Graphic Design today, I disagree. There are clear grids and patterns that are intentional. It has structure and progression. There is a beginning and an end. Also the title pages exist after the cover and before the end. A repetition of one image in the front and back, shows order. Clearly there was a well developed thought and process that went into the making of this book.

    Despite seeing random bits of underlying data, I feel that there was nothing random about the juxtaposition of the background art.

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  44. yuki abiko

    It was one of the most difficut books to read. Literally and figuretivelly it is an eye-sore. However, I found one hilarious image in there, in which a police officer or something is put in Georges Seurat’s a Sunday on la Grande Jatte. It was nothing to do with the book but if there were something in common between this book and Georges Seurat, both are modern/inoventive styles. When Georges Seurat invented pointillism, it was very new style, whereas this book can be also considered as a new style. -yuki abiko

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  45. Pedro Ferreira

    “Wut is a Book?” by Paul Chan has to be one of the most, if not the most, unreadable book I’ve ever seen. The placement of strong-colored images under the text made it illegible at times.

    It basically gives a brief history of how a book went from being writing on slabs of stone and pieces of animal skin to the printed versions we see nowadays. Throughout the reading, it becomes obvious Chan isn’t really trying to give us a history lesson on books, but an artistic view of what a book represents…. just a bunch of words on a paper, which is binded together. It is how or what our minds make of this text that gives the book life.
    -Pedro F.

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