Tillie Pendlebury

The Mockups

I found making mockups for this project very helpful to my design process because I was able to spot mistakes and things that weren’t working, which may have looked absolutely fine on screen but unusual when actually holding a physical copy of the monograph, looked odd.  

The One Thing That I Wish I Could Change

After doing plenty of mockups, I felt that I had considered absolutely every detail but my last minute plan to perforate the back page, was one that caused a slip in judgement.  As I had designed the back page before the page that comes before it, I placed the ‘designed and written by’ in a way that would work with the multiple smaller pages on the back.  However when I perforated the previous page, I forgot that I would need to move the typography on the back, to also fit around the perforated rectangular shape.  What is so frustrating about this is not only is it cut off but if someone tries to rip the page out of the book, the words ‘written by’ will be cut off.  The only positives about this misplacement is my name is within the perforated section and the fact a couple of words are cut off, emphasises on my point - that labels degrade and are overlooked.  

The Final Outcome

Overall I am so pleased with my outcome because I think it conveys my theories/narrative successfully not only through description but also visually. Although this project has taken many different turns to get to this stage, I think all of the experimentation, tweaks and changes in ideas, have helped to create a well thought out and considered outcome.  The research I have done and the theories I have read into that roughly relate to labels, have all made me very passionate about the subject matter.  Due to this enthusiasm, I think I paid a lot more attention to small details and trying to produce the best outcome possible in the time frame I had.  I think my interest in what I discuss shows throughout all of the monograph but most prominently in details such as continuing the pattern of the tracing paper onto the underneath of the grey/brown cover and wrapping the missing part of the title also over to the underneath of the page. These were last minute details that put more pressure on time for me but that I felt was worth the effort to do.  

Making The Final Monograph

I was initially really nervous at the thought of making the final monograph, as I did not want to mess it up.  However once I actually started to go through the motions of making it, I felt better because I have made two eyelet monograph mockups before this.  Making multiple mockups definitely helped me feel confident about every detail I had to think of, when making my final monograph.  I made sure to have a 1.5cm gap between the edge of the page and the fold in the pages.  I also was extra cautious to perfectly place the crosses which I then whole punched through.  Luckily at this point, my eyelet skills are much better than when I first started, so hitting the eyelets with a hammer was not as nerve racking as I thought.  

Printing The Final Monograph

I decided to print in the print bureau, seen as though I was not impressed with the quality of the mockup I printed in the library.  I am pleased with the quality of these printouts and every time I use these professional printers, I realise how beneficial it is to the overall final piece quality.

The Double Page Spread I Have Struggled With

I have spent hours trying to tweak this particular double page spread, which has been put in the monograph to show further examples of how labels are damaged when you rip them from clothes.  However no matter how much I have tried, I do not like one layout and feel it is a nuisance.  Despite trying out loads of layouts, I have decided to remove this double page spread completely.  Compared to the rest of the monograph, this has a much lower quality and does not add anything other than showing ripped examples, which I have already included enough of.  Even though I was reluctant to remove it from the monograph as I spent so much time on, i think it is the more sensible decision because I think it is better to have a shorter monograph that is strong, than a longer monograph that is inconsistent in quality.  

Changing The Spacing After Full Stops

As I did English Literature at A Level, I am used to doing a double space after a fullstop.  However my tutor brought to my attention that in design you only need a single space and that it can make text look odd.  Therefore I have gone through my monograph and changed this.  

Editing The River Island Image To Fit Better To The Monograph Grid 

^ Before ^                                                   ^ After ^

When I was looking through my final mockup, I noticed that because of the image frame size, part of the river island label and my nail was cut off.  Therefore similarly to the Acessorize, I took an image that I had taken of just the shop front and edited my hand into image, making it more central, so that the narrow image frame will not cut it off.