InDesign, New file

I've had a go at a new layout design in Indesign, its much more based on the brochure layout rather than the original fine art design I had earlier. I think this lends itself much better to the idea of the fakery and augmented reality that exists in our housing world. 

I've uploaded a pdf with some example text on the first page here:

PDF

And here is a brief screen grab of the spreads layout:

 Image on the right hand page, full bleed, text on the left (if any) and Forward text on the left hand side of the first page.

 

 

Text Format

So now that I have a much better/bigger pool of images I can use for the content, I really need to enter the world of text formatting!

Richard gave us a handout, which for what I thought text would involve - was surprisingly complicated!

So much to think about...typeface, alignment, line length, leading, point size let alone type crimes and how to deal with all of this in InDesign.

Much more complicated than originally anticipated...

However, I know what I want from the book, I know the design I have in mind and a rough idea of amount of text involved, so I have at least something to get started with.

Firstly, I'm pretty adamant on the typeface being courier, or courier new, being rather digital looking and a nice comfortable reading typeface.I want the design of the book to relate closely to that of an original estate agent brochure, or similar - with digital typeface and lack of a sort of 'personality' in the spacing and alignment.

Using an online text editor, I can grab large amounts of text to experiment with in the Adobe suite. Above, is the typeface I am looking for - serif style (with flicks on the letters) and rather digital looking. Not much personality but readable, accessible and understandable.

The line lengths I will be working with along with this typeface should be about 50 - 55 characters long, paying close attention to hyphens in the middle of words, as you can see above, there is one I have missed on the right hand side at the top - which ruins the aesthetic of the words.

To handle the difficulties of hyphens and lengths of the lines not looking right, I can use the Kerning (space between characters) to make the lines fit better into the space.

 

Shown above: Kerning (accentuated for example) 

Shown Below: Leading ( the space between lines of words)

Eventually, after changing the size of the box, the line lengths and the kerning, a better shape of text is produced, shown below:

 

This still needs a lot of attention, also the production of the text content will be underway soon, I may try and get a writer involved in this.

Offerton/A6 Edits pt 1

Just finished editing a couple from the last shoot, getting more excited as I go - it feels like it is coming together a bit more than it was before. 

I have a session on typography tomorrow which should be really interesting, I will take the brochure material to get me started.
I will also do another draft print now that I have a better understanding of my project and a more extensive pool of images.

Reply

Had a reply back from Elain, pretty exciting to recieve a comment from a philosophical writer. It would be quite interesting to use this in my forward somehow.

From:	Alain de Botton (alain@alaindebotton.com)
Sent:	05 March 2012 23:37:32
To:	T_Beatty@Live.co.uk

Many thanks - your approach sounds a fascinating one.

We want houses to shelter us of course, but there's also a desire to

show that we can do more than just survive, that we're 'better' 

than this - and use property to show off power and influence.

I wish you luck with the project and thank you for your interest 

in my work.

All best
 

Alain
 

Sent from BlackBerry®

EmailToElain

I thought it would be useful for research purposes to attempt to contact the author of the book 'Status Anxiety', here is the email that has been sent, any reply will be updated on here.

"Hello,

My name is Teresa and I am studying for a degree in Photography. I am in the process of the production of a photo book for the second year project.

I am contacting you today because I have an interest regarding the subject of Status Anxiety, after coming accross it from your book, and would greatly appreciate some comments on the subject for my research.

The concept of my book is closely related to some of the subjects in the book, and I am mid way through watching the series for further insight. Through the use of photography I aim to tackle this anxiety, but on a particular topic, houses.

It is personal and also relatable, but I believe the concept of the mortgage, ownership, size and area relate so closely to this anxiety to become of value in the eyes of the world. Everytime I look into the window of an estate agent, I have this feeling of expectation and sadness, I am so far away from this situation, I feel I will receive value and respect when I have reached the ultimate goal of my own home.

But I don't believe this is true, it is a false reality in which I need this material possession and status in society in order to exist. This 'falsness' of the reality is basically the theme of the project, and will be produced with augmented houses, and presented as such like a sort of brochure.

I understand that a response is unlikely, however I believe it is always worth a try! Any insight or opinions on the concept I have mentioned would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Teresa"

[SideNote]

I believe writing down how I think the project is going is an important aspect within the whole process. I also believe I don't think I've been doing enough of it so far.

I suppose I would call this a mid-project review/self evaluation.

I've been pretty adamant with the basis/theme of this project, and I'm not really sure if it's been a good or a bad thing. I'm so used to chopping and changing in past projects, developing and using different mediums has been a sort of a comfort to me. However in this instance, within the book context, I find it necessary to stick to my guns and my idea.

Over the past few weeks, I have been so anxious about this project turning out well, with a quality end result. There have been moments of almost regret against the whole thing, I've had a lot of conversations with various people about it. It seems so strange that the whole idea of the project, surrounding societies worry about being of value, is mirrored in me. I have felt sick to the stomach with anxiety, about my own project - of anxiety!

A lot of people have said to me, that a project is only worth doing if it is a challenge. And after so much worry and self expectation, I feel I have a much better understanding about my own project. The issues so far have proven difficult, even having to wait for good weather to the shooting - and I believe the challenge of this project ultimately worth it. I do feel better about it, and as a photographer it will make me stronger and help me to tackle subjects of this level in the future. 

It is now over half way through the project, and I do plan to continue this theme of societies anxiety, and I think the use of a common ground such as houses will produce a book that is both relatable and will tackle the subject efficiently.

Offerton/A6

Back from another shoot, concentrating on houses with the potential to edit. As usual on a sunny day, it's difficult as far as exposure is concerned, so I tend to expose for both the background and foreground for maximum capability of the image.

Any edits will follow in next post.

Here are the contact sheets:

Contact Sheets

And these are the ones which I have picked for final edit:

Edit Picks