John Tonks 'Empire', is positioned firmly as a documentary photography book highlighting the many colonies within the British Empire. His photographic journey takes us all around the globe, exploring some remote and unknown cultures.
As a practitioner Tonks mainly shoots medium format film, the quality is preserved and there is no worry over a solo digital file getting deleted or tampered with. 400 rolls of film went into shooting 'Empire', so the body of photography the viewer does not get to see is still staggering.
This shows that good practice takes, patience and often real immersion into a culture to truley document it- especially for a project like this. I find myself inspired by Tonks, as the emphasis is soley on the images and copy remaining limited.
Looking back at my own set of images, it is a shame NOT to collect more, especially with the Harley scene quite in reach. Despite this not being attainable for this current moduel as the riding season has finished, I would like to continue documenting Harley over time, possibly producing a real investigatory journey in future years.
The simple layout means the viewer is free to make their own interpretation of the images and investigate them for what they are, rather than fighting through overcomplicated design to find the message. The typography featured looks to be Caslon, a proud british typeface by nature. The serif structure of the letterforms are antique in appearance, they almost look like they've jumped off an old pirate map and made their way onto this beautifully signiture bound hardback. The rustic aesthetic of the font contributes to the quality of the readers experience, not too overbearing but not oozing modernity. The typeface is in keeping with the concept of Tonks' Empire, and lets the viewer know automatically they are being taken on a quality journey through time.
The manufacturing of the publication is relatively conventional. It is cased in a hardback with signiture (and then glue) binding. This quality bind suggests you can go anywhere with this publication; wether thats to the Falkland islands to look for yourself, or for it just to sit on the shelf and be a reminder of whats out there. Unlike other perfect binds which may come appart over time through use- there is no doubt that will happen here.
Pentagram, The Compendium : Produced by Phaidon
When investigating publications with the emphasis on Graphic Design, I was curious to see how the leading studio's did the task. As a manual is by nature a collectable, I felt this was a good place to start.
The publication is hardback in a dustjacket, which then slides inside a protective hard casing. The anticipation the viewer feels when sliding the book out of the case for the first time- especially if ordered or purchased from new, must be quite exciting. At present, the work is boxed away, hidden in its unexpecting and untelling box-home. There is little on the casing, nor the dustjacket cover. This suggests that elaborate artwork isn't needed, the target audience will be enticed just by the name 'Pentagram', so the ambiguity of the cover is perhaps preventing anybody picking it up who may not appriciate it the way it is indended to be appriciated (eg. Non designers).
A simplistic, modernist layout is fluid but millitary in its approach. The using an 8 column grid system to allows uniformity but is flexible enough to make each page unique, avoiding repetition. As a compendium, by nature it is a different intended experience to a purely photographic publication. Here, body copy and imagary work in harmony, with images complementing the well-considered words which give them life. I intend for my images to speak for themselves, swaying me away from the intergration of images into text as featured here, simply as it would not be appropriate. Instead, copy should complement the images rather than explain them.
As a large publication (just below A3, 3:4 ratio), the perfect bidning has come loose with use, hence the application of bookbinding tape. This is an appropriate solution as the thick tape is infitting to the aesthetic of a manual, yet this would be less appropriate in a sleeker publication, such as John Tonks 'Empire', making the emphasis on a secure bind really important.
'An Illustrated Guide to Harley Davidson'
Pages were ridiculously tightly bound down the spine, to the point it was hard to turn the pages and keep them open. A very unpleasant reading experience. Possibly produced like this for cheaper costs and the compromise of quality. However, if this publication was to be used (for example) in a garage environment- sturdy bind is needed but not to the extent you can't see what the pages are saying.
Typeface Helvetica Neue, legible and modern in aesthetic despite being around for years. Harley Davidson have since taken on Helvetica as one of their standard typefaces for publication use, as well as on stickers, tents and some shop signs. Perhaps Harley are trying to 'move into the 21st century' and become gender neutral through aesthetic as currently all the emphasis is on the male's consumer needs- whereas actually both men and women own and ride bikes these days.
Tall and slender, this softback publication is at the lower end of the Harley Davidson book chain, acting as a pocket book for Harley facts.
Positioned as more of a manual into motoring, the mechanics and specifics to the bikes, the emphasis seems to be on conveying the information as concicely as possible- rather than on aesthetic quality (such as introducing negative space). This is to be expected for 1) the price and 2) the nature or WHAT the book is and WHO directly it is for. The target audience buying or receiving this book will be solely interested in Harleys. Probably male, white, 40-65, with enough disposable income to follow their passions and act on the decisions and information they read in such books. To target to this, information needs to be kept to what they want to know- in this case, purely about Harley's as a machine.
This publication uses a 4 column grid system, allowin rigid blocks of text and a noticable flow from one page to the next. Simple imagary is inserted where possible, again working to the grid and allowing additional copy to fall around it harmoniously. The images are much like the text, for practical purposes only, rather than giving a sense of utopia or escapism through imagery.
From a design aspect, the type of bike has been grouped together by the coloured band at the top of the page- increasing ease of use for the viewer. Eg: if they are looking for a bike derrivitive of a Soft tail, they look in the pink section. However, it was interesting to note that Red type features on the cover (and throughout the whole publication), rather than Black/White and Orange. The use of Red as a substitute for Orange is quite dangerous, as it is quintessentially known throughout the biker world as Hells Angels ONLY colours. The use of incorporating red is a bold move, suggesting that the publishers who made the book may be somewhat controlled themselves by the HA 'machine'.
Hells Angels Motorcycle Club: Produced by Merrell, composed by Andrew Shaylar and Sonny Berger
It is interesting to note that Sonny Berger was the original founder of Hells Angels M.C, so by him explicitly helping in produce a book to explain the culture is almost juxtaposing the whole concept of having it. The Angels have always been built on privacy and secrecy, now many of the first generation HA's have started 'selling out', selling their story for big money. This does not mean that what we are seeing is a true, accurate representation. After speaking to a member of Hells Angels, it was clear that Berger's influence into modern biker culture was not an invitation into their world- simply a sell out. "Everything still goes on just as it always did, it's just more underground now, they show you what you want to see, not what its actually like".
My publication isn't really touching on anything to do with The Angels as I have no real connection to them, yet in the future the project could always span to documenting a real H.A Rally, such as The Bulldog Bash in the summer. The rally I photographed is the opposite in attitude to Hells Angels, as they class themselves as 'the 1%'. The 1%'res are their own breed with no regards for societal rules or the law, giving the negative connotations we all know to be associated with biker culture some truth. My photographs show the 99%, the good law abiding citizens who find a freedom in Harley- rather than the possibility of prison shackles.
Also positioned as a Photography/Art book, Hells Angels is a documentary photography project focusing in on the most notorious Harley subgroup. The publication includes portraits, documentary shots, interviews, riding shots and factual bike shots. This has so far been the only high quality publication produced in relation to Harley which encapsulates the sense of community and lifestyle which accompanies the act of riding.
The images are shown large to preserve quality, featuring a mixture of Black and White and Colour photography, all to a very high standard. The publication itself comes as hardback or soft back, suggesting a huge print run to meet the demands of the consumer. This shows their is a market out there for books of this nature, not just looking at the bike as a machine, but the clubs as a way of life.
Grid Systems
In response to what I have observed, I created my own grid systems to be implemented into the publication.
The Vignelli Canon is a good insight into WHY Grids are important, alongside basic grids to follow and how to create harmony on the page. I also investigated 'the perfect book'. This is how many modernist designers, such as Jan Tschichold described this system. It was also discovered that the Golden Ratio is often a factor in all beauty, and can be found in many many things. Again, this will be an influence to create page harmony amongst positioning images and aligning photographs.
"Not the ok book, nor the pretty good book, but the perfect book."
 |
| 'The Secret to Page Harmony' - http://retinart.net/graphic-design/secret-law-of-page-harmony/ |
Own Grids:
 |
| Massimo Vignelli grid. Simple 4x6 column grid, allowing a simple structure and uniformity on the page. This gives room for guttering and margins, whilst giving the designer the freedom to make of it what they will. |
I broke some grids down into exact pages, so they would be easily transferred between InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop documents.
The Golden Ratio:
Closely related to the Fibonacci Sequence, the Golden Ratio is a common mathematical ratio found in nature that can be used to create pleasing, natural looking compositions in design work. Its used to describe the perfect symmetrical relationship between two proportions.
Approximately equal to a 1:1.61 ratio, the Golden Ratio can be illustrated using a Golden Rectangle: a large rectangle consisting of a square (with sides equal in length to the shortest length of the rectangle) and a smaller rectangle.
