Idea 2 - Design Based Publication

Idea 2.

design based publication

a book that explored the physical shape and form of the Japanese alphabet. As apposed to giving each character it's translation, the book would instead combine the form and shape with other aspects of their culture. With such a strong, rich and interesting culture, there is plenty of opportunity to cleverly combine this with the design of the alphabet. It wouldn't have any practical use, purely aesthetics.

The character on the right pictured below translates into the latter i in the english alphabet. However, if you look at it as a shape as apposed to a letter you start to see similarities between it and Japanese culture (in this case is architecture and structures)

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Above are examples of how I could link the form and shape of each character to other aspects of Japanese culture.

each character has a unique form that, paired with the right image, can look like something else entirely. 

Below is a design idea of how I could combine characters with culture... the character for the letter 'i' resembles traditional Japanese architecture.

Research

Japanese Design

I found a book on Japanese design published in 2004 that highlights typical Japanese at that time. 

The main body of the book, pictured below, is made up of high resolution photos that demonstrate Japan's design culture. The only text is featured at the beginning as well as small amounts of info scattered throughout.

The photos range from architecture to fashion through to interiors and lighting. Each double page uses photos that have been paired together through aesthetics such as lighting, form and perspective. This gives each spread its own unique feel and mood.

The book itself is a thick, hard back publication made up of around 400 pages. As it is was published a few years back, the glue on the seem as come loose and the overall look of it seems a bit tired. 

My publication for this idea would be a lot like the one pictured below as it would be less functional and more of a coffee table book full of high quality imagery and little text. 

As well as my photos of letterforms, I've also got a large collection of photos of the rest of Japan that I can intertwine with my      
                                                                       characters.

Japan Style

Japan Style is another book on Japanese design and culture. This one differs from the previous as it includes more body text about the imagery and the country in general (picture below). The main body if content is the same as the last as it is full of strong imagery. Some spreads include a number of images whereas others are made up of only one spread across both pages. 
As well as photos, this book also includes examples of traditional Japanese woodblock printing, a technique that is strongly linked to the country and one that still remains todays. also included inside are photos of ancient Japanese objects such as pottery. In my opinion, the pages that include single objects are much less effective than those with strong, high res photography of Japan.

The content of this book is a lot more informative about the culture than the previous and is therefore more practical and would be suitable as a learning book. It focuses more on traditional Japan and so is aimed at people interested aboiut learning more about Japan's history. Whereas the other book is more modern and focuses on design and would be more suitable for designers and creatives.

My own book would be more similar to the first book as I would aim it at creatives through the use of considerate and strong design in the layout and imagery.

Idea 1 - Tourist Reference Book

Idea 1.

tourist reference book

a small pocket guide designed for tourists to carry with them as they explore Japan that will help them to recognise and pronounce Japanese characters in order to form a bridge between the two alien cultures. The book will allow for western tourists to find familiarities and feel more comfortable within such a contrasting world to their own.

The book cover on the left belongs to one of two or three books that I used whilst I was in Japan. It covered the whole country from tourists attractions to restaurant suggestions. It was very useful for the popular attractions and quick bites to eat and wasn't too difficult to use and refer to.

My publication idea is a lot less broad than this one, mine would focus solely on helping tourists make sense of a sub category of thousands of Japanese characters. In turn, this will help with way finding as it will make it easier for the user to recognise and become familiar with common signage and way finding, thus making it a little easier to orientate. 

My theory is that if the user can pronounce a character in their head when they see it, it would make it a lot easier to recognise it when seen again.




Monocle

This is the tourist guide I used whilst i was in the capital city. I was given it by my cousin who is a fellow graphic designer and i was told to follow it if I wanted to explore the trendy and up-and-coming side of Japan.

As well as the content focusing on design, the design and layout of the book itself is also well considered. Pictured below, the layout is clear, clean and simple, three common characteristics of Japanese culture and design. Using a simple mosaic of imagery in the centre, surrounded by brief and accurate body text, the book is extremely easy and enjoyable to use. The images are very high resolution and give a good insight into what they are referring to.

The front cover includes a fun illustration of a sumo wrestler contrasting with an all black background. I think it's a very successful and attention grabbing design for the fact that the black background makes the lighter illustration stick out and be eye catching. The fun aspect of it also sets it apart from a lot of other tourist guides such as the one above. It is a hard back edition which helps when carrying it around as it isn't easily damaged and is also slightly water resistant.

 

Monocle have made a whole series of tourist guides including one for Brazil's capital. Similarly, the front cover consists of an illustration on black background. The illustration is already slightly more playful and fun than the other guides communicating the vibe of the city. The layout inside is also full of colour and a bit busier just like things associated with the city such as the carnival.

Similar to the Monocle edition of Japan, My design would communicate all the major aspects and characteristics of the country from the cleanliness to efficiency and organisation. The materials and stock used will also be typical of Japan, this could include bamboo and light weight stocks to replicate the sliding dividers of Japanese housing.

Presentation

I presented to a group, a selection of my images along side the translation into our on alphabet to give an idea of how the content of the book would work.

Using a table of katakana I found, I have managed to locate each character within my own images. I've then found how to write it in case the image included a typeface that affected legibility. 

Each spread would include images of my own as well as the illustrated character along with the english pronunciation. The images give the alphabet a context and show the user where you would typically find it. 

The publication would obviously have plenty of consideration for design and layout, in this case it would be primarily designed for ease of use and practicality...

- The book would be small enough to carry around with ease, maybe even pocket size. 

- It would have to be durable and water resistant as it will be carried around a lot and it may be used in rainy seasons

- It would include limited info so that it's clear and easy to understand. it would only really consist of a selection of images and a translations and pronunciation of each character.

- the design itself would take strong influence from Japanese culture, clean, simple and efficient.

Presenting my Ideas

Katakana Presentation

Today I presented my progress into the A-Z type in context brief to a group of peers in order to get some feedback. I found the presentation most useful for the fact that it not only sparked ideas from the audience but also made me think about my work differently as I was explaining things.

The idea I put forward is to produce a tourism book to help with the language and alphabet of Japan. this is one of my ideas that I will be pursuing to a further stage.

Another idea that formulated during my presentation is the idea to concentrate on the physical and aesthetic form of each character as apposed to the translation or meaning. This idea is a more creative and design based one that would be aimed more at designers and other creatives. This also made me think about the tourism book I was given by my cousin about Japan. This book was a very practical tourism book that focused on Japan's design culture. As well as this, the book itself is designed in such a way that it appeals to creatives through its layout and aesthetics. 

This has given me an idea for a second option to take forward. This idea would be less about the practicality side of things and concentrate more on the design and content to be aimed at creatives and other people with interest in design.

The Japanese characters I have photographed all  vary hugely in shape and form, this creates a potential platform to explore similar forms in Japanese culture.

A third idea would be to cleverly combine the two, the publication would be a design based book that also had a practical use for tourists. 

The next stage for me is to take these three options forward and explore them a little more until I have three distinct directions to follow in time for our next critique session on Monday.

Idea 1.

tourist reference book

a small pocket guide designed for tourists to carry with them as they explore Japan that will help them to recognise and pronounce Japanese characters in order to form a bridge between the two alien cultures. The book will allow for western tourists to find familiarities and feel more comfortable within such a contrasting world to their own.

Idea 2.

design based publication

a book that explored the physical shape and form of the Japanese alphabet. As apposed to giving each character it's translation, the book would instead combine the form and shape with other aspects of their culture. With such a strong, rich and interesting culture, there is plenty of opportunity to cleverly combine this with the design of the alphabet. It wouldn't have any practical use, purely aesthetics.

Idea 3.

combine ideas 1 & 2

this book would combine the practicality of idea 1 with the design and concept of idea 2. Without making the book too complicated, it would aim to be an interesting and engaging book about Japanese forms within their culture together with the visuals of the katakana alphabet.

Summer Brief - Primary Stages

Summer Brief

'A-Z' Type in Context

The brief asked for us to photograph and document a collection of type in a chosen location.

At the beginning of Summer I went on a trip of a life time to Japan. I spent 2 weeks travelling through the country from Tokyo, to Hiroshima and down to Kyoto.  After giving it some thought I came up with a way to combined this opportunity with the summer brief.

Being in a country that is so culturally different and alien to me, I struggled at first to come up with a way I could explore the brief.

As the brief consists of the study of alphabet and type, I quickly realised that I had a huge task on my hands given the thousands of characters that make up the Japanese alphabet.

To overcome this daunting exercise, I started to research ways in which I could either simplify or break down their alphabet in a way that would be easier for me to document and understand.

I came across a subcategory called 'Katakana'. This particular subcategory is used to translate foreign words into their own. This allows for them to pronounce words in a way that is more natural and better understood by the population. The alphabet is explained below...

 

It is made up of 5 letters a long with a large number of different sounds that combine to form translations of foreign languages.

The reason I chose this subcategory is because the characters are generally a lot more simple in appearance and more similar to our own alphabet which would make it easier for me to spot individual characters within a language I can't read.

This reason develops into the purpose of my project.

My aim with this project is to build some sort of bridge between two extremely opposing cultures. I will be translating the characters of the Katakana alphabet into sounds and letters that we can relate to and translate. This will then result in a way to compare and find a similarity between our language and there's, making it less alien and confusing.

My photographs and documentation are below...

Road Markings

Signage

Wayfinding

As I was constantly trying to find my way around Japan, I often found myself trying to understand and recognise signage and way finding as there would often not be an english translation, In turn a large number of my images include these.

The next stage is to find each character within the photos I've taken in order to translate and digest the material I have so that it is legible for an english speaking person to understand.