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ITERATIONS

ITERATION N°1

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My Hybrid Publication began with the research question above, "How can hierarchical and class systems be visually represented through designing a Hybrid Publication? By the process of indexing of keywords related to such themes?".

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Such question lead for me to further research and investigate the stories presented to us, giving it a second read and searching for keywords that related to my themes of hierarchy and class. This further research allowed for my first design steps to develop into visually interpreting the stories based on my investigations. These first proposals can be seen under the Printed Publication section of my process here.

ITERATION N°2

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My first printed prototype of my publication, became an important step into my process as it shone a light onto elements or aspects within this current design, which needed to be improved in order to better communicate my concept. 

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Such as:

- Highlighting of keywords relating to the themes through the use of colour made the prototype appear slightly playful, which perhaps is not the best approach considering it would be distributed in a prestigious public space such as a museum. As well as the fact that it deals with quite a serious topic. Perhaps this visual element was best indicated within the publication through a different use of typography or different weights.

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However, there were also elements which revealed that they worked quite well, such as my decision in the choice of coloured paper. In order to distinguish the different spaces within Folding Beijing and thus communicate the time allocated to each space within the story, showcasing a form of hierarchy. 

ITERATION N°3

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Above, my first designed prototype for my web publication which I created on Adobe XD. Such program came in handy as it allows you to design interactive prototypes for digital outputs. Since it was important for me to have a clear idea of what I needed to design prior to begin the coding process, I decided to utilize this program in order to map out how I hoped for my website to appear. This prototype is available here.

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In doing so, once again this gave room for improvements of some visual elements within the portrayal of my concept. For example, the numbers which indicate the navigation to specific chapters of the story gave easy access to the chapters. Thus not allowing the user to navigate the site in a more radical manner, yet also not questioning how accessibility plays a role in the concept of hierarchy. 

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Additionally, it was also made apparent that the thickness of the rectangles which are representative of each chapter did not do justice in terms of hierarchy. Perhaps the thicknesses needed to relate to the position of each chapter within the story. Such as chapters belonging to the First Space being thicker than those chapters belonging to the Third Space. 

ITERATION N°4

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During the Open Day, I conducted a survey aimed at the user in order to investigate the effectiveness of my visual elements within my print and digital forms of my hybrid publication. However, due to the collection of answers not being as successful during this day I decided to collect additional responses elsewhere. 

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I was surprised to discover that my intentions of utilizing specific visual elements for my conceptual purposes was clear to the user. Additionally, a few of them gave useful and interesting suggestions for my outputs in order to further my concept through my design.  

ITERATION N°5

Another important step within the process of designing my hybrid publication included my second printed prototype. 

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Improvements from my previous prototype were applied and were proved to work better in communicating my concept, yet also improved the visual aesthetics of the publication and its place of distribution. There were some minor changes that were suggested in terms of the functionality of the navigating elements within the book. Such as the placement of page and chapter numbers became confusing as there was no clear distinction between the two. 

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Additionally, it was noted that there was a radical, visual aspect missing within the book which would help my concept be pushed even further. 

ITERATION N°6

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Similar to the printed publication, suggested changes from my first website prototype were implemented and was a success. 

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Moreover, it was pointed out that if the different rectangles belonging to each chapter did not lead to specific parts of the chapter, that it was not clear why there were many rectangles instead of one per chapter. 

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As well as, questioning the visual elements and their representations within my website. An example being the reason for the use of lines in certain areas of the site and the alternative message they could convey if no adjustments were made. This step within my process became significant, as similar reasons for the book, it allowed for the site to become more of a radical depiction. 

ITERATION N°7

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One of the final changes made to my printed publication, became a significant step in my process as it was able to push forward a more radical portrayal of my concepts and investigations of the stories. 

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Above, I showcase a small dummy I created in order to test my idea of how to further emphasize my concept of hierarchy in my printed publication. As seen in the image above, the idea involves a publication of different sized books within it. Each book corresponding to a specific space of Folding Beijing. The size and paper colour of the book illustrates its position in the hierarchical pyramid within my designed publication. Thus giving the book a different feel to it, as physically you can sense this hierarchical implication from the weight of
the book. 

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The choice of binding would ideally be in the form of Japanese binding. Reasons for choosing such binding method for my book, revolves around its history. Briefly researching its history, it became clear that due to the fact that paper-making was first developed in China and thus this form of binding arose due to this. Printing and binding a book back then was considered to be quite a craftsmanship process, done by members of the lower-class and mostly women. I believed that this small research linked nicely with my themes and represented another form of society's constructs in an Oriental community. Thus, also giving reason for the publication to potentially be placed in museum, as it is a piece which provides knowledge and history of a distinct society.

ITERATION N°8

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As a final step within my process, the web to print output of my Hybrid Publication project, is a form which questions the hierarchical norms presented within the stories and the way in which I have designed it. 

 

Since, the story of the planets within each chapter are not aligned to their corresponding parts within 'Folding Beijing', as they are in the print and website versions, the stories are no longer on par with one another. Thus, 'Invisible Planets' no longer performs as a supporting text of 'Folding Beijing'. Both stories are no longer at the same level. Users are given the chance to read a particular chapter of 'Folding Beijing' in one go, or read the 'Invisible Planets' stories. 

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In the setting of a museum, this output form could serve as a nice "take-away" for the audience, and thus have the opportunity to read through the stories peacefully based on my conceptual design.

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