research, editorial & graphic design
academic project — 2016
print
This book is a prototype, as an alternative secondary-level book for the Drawing Unit, aiming to reformulate the Portuguese Unit program with special inclusion of the praxis of design, enhancing its social dimension, several times titled “Good Design”.
project academic — Editorial Design Unit
context master's degree at Fine-Arts Lisbon University
theme design: theory and praxis
Lisbon FBAUL, PT
problem
There is no training directed to the area of Design in public secondary education in Portugal, and for the vocational school, there are no books/manuals to assist in teaching.
concept
This book is about design, what is design, when it began, what is for and why Design. Talks about design through its social, cultural and political character. But is not all about design!
The proposed book is a compendium of basic concepts that seek to instruct the high school student with general knowledge about Design and guides him to explore beyond the 400 pages of which it is composed.
Based on Bryan Lawson's quote “Do we really need a simple definition of design or should we accept that design is too complex a matter to be summarized in less than a book?”, the book is self-titled as an incomplete guide that denies the idea that all knowledge is contained in a book, on the contrary, is a long-term journey. This marks its cultural character, compared to the economic purposes that dictate the communication of most books on the market. In this sense, this manual intends to be a support book that accompanies the student in his academic path in secondary education and supports him/her in starting a higher degree.
content
The book is divided into 3 chapters – History, Context and basic concepts. The content was selected based on other books and papers, adding the most useful information for students. In History, the content is organized in order of events.
In the Context chapter, the foundations of design are introduced, from its process and research through problem-solving. All the modalities of Design are presented below, with space reserved in this chapter for the dimensions of Design, where its social, cultural and political nature is addressed. The last part – Concepts – introduces the student to the technical component of design and its principles, like composition and colour theory.
At the end of the book, we can find a space with recommended readings, which includes references to further explore each one of the modalities of Design, an online resources list, a remissive index and the bibliography.
10 columns were defined with 3mm of gutter, which allows for more fluid editing, never exposing the text in just one column. Three columns are reserved for marginalia where the reader can make inscriptions, and when notes are presented, marginalia reduces to two columns.
Body text occupies always 6 columns, but this can change in other chapters if necessary. A more inner column is reserved to allow a better reading of the text and, when there are notes, the two columns inside are occupied and the text is placed one column further outside.
References are placed at the bottom margin that refers to subjects referenced in other pages of the book, indicating the exact page number where they can be found.
