weekly Blog Post 3/26/10

We're really getting down to the wire!!

What I did:

Worked on book (cover,writing, making changes to spreads) (around 15 hours)

Thought about presentation in gallery and started sketching out plan (3 hours)

What I discovered/accomplished/encountered:

I'm really starting to feel good about my book and think I will be able to have it ready to send to blurb.com early next week (as scheduled).

I worked on a new cover, and got positive feedback about it in small groups. I also spent so much time coming up with the subtitle to the book (thanks Erica!) and finally feel comfortable with:

Capturing Confidence: women's reflections on their preteen years. Before that I had: Capturing Confidence: from exclusion to acceptance: women's reflections on their preteens years. However, today in small group we agreed that was a bit too wordy.

I also came up with a device that would tell people when each reflection ended to allow them to understand which girl they were following in case they got confused (a small star).

I am meeting with Hannah again tomorrow before I send the book out next week.

front cover

back cover

star device

I sketched up an idea of how I want the gallery to look, however this is where I will be focusing all of my time once the book is sent out. This is just a brief sketch. I want to incorporate typography which states quotes from the workshops about the girl's explaining certain photos. I also need to list the adjectives. I really want to have the capturing confidence letters which are made out of the photos from the girls in large letters and vinyl. Today Claire gave me a name of a place that prints and installs this, but I hear it is quite costly. Lastly, we spoke about not having the photos go down to the floor, which I think is a good idea. I really need to speak to Mark about the space I might have- it's so hard to plan not knowing this.

What's next:

Figuring out the presentation in the gallery, printing photos, etc...

sending out book and praying that it comes out ok!

website!

Weekly Blog Post 3/11/10

What I did:

Worked on book (20+hours)

What I accomplished/discovered/encountered:

I now feel SO much better about the direction my book is taking and how it is starting to look. In both content and design, it is starting to make a lot more sense.

I am not going to post images since there are too many pages to post, but I finally have a complete iteration of the book (even though many changes need to be made)

Today in small group we talked about using color even more than I am already using it to link the reflections together and make it easy for the reader to know which reflection is linked to which person.

I know I have a lot to do with the book in the next week or so, but I now really enjoy working on it so I am excited about it.

Today I met with Hannah, and she was so helpful (as always). We talked about many small details that need to be worked out, and she brought my attention to several things that I had looked over and missed. This gives me a good amount to work with this weekend and into next week.

I now also have to really start thinking about the cover of the book (which I want to be lines of handwriting from each reflection colaged together)

What do you think of this for the title of the book? :

Capturing Confidence: women reflecting on their elementary and middle school experiences.

My goal today in small groups for next week is to really have my book flushed out (cover, intro, intro page, etc...) and to also have a layout for how I want the wall in the gallery to look. Lot's to do!

What's Next:

-last workshop tomorrow!

-book (I want to send it to the printer by April 1st-ish or earlier)

-cover of book, intro, intro page

-presentation in gallery

Weekly Blog Post 3/11/10

What I did:

(not sure about the hours since this has been over a longer period of time)

Workshop with Girl Scout Troop #1

Working on Book

What I accomplished/discovered/encountered:

With less than a month to go, I need to stay FOCUSED! It is helpful for me to only focus on my book now and rid myself of other distractions (sound recordings from workshop, final presentation, etc...) I also haven't been feeling 100% lately so that has been a struggle, but I am pushing through it!

On Tuesday, I led a workshop with my first group of Girl Scouts. It was so great to have this right after break because it got me feeling really enthusiastic about where this project has come. The girls were just so into it, and really excited and eager to talk about the photos. I have found that it is also a helpful experience for me to tell my story to these girls. The girls are also excited about the website/blog and some of them want to keep sending me more photos!

Today I had a really helpful talk with Hannah. We not only discussed the design and layout of the book, but we also discussed the content and the way I was presenting and wording certain things. These were really great things to think about, and especially helpful since I have been so close to the context in the book. In terms of layout, we talked about using white space more and breaking up the rhythm of the book. I totally agree with all of this! I was having a lot of trouble since I have been finding it time consuming to work with the handwriting on photoshop and then bringing it into illustrator, so Hannah also suggested I work on paper and then translate it onto the computer. Today, I only had time to do that for one of the girl's responses, and I can already see a huge difference. This is definitely the way to work from now on! Here is what I have done after translating my sketches onto the computer:

I think it is going to be strong to sporadically include full bleed photos, as they can be used as a pause for the viewer to digest the reflection before they move onto the next part.

Hannah and I also talked about perhaps also making a second book that would just include the girl's photos that I have received. I like this idea and think it will be manageable to do. I want both books to be called: Capturing Confidence, which is what the whole project is called. But the 2 books will both have different subtitles. For example for the one with the girl's photos it would be something like Capturing Confidence: A collection of photographs from a creative workshop intended to build self-esteem.

I have thought about a cover for this, and can also see something like this being used in the gallery displayed in large letters on the wall (this is made using the photos from the girl's):

Also, I received some really positive feedback today from Megan, which made me feel good about where I have come with this project.

What's Next:

For Thursday's Crit, I want to have a full version of my book

Next (and last) workshop...March 19th