A brief history of - Production and Development

ABRIEF HISTORY OF ...

Design, develop and produce a publication that explores 'A  Brief History of.....' . The choice of subject, content and tone of voice is up to you but your response to thiis brief should communicatee the context of your emerging design practice, creative concerns and informed opinions as a Designer. We have to create a publication with something we have learnt or that has interested us in a lecture since we started LCA in september. I decided to research into the history of LEVIS strauss..

I first began by getting my content and deciding what i actually wanted to put into my publication i watched a really interesting short history video about LEVIS STRAUSS and i took notes..

Although the video was more than helpful and i learnt a lot of things i didn't actually know before i decided to try the actual levis website and download some timelines.This would help me with exact dates and any other key points the video might of missed out.

 The four pages of timeline runs from 1853-2003. I feel doing a publication about Levis strauss was a good idea as there is a lot of source material to cover.

First Concept:-

My first concept after i had decided i wanted to make a publication about Levis was to make a A0 size of jeans and have them fold up with the pocket printed on one side & the information in the other. I even looked at a clothing pattern for a pair of jeans to see how big i would have it and what it was going to like. I drew up some little prototypes and i was happy with my idea. 

After further research it was brought to my attention i could not actually print double sided on A0 this was a design flaw. As it was early on it was fine it was only one idea so i started drawing again to come up with a new and more appropriate idea. 

THUMBNAILS & SKETCHES:- 

MATERIAL :-

I will sew this Levis Strauss branding leather patch on to the back of my denim packaging. This will keep the Levis Strauss theme also keep the style consistent and have a nice effect for my cover.

MATERIAL MOCKUPS:-

DIGITAL MOCKUP IDEA:-

CREATING THE POCKET:- 

I bought some dark denim material and some lining to make the denim a bit thicker , firstly ironed the denim to the linking to make it sturdy then with a colour thread the same as levis stiched to lines at the top of each side forming the pocket. copying the same stitching of the pair of levis i already own.

Next  when both pockets were sewn i had removed the levis tab from one of my pairs of shorts and attached it to the pocket whilst sewing inside out so it would stick out when the pocket was turned the other way.

The last thing to do was make the arched trademark sticking then follow the same design for the rest of the pocket. I made the pocket larger than A5 so i knew the pocket would fit my publication like a glove.

CREATING THE PUBLICATION:-

DIGITAL THUMBNAILS:-

THE PUBLICATION:-

I wanted to make the front cover really classic and simplistic to show Levis style and also show the red tab as the signified logo it is. Before starting my publication i knew i was using trade gothic for the typeface for the body copy , Crash numbering for the numbers and Bondi bold for the quotes and anything else. I made sure the Levis tab was directly centre aligned.

I made the inside margin of my publication 15mm so everything wasn't so close together.

For my first double page spread it has quite a lot of information so i wanted to make sure i balanced out the pages. I knew the page on the right hand side was going to have an image of the minors in 1853 and i had the perfect quote to go on the left hand side so i made sure the pages had the text in the same position so it was aesthetically pleasing and easy to read.

Using the bleed marks that are already provided in purple i made sure all of my content fit inside of them and made sure the text was aligned. After making sure my image was the best resolution for screen and print i made it the size of the bleed.

My first double page spread talks about Levis Strauss in a short summary of how he began to live in America and how he started the jeans business.  I used a quote to sum up and grab your attention straight away about how much of genius and amazing business man Levi Strauss was.

The same as before i made sure my text fit the bleed and my images on the left hand side were slightly smaller, there was a lot of text so i made sure i kept the pt size a small size as my publication is A5 i didn't want it to be to big but big enough to read.

My next double page spread was still dating back to when Levi strauss first started his business i wanted to keep it clean and simple and i used black and white images so it would be appropriate for this part of the timeline.

My third double page spread i have spoken about rodeos and how they are a memorable part of culture the quote i have used is  from the person who is in the sepia image. (champie) the quote used is quite important so i wanted it to fill a page.

I made the quote fill the bleed and i have the quotes in a larger pt size than the body copy, using this Bondi font the same one as Levis use was a vital part of making my publication look represent Levis Strauss.

Next i spoke about when levis first became really significant and talked about rodeos and cowboys so i used a large quote by a famous Rodeo winner on the right hand page.

As my next double page spread has to pages that both have numbering at the top i made sure they were in the same alignment and on the same side of the page. I also made the body copy text start at the same point i find doing this makes it easier to read.

The numbers throughout the publication are important as they are a huge signifier for Levis '501's' so i used crash numbering typeface the same as they use and i made the 501 & 201 large in the centre using the same colour red as the Levis tab on the first page.

My favourite pages in the publication are the pages with quotes i feel like they have high impact against the negative space especially in red , i made sure this quote was centre aligned and the Levi Strauss was in the same typeface and pt size and the body copy.

I liked the idea of having my publication broken up slightly by large pages with just simple quotes that create more impact. These to specific images have a lot of colour so i made sure i edited them so when they printed they would be a high quality.. i specifically used these images  this early in the publication as they were old levis advertisements of cowboys which fit in with that part of the timeline.

I made sure the two images were exactly the same size and both aligned to the bleeds but slightly lower and the top and bottom.

The great depression was an important part section i wanted to touch on about Levis Strauss blue jeans so i felt like more content was needed here.i aligned the bottom of the image with the year and placed the title slightly above it.. I left the made the text in line on both pages with central paragraphs.

A key point in the Levis history was the first pair of womens Levis in 1934 so i put a paragraph in the middle of the page and two womens blue jeans advertisements on the right hand side. I felt it appropriate to the put the images on the right as its the first page you look at.

The levis overalls made the arcuate stick design registered trade mark in 1943 so i put the information on the left hand side and again the image on the right i wanted the image to be big and take some focus the amount of text on the right even though its important information and as i created a memorabilia book i didn't want  to leave it out. 

This double page spread in the centre of booklet i put the image on the left hand side so each page wasn't the same layout and put the information in the middle on the right hand page aligning it a little higher than central.

For the images used in my publication i needed to make sure i edited them all in photoshop so when i printed them they would be good quality so i opened them in photoshop and pressed alt ctrl and i which brought up a box where i could change the resolution i changed it to 300 so i was able to save a larger image which would look a lot more professional than be pixelated.

The next quote page was another quote from Levi Strauss its a really powerful quote and like the previous quote i placed in centrally and on the right hand page it was important to keep the consistantcy as the right page is the first page we automatically look at.

I did try it on the left and the right page to see which looked best but i felt the right page was definitely the best option.

It stands out more and the red text works really well on the antique white paper.

I wanted to include memorable events that have happened through the years for Levi Strauss, something pretty amazing happened in 1950 , where Levi Strauss & co. made a denim suit for bing crosby as he went hunting and was refused entry to a hotel because he was wearing denim jeans so levis wanted to make him a suit so he would be able to in the future.

I felt it appropriate to use a quote used for bing crosby underneath the suit jacket to emphasise the influential popular man in America. I used two double pages on the next page and filled them with the two large images.

I loved these images i found for a denim suit made for bing crosby by Levis Strauss & co. so i wanted to use 4 double page spreads for this information & images , I feel like this bring a nice touch to the Levis Strauss memorabilia book and I'm glad i included them. 

Marlon brando was one of the most influential people in America in the 1950's this had a huge impact on the growth of the brand, i found a really nice black and white image of Marlon Brando stood against a door with with people from the film looking up to him in admiration i found this image was appropriate.

I made sure the text was equally decided on the left hand side and made the image of Marlon Brando fill the other side of the double page spread. I like this use of grey tones in the image and i think it balances the page well.

I found a similar style picture but just of james dean by him self wearing levis showing that he was a rebel and the whole sex symbol persona. I made sure the text on the right hand page was aligned in the centre.

I applied the same style to this double page spread for James Dean as i did for the Marlon Brando spread i feel it creates impact. This double page spread style was copied from the double page spread above as there both about the same topic in the publication i felt keeping consistency was important.

The double page spread i used to talk carry on talking about influential people for Levis in the time next went on to talk about Elvis , Elvis was also a huge american icon and wore Levis all the time i found an  image of him sat a wooden bench and used it to fill the page this image printed really well onto antique white.

Bruce springsteen was a sex symbol of the 1980s and this black and white image was perfect to go with the content used on the left hand page.

I wanted to keep the memorabilia publication informative but visual so people could understand what i was explaining , this image i have chosen perfectly sums up the admired heart throb. I made this image fill the whole left hand side page.

I briefly touched on Vintage Levis and how the took the 1990s by storm everybody was wearing them i feel this is one of most icon things i needed to mention as people still wear Levis now they've carried on being the most iconic pair of clothes changing generations.

For the second from last page i didn't use a grid i new i wanted to have a large image of Levis vintage shorts on either page finished off with a brief explanation of it , plus a summary of the whole publication. Leaving the last time of the timeline being 1992. I like this page because its broken up with 4 short paragraphs and i felt it was a nice way to end the booklet.

The very last page i found a quote from time magazine , It was such an amazing quote that sums up everything I've been trying to get across through my publication about how amazing Levis brand actually is i put this on the very last page with nothing else , i feel this creates impact.

BINDING THE PUBLICATION-

I binder my publication doing a saddle stick i originally was going to stitch it with orange thread then i wanted to perfect bind it but as i had quite a few pages i was advised it might not always stay secure so i went for the saddle stitch option. I first bone folder to press my publication down and then pierced three large wholes in my publication in the centre.

I next started to thread it going through the centre then back through the right hole and so on till it was doubled over. I was shown how to do it and it was really easy to follow it was the first time i had saddle stitched.

I finally made sure there was string on either side then double knotted it in the centre. It turned out really nice and the light coloured thread i used really had a nice finish as it was almost the same colour as my stock.

Final product :-