Assignment 3 - Mark making book

Assignment 3 - A5 creative Book-form of composition and layout

Exploration of mark making

The first part of the assignment was rather fun for me to do ,mainly because it was where we pretty much got to experiment with different kinds of mark making techniques on A5 sheets of paper. To begin the exploration process, I went out and for the first time, invested in lots and lots of black ink because I knew that I had to use a different kind of medium for once rather than normal black paint because I'd much prefer the finish of ink since the cosistency is thick. I started hunting down the house for tools that I could use to create a masterpiece and so I did. I came up with 32 marks and chose 14 different ones for the exploration . I used all kinds of tools like plastic bottles, sponge brushes, sponges, tissue paper, bottle cap, craft materials, coffee stirrers , my thumb print ,a straw for a blowing technique and artline pens to create lines.

Exploration of Book mock up construction

Mock up 1( used for final )

Before we begun the book making process, the very first step to that is that we needed to explore at least three different mock ups using recycled paper, cards etc. I gathered all of my recycled paper from past assignments and started to compose different kinds of mock ups. I found this part of the assignment very useful because since we were assigned to make a handmade book ourselves , I got to be more familiarised with the final mock up that I planned to use for my final book. Based on the images above, I ended up making 4 different mock ups and chose the first one as my final. Since mock ups are considered to be a smaller version of the final product, I tried to be as detailed as possible folding each mock up correctly based on what I pictured in my head. From the very start, I wanted my final to look as unique and vintage as possible rather than it being modern because vintage in my opinion is what I prefer when it comes to art.

Mock up 2

Mock up 3

Mock up 4

Final book form

I started the book making process by making a list for once because I knew that I had to come prepared and to be organised since this assignment took things to a whole new level, and that is to make a handmade item which I already knew, would be challenging. To start things off, I gathered all the cardboard I owned and started the measurements. It took some time, considering I did fail a few times. After getting the right measurements, I quickly went on to customising it, putting the pieces of cardboard together with UHU glue as well as masking tape. Like I said before, I wanted my final book to look vintage rather than it looking modern and so that is what I went for. After sticking the pieces together, I went on to use black paper to wrap around the cardboard on the exterior and a little bit of white paper on the interior. It was tricky because glue marks got on the black paper very easily so I had to overlap the paper a few times. Despite all the issues, I did achieve an ideal cover of one solid colour which was what I was going for . After the construction of the book was done, I went back to my exploration. The minimum requirement for the final book is around 15 pages but I opted for more, so I used the 18 leftover marks from my exploration. Not only I wanted the book to look as if it was ordinary so I planned something for the interior. What I planned for the book to have, is 3 different parts to it that sets 3 different vibes based on the looks of the marks itself. When opened, each part will consist of 3 marks on the two sides which totals up to 6 marks each. This part of the assignment was time consuming, but it was worth it. Once the interior of the book was looking it's best, I quickly moved on to the cover again. To make it look vintage and rustic , I burned off the edges of 135gsm paper for the title and named it " The mark making book". I did the same for the inside where I wrote "Enter the world of mark marking". After the book was complete, I looked at it and realised that something was off. The blank pages behind the 18 marks made the book look empty, so as a last minute idea, I named each of the marks at the back so it wouldn't look empty. Summing up this assignment, It was honestly very time consuming, but very fun. I managed to ace at doing something that I have attempted to do for the first time and the fact that I thought I couldn't do it at first, I thought wrong. This book isn't the best, but what i can say is that I tried my best.

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