OUGD504 - Cover Design - Initial Laser Cutting and Stock Experimentation

Laser Cutting Initial Trials

From the rough design for the cover, the beach and road line elements that would be featured on the front, were experimented with at different weights on the laser cutter. Lasercutting the lines at different weights, settings and on various types of stocks helped to understand what would work and wouldn't. Black and a cream coloured paper were used to get a feel for how the design would roughly look when layered up, so sections showed through.

Things tried and thoughts on the results:

- Cutting only the original line

It was found that when the line was cut the laser created a line that was only a few millimeters thick. This kept much of the detail of the design, however when layered over another piece of card you could not see the colour through because the line was not thick enough. The lines are supposed to be the feature of the cover, however because the lines were so thin it is unlikely to stand out and would look a little lost because of its subtlety.

- Bits falling out 

When the designs had been cut it was found that middle sections that were not attached to the rest of the design would fall out. In the actual design these would have to be restuck onto the card that will go underneath the cover. In some of the road designs it was found that it looked quite elegant without the inside parts, particularly the thinner designs. However the thicker designs had larger parts missing which stood out to much so the middle shapes would have to be put back in. Sections from the beach also fell out, this was only really a problem for the larger sections in which it created too much negative space within the design, so these would have to be filled. In other areas only small sections had come out which still looked like part of the design because they were similar in thickness to the lines. To fill sections the cut out shapes would have to be glued back into place on the paper that will go under the cover. For one publication this is not overly time consuming however creating multiples of the design would take time because they would have to be hand glued precisely in place.

- Cutting at 1 pt stroke

To cut the design at this width the stroke was increased then the line was outlined to make it a shape. Cutting at this thickness allowed paper to be seen through the design, whilst not losing the clarity of the line, and allowing the whole line to be used within the design. 

- Cutting at 2pt stroke 

Using a wider stroke meant that only a portion of the lines could be used as the design had to be scaled up to prevent parts of the design overlapping and merging into one another. Having the larger lines emphasised the calligraphic qualities of the line more, which were influenced by Arabic scripture.

- Engraving designs

The lines for the design were created in bits because of there curved forms, which meant that when engraved at larger point sizes it outlined and went over sections a few times, which looked clumsy.

- Rastering the designs

Rastering the original line did not work because the computer did not recognise it as a shape. Rastering the lines that were larger stroke widths and had been outlined, rastered properly, however in the diamond sections and in some other areas it was found that it left parts out, which was probably due to the shape not being understood by the computer. Rastering created a soft natural brown colour on the cream which was an interesting effect, tying in well with a sandy aesthetic which could be useful. It was found however that the rastering on the laser cutter took quite a while (10 minutes approx) to do, even for two lines, because it has to create lots of lines to fill the space, which would not make it a very practical technique when used for multiple books, especially compared to the cutting setting which would complete many more in the time it takes to raster one.  Rastering on lighter papers made the design look more visible, whereas rastering on the black card created a very subtle effect that could only be seen best in the light.

-  Stock Colour

The cream stock, although effective in creating contrast with the black, it does not reflect the gold or sandy effect that is wanted in the design, so an alternative will have to be found. Placing the black infront of the cream creates an elegant and minimalist design, however a more metallic gold colour will be needed. 

Overall it was found that cutting at 1 or 2pt stroke width would allow the other paper to show through best. It was also considered that rastering could be used for the title on the cover rather than having to stick the cutouts from the letters on to the cover. The contrast between the black an lighter coloured paper created a bold minimalist design.