David James
Williams

Graduate
London College of Communication
Pg Cert Design For Visual Communication

Academic Context: Structure and the City

#finalyear #collage #editorial-design #graphic-design #illustration #research

Building on a body of primary and secondary research, the brief was to produce a piece of editorial design that presents an interest in this study area. The resulting publication is entitled ‘Finding Form Through Time: modern and postmodern architecture in London 1943–2011’. The publication is configured in two halves. The first half explores a set of modernist buildings constructed between 1934 and 1978, which have a clear structural make-up derived through functional repetition and modularity, reflecting the modernist ideals. The second half looks at prominent late twentieth century postmodern buildings, where a simple and transparent approach to structure was abandoned in favour of form derived from the context surrounding the building’s location. The publication also considers how this modern to postmodern transition was paralleled in culture, art, and graphic design, with the latter findings becoming an influence in the layout and design of the publication. The c.50 page square format print publication includes: twelve double page speeds, each including a graphic response to a focus building using a combination of abstract illustration and collage (supplemented by secondary sourced photography); six thematic chapter dividers; and a fold-out cover, which incorporates a time-line and doubles as a contents page.