Industrial Design Process Book Basics
3 likes10,784 views
The document serves as a guide for creating process books in industrial design, emphasizing the importance of documenting the design process as it unfolds to validate the final outcome. It includes practical tips on organizing and laying out the document using Adobe InDesign, addressing file management, typography, and page layout essentials. Additionally, it highlights the role of the process book in improving design outcomes and preserving the journey through struggles and successes.
Industrial Design Process Book Basics
- 1. 1 Process Book BasicsIndustrial Design/ Carly Hagins, Assistant Professor Wentworth Institute of Technology Version 1 / Fall 2015
- 2. 2 DISCLAIMER! This is only a guide. It’s always important to clarify deliverables (including process books) with instructors/professors/clients at the beginning of each new project.
- 3. 3 What is a process book? A process book is a document (often a print or digital pdf) that communicates a designer or team’s process for completing a given project. The process book should reflect the true process of the project, highlighting struggles as well as successes that led to the eventual design solution. The process may be communicated using photography, sketches (thumbnails, iterations, renderings, etc.), and/or written explana- tions. Digital process books may also include video footage. {process}
- 4. 4 http://architecture-design-photo.blogspot.com/2015/06/workspace-from-last-week-illustration.html Photographs of messy desks add context and personality to the process (and are usually very visually appealing.) Step-by-step photos are sometimes appropriate for more complex prototyping techniques.
- 5. 5 http://www.coroflot.com/hastings/Brand-Identity Sketch pages should be arranged in a way that shows thought process. Consider hierarchy of information to help show beginning, middle, and end.
- 6. 6 Why is it important? The design process is not frivolous; it’s intentional and includes methods that insure the final result is the best possible solution. Documenting your design process validates your final solution.That validation can help insure good grades and, later, good pay. Many people can make things pretty. Designers are trained to make things better, and the proof is in the process. http://dschool.stanford.edu/fellowships/files/2013/11/Design-Process-Redux-1.png
- 7. 7 When should it be considered? A process book should be assembled as the project is happening, not after all other work is complete. As a designer, it’s important to get into the habit of documenting your process as you go.The act of assembling sketches, photos, and notes into one cohesive statement (i.e. process book) often leads to breakthroughs that can have a positive impact on the final out- come.
- 8. 8
- 9. 9 Why InDesign? InDesign is Adobe’s page layout program. Put very simply, you need to make a book and InDesign is a tool made for page design and layout (i.e. making books.)
- 10. 10 File Management File management is key when setting up an InDesign document. I like to set up a folder on my desktop for each InDesign document. (‘Process Book’) I make a ‘placed’ folder inside the document folder. This is where I’ll put sketches and photographcs that will be used in the document.
- 11. 11 Starting a new file Navigating to File > New > Document will bring up this window. Choose your number of pages.You can always add/subtract pages later. Facing pages create a document with spreads instead of single sheets. Facing pages can be appropriate if you plan to print on both sides of paper. PDFs that will be viewed primarily on a computer typically don’t have facing pages. https://sharkingkelldmt.files.wordpress. com/2014/03/photograph-magazine-inspira- tion-by-matteo-gualandris.jpg?w=600 http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/ files/styles/pulse_embed/public/2015/04/01/ cards-against-humanity-science-pack.jpg Facing Pages Not Facing Pages Preview gives you an opportunity to visually check that you’ve made all the correct specifications before clicking ‘OK.’
- 12. 12 Basic Tools Selection Tool (V): select, move, and scale images and text boxes Navigating to Window > Tools will bring up this window (although it should be visible by default.) Learning the shortcuts will make your life easier! Type Tool (T): click and drag to create a text box Line Tool () Pen Tool (P) Rectangle Tool (M) (this is also where you’ll find the ellipse and polygon tools) Eyedropper Tool (I) Hand Tool (H, spacebar): used to pan around the document Zoom Tool (Z, command +/-)
- 13. 13 Pages Navigating to Window > Pages will bring up this window. The pages window shows a preview of each page in the document and lets you add, delete, and rearrange pages. Changes made to the master page will be applied to all pages in your document. Double-click a page to jump directly to that page. Click and drag to change the order of pages. Right-click anywhere with- in the window to bring up a drop-down menu of options. Edit page size (not often necessary for process books) Create new page Delete selected pages This drop down menu reveals useful options.
- 14. 14 New color group creates a folder for a set of swatches. This can be helpful for staying organized. New swatch Delete swatch Double-clicking a swatch brings up options for that color. CMYK RGB Swatches Navigating to Window > Color > Swatches will bring up this window. The swatches window provides easy access to colors used in the document. Color mode
- 15. 15 CMYK vs RGB (A quick refresher) CMYK is used for high-quality printing processes (nicer home printers and professional print shops.) Are you creating a document specifically for print? Make sure your file is in CMYK. *It is important to reference Pantone swatches, the in- ternational standard for printed color, when using CMYK to be certain the final print will match your expectations RGB is used for any document that will ever be viewed on a screen. Making a process book that will be emailed and also printed? Keep it in RGB. Digital pdfs have a hard time interpreting CMYK, but most printers can make a good approximation of RGB colors. CMYK - Cyan / Magenta /Yellow / Black RGB - Red / Green / Blue http://www.seanrees.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/SeanRees_Posters_CMYK.jpg http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91zhsBYJxGL._SX522_.jpg
- 16. 16 Character Navigating to Window > Type & Tables > Character will bring up this window. The character window offers control over typographic elements. Font size Leading Kerning Tracking Typeface Weight Typography: a visual reference Read more on the Creative Market blog: https://goo.gl/UcxGIX Knowing your type Industrial designers are generally not trained to be experts in typography. So keep things simple, use well-respected fonts (Myriad, Helvetica, Cen- tury Gothic, and even Arial), and ask your graphic designer friends for help.
- 17. 17 View (Overprint Preview and Guides) Grids and guides are helpful for creating a consistent layout. Navigate to View > Grids & Guides to turn them on and off. (Learn the shortcuts for these commands—they will save you time.) *Keep in mind that grids and guides applied to the master page will show up on every page of the document. InDesign defaults to showing a blue border around every object in a document.This makes it easy to see edges, but can be distracting. Navigate toView > Overprint Preview to hide those blue borders.
- 18. 18 Preferences Navigating to InDesign > Preferences will bring up a number of options for customizing your workspace. ‘Units & Increments’ controls the units for document rulers and stroke.
- 19. 19 Inserting Images Navigate to File > Place in order to insert an image into the document. *Keeping files organized makes it quick and easy to find and place images. (See pg. 10 of this document.)
- 20. 20 Fitting When an image is placed in InDesign, it has an imaginary frame around it. It’s important to scale both the image and the frame in order to position the content within the document. Holding down shift constrains the proportions of the image and frame, therefore avoiding warping and distortion. Shift + command scales the frame and image concurrently. Once the frame is scaled correctly, right-click it to reveal this drop-down menu. Choose Fitting > Fit Content to Frame to fit the image to the frame. Shift + option scales the frame around its center point (instead of a corner or edge.) *Learning the shortcuts for this drop-down menu will save a lot of time, especially when compiling image-rich documents like process books and portfolios.
- 21. 21 Align Align arranges all selected elements (images and text) along the same imaginary vertical or horizontal line.This can be done based on the left, right, top, or bottom edges or the midpoints of the elements. Navigating to Window > Object & Layout > Align will bring up this window. Aligning images and text increases organization and legibility in a document. Distribute inserts an equivalent amount of space between selected elements based on the left, right, top, or bottom edges or midpoints of those elements.
- 22. 22 Thanks for reading Please get in touch if you have any questions or comments. haginsc@wit.edu