Blog #15: Independent Component 1

Log of hours.

Photographs: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (Courtesy of William Lam, used with permission)

LITERAL

(a) I, Elissa Fultz, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

(b) What I have completed is the past 55 spreads of the book, (plus the cover and endsheets, which are essentially another two spreads). While this is the most tangible representation of what I have accomplished, it is also misleading - I did not actually complete these past 55 spreads myself. My staffers all did their work, the editors refined what the staffers brought in (on top of completing their own projects), and I -- well, I did not necessarily do specifically any of this, but I oversaw it. I have a hand in editing copy, taking and critiquing photos, and reviewing and contributing to design. What I mostly do, though, is make sure that all of the content is there, that the staffers are learning and happy (and are getting their earned grades), and that the editors can do their jobs (which sometimes requires me doing parts of their job alongside them). In that respect, I think I have been mostly successful.

INTERPRETIVE

What I have displayed as my evidence is only a sample of the pages we have churned out, and the pages themselves do not even entirely reflect the work that goes behind it. They are too two-dimensional for the work that goes into them to shine through. Having a hand in everything takes a lot of time. Overseeing things take a lot of time. Making lists (and keeping them updated) of things missing, incorrect, or incomplete takes time (especially when these lists span over 32 pages at a time). Managing 24 staffers inside and outside of class takes time. Grading the staffers takes time. Going over every last detail before submitting takes a LOT of time. I can't give you specific evidence for a lot of it (I do have my notes from in class and out of it, which I can bring into class, but I do not a working scanner at the moment). While all of these things seem rather simple, making sure all of this runs smoothly and perfectly sucks up an astonishing amount of time.

APPLIED

The experience is certainly what is helping me answer my EQ. Going through all of these spreads, critiquing them, comparing them to other books, getting feedback on them, discussing them with the writers and designers - all of that has been an incredible learning experience. Every day in yearbook, I improve on how I can run things, or write things, or design things in a way that will fit this specific book. I often take time on weekends and do nothing but think about our theme and all of the specific possibilities and facets. In the imagination, a book is a three-dimensional object. If you'd like, you can think of it as a person. It has many sides, many characteristics and qualities, and the ways of exploring those sides are infinite. Every time I think about this book, and every time I work on this book, and every time I discuss the specific elements of the book with other editors, I learn how to make the book better.

Blog #14: Presentation 2 Rough Draft

My essential question is: What is most important to producing a successful yearbook?

For my 20 Minute presentation, I am basically going to be teaching the class the basics of yearbook, and going a little into how all of the rules in yearbook are meant to be broken - but you have to know the rules, first.

The filled out template can be found here.

Blog #13: Answer 1

1.) What is answer 1 to your EQ? Be specific in your answer and write it like a thesis statement.

Consistency makes a successful yearbook - consistency in design, in copy, and even in photo.

2.) What possible evidence do you have to support this answer?

I think one of the biggest pieces of evidence I have is my current experience in yearbook. Last year, as design editor, I noticed that one of the most challenging things in making a yearbook is making sure everything looks the same. The captions all have to have the same format, bylines need to have the exact same tint, font size, and weight, and the spacing between pictures needs to be perfect. Things like that. Messing up any of the little things will be a glaring sign of unprofessionalism to other designers. As Editor-in-Chief this year, I've realized that consistency goes much farther than design. As the theme executor, I must make sure that the theme shows throughout the book.

This is harder than it sounds - a theme is conceptual, and certainly left to interpretation. There is no way that you can sit down and write a list of theme-related material and say, "These things make up our theme. We will stick within these boundaries, and so our theme will be perfect." Since the theme is an idea, and a broad idea at that, it is impossible to assign a list of characteristics to it. You really have to know your theme inside and out, and have an artistic vision for it.

That's where the consistency comes in. The voice must be consistent in every single aspect of the book. The tone of the writing, if it is short, snappy, and playful, must stay that way, but must also be varied to show all sides of the theme. The design must be solidified so that the book fits together visually, but also malleable enough that you aren't looking at the same thing over and over again. Even the photos must be consistent - every single year, you basically have to re-train the photographers to get full-body photos, or lots of peoples' profiles, or pictures with exactly two people in them, or especially long pictures, or no, wait, this year it's long-shots. All of these things contribute to the voice of a book, and that voice cannot waver. It must stay strong and steady. That is definitely the most challenging part of the yearbook so far, and certainly one of the most important aspects of a successful yearbook.

3.) What source(s) did you find this evidence and/or answer?

Kazmierski, Crystal. "What makes theme copy work." School Yearbook Publisher - Walsworth Yearbooks. 1999. Walsworth Yearbooks. 09 Sept. 2011 . Personal experience

Blog #12: Service Learning

1.) Where are you working for your service learning?

I am currently working on the iPoly Globe yearbook for 2011-2012.

2.) Who is your service learning contact?

My service learning contact is Mimi Orth, who is our Herff Jones yearbook representative. I can provide contact information if it has not been received. She has worked with us for many years - certainly as long as I have been on staff - and has helped us grow to become the book we are today.

3.) Summarize the services you have performed to complete the 10 hour requirement

Whenever we get a visit from Mimi, all of the editors come together to look over all of our current spreads and critique them. We ask her whatever questions we need answered and generally improve on any content that we have. Afterwards, there is usually a time where Mimi and I, or Mimi, Strand, and I, can talk together to go over any extra questions we might have. I have also stopped by her house on a few occasions to check colors or clear up minor (but still worrying) issues.

4.) How many hours have you worked?

Mimi Orth has visited for approximately two hours on these days: 9/20, 10/14, 10/28, 11/10, 11/29, 12/9. For the less math-inclined, this comes out to ten hours.

Blog #11: Third Interview Questions

1.) What is the most important component in an award-winning yearbook?

2.) What is the most difficult thing to accomplish in a yearbook?

3.) What sets apart award-winning staffs from regular staffs?

4.) What qualities do you think make a good editor?

5.) What is the best way to strengthen a yearbook's theme?

6.) What are the most common problems yearbook staffs face? How can staffs overcome these problems?

7.) What makes a good designer/photographer/writer?

8.) How can we improve yearbook design/photography/copy (depending on the interviewee's specialty)?

9.) How can I, as an EiC, get the staff more involved?

10.) What are the most striking books/themes you have come across in your yearbook career? What made them stand out?

11.) What role should the EiC play, exactly?

12.) What are common EiC mistakes?

13.) It has been mentioned to me by several people that the most difficult part of becoming an EiC is learning to leave your old editorship behind. Can you verify this? How do you suggest that EiCs get past this?

14.) What are group bonding activities that you suggest staffs do together?

15.) Is there anything you would like to add? (Standard interview ending question).

Blog #10: Self-Reflection

1.) How do you think you are doing so far in your senior project and why?

I think that my senior project is going fairly well. Or, more appropriately, my product is going well. The rest of my senior project is alright. I would give myself a P/P- right now - while in some aspects I'm doing very well (AE status), in other aspects I'm, er, not doing as well.

2.) What is one thing you think you have done well on and why?

I think what I'm most proud of right now is my product: the yearbook. What we have for this book right now is definitely the best work that we have ever produced. Beyond that, I am proud of the entire yearbook process, as of right now. We've turned in cover, endsheets, and first deadline all in on time. Our last proofs were only one day late, and that was because we had to call someone for a technical issue (which ended up being a good idea). This has never happened before. Not since I've been on staff, anyway. Not only that, but what we turned in was almost totally complete. This is partially because of the effort of all of the editors - we all know what to do this year, as opposed to last year, when we had no idea what we were doing - and also because of the staff. The entire staff seems to be more willing to work this year. I like to think that I've done something to aid in this.

3.) What is one thing you would like to improve on and why?

I really want to improve on what I have for science fair. I currently have a partially incorporeal hypothesis (that's what I've called it in my head). It's just not all there. There are patches of nothingness in several places. I have been setting aside some time every few days to look through science fair links that I've stored, but I feel like I am coming no closer to a corporeal-solid-solid hypothesis. I'm planning, either this weekend or during break, to take an entire day where I simply sit down and research for three or four hours. I also want to improve on getting things in on time, namely my second interview. It was a fantastic interview. I'm even thinking of using it as my best interview, just because it would be hard to top. A little bit of myself died when I realized I could only get an AP on it.

Blog #9: Science Fair Proposal

1) What is your hypothesis?

I do not have the specifics of my hypothesis down yet, but I can tell you the gist of it:

If a paper is coated with more (some inorganic oxide), then colored ink on the paper will have a higher color strength.

A little explanation is necessary.

Coated paper often contains inorganic oxides, such as "alumina, silica, talc, clay, titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate, etc. and also polymers such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyvinylalcohol (PVA), gelatin, carboxymethylcellulose, and polyvinylacetate" (Lavery, Aidan and John Provost,Interactions of Digital Inks with Textile and Paper Substrates in Ink Jet Printing). These oxides give coated paper a leg up on color strength, since non-coated papers react weakly to anionic dyes (which are simply dyes with negative charge). These "regular" papers bond with the ink through Van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonding. This allows the dye to seep, which makes the color less vibrant and shrinks the range of colors on the paper. The oxides on coated papers actually form stronger bonds with the anionic dyes, because of the "presence of electrostatic interactions between the anionic dyes and the inorganic oxide." The stronger the interaction, the less the ink moves around. The less the ink moves around, the more vibrant the colors.

While I have all of this information, I'm not sure if there's anything I can do with it.

I think that all of this is fascinating; the fact that they coat the paper with chemicals so that the ink can bond better, the way that they bond, etc. I guess I never really thought about it. But, where can I get these inorganic oxides? Is there a way that I could obtain them and use them? Is that simply impossible? Are any of them particularly harmful? For my experiment, would I just use glossy paper versus regular paper and then compare the resolution between them? Would I pick out every pigment on a computer and mark it down? These are all things that I feel I can use, but I'm not sure what to pick. I really have to look further into what is available to me and what isn't for this project before I come up with a more solid hypothesis.

With this in mind, all of the information below is subject to change.

2) Identify the dependent, independent, and control variables in your hypothesis.

Currently:

Dependent variable - color strength

Independent variable - the amount of inorganic oxide

Control variables - regular, untreated paper (versus the coated paper)

3) What is the connection between your science fair project and your senior project EQ?

My EQ is centered around making an award-winning publication, and in order to have that, image quality is key. There are also different things to consider when you get the book- sometimes the softer, less sharp pictures that come from matte paper are more desirable than the crisper, more intense colors of glossy paper. It all depends. However, knowing what types of paper will yield what results is important in any printed product.

Edit: An update as to how I will measure color strength.

After more research on how to measure color gamuts (the color spectrum range in a given palette or color "specimen"), I have found a program that will measure color gamuts for me: the Gamutvision Print Test. This program "obtains detailed measurements of the print's color and tonal response." It's free and will be accessible to me, a Mac, provided that I install Virtual PC 6 or 7. This is something my brother can get me fairly easily.

Once I have Virtual PC, I can download Gamutvision Print Test. After that, I simply need to follow these steps (as quoted from the website) :

1. "Assign a profile to the test pattern, if needed.
2. Print the test pattern, noting (as applicable) the printer, paper, ink, working color space, ICC profile, rendering intent, color engine, and miscellaneous software settings.
3. Scan it on a flatbed scanner, preferably one that has been profiled. Best results are obtained by scanning it next to a step chart such as the Kodak Q-13 into a file tagged with Adobe RGB (1998) color space.
4. Run Gamutvision Print test."

I am in the process of downloading VPC as I type this.

4) How will you perform the experiment? Include the equipment you plan on using.

I am not sure yet what equipment I will be using, because I don't know all of the materials that I will need or how I will need to handle said materials.

5) Which category will your project be listed under?

Chemistry.