Weapon of Mass Production (not really).

     So its very late/very early and I'm listening to the news and have the air blasting on hi just to keep me awake enough to write this blog post.  I've completed my book finally and I feel very good about how it turned out.  It's almost everything I could have hoped for given the parameters.
     The dot compositions prove that relations between elements in a composition such as scale, position, layers, and color hierarchy, can really elude to abstract words and concepts.  Effectively used, there is often no need to enforce the image with explanatory text, but put together as abstract metaphors they can communicate very strongly and be aestheticly pleasing.
     The image material I chose effectively backs up my concept of health and mental degeneration with its many worsening side effects.  I included various medical related images such as photos of microscopic images of the body.  Along with the page bases which are medical diagrams and terminology, the cover looks as though it is a medical file.  The facial imagery is there to keep the view of the topic grounded in the individual.  Those faces are blurred and obstructed to keep the imagery abstract and also give the feeling of loss and confusion that mental degeneration would convey on a first person level.  The background text and image is there to provide order and also give an uneasy feeling similar to seeing one's own medical chart and not knowing how to read or understand it.  There are several serendipitous  moments throughout the book, and the text and image work very well together as a whole.  Having both elements there to support each other definitely helps to further communication even with abstract concepts.
     The font I chose was Monotype Grotesque.  I feel that using this font was a good choice because it is very clean and not distracting but at the same time it can hold its own in the composition.  It also carries the fluctuating relationship between organic and mechanical forms.
     One of the things I would have liked to have improved on would be to not accidentally punch binder holes into the wrong side of one of my final pages.  I did however re-back the page and fill the holes as best I could.  Also I would have liked to have made better use of the much more precise tools available in the digital realm for preparatory work.

Functioning- employs repetition through the continuation of the forms moving across the composition

Regressive- employs compound shapes that become less complex from left to right

Degenerate- employs alignment that sets up order which is then dismantled

Erode- employs compound shape in the middle form and alignment in the forms below it

Disoriented- employs continuation in the dots that form a continuous path that swirls around from the center

Irrational- employs scale (if anything) with different sizes of dots moving about in a semi-haphazard way

Dissociative- employs correspondence in the relationship between the larger dot and the smaller ones that represent the sliced portions

Unfamiliarity- employs positive/negative play with the smaller dots forming dots themselves 

Dysfunctional- employs repetition from left to right and then breaks it with the third form