And it's over, my dear blogger. Its printed and i feel like a tired, sweaty, bleeding from the wrong places mother regarding her first born. Ive written the rationale, ive stapled that baby and now i can sleep in and do some last little bits of book work.

I DID IT! I resolved that map like an A bomb resolved WWII. Got my hierarchy sorted finally. got my stock jigged and ready to print.

OK, so i got critiqued and i know what to do, change the page order(easy) and play with that map page a bit, some of the text wasnt needed so that makes life easier. I also got shown how to print off at uni so i just saved myself $20, HOLLA. Im going with a nice gloss, 210gsm stock. Itll go nicely with how clean my spreads have become. I'll talk to you when my sufferance is finally over

Now it's just fine tuning time, I cant do the map any longer without some critique from the tutors, so today was spent jigging the titles so they were split level, kerning stuff like a mad cunt and dealing with leading for real. As well as adopting all the orphans, marrying all the widows and un hyphenating shit. And properly aligning text with grids. It made a surprising difference, WE ARE GETTING THERE

So the i got the cover thing covered, just a matter of colour matching and rearranging the text so it wasnt dissected by the lines in the background image. I also adjusted the type so that it gets larger as it goes down for some extra punch. Also a witty statement underneath to one: give an idea of the tone of writing to expect throughout and two: to link it to the layouts within and their hierarchy. So i took that cover and replicated the lines on the back with a new image and added an after word (all in grid so dont lose your pants).

The nightmare that is Map continues. It's just an issue of finding the negative space to balance the text and image. THEN i have to marry that with hierarchy. Which is where the weirdness starts and i have text fighting with text. It's not horrible, but its not perfect. I am just going to put it aside for now and move onto my covers.

Dear blogger, my life has more drama than the love child of shortland st and desperate housewives. All coming from my brochure. However, I am happy to say this episode ended happily with me resolving the readability issues for my hat spread. Huzzah. Then I realized I hate the map spread again.

RESOLVED MY MAP SPREAD. Now to move onto my spare spread and to fine tune the cover. Fucking pleased.

Today, i had a small emotional breakdown followed by more map compositions. I went back to thumbnailing and i think I can resolve my issues.

Critique was good, got some nice feedback and what not, Ive just started dicking round with my layout now on the map page, it's causing me physical pain, but the lecture thing helped a bit.

I was right, map is fucking hard. My page layout is just wrong at the moment. Guess i'll stop and ask for directions at tomorrows critique (punny). Oh, i made a mock up tonight too. Only the site pages are really resolved and refined.

Ima yearning for some kerning. Guess what I've been doing? That's right folks, staring at the gaps between letters for hours. PARTY HARD. Started thinking about my map, it might be a bit tricky.

Dear Blogger, today i made a front and back cover in the same style as my main spreads, it needs some tweeking though. Shits too dark. I've also decided on what my spare spread will be; a make your own paper hard hat. I found a good pattern for it too.

Dear blogger, after a marathon session with my most boring spread (i figure if i can make that interesting then i can make anything interesting) I finally found a good layout and even a pattern to link it together. I also fixed my symbols so they were more clear. I have applied this layout to all my other sites and it works like a dream. LIKE A DREAM.

Today I met something that isnt really my type, which is type. Though, i guess it'll help set my tone better. So thats what I have been eyeballing all day and fiddling with. God, what's grid gonna think with me slutting around so many design principles.

Dear blogger, today i got critiqued, it was quite useful. I am on the right track I just need to fiddle around a bit more with my placement. Which I did tonight.

Me and the grid have been going at it all weekend, and I'm starting to find it's sweet spots. I mocked up another spread, returning to some hand drawn stuff. The placement of the type is far more exciting now, though there are still some awkward moments in there. I'm feeling more confident now, however i still need to find some tone.

Today I hit second base with the grid, I've been feeling it up and starting to get a hand on what goes where and all that. I mocked up a spread based quite heavily on my research. I think it needs more negative space.

Me and the grid went out again today. I broke down some more magazine spreads with a more 'exciting' aesthetic that were more applicable to my earthquaky stuff.

Dear Blogger, me and grid have slightly become accustomed to one another. It helped to dissect other magazine spreads, both in class and in independent study. I am beginning to learn the value of negative space. I am also tossing up whether to stick with the hand drawn or use my glorious photographic skills. XOXO gossip girl

Dear blogger, today I was introduced to the wonders of the grid and Adobe InDesign. It was not love at first sight, I have been making awkward love to the grid and thumbnailing like mad. I guess it will take some time. I also made some disgusting layouts that I have decided to ditch, no more war time inspired stuff.

Today I started researching old war posters and handbooks and i think they fit my idea more closely, ive started trying to put this to use with some ok results. I just need to tighten it up.

Started tidying up my aesthetic. I am starting with my most 'boring' location, Waitangi park. I figure if i can make that exciting then i can simply carry the design over to my other locations.

I have started really identifying the key images that summarize my areas as well as associated icons and indexes. I also started gathering references and using them to inform some concept designs. They mostly depend on creating various degrees movement and colour to represent danger.
People seem to understand what i am trying to achieve with these methods, however a few of my compositions fall flat.

today i further defined my idea and through research i have started linking my sites further, finding their commonalities as well as differences. I once again ventured forth and revisited my site and took further images and explored the qualitative aspects of them. This has lead to me creating collages to try and capture the atmosphere in conjunction with the earthquake risk at my sites.