These are some images of the NID Diary 2012!
The diaries are in two cover variations. One with cloth cover, green on top and violet at the back, and the other one with turquoise coated paper used for the cover 🙂
Some glimpses of the inside too.. for detailed layout have a look at the blogs on ‘Final Layout’
Posted by Vidhushri on January 30, 2012
https://vidhushri.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/nid-diary-2012-glimpses/
Tarun says this diary is my face for year! In a way it is true. Ever since I have been working on this diary, and people have become aware of the fact, people stop me on paths to ask when are they getting their copies! It feels good in a way because suddenly the NID family knows you because of the diary!
I feel awesome when I think about the fact that this diary is going to be used by all the staff and faculty members of the three campuses and also going to be sent as a souvenir to professionals and officials 🙂
Posted by Vidhushri on January 30, 2012
https://vidhushri.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/my-face-for-the-year/
As the paper colour changes with the section, the spread separating each section has been used very cleverly to not allow the flow of the diary to break. The spread between the first and the second sections gives the 2011, 2012 and 2013 month calendars at a glance. Since from here begins the monthly planners section, having a calendar of all twelve months forms a good beginning. Even within the monthly calendars, the details are very clearly visible. The weekdays are in a heavier weight than the sat and sun in light.
The spread between the second and third sections has a short write-up in NID, its views and visions.
The spread before the last section is left blank, with the page on the left giving credits.
Posted by Vidhushri on January 30, 2012
https://vidhushri.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/between-the-sections/
This project has been a long journey. My project proposal is dates 23rd August 2011 and the diaries are getting distributed in January 2012. It would be unfair if I do not write about the experience which I have had with Tarun Deep Girdher, who has guided me throughout this project. It has been a great journey, one of the most detailed and multi-learning experiences in NID. Tarun has been a mentor, friend and a great support these 5 months. His knowledge on publications, type, basics of graphic design, handling situations, handling people, is so strong, that I have been inspired at all times and levels of this project. He has been a patient teacher and a motivating guide throughout. From the silliest of doubts to the most difficult of situations, he has taught me to handle them just the right way. He has pushed me to do my best, to explore, to not just stop at ‘this is ok’ but to reach the WOW factor. I thank him for allowing me to be completely involved with the production of this design, for making me feel at every step that this is my project, my decisions and my opinions matter. Even after being the Head of the printing labs at NID, he has made it a point to involve me in every tiny decision which has been taken related to the design and production of this diary. I have been able to come over my inhibitions and discuss what I felt was the silliest idea! I give him the credit to have helped me make this diary my face for the year. It has been a great project, even while I write this blog, I am amazed at the vast nature of learning that has happened. Yes, he does have his moods, and I am a little scared of him at times, but I guess thats what keeps me working in a way 🙂 I am glad I took him as a guide and got to learn from him not only related to this project, but related to handling general situations in life, multi tasking, looking at veery opportunity as a golden one and giving in your best. Thanks Tarun:)
Posted by Vidhushri on January 30, 2012
https://vidhushri.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/my-experience-with-my-guide/
The fourth section is 12 spreads of one side blank and one side a subtle grid, free to use in anyway by the user. This section is printed in turquoise ink on ledger green paper again. The logo of NID is incorporated into this grid very subtly. A very simple and elegant section. I would have preferred it to have perforations, but due to production issues, that could not be possible. These pages were printed on the baby offset.
Posted by Vidhushri on January 30, 2012
https://vidhushri.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/final-layout-section-4-grid-section/
While I was doing a thorough information collection, it was very important to have an idea of how do these diaries get distributed? Who are the one who use them? What is the percentage that gets transported to other cities? This would give me an idea of the user group, of the handling of these diaries. Hence I had a talk to one of the staff members from the stores and purchase department at NID and took a list of the distribution. This also gave me an idea of the quantity used last year.
Posted by Vidhushri on January 30, 2012
https://vidhushri.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/how-do-these-diaries-get-distributed/
The third section is a daily planning section, printed in purple and cyam inks, semester wise on 80 gsm natural shade. This is meant for daily notes and planning. A very simple and pleasant layout. The month calendars are quite useful and the visual language of the diary is very strong and maintained. Out of the three months the present month is highlights and so are the working days. These details add to the beauty of the design. Each month has for spreads. The longest section in the diary is this. The paper used is very comfortable for writing with different inks and pens. Very accurate kerning had to be done to the numbers and dots.
Posted by Vidhushri on January 30, 2012
https://vidhushri.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/final-layout-section-3-daily-planners/
The second section is what I call ‘ The monthly planners’. When I had done the user survey, I realised that ‘month at a glance’ was a hit amongst the various user groups. Quick monthly planning is quite common. Hence, I decided to have a separate section of the same. The speciality about this section is that it does not only have Jan 2012 to Dec 2012, but is till April 2013. This was a very important decision keeping in mind the end of the academic year. This helps a person plan about the last months of the semester even after December.
Talking about the details, a very clear play of weights is visible as you can see. All the working dates are in bold and the days in light. The holidays are completely in light. This hierarchy delivers the information in the order intended. Moreover, the holidays are even mentioned in light. The number of the month on the left top corner helps in navigation as well. The dot after the number is a conscious decision keeping in mind the language of dotted lines used throughout and the punch of the wiro binding which would come on every page. Due to the color of the paper, 80 gsm Ledger green, this section stands out by itself.
Posted by Vidhushri on January 30, 2012
https://vidhushri.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/final-layout-section-2-monthly-planners/
Since I had started this project and seen the previous years’ diaries, the first thought that had come to my mind was that this year I am definitely going to add some colour to it. Something that we use everyday, should look somewhat lively too! So I thought of various ways in which some colour could be added…
Finally, I decided to use different shades of paper for each section. This would help in navigation, clearly differentiating the four sections. Noe, there were options for using different colour inks, in various ways. Semester wise colour coding was what appealed to me the most. This would further help in the functionality. Either the monthly planners could be coded sem-wise and the daily planners in a third colour, or both could be semester wise colour coded. The first and last section, in a different colour all together. I took several colour prints of the final layout in various colours. What was important was to see the visual appeal of colours on the ledger green paper, due to the colour of the paper several colours appear dull.
I finally decided on using turqouise for the first and last sections, and Purple and a shade of Cyan for both the semesters. Infact if you look at the selection of the colours of the cover, it is harmonious with the colours inside the book. Hence overall there are shades of green, blue and purple used in this book!
Posted by Vidhushri on January 30, 2012
https://vidhushri.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/i-want-to-add-colour-to-this-planner/
Myriad is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Robert Slimbach and Carol Twombly for Adobe Systems.Myriad is easily distinguished from other sans-serif fonts due to its special “y” descender and slanting “e” cut.
I chose to use the family of Myriad pro for this publication. This was because of several reasons. First of all, this time I was looking at the digits of a typeface more closely as compared to the alphabets. I was looking at a typeface in which the numbers appear clear, distinct and appealing at a range of sizes, even small. Moreover, Myriad pro is a typeface where the contrast between the light and the regular and bold is very clear, and delivers a very distinct hierarchy. The Light of myriad family is very elegant and a treat to the eyes. The various weights available in this family are a bonus. I shall offer a simple example that Tarun had given to me while explaining how to go about chosing a typeface for such a publication. If you look at the digits such as 3 and 6 of Myriad when compared to a typeface like Universe, you will observe the open and simple character of these digits. This is what makes numbers more appealing and easier to read at smaller font sizes.
Posted by Vidhushri on January 30, 2012
https://vidhushri.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/chosen-typeface-myriad-pro/
Planning a planner 