504 - Type in Context - Content in Sections 1 & 3

Now that I had Section 1 set up on InDesign, it was time I properly set up Section 3 aswell so I can complete and insert my written content. 
Section 3 measures 180mm x 100mm which will have to be printed on A3 for a full spread. It will be on blue stock with 8mm margins to consistently split the page up with considerations of varying scale between sections. This time a 3x4 grid is used with 4mm gutters, to split the width-y section into 4 columns split up for type...

This is when I went back in and gathered all my research up so I could type up the actual written content for the photobook and help it to flow as smoothly as I've been planning it to...

On the front of the 1st section, I introduce the book with a short, punchy opening paragraph which sets the scene for what the book will be focusing on:

"Outspoken, adventurous, proud and audacious: Belgrade is by no means a ‘pretty’ capital, but its gritty exuberance makes it one of the most happening cities in Europe. While it hurtles towards a brighter future, its chaotic past unfolds before your eyes."

I then plan to have the first spread as a map of Belgrade, which is then followed by some basic trivial facts about Belgrade to introduce the viewers who are unaware.. (referenced from Lonely Planet and Belgrade My Way Websites)

"Belgrade is located in Serbia, on the confluence of the rivers Sava and Danube, the place where Balkan Peninsula meets the Central European Panonian plain.
At Knez Mihailova street (main central walking street), the coordinates and altitude of Belgrade are marked in a small pyramid:

- 44049’14” of northern latitude
- 20027’44” of eastern longitude
- altitude 116,75 m."

"The official language is Serbian (Srpski), a Southern Slavic language similar to Serbo- Croatian, Croatian, Slovenian, Macedonian and Bulgarian. The official alphabets are Cyrillic and Latin.
The official currency of the country is the Serbian Dinar (RSD). However, sometimes Euros and US Dollars are accepted too, unofficially. Some Serbs tend to calculate values in Euros, due to the unstable Dinar currency. The rate is around 123 Dinars for 1 Euro."

I then plan to have the last page of the first section dedicated to stating the design and processes involved in the making of the photobook, including: stock, typefaces, foiling and bind method.

For the third section, I really wanted to summarise my research and the actual focus of what my photographs are meant to elicit:

"The focus of this photo-book is really aiming to reflect on how certain events and movements from Serbia’s history really influenced their artistic development, directed in particularly on the countries capital city, Belgrade, where I was able to explore for a few days. 
Staying there clearly indicates how they are now in a slow evolving state, which is eventually growing towards this Western stylised society that is glorified so much in the media and their entertainment industries.

However, industries such as Graphic Design have also been given the chance to begin growing and this is what is reflected through my following images - presenting the contrasting signage on shopfronts and other sources of type within the city centre."

"The research for this book focused on the artistic history of Serbia, looking for specific events and movements which would have caused influence on the arts within the country and thus have an impact on the Graphic Design, more specifically typographical design; as undeveloped as it may be.
From this initial research it did become very clear to me that there isn’t actually much of a Graphic Design related history to Serbia (even now), now-a-days studios are more frequent in the big cities like Belgrade and Nis but it is proving to be an industry still in its developing stages as they are making the shift towards a more Westernised world."

"It is the Communism from the past that unites all of these culturally diverse Eastern European countries from the outer world - “The notion of Eastern Europe is a legacy of the Cold War”, but now it is felt like it should be forgotten and erased; in order for them to return to their individual cultural identities which were so “violently suppressed by the Communist rule”. This ‘interruption’ is proof of how their culture and mindsets were affected by Communism, thus impacting the progression of the artistic world as well. This develops into the the concept of how Eastern European countries are now starting to show development and are beginning to look at the Western world as an example of how to live and grow...

“Western culture is so vital, so stable, its roots are so deep and so alive it is so productive that it, speaking in the language of the parable above, absorbs, recasts and dissolves in

itself all destructive actions by its own ‘children’, and as many believe, it sees in these actions its very own development.” "

"It was in 1986 when the famous Armoury show established in New York came to Belgrade & Ljubljana, making it the only socialist capital to host a MoMA show during the Cold War. This opened the door even further to this different lifestyle present in the Western World, putting a fork in the road for Serbian artists to be inspired by.
But music was something that started having great impact by the 70s as well; this was through the development of the underground club scene.. “But what made the art scene in Belgrade dynamic, and not just trendy, was the collapse of boundaries between high art and the emerging popular culture, as represented by ‘new wave’ rock music and the 

underground club scene... Events in the underground music culture were fuelled by artistic potential.”

Sources:

- Contemporary art in Eastern Europe. by Adler, Phoebe & McCorquodale (2010)

- East art map: contemporary art and Eastern Europe. by IRWIN (ed.) (2006)"