Before we dive into why ive designed my dissertation like I have we should probably understand what my dissertation is about. My diseration looks at the use of untruthful images and the effects they can have, it coves a range of context and a range of time periods from examples of the first uses of image manipulation all the way to modern day uses.
The idea behind the design of my dissertation is playing with the idea of manipulation and untruthfulness. Each chapter highlights a different area or context in which manipulation of images or untruthful images can be found. Each page for a new chapter is designed in relation to the subject of the chapter or the type of untruthful images discussed, that design will then be carried out through the chapter itself, as I progress through my dissertation I plan to cross over these designs into later chapters so for example a design that was featured for chapter 1 may also be seen in 5. For example as highlighted in chapter 1 the centre paragraph is extended and stretched passed the other and also has a square cut out of it (this doesn’t remove any words) to give start to suggest the idea of image manipulation, the images on the following page have then also been played with to suggest manipulation, with 2 having a rotated version behind and the other 2 having stretched version behind, again to show types of manipulation. Throughout the text there are also words that have been edited in some way, for example the word untruthful has been made more transparent so suggest the idea of a lie and being able to see through it as it isnt real, the word manipulated has been made bolder to suggest the changing of size via image manipulation. As the dissertation carries on more words will be played with in this way and in more extreme ways. As well as this as the dissertation continues and we start to discuss more and more types of untruthful images and different types of manipulation the edits made to text will become more obvious and much more visual and start to consume the page more so than they do at the start.
I wanted every chapter to undertake a slightly different design as I wanted to give the idea that things aren’t always as they seem so instead of keeping everything all the same I wanted to ensure there was a clear change, there are many elements that I kept using throughout such as specific words being in the same style as I still wanted to ensure there was cohesion between the chapters but I still wanted each to be its own individuality. Bellow is a small explanation behind the idea of each chapter.
The colours that have been used are all from different adobe programs, I decided to do this as I felt that the programs play a big part in the manipulation and creation of untruthful images, this is far from me blaming adobe, its just me trying to find a way to get more colour across my design whilst keeping it related to my dissertation.
The design and layout of the introduction is to highlight the image that sparked my interest in is entire topic, hence why the second page has been split into section much like the image was and the first page has been made slimmer again to suggest the idea of the image being cut off.
The cover and contents page have been made to look like they are from a typical dissertation with the exception of the colour on them, on closer inspection you can see there is text faint in the background that reads “untruthful images aren’t always as they first seem often, they are made to look like something that they aren’t. Just like at first look this cover looks like its for a normal dissertation however on further inspection and after reading it clearly isn’t just a ‘normal’ dissertation.” My plan was to have this in an almost shiny/gloss print so that when the light hits it you could read it but obviously this was not possible with everything going on. But the main idea is so that at first the viewer may think it’s a normal dissertation but then notice that something seems off and start to investigate further, much like with untruthful images.
Chapter 1 looks at the earl stages of image manipulation and what it is because of this I wanted to give examples of manipulation in the text as well as in the images by rotating them or showing them being moved, to give th idea of manipulation.
Chapter 2 has been laid out like it has because there is a quote in there about Lincoln saying “as he was often described as having a gangly frame” because of this I wanted to highlight that with how I laid of some of the text.
Chapter 3 is playing with being staged and the fact that the word staged is actually making up a circle in a way suggesting that idea of something being something it isnt
Chapter 4 is playing with the fact that moving image is featured and I wanted to show that movement in the text
Chapter 5 is suggesting that models are often photoshopped to make them look skinnier hence why the text is like it is
The reason for the yellow on chapter 6 is because the national geographic magazine features heavily in that chapter.
The process behind the creating of my dissertation was long and took a while to work out exactly how I wanted it to look as well as the selection of word that id alter, I had to ensure that the alteration I had made were representative of the words themselves for example I made the word “photoshop” the same blue as photoshop itself and I made the word “Lincoln” thin as that how he was often described, every other altered word has been changed in a way I felt best represented it.
Ben Thatcher Diss design marks
Above are 2 version of my diss design, one without and bleed marks and another with.
Overall I am happy with the outcome of my dissertation design I feel like ive got across what I wanted really well and achieved what I was after, I believe I represented the essence of my diss throughout the design, each chapter has its own look based on its contents yet every chapter also has a sense of cohesion through the fact that there are many words that have been altered in the same style throughout, I believe that the cover is also a really good way to show the entire idea behind my paper as its tricks the viewer into thinking its one thing when in actual fact it isnt at all.
Ben Thatcher 