Description

So here we are at the tenth issue of Ligature Journal. Something of a milestone, we believe. And to commemorate this milestone, we decided to look at the way imperfection works within design; how we as designers balance imperfection with a desire for the perfect outcome and how we use it in our processes of creation.

Our journey through the terrain of imperfection takes from the real worlds of the built environment and natural landscapes through into the digital realm. We wonder whether all design is inherently imper­fect because it we are always creating for an unknowable future. And we pose the question: Is design a failure if it contains imperfections? For this journey of exploration we have contributions from Architects (built & landscape), communication designers, experience designers, industrial designers and other makers.

As you will see, we have employed minimal binding and the mag­azine consists of a number of loose sections. You can explore the sections in any order you choose. We chose a variety of stocks from the Spicers Australia ‘aged’ stocks meaning that they are more than a year old. This may mean that there are slight imperfections present—appropriate for this issue we think. We thank Spicers for supplying the stock.

Finally, we would again like to thank our team of interns—from UTS, Billy Blue/Torrens and UNSW—who have put so much work into the issue. As usual, they have had the chance to be involved in all stages of the process from the development of the grid to the final press check. We hope you are as proud of the outcome as we are.

The Cover

This issue once again has a fully letterpress cover printed in the Tiliqua Press studio. This time we printed with the backs of wood type to get the nicely textured blue elements. We created laser cut wood elements for the swirls and the type on the inside. Metal type for the spine element and for the ‘masthead’ that appears on the back, of course. The printed sheets were dye-cut to create a cover that is not attached to the internal pages. It is more of a case than a traditional cover.

We use a hand operated proofing press to print with, a FAG Swiss Proof 40 built in the early 1970s we believe. This machine has a simple the inking system—powered rollers that require frequent manual ‘topping up’. The net result—every cover varies slightly and therefore is unique.

Featuring the writing of:

Jacqueline Hill, Annie McKinnon, Caroline Tjung, Caroline Pidcock, Michael Spackman, Ruby Laxton, Jenny Grigg, Graham Rendoth, Kate Riley, Bec Adamczewski, Lucy Guernier, Micke Lindebergh, Sophie Biet, Tatanja Ross, John Lucas.

Specifications:

108 pages
Cover: Stephen, Pitch Brown 360gsm
Text: Pacesetter Laser 100gsm, Precision Laser 90gsm, Revive Laser 90gsm, Monza Gloss 130gsm, Optix Zeto Lime 140gsm, and Optix Zoda Lemon 140gsm.
All stocks from Spicers Australia from the aged stocks list.
4C process and letterpress
Print managed by SEED Print Group

About the Journal

Ligature Journal  is a title owned by Tiliqua Press. The design and publication of the magazine provides real world experience opportunities for communication design students and recent graduates. For each issue interns find and/or create all the content. They design, lay out, create imagery (both illustration and photography) as needed and take the publication through production process.

If you haven’t already visited the Ligature Journal website you can see more spreads here.