our 2024-2025 journal process.

Each year, Cal Poly TAGA undergoes a 6-month process of ideation, design, production, and preparation for competition. Learn about TAGA’s production process for the 2025 journal.

conscious creativity

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conscious creativity ✶

Theme

Conscious Creativity is derived from the recurrent theme throughout each individual article that combines the modern solutions for sustainability with the unique creative outlook and design of each author. Our organic silhouettes with their raw edges and handmade details contain the heart of this journal’s environmental concern, as well as how the new generation has infused their distinctive creativity with a heavy dose of mindfulness.

Our theme holds one root in timeless, almost-nostalgic soil with its vibrant paper shapes, and another in the modern world’s important discussions. It reflects the past and future of young creative work.

Design

Our chosen theme of Conscious Creativity stems from the unification of all five articles, as well as the overall feeling we want to convey. The use of rough edges and organic design shown through a collage style within the journal helps us to embody a sense of intentionality.

By embracing imperfections and organic elements, we aim to highlight the beauty in process and exploration, encouraging readers to reflect on the interconnectedness of creativity, mindfulness, and the raw world around them, especially as designers.

Production

The breakdown.

PRODUCTION FOR JOURNAL

  • Test materials

  • Impose and print signatures

  • Fold 24p signatures

  • Smyth stitch book blocks

  • Glue book block spines

  • Print endsheets and covers

  • Register and emboss front covers

  • Paste endsheets to covers

  • Trim final book

PRODUCTION FOR OUTER CASE & PEN

  • Create dieline and test on table cutter

  • Determine correct sizes based on journals

  • Cut and score paperboard

  • Blind emboss outside of case

  • Print inner production sheet

  • Adhere production sheet to inside case

  • Laser engrave pens

  • Fold case around journal, secure pen

Our production process began with choosing our substrate. We wanted our decisions to reflect our theme of Conscious Creativity, so we determined our desired parameters surrounding sustainability and minimalism. We used uncoated or unbleached paper whenever we could and avoided finishing process such as foil and varnish for an added connotation of sustainability. To embrace Cal Poly’s “Learn by Doing” philosophy, all of our production processes were performed in-house.

Each prior year, Cal Poly TAGA has produced perfect-bound books, so this year we wanted to stray from the known and explore a more technical form of binding on our Smyth book sewing machine. This machine uses thread instead of glue to make clean binds between the signatures. To show off this binding technique, we decided on a spineless cover that would instead be attached to the end sheets. Due to exposing the spine of the book block, our design coordinator placed our color scheme on each spine of the signatures for added playfulness and to contrast the white binding thread. The journal’s book block itself was printed on our Konica Minolta printer.

Our final decisions related to the journal’s packaging sleeve. We desired a natural closure to support our theme, so we prototyped and cut a paper sleeve on our Zünd Cutter, implementing a loop for a pen that would hold the book in place. To stand out, we also embossed both our cover and packaging sleeve on our Kluge for added user experience.