I wanted the text to be kept in narrow columns down the side of the book as I wanted to bind the spine in an interesting way. A recent bookbinding session provided 3 different types of bindings that could be suitable to put the publication together. The binding is more visible than using staples or glue and it adds a more personal, handmade feel to the publication. Alternatively I saw a number of publications online that have been bound with rubber bands. Once all the pages for the small publication are printed I will attempt using one of these binding methods. Here are some examples I found that I was interested in replicating:
Idea Development - As a starting point, an InDesign document was set up with facing A5 pages. It was important to make sure that the colour mode was in CMYK to ensure that the printed graphics would be as seen on screen and not RGB.
This is the grid I set up myself for the layout of my book:
In one of the study tasks we made a list of graphic design rules that should always be applied when designing and laying out a publication, including:
1) Keep Line Lengths Short - A 66-character line (counting both letters and spaces) is widely regarded as ideal and anything from 45 to 75 characters is satisfactory.
2) Have a consistent set of fonts- 2-3 fonts maximum.
3) Never over-stretch type
4) Use the correct alignment - Flush left is the most appropriate as we read from left to right and there are no rivers created. Justified can be used; however, only if the text has been typeset correctly to ensure that there are no rivers.
5) Use a grid - This creates a structured page, which leads to the aesthetic layout of the piece working well.
By designing a grid I have already ticked off one of the criteria. Next I need to choose, consistent, appropriate typefaces for optimum legibility.
Before this however; I did a quick rough sketch to show how I could lay out each page in the publication.
In terms of the typography I decided to use Avenir Next Condensed in Regular and Demi Bold and for the title of the book I used Hallo Euroboy, a font I downloaded from online. It has a thin, condensed appearance that I thought would tie in well with the overall look of the book as my collumns of text are long and thin also. For the body text, Avenir Next Condensed Regular was used at a size of 13.5pt. On average, this allowed each line length to be roughly 55-60 characters, which is very close to the ideal line length of 66 characters. This completes the firstrule. For the header size I followed Vignelli's points on type size relationships - 'We like to play off small type with larger type -usually twice as big (for instance, 10 pt text and 20 pt headings)'. For this reason, I used HalloEuroboy to create a bold title which was much larger than the body text. The use of only 2 typefaces also completed the second rule of having a consistent font pallet of 2-3 fonts maximum. Furthermore, the text was placed in a flush-left alignment to complete the fourth point on using the most appropriate alignment. The layouts Can be seen Below:
1) Keep Line Lengths Short - A 66-character line (counting both letters and spaces) is widely regarded as ideal and anything from 45 to 75 characters is satisfactory.
2) Have a consistent set of fonts- 2-3 fonts maximum.
3) Never over-stretch type
4) Use the correct alignment - Flush left is the most appropriate as we read from left to right and there are no rivers created. Justified can be used; however, only if the text has been typeset correctly to ensure that there are no rivers.
5) Use a grid - This creates a structured page, which leads to the aesthetic layout of the piece working well.
By designing a grid I have already ticked off one of the criteria. Next I need to choose, consistent, appropriate typefaces for optimum legibility.
Before this however; I did a quick rough sketch to show how I could lay out each page in the publication.
In terms of the typography I decided to use Avenir Next Condensed in Regular and Demi Bold and for the title of the book I used Hallo Euroboy, a font I downloaded from online. It has a thin, condensed appearance that I thought would tie in well with the overall look of the book as my collumns of text are long and thin also. For the body text, Avenir Next Condensed Regular was used at a size of 13.5pt. On average, this allowed each line length to be roughly 55-60 characters, which is very close to the ideal line length of 66 characters. This completes the firstrule. For the header size I followed Vignelli's points on type size relationships - 'We like to play off small type with larger type -usually twice as big (for instance, 10 pt text and 20 pt headings)'. For this reason, I used HalloEuroboy to create a bold title which was much larger than the body text. The use of only 2 typefaces also completed the second rule of having a consistent font pallet of 2-3 fonts maximum. Furthermore, the text was placed in a flush-left alignment to complete the fourth point on using the most appropriate alignment. The layouts Can be seen Below:
I then wanted a funny front cover for the book that would lighten the mood of the book and encourage new students to want to use grids rather than be afraid of them.
I went with 'I can't beleive it's not Gutter', because it's quite humorous and punny and then decided to draw an illustrtion of butter on the front replacing the word margarine with 'margains' and then write golden ratio on the side because that too haas buttery connotations.
I went with 'I can't beleive it's not Gutter', because it's quite humorous and punny and then decided to draw an illustrtion of butter on the front replacing the word margarine with 'margains' and then write golden ratio on the side because that too haas buttery connotations.
This was the front cover design:
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