Part 5: Layout Project - Magazines and Books
What to I think I will be exploring here?
- I will be looking into the layouts of magazines and books. - In previous exercises I have looked at how magazine pages have been constructed but I haven’t constructed them myself. This project, I think, will make me start looking at this and the compositional methods that could be employed in order to make these more successful. - There is also the possibility of researching how a layout can help establish a style. A style doesn’t always have to be established by the same fonts being used, layout is a large factor within this and I hope developing an understanding for this is something that I will be able to focus on throughout this.
What skills do I want to develop?
- If my assumptions are correct, this is going to be more about developing my layout skills in terms of understanding. At the moment, although I know what looks right, I can’t necessarily tell you why and understanding grid systems in greater depth will help with this. - Previously, the book covers exercise was something that I struggled with so I am hoping that since Part 2, I will be able to notice a development in my skills and continue to do so throughout this assignment as well. - Also with a previous exercise in terms of magazines, it really helped me to focus on how readable something is in terms of type and I think developing this understanding for making something more readable through the layout will help me as I continue through the design process.
What do I need to make sure that I focus on during my research?
- What layout systems are used through various different mediums, photographs will also appear in magazines so looking at grids and compositional methods in other mediums will help strengthen my understanding. - How grids are enforced to make a series or sequence whethter this be across multiple book covers or whether the grid is just employed in different ways across an article. - Also consider how something is printed and what layout considerations have been made in order to make sure that the document prints correctly.
Horizon line is placed across the upper horizontal line with the boat being positioned slightly below centre (the figures head is the exact midpoint) and the boat is exactly on the lower horizontal line.
Compositionally, this painting seems very soft and easy on the eye but nothing seems to sit exactly on the grid for the rule of thirds. The autumn trees are both contained within the first and third vertical sections. But the line of hills in the background do not sit on the upper horizontal line which is something that I would have expected.
Again this painting doesn’t exactly follow the rule of thirds but the horizon line on this occasion is closer to the upper horizontal line and this rests easier for the eye, it divides the image into sections that you don’t know exist.
The extensions of the barn owls wings are given their own section which works perfectly for your eye as it leads your eye from one edge of the frame to the other. The log is then positioned exactly on the second vertical line which positiions the owl in the centre third and just the wings in either section to the left and right. This composition works perfectly and showcases every feature of the owl.
I always looked at this photo thinking that it was really strongly composed however, after putting this grid on it I’m not so sure. The horizon line is exactly in the middle of the frame and as there are no key focal points within the image, there isn’t much else positioned at a point of interest. I guess this is why it works to have the horizon line straight along the horizontal middle but my opinion has now changed as it seems to have become even less interesting.
This image isn’t your typical rule of thirds image. What is clever here is that, apart from the green lanscape and building all being contained within the bottom third of the image, each section of the sky seems to have it’s own colour change as part of the section. This all blends together when you view it but as individal segments, this works really well.
“Visual communication carries its message and meaning through the organisation and arrangement of disparate design elements. The clarity and immediacy of any message is further achieved with visual unity by the use of the grid. It is a useful and purposeful tool for any graphic designer. A page grid provides a framework for composition through its network of
horizontal and vertical intersecting lines that organise and divide the page into field and interval, thereby creating a guide for establishing proportional relationships between the composition’s design elements.� (page 265 of the Language of Graphic Design)
Point missed in the information pack - not only are margins important on the outer edges because this is where you fingers hold the page, but the inner margins are also important for printing. You need these margins to be in place so that important information doesn’t end up going into the binding. Looking at how something is bound can really effect the designs but typically with newspapers they are just folded so there isn’t as much concern. Whereas, with some magazines they can be staple bound (again not too much of an issue) but if they are perfect bound, then there needs to be some consideration as you won’t be able to see every aspect of a full bleed image or text that goes right up to the edge.
Exercise - magazine pages
Measure the size of the pages, the margins, the text columns and the gaps in between them. How many columns do they use? Is it the same on every page? Can you identify the fonts they use? Do you have it or one with similar properties? How do they use photographs and illustrations? How much ‘white space’ on the pages is there?
Once again, using the calculation given to us in the information pack, the size comparisons didn’t seem quite right within the article. They appeared to be a couple of points out so this top one is what the calculations suggested and the bottom one is what I think it should be instead.
Experimenting with other grid systems
Although the original is heavier on the left hand page, the regular structure works. However, here it isn’t so formulated which means the balance isn’t achieved.
Too much blank space.
Still a little all over the place.
Getting better although small image on left hand page appears a little high.
Hierarchy of the text doesn’t work, the quote should not be the same size as the title. Simple change of the positioning of the white panel creates a break for the eye from the text and the edge of the page.
Both images sitting on the edge like this creates a very one sided grid, separating the text and images in such a way is uneasy for the reader.
I knew script and curvy fonts wouldn’t fit with the very formulaic structure but I didn’t realise that a font like this, that blends a bit between the two styles would also have this impact.
Slightly softer font choice, makes the reading easier of such a large quantity of text.
Final Grid Selection with fonts
Now to add images...
What have I learnt at this point? - Although layout does need to be considered as a key focus, it needs to be considered alongside the other elements as once the images were added into these layouts, they changed quite a bit so it is better to consider it as a whole as what is communicated to the audience can change so adjustments need to be made accordingly. - Grids can appear in multiple different forms, they don’t just have to be columns and incredibly formulaic. - Text boxes don’t have to line up with other text boxes, the more subtle grids sometimes work the most effectively as there is any easy flow for the eye between various elements. - Using dividers can create effective closure between sections to know when a point has finished but the boxes (as proved in the original layout) don’t have to be fully closed off. The eye will know that this is an individual section through the use of the boxing technique, however, it doesn’t have to be fully boxed to portray this idea to the audience. It makes the discussion seem more open ended, open to development but something that has to be explored by the audience instead of it being elaborated within the article. - The boxing off of text also frames the argument within a context. - Although I knew a grid structure was important, I didn’t realise how much it can affect a layout. Previously designing grids and after finding so many structures within WIRED magazine for layouts that I liked, I realised how this view of the writing can impact your interaction with the text. It really does enhance the rhythm that you read the text at, as well as enhancing the message that you are reading. It is more likely to be remembered if you enjoyed reading it and it was an easy text to read due to the grid structure.
How are book covers constructed? What techniques are used to convey a message?
- Typography is the main element of most covers, even if an image features, the text is more dominant. - The choice of font determines the genre of the book. Peter James’ books use a strong dominant font that, with the combination of the word choice, makes it clear that it is potentially a crime novel or thriller. - Most of them use quite a limiting tonal range in order to keep the focus on the actual wording a title. Keeping it simple helps to convey a clear message and allow the audience to focus on what the book is about. - The imagery that is used assists the title in conveying a message, everything points towards the same message and the proximity of the text helps with this message as well. For example, above, ‘The tattooist of Auschwitz’ has more distance between the title and the author compared to ‘Little Fires everywhere’. Fires can easily spread and you would think this would be partly reflected through the spacing of the text, however, there is more spacing between ‘fires’ and ‘everywhere’ than there is between the whole title and the author’s name. With ‘The tattooist of Auschwitz’, as Auschwitz is such a loaded word, the eye is given a little bit of time to process this by then putting the author’s name further down the cover.
What about different publishing houses?
Publication House - Disney Hyperation
How has a series been established here?
- Same font is used on each cover (the colour varies between each one to fit in with the individual colour themes) and it is positioned in the exact same place on each one to help with the identification of the series. - Eoin Colfer is also positioned in the same place. - The style of illustration is the same across each cover, the only one that I would say is a little different is the fourth cover, although the style is the same, the focus is normally on Artemis and in this cover, as well as the second, it isn’t. However, this doesn’t effect the perception of the series on the covers, only the fourth one and this is also because the background, and the slightly less saturated colours that provide some blank space, do not appear as strongly.
Both of these series were published by Puffin house however, in appearance they look very different. Although this is important to note, this isn’t the primary focus of the research point. The change in styles reflects a change in the way book covers are designed over the time difference between the two sets as they were both published in the UK.
What characterises these as a set? (top images)
- The illustrations all have the same style. Artemis’s face is the focus of most covers up until the final cover. - The text is all positioned in the same place with a figure appearing out of the O of FOWL. - The font used it always the same for both the author’s name and book title. - The text used is from the same font family which helps with the ease of reading but helps establish each cover, alongside the set. - The images are primarily in white (with one feature colour) before a gradient is applied to introduce this colour further down the page (this is altered once again on the last cover). - ‘Criminally Good’ features on every cover as a tag line - not something that commonly features on book covers.
What characterises the second set?
Once again the same methods are used for the text, same font families, the position remains the Both published by Puffin Books. same on every book up until the last cover and the illustrations all share a similar style with the drawings working out from the centre point on each occasion. The illustration style changes for the last cover and instead of working it’s way out, Artemis’s figure establishes a kind of authority through the body language used. - The structures of the book aren’t as similar on this occasion (in terms of the way the colour is arranged on the page) but this isn’t to say that the series struggles to establish itself as a set as the rest of the characteristics as mentioned above help to do this.
These covers were the ones that are featured on Cornwell’s website but they all have very different styles. The same font is used but each one has a different allignment, one is italicised, there is no consistent size of the text and considering that these are supposed to be a series, in order to help with identifying which books are in the series, it would have been helpful to have at least one element of continuation between each book. The only way it is known is through the small wording that always features saying ‘A Scarpetta Novel’. This isn’t one of the main pieces of information so it never features heavily on the cover, instead t is something that as an audience you are forced to try and find whereas it would have been easier for the audience to make the designs easier to link so that the audience’s eye could naturally identify it instead of having to read each layer of information.
paperback and hardback designs are the same.
hardcover - Chaos is embossed.
paperback. - colours don’t seem as striking.
Another design published for the cover.
The design that appears on her website.
first edition. published by g.p. Putnam’s sons The harback cover below is published by the same people that published the hardcover
later edition published by Berkley.
what steps have been taken to establish a set within this publishing house? book for Scarpetta so
- Cornwell’s name is made prominent through the combination of two text sizes and this features across the series ni terms of arrangement. It isn’t always in the same place but the allignment continues to be central. - The same font is always used for the book title. - The title always features in the same place - interesting hierarchy as the publishers know the author’s name will sell the book so this is larger in size whereas as seen on other books, normally the title is larger. - Images don’t share much in common in terms of style but neither of them are very obvious, they are suggestive and build up the suspense of the storyline. Hardback published by Little Brown. paperback published by Sphere
The cover designs have obviously developed throughout the editions and the publishing houses. Each publishing house has their own style that they apply and it is interesting to see what has made the cut over the years. The main structure still exists, Cornwell’s name, the book title and then one single image that doesn’t give much away about the story but enough to create some interest. The fonts change between publishing hosues as this helps to establish their own style. Each one places emphasis on Cornwell’s name more than other publications have done before but this is probably due to the established nature of Cornwell’s name. The most recent designs play with weighted fonts and using the same font family across the two main pieces of information, the title and Cornwell’s name. This is usually separated as it creates a distinction between the elements however, with these covers it works incredibly well. Also with all the paperbacks, instead of just keeping the title in the same place, all information is positioned in the same way and the main text is kept centrally within the frame. This means that all the images have a similar composition so that the centre of the frame is quieter in terms of nose levels. Using repetition in this way, something that is incredibly consistent across the series helps to establish an identity not only for the publishing house but also Cornwell’s books.
Sphere published the most recent Cornwell paperback versions so what kind of style is applied to the rest of Sphere’s publications? After further investigation, Sphere publishing is part of the Little Brown Group, this explains the similarities between the designs but it also highlights an internal development in terms of what the company see as being effective and ineffective within their designs. As is evidenced by the covers also designed under Sphere publishing, there isn’t a style that is applied to every book cover. It is important to create an identity for each book, it needs to establish itself within a competitive market and designing every book the same, unless they need this purpose like they do in a series, this kind of approach doesn’t fit. In terms of basic concepts, each book has the author’s name, the title and a single line of information. this information is sometimes a quote and other times it is somthing directly about the book. Having this line of information is a large indicator to the audience whether they are gaining the right kind of message from the other components within the design. It is repeating the message in a more explicit way and helps make the initial understanding a little bit deeper. Although this method doesn’t help with making more universal connections to the book or wider interpretations of what the plot could be about, it helps gain interest from the reader as it becomes more explicit. Looking at the covers like this shows that every cover has different demands, there is no set way that a cover should look like and it doesn’t mean that there should be a certain amount of spacing between the elements. What it also emphasises is that the way each of these is done, will change the way the audience looks at the cover and whether they want to read the book. For example, the Micro-Resilience book uses three block colours, a few circles and the rest is text. It looks like a very formulated and focused book which is exactly what you would expect after reading the second bit of text on the cover. Whereas, the ‘Shadows on the Nile’ cover uses whimsical font that mirrors a handwritten note, combined with a painting of the scenary in order to establish the setting of the book. However, the font choice for the author’s name suggests there is something a bit more to this story, it isn’t flowing, it is has strong sharp lines and when you consider the word ‘Shadow’, as a reader you begin to question what shadows could lie beneath something that at first looks so picturesque (the painting element really coming into play here).
Exercise: Judging a Book by its cover As you are working remember that your design is intended to help a reader know what the experience of reading the book will be. Is it a serious text book or an off-beat funny novel? Are the readers expected to be young women or older men and does this matter? Is it an ‘easy read’ or ‘literary’? Does the publisher have a house style you need to be part of?
Introduction - taken from https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/311175/the-husbands-se-
cret-by-liane-moriarty/9780425267721/readers-guide/
At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died… Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret-something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive…Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all-she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia-or each other-but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.
Liane Moriarty’s ‘The Husband’s Secret’
Guilt
Secrets Grief
History Trust?
Betrayal Timing the Berlin Wall
Liane Moriarty
I know Liane Moriarty’s books have had multiple covers so I wanted to see what kind of style emerges across the different titles but also the differences in terms of how the cover itself develops. This was a secondary thought though to the visual communication techniques that I was trying to identify. Any imagery that is used within the cover is simple, with a shallow depth of field which is where the title is then featured. A book cover needs to convey one simple message, it is supposed to tell you something about the book and in doing so it is supposed to encourage you to then read the book. The visual language of these covers has developed across a period of time and the most recent covers (the furthest cover of big little lies) don’t communicate this message effectively. Having read the book, the only reason this image makes any sense is because of the link to the TV production. What has this image got to do with ‘Big Little Lies’ book? Nothing, this scene was not written about in the book. These covers have introduced the realism element back into the design as for covers like the furthest right on ‘The Hypnotist’s Love Story’, this has an element of realism but it is unlikely. Your eye is never naturally going to be able to stop a motion like this. The only way we know that a shattering object can look like this is because of slow-motion images that have previously been shown to us as an audience.
What benefit does it have to introduce more realism to a cover?
Realism on the cover makes you believe in the story more, it makes it seem like this could really happen. Obviously some of these stories would never happen but using a cover like this gives it this perception. The covers that are similar on this page to those of the most recent ‘Big Little Lies’ book seem to idealise the persona even more. They look obviously staged and almost barbie doll like. This allows for any personas that you imagine as an audience to be placed within the shoes of the person on the front. This approach for a book cover is very interesting, it isn’t used much on covers that share a similar genre so does this make them stand out for a good or bad reason? Personally, for me, it is a bad reason, I don’t like the covers and I think this is partly due to the TV production. Sharing this style is interesting, but doesn’t convey the message that the covers once did.
Learning points so far - the visual language and communication techniques of a book cover: - Form is a key focus, it should catch the reader’s eye from the shelf before it can even start trying to convey a message. - The words are the path to follow with book covers. This is the main message that you are trying to communicate to an audience so as a designer, it is my role to try and help the audience visualise what this title could mean within the context of the book. Although some of these covers may not make sense just yet, after you read the text, it makes it so much clearer and this is because the text often leads the design process. - “The visual-verbal connection must be present and strong. A good book cover should also reward the reader there should be a little bit of mystery to allow for personal interpretation, and enough depth in the image so the reader’s experience of the cover changes and grows as they make their way through the text.” https://bearbooks. se/tag/new-visual-artists/ -This one single message that needs to be conveyed to the audience should be highlighted through every single choice. The spine may seem like a small thing but even this needs to indicate what the reader should be focused on. - Double meanings aren’t a bad thing, this will allow the audience to be intrigued by what the meaning could really be behind a cover. - The title is typically bigger than the author’s name. Although an author’s name can often sell a book, the style of the book cover will help identify the author without having to even find the name. This obviously only happens once the author is established and written a few books. - Creativity isn’t something that is required here, it is more being clever with your choices. Extravagent fonts will get you nowhere with a crime novel. - During the process, try and separate yourself from a designer and a reader. Critiquing work as a reader is more important, the designer part will slip through on some occasions but it’s best to look at something in terms of how you would read it if you were to find it on a shelf - SOMETHING THAT I REALLY NEED TO FOCUS ON.
Using other people’s images to try and get a better idea of what kind of photo would work on this cover.
Key points to take forward:
- Having enough blank space to put the necessary text is important. Blank space provides a space for the reader’s eyes to ‘breath’. It also allows them to fill in their own gaps of the story so that they can guess what will happen or each time they pick it up, this space becomes fuller as they begin to understand the storyline more. - Full bleed images work best. Thinking about it, I have not seen a cover for a similar genre that uses white space, as in literal blank spaces on the cover, the blank space is encorporated into the image. - Adding a filter on this images to reduce the saturation works really well, it makes the image seem more whimsical and works well for using slightly lighter weighted fonts (helps for the communication between the elements on the page and not just communication to the audience). - At the moment, I am not sure if the scale of these images is quite right. Something to experiment with during my photos is how close up I make the rings to the camera.
Continue to consider how secrets are presented on the cover.
Initial Photographs
Develop Shoot
A selection of the photos, not all of them.
From a photographic perspective what does each element of the photo communicate? - Red can communicate love but also love and hatred. Using this as part of some of the photographs is a perfect connotation. It suggests the secret being hidden is a dark one. - To further enforce the thought that this is a dark secret, the lighting has been dimmed down, it keeps a very muted but dark tone to the image. It is almost sinister and it makes the text appear strong. - Using shadows was something that I first tried to avoid but the shadows also indicate that there is something hidden away, there is something hidden in the shadows. - The space between the rings is also used to infer something. In a way it suggests that there is another woman in the marriage however, there isn’t, it isn’t a typical chic flick in that respect. This portrays something that is against the message of the book, maybe only two rings should be used? This could be a man and woman’s or two woman’s, it depends on the context as to which combination would work best. - The effect that I am trying to mirror from one of the previous covers hasn’t quite been achieved. This uses a heavier filter than just reducing the saturation, it is something that I can continue to experiment with once I have the final selection of images. - A letter could still work really well as a concept with the rings, whether a hand is in this shot or not is yet to be determined but this could elevate the cover a little more which is needed.
Personal pointers: - Using a different camera meant it took a while to get it right and the photos still weren’t quite as I had hoped but this encouraged experimentation that I perhaps wouldn’t have done and it was these photos that turned out the best. - Nothing is right first time so I will continue to experiment, introducing the letter element could be really interesting as this is the starting point for the book. Although three stories intertwine I think this is the main focal point and highlighting its power on the cover will only emphasise this.
Learning points for visual communication: - Every little element needs to communicate the same message. Although the concept of marriage and secrets is portrayed here, the main thing that anyone will take from the cover is the fact that there are three rings which means someone else must be involved, but there isn’t in terms of there isn’t an affair. - Using text within images needs to be done carefully. Using a dictionary, when you can’t decide on the surrounding words isn’t an ideal situation because this can confuse the message even further. - A block of colour is a good separation method but it isn’t used on book covers. Books tend to use blank space within an image as this unites the two elements but there is still the fore-ground and background differentiation that the viewer’s eye will understand. Here, they appear to be two entirely different elements which doesn’t portray a cohesive story or an well-written book.
Just typography book covers was something that I thought I would find easier than I did. Although i could get the text right, it was about trying to add depth to the cover as it looked a little dull and wouldn’t have that intrigue that a cover needs for the audience to pick it up from the shelf. It required a different focus that played purely on the words through typography. Secret in a way was an easy word to pick up on so I played with the visual language and connotations had with a top secret stamp that is used so frequently. Playing on common visual language methods like this helped with the design but still kept it quite flat.
The yellow doesn’t hold much significance within the story told but it adds further contrast to the book cover which is needed. Equally the slight brush patterns in the background, representing the dust from the letter, help to add some slight variation to the otherwise black and flat background.
Although the same visual focuses exist on this cover, they exist within a different capacity. Contrast is more controlled within the lighting of this photograph and because it is a photograph, depth naturally comes to the imagery. The composition also had to be thought aabout before taking the photos. I knew that I wanted to use a white envelope and the text should also be white so there needed to be enough blank space within the image so the text could fit in this gap. And it had to fit so that the text could have enough impact on the page.
The book was originally designed to be similar to that of a stereotypical chic-flick but Moriarty creates it with far more depth and it becomes difficult to guess the storyline. This in my opinion takes it beyond that typical genre as they are often very predictable. The same target audience exists of younger women but the cover needs to reflect that it isn’t going to be love and flowers. Avoiding an illustration style that portrayed this was important and therefore, I went with photography whereby I could experiment with what the light decided to show or hide to the audience. The Hidden is a massive theme in this and I wanted the lighting to really show this. I did try and employ some of the house style features that I had identified within Penguin Publishing however, I was able to identify that book covers within the same publishing house vary a lot in order to give each book it’s own identity. The logo always features so I made sure this featured in two of the most common areas on the cover. Other than this, there are no specific colours, fonts or spacing used between the covers. In terms of success between the two covers, the cover with the photograph on it is more successful in my opinion. I think this covers have more interest, the idea of a hidden secret is more deeply explored and the cover has the intrigue that is required in order for an audience member to pick up the book having not heard of the author beforehand. The use of yellow, although is a very small part of the storyline, provides the perfect accent colour for the cover, adding some contrast and further depth to the style. Although there are aspects of the other cover that are successful, I personally wouldn’t find the book interesting enough to pick up from the shelf. The use of the typical red band round bold Impact text is something that does portray a well hidden secret, one that shouldn’t be known to the audience. In this respect, the employment of this within the cover is a strong, universally understood component of visual language. However, other than this, I find there to be no focal point that helps to further employ the message. This is the benefit of having an image. The message can be employed in an additional way instead of just a single colour background. Although I did struggle with the image that was used, once I used the envelope encasing the ring, I realised that this provided the stark contrast between the light and dark, what used to be and what is now.
What have I learnt from having to create these two different book covers? - Depth doesn’t have to be created by stark contrast, texture can also help as it mirrors that created within photogarphy without having a photograph. - It works to have different alignments on the same page, but only if you are ok for them to be read as two separate components. - Each small component indicates something different about a storyline and it is important that, what looks like completely different elements, in fact is seen as one to convey one single message. - The continuation of a pattern is important to flow over the whole design (front, spine and back) however, there is more information to read on the back page so the pattern needs to not be too overpowering that is is hard to read. - Previous visual language techniques are a successfuly way of communicating a message on a cover that isn’t using imagery. The use of a red box around the word secret is a very small move but it has many connotations to go with it. Sometimes these techniques help to further a message but sometimes I also need to be wary of them as a designer as they could communicate the wrong thing depending on the context.