Reading and information architecture Bird guide books Yu-Hao Huang MA Book Design 2019-20 Department of Typography & Graphic Communication University of Reading
Brief Project objective The intention of this project is to design a proposal for the series guide book by considering their genre, text components, navigation, and hierarchy. This proposal should feature sections from the finished book, including the cover artwork, page layouts, and images.
Project task • To understand the genre, text components, and structural cues that designers use to help people engage with content, regardless of platform or output. • To understand how to integrate text, images, maps, and diagrams. Making them work together to explain information explicitly. • To understand systematic approaches to integrated content generation and page design.
Project scope and deliverables 1. Front and back cover design 2. The title spread 3. The contents spread 4. Some examples of typical kinds of the content presented as coherent graphic
Discovery
Research
Discovery The reasons for choosing birds’ guide books as my topic is that I am a bird lover and I hope to raise the awareness of the public on understanding and protecting birds. In recent years, due to the abuse of ecological resources and deforestation done by a human, biodiversity is getting less and less. This series of bird guides featured birds’ information such as habitat, population, and the tip of watching birds. As the importance of a guide book is the readability of text and image, to design consistent information and the noticeable front cover can be both crucial.
Market The market or type of readers will depend on information architecture. For children and juveniles, the illustration or handwriting typeface can be the dominant element. For the general public or adult readers, the great richness and consistency of detail in a book may satisfy readers who want to access information quickly. Take RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds, which is the bestseller on Amazon, for example, except for the delicate illustration which can complement the vivid effect, the clear and consistent typography guide the readers to attain the accurate information.
Audience definition • Birdwatcher: a person who is interested in observing or identifying wild birds in nature. • Bird lovers (ornithophile): a person who loves or have a huge interesting in birds • Ornithologists: an ornithologist is someone who focuses on birds, especially their voice, flight patterns, the characteristic of appearance, and migration.
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Discovery
Information spread research
The research started at looking at different bird guide book's examples, especially focus on their interior design. This gave me a basic understanding of the bird guide books' design convention and market.
The combination of complex background and cut-out photographs. However, the layout has been a little chaotic for accessing certain information.
The delicate illustration on the right page has been organised in 3 columns. Looking at the same direction makes the audience easier to compare their characteristics.
Organising four same types of birds in the spread can compare their difference directly. The rectangular photo on the top of each bird gives the balance to each bird’s information frame.
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Book list 1. Princeton University Press - Britain’s Birds 2. Collins - Collins Bird Guide 3. Dorling Kindersley - RSPB Pocket Birds of Britain and Europe
Discovery
Information spread research
A range of examples shows how similar information be organised in various structures according to the publishing companies. Among all design, I like the book 'RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds' published by Bloomsbury the most owing to its neat layout and effective way of communicating the information. Thus, I decided to do more research and analyse on their bird guide book design.
Book list 1. BirdLife Cyprus - What’s that bird? 2. National Geographic - Field Guide to the Birds of North America 3. Bloomsbury - RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds
Same posture illustration and few callouts. There are different icons on the top of the birds that use to illustrate extra information.
Except for the right side illustration, the left side organise the clear indication of the distribution of each species at different seasons and locations.
It uses a good layout to organise specific information. The illustration also shows the difference between adult and Juvenile.
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Discovery
Layout analysis
Before starting to read the guide book, the first several introduction pages are necessary for the audience to understand. These pages regulate information such as academic terms or the general tips for identifying birds for readers can read through this book without confusion.
Distinct colours bar align the fore-edge allow readers to recognise the contents page directly. In addition, not only the page number can guide the audience to the specific page, but the colour bar also is another option to find the number of pages.
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The example of the analysis: contents page, introduction pages, and information pages according to RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds. This analysis helps me to understand what structural cues designers use to help readers engage with content.
Different habitats are depicted and showed in the single column. In the glossary page, through looking at the bold sub title, the terms and their descriptions are divided into a single unit.
This paragraph gives an explicit explanation of the information architecture in the information pages. In the map diagram, there are different colours indicate the season when the bird will appear in that region.
Discovery
Layout analysis
In order to analyse and understand the hierarchy of the guide book example, I tried to dissect the basic units in birds' information pages by using the tree diagram.
The main segment in this example includes five sections: the running headers, the identified colour bar, text, illustration, and map.
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Discovery
Book cover analysis
Title: RSPB Pocket Guide to Scottish Birds Typography: the Roman serif title, Roman sans-serif author name. Image: there is a high quality of illustration and gradient feather effects surround it. Layout: image and text elements are separated into half and half. Through justifying the title’s tracking, the different levels of title text display the elegant and traditional feeling. In addition, placing the trademark at the left top of the cover may complement the hierarchy of it. Colour: the plain white background separates the image clearly.
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Title: Birds of Peru Typography: the condensed sans-serif title, subtitle, and author name.Image: the high quality of photograph could show the detail and characteristic of bird. Layout: as the format of the book is long, the typography is displayed in the systematic and vertical approach. Colour: the choice of colour with title and subtitle coordinate with the vivid colour of bird.
Discovery
Book cover analysis
1. Cut-out photo and callouts 2. Strong contrast with the vivid colour 3. Big scale of light sans-serif 4. Use their trademark as the inspiration
5. The pencil sketch illustration makes this book feels like a handwritten notebook 6. The combination of black background and Serif typeface makes it more like classic non-fiction.
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Discovery
Format analysis
130mm
Most Pocket guide books tend to produce in longer height or the small format in order to suit the space of the pocket. My initial idea is to follow the format proportion of ‘DK Pocket Birds’ and scale up the format size to 130 x 225 mm. I wanted to try whether a bigger portrait format is appropriate for organising the information in a birds guide book.
225mm
Above 13.5 x 19 cm. Bloomsbury - Birds of Peru (Pocket Photo Guides)
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Above 13.1 x 19 cm. Dorling kindersley - RSPB Pocket Birds of Britain and Europe
Above 11.7 x 16.8 cm. Bloomsbury - RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds
Transformation
Flat plan
Transformation The content of this project is collected mainly from the book ‘RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds’ published by Bloomsbury.
Front cover Spine Back cover
Key spread Identifying spread Habitats spread Glossary spread Typography spread
Contents page Introducion pages
Chapter opening Information spread Information spread Information spread Information spread Information spread
Chapter opening Information spread Information spread Information spread Information spread Information spread
Interior pages
Index Acknowledgements
Waders Chats and Thrushes Divers and Grebes Shearwaters, Cormorants and Gannets Herons Birds of Prey Crakes and Rails Wildfowl Gulls, Terns and Auks Pigeons and Cuckoos Owls Woodpeckers and Allies Larks, Swallows and Pipits Wrens and Allies Gamebirds Warblers and Flycatchers Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers Shrikes and Crows Sparrows, Finches and Bunting
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Transformation
Layout development
I started to explore the potential layout and book cover by having a rough sketch. In the first several sessions, I learned some Indesign tips from Sara while we having an individual discussion such as the use of the baseline grid, how to organising all text in the same text frame, and using span columns. These tips help me organise the layout in a
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more effective way. Moreover, looking at the collections of travel guides and maps also expands my horizon. I not only saw different creative way on design the book jacket, but I experienced publication format by handling the physical books with my hands.
Transformation
Layout development
The early idea of the making phase was to print out this project through the risograph printing. Most bird guide books are printed in colour on every page in order to identify birds. This may cause not only heavy and inconvenient to carry, but higher price. Thus, taking this as the starting point, this project will experiment to print the entire book in two colours. The challenging part includes the exact alignment, the readability of printing, and the effective use of budget. However, as I did not figure out the issue of alignment, the result of printing is different from what I expected. After this failed attempt, I decided to print out with the two colours teal and orange in laser printing for formative submission.
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Transformation
Layout development
After analysed the content page of the RSPB Pocket Guide series, I realised the importance of colour guiding. Applying colour on the foreedge could be an effective way to guide and impact readers before they open the book. Thus, I trialed the colour of orange on the fore-edge for distinction. Additionally, in order to divide the introduction pages and information pages, the information sections were overlaid with an orange gradient image.
Because I spent too much time considering the print result of the risograph printer at first, I neglected to arrange enough time on layout development. I used 2 and 3 columns grid to organise the collected information. This led to a lack of hierarchy in the spread. Sara suggested that I can have different designs dependant on types of messages. For example, ‘Travel recommendation’ can design differently as its type of information is not the same as others.
I experimented to place the cut-out image in order to find the relationship between image and text. In the research phase, I realised most publishing companies prefer to put the cut-out or big-scale images in the spread which has a plain background. This can show the characteristics of different birds‘ appearance.
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Transformation
Layout development
The main reason for which I want to design this style in every spread is that the consideration of birdwatchers’ reading scene. As they may read the guide book while watching birds in woodland, the reading layout is applied in the spread should meet the reading area. The arrangement of text will avoid placing at the below centre area of spread as the consideration of birdwatchers may carry the book by one hand. However, this causes an unexpected blank space at the bottom of the form and limitations when organising information.
The formative feedback from Sara and the assignment of the seminar give me a better understanding of how important genre and the consistency are in designing the guide book. Considering to identify the birds, print in two colour make the style of this series more depressive and tedious. The result of printing the cut-out bird image in the monochrome colour is not working well and even lose the colour characteristics of birds. The birds' guide book should be more inspiring and vivid. Therefore, I decided to give the initial idea up and focus on layout development.
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Transformation
Further layout development
Moving forward I tried to finalise and establish a better column grid that was flexible enough for organising text, images, and maps. Along with this, I also need to develop more on typography to make the unit of a spread look inspiring. The original 130mm x 225 mm format has not offered me an effective canvas on organising the information. I altered slightly to 140mm x 216 mm which is US standard book sizes, Demy.
Margin: Top: 10mm Bottom: 12mm Outside: 15mm Inside: 28mm
Typeface: Bernina Sans 8/12pt
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Except for introducing one bird in a spread, I trialed to put two birds’ information or extra photos for exploring possible layout. In previous research, some publications put the same species of birds in the same spread for comparison. The right top picture shows the layout I found that can show a comfortable proportion of typography.
Transformation
Further layout development
In the process of developing the new layout, I did not realised that I used many colours without a specific reason. For instance, the guide colour bars for different sections, four map's colours, and the book cover colour. In the feedback, Sara men-
tioned to me my choice of colour for different types of birds can lead to confusion because this book has nearly 20 sections and 5 introduction spreads.
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Transformation
Further layout development
Here I aim to explore the colour consideration throughout entire books' content. I started to use the colour of RSPB's trademark in different components. However, I quickly realised that if every book in this series uses this colour, it would arise the problem of distinguishing them and thus, lose the navigation cue.
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Transformation
Further layout development
In this phase, I already decided on the colour used in the book cover for every book. I trialed to explore the similar colour scheme of the cover's background. Apart from the exploration of colour identity, I also developed more on the hierarchy and typography in the double-page spread in order to correspond with the typeface used in the book cover. Understanding how significant the genre, text components, and structural cues are in designing a series of guide books.
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Transformation
Further layout development
Moving forward on introduction pages, I stick with organise the main body text at the inside 3 columns and the outside column only used for placing the captions or extra information. Among all pages, I consider the typography spread is the
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most difficult one to design. I have to find the photo without a license, to consider the birds' posture, and make layout look balance by placing all images appropriately.
Transformation
Final Introduction spread
Although the layout I chose may restrict the potential composition, consistency throughout the whole book and how easy that readers can absorb information are more important when designing the guide book.
Title
How to use this book?
Identifying
Habitats
Glossary
Typography
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Transformation
Final Information spread
Contents
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Chapter opening
Avocet
Chapter opening
Robin
Transformation
Cover development
Due to the intended audience of bird guide books are birdwatchers, I assumed that the scene they may read the guide book would be walking in the garden, park, or woodland. I started by experimenting with different handwriting and calligraphy techniques to explore the appropriate organisation. The handwriting result can be different by changing pen, paper, writing angle, and even the writing speed.
Tools experiment: 1. Cotton swab 2. Broken cotton swab 3. Chinese brush pen 4. Tombow brush pen
5. Marker 6. Water Ball-point Pen 7. Uni pin fine line 8. Water-colour brush
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Transformation
Cover development
The reason for choosing Avocet’s photograph as cover image because it is not only a conservation success story in the UK, but its appearance also is RSPB’s trademark. I used the brush pen because its strong contrast stroke can correspond to Avocet’s body shape. Andean cock-of-the-rock is the national bird in Peru. As the colour of Andean cock-of-the-rock is vivid and strong, I trialed to explore the light title by using different tools.
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The golden pheasant is the national bird of China. Owing to Golden pheasant’s tail of shape such as has the head of the brush pen, I chose the Chinese brush to write the second book’s title. In China, there are also many calligraphers paint the golden pheasant in their work. This shows the evidence of the golden pheasant’s picture can have a good combination with calligraphy writing.
Transformation
Further cover development
The formative feedback mentioned that the difficulty to recognise the title designed by using different tools and pens. It also hard to identity three books are in the same series. I did not have enough exploration of a wide range of approaches. Thus, I decided to explore another idea that can effectively apply to different bird guide books.
Starting with finding the photos, which can fit well as the Avocet's posture direction in RSPB's logo, on the internet. I also considered whether drawing the birds' whole body throughout the front and back cover is appropriate.
I reminded the early learning from the first InDesign class with James. We discussed how to use the Penguin book's logo and layout as a genre inspiration to create penguin series books. This experiment gave me the idea of based on the design of RSPB's logo to create the same genre of the book cover, with the flat graphic but clearly show the basic characteristics of Avocet.
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Transformation
Further cover development
I have been searching for different photos which not only can show the proper detail, but also maintain the real colour of the original birds. The decision of using plain colour background is based on the RSPB’s logo design and also considers it can be easier to identify. For the choice of background colour, I experimented with the birds’ colour first.
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Transformation
Further cover development
When I designing the series guide book, I realised that it is more effective to design all books synchronously. It helps me to know whether the variation of my decision making is working in different books. Sara mentioned some typographic issues such as the author's name should in the same line and the inappropriate to use the mark '&' in a book cover. All these suggestions let me understand more typographic specifications.
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Transformation
Further cover development
I am not really satisfied with choosing the combination of the Myriad Pro regular title and the Calluna Sans light author's name in my book cover. If I see view six books at the same time, the cover could be a little tedious and digital. After a type-
face exploration, I decided to resonate with the book long format and choose typeface Heading Pro book as my cover title. This led me to replace the heading's typeface of all interior pages.
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Typeface choice 1. Heading Pro book 2. Calluna Sans bold 3. Myriad Pro regular 4. Abril Fatface regular
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Transformation
Final cover design
For cover design, I used the 3-columns grid for aligning and organising text and illustration because the inside pages' 4-columns grid cannot work at the cover.
Margin: Top: 15mm Bottom: 22mm Outside: 15mm Inside: 15mm
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Transformation
Specification
Spine title Heading Pro 30pt, Bold
Description Fira Sans 10/15pt, Medium italic Bullet point Fira Sans 9.5/13.5pt, Medium
Extra information Fira Sans 9.5/13pt, Medium
Spine author's name Heading Pro 24pt, Book
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Transformation
Specification
Main title Heading Pro 120pt, Book Sub title Heading Pro 34pt, Bold
5mm
10mm
Author's name Minion Pro 12pt, Regular
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Transformation
Specification
Main title Heading Pro 42pt, Bold
Academic name Fira Sans 11pt, Regular
Description Fira Sans 8.25/10pt, Italic
Habit Fira Sans 8.25/12pt, Semibold
Birdwatching Heading Pro 15pt, Extrabold
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Frame Sub-title Fira Sans 9.5pt, Bold
Transformation
Specification
Running header Fira Sans 7pt, Italic Folio Fira Sans 14pt, Semibold
Captions title Heading Pro 18/20pt, Book Captions text Tisa Pro 7/9pt, Light italic
Sub title Fira Sans 14pt, Extrabold
Body text title Fira Sans 9/10.8pt, Bold
Main title Fira Sans 8.25/12pt, Regular
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Making
Initial bookbinding
Making The initial idea is to bind the book through sewing. I considered that link stitch binding can convey the feeling of handmade and nature. However, the result of the first making did not work well as they look like the art book rather than a guide book. It is not a cost-saving way for producing big volumes of stitch binding guide books. This is the reason why instead of making the guide book by link stitch binding, publishers prefer to produce in perfect binding.
The 130mm x 225 mm format has to print in A3 size paper because the print of spread will at least over 260mm x 225 mm. This lead to the paper will be trimmed a lot.
While doing the link stitch binding, I realised that the thin recycled paper is not appropriate for sewing since the paper could be ripped easily. If the paper can at least over 100 gsm, it is more possible to fix the spine.
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Making
Bookbinding specification
After the experiment of link stitch binding, I decided to make this series by perfect binding. I got some simple ideas about exploring the printing techniques on book cover such as foil blocking or embossing. However, the flat illustration of the bird is located beside the spine so that restricts the possibility of using embossing on the cover.
The final birds' guide books are going to print in softcover with a Matte lamination. The reason for choosing this is because its velvety texture of the finish makes for a pleasant tactile experience. The photo at the bottom of this page displays the proportion of the finished book. • Book cover: matte lamination, around 150 gsm • Inside pages: white uncoated, 105 gsm • Folding: 16 x 16-pages section which is 256 pages. Each section is made up of two sheets of A3 paper by folding twice respectively.
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Making
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Mockup - series of book
Making
Mockup - front and back cover
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Making
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Mockup - Inside spreads
Making
Mockup - Inside spreads
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