OUGD405 STUDIO BRIEF 3 - PAGE LAYOUT EXPERIMENTATION AND INTERIM CRITIQUES

Following on from my research into page layouts, I created some of my own page layouts, incorporating different elements from layouts to suit my content.

Here i experimented with the spiral idea which I saw in Elle, as a fun way of including text that doesn't look so daunting to read. I tried it on a page on it's own, alongside a heading, on a double page spread with a skyline footer and/or header, similar to the sprinkle one in a cook book from my research. I thought this could be a fun opener for my introductory page, so that people think that this book will be fun rather than crammed full or text and information like many travel books. I think the spiral idea is one that could work really well, however although it looks interesting, I know whenever I see the spiral text design in Elle, I almost never read it because I can't be bothered to turn the page or my head round to read the words. I also thought about having my introduction just as normal text with a double spread full bleed duotone photograph to add some colour and imagery to the page. I thought this would be a lot easier to read, however maybe too much blank space, it doesn't require a double spread really. I like the use of a skyline footer and header in these designs, as it breaks the pages up a bit, and frames them, stopping the information from falling off the page almost. It also adds imagery so it's not just text text text or blank space.

Here I continued with my idea of the spiral text and the skyline idea, but I also tried having a double page spread full bleed image with a banner down one side, almost like a bookmark placed onto the page, or the inside of a dust jacket where you have a bit about the author on the inside bit, with the introduction on it. I thought this idea was a little boring and plain however, and it seemed silly to limit the text to a smaller banner when I have a whole double page spread to work with. I then moved on to thinking about the front cover, and I found a booklet on Pinterest shown in my research where the cover is in two parts, the normal paper printed part, then an acetate sheet on top with the name of the publication printed onto it. I thought this could be a really interesting idea, that I could have my title printed on the acetate, with the images on the paper, so when you peeled the acetate back you just saw the images on their own. I really like this idea and feel it could bring something quirky and artistic to my book. I then thought about my main content pages, and I really like a design from my research which uses photographs across parts of the pages, but are cut off at different angles, such as triangles and weird shaped squares. I thought this could be a more interesting way of including photographs into my book, without them being just the normal rectangular or square shape, as this is quite ordinary. I experimented with where the text and title would go, whether it would overlap with the photograph or not, and whether I would use two columns of text or one. 

Here I experimented with the geometrical style photographs again, and used several images on one page and text on the other, as kind of a photo frame style page I suppose, which makes it look more informal and fun, and also allows me to include several photographs for each place, with it not looking over crowded. On part of my research I found a double page spread where the first letter of the title was on one page very large, and the rest of it on the other page as the heading with the body text below as it would be on a normal layout. I thought this could add something a little interesting to my layout, not just normal text and images. I experimented with different shapes forming the background to the text, something different to photographs. I also saw a layout from my research where lots of images had been cropped into triangles and arranged as a pattern, so I tried sketching this out and I think this could work really well as the middle two pages of the book, as a breather to break up my research. I also experimented with text and images arranged in boxes, almost as a wall full of frames, as this could look different to my other ideas, and may help separate my facts up.

After my layout experimentation sketches, I started producing digital mock ups to see how my designs would working using my own research and selected photographs.

I started with the front cover.

Here I used the same layout from the front cover for my fact file cards I produced for Studio Brief 2. I still like this design, however it does look a little plain in comparison to all the photographs I have gathered for each destination.

I tried using just one photograph on the front cover, however I like this even less, although this perhaps could just be because the photograph I chose for this mock up isn't that exciting.

I tried the geometrical photographs design from my content page layouts, and I am really pleased with the way it has turned out. The colours all compliment one another, and the whole page looks extremely vibrant in comparison to my other designs. I also like how you only get snippets of each photograph, so to find out more you have to read on further into the book. I chose to frame the title with a white box so that the title stands out more, and you can read it really easily. I chose a white box over a coloured box as I want the photographs to stand out, and I needed a colour that will compliment all the photographs and not detract attention from them or look out of place. I thought white was the only colour for the job, neutral and clean.

Here I tried the photograph covering most of the bottom right corner of the double page spread, to fill the page almost in an unusual format. I think there is too much blank space at the top of the right page however, it just feels as though something is missing.

I added another photograph into the space where I thought something was missing before, and I think this improves the overall aesthetic of the page so much. The images now flow from one page to another, rather than stopping dramatically so they look misplaced.

I experimented with the photograph spanning the width of the double page spread, but still at al angle so that it isn't a double page spread with the photograph at completely full bleed. When I placed the text over the photograph though the photograph made it hard to read the text, because the colours were so similar. For the body copy I created a white box around the text and then turned the opacity down so you could still see the image through the box, only you could also read the text too. This makes it a lot more legible, however I still think the text isn't that easy to read, which it should be. 

I tried doing a digital version of a layout I saw on Pinterest, where the first letter of the title is on a separate page to the rest of the title, with a photograph in the background. In the original image this works really well, however when I tried it it just looks naff and forced and unprofessional. I chose a blocky sans serif typeface for this design as I didn't want anything over complicated that will detract from the photograph, although I feel this typeface just looks a bit too blocky.

I tried a smaller stroke for this same design, because I really wanted it to work, however I just don't think it is doing to. This design still looks forced, and the C looks like it is floating in mid air too.

I tried another page layout I found on Pinterest, where shapes make up the background behind the text at varying opacities, so they overlap and make stronger, new colours. I don't think this design is very effective for my publication because the shapes look plonked and not even thought about where they were place, and have no reason for being there except to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the page, which they fail to do anyway.

I experimented with separating the text up into different blocks so they interlock, looking a little like bricks. This definitely helps to break the page up well, and allows the reader to select a box to read that interests them, rather than reading through a whole page just to get to the bit they are interested in. A problem I feel with this layout is that it would be hard to know what order you should read each text box in, especially if it was key that they need to be read in a specific order to make sense.

I experimented with the same geometrical style layout for the images as I had for the front cover and several of the content pages previously. Only with this design I tried to cut up the photographs even more extremely, to see what the effect would be. Because of me cutting up the photographs more extremely, I had space for a third photograph to slot in, although two of the photographs are rich blue shades, with only the one photograph a beige'y shade. The carnival dancer stands out like a sore thumb on the page being a completely different shade to the other two photographs. I also think it looks like I am trying to squeeze an extra photograph into a space where there really shouldn't be anything. This makes the design look unnatural and forced.

I tried removing the carnival dancer from the design, and now the space there looks a little too big to be left empty. It looks as thought something is missing from it.

I tried changing the shape of the bottom photograph, to try and minimise the blank space left between the two, however this way of changing the photograph doesn't look natural, it looks intentional and with no purpose for it actually to be that shape.

I went for the simple appearance on this photograph, extending the bottom of the top photograph and straightening out the left tail of the bottom photograph. Although this is still quite similar to the other content layout designs I have produced, I think this is the best style for my book, as if I try and make it more unusual and mix things up a bit as I have tried previously, my photographs look forced and over complicated, when there is no need for them to be.

INTERIM CRITIQUES

I presented the above work to my peers in my interim critiques, to get feedback from them as to how I could adapt my ideas, or just general feedback on my designs, whether they thought they were effective or really need changing.

One idea that was raised is how I should try and make my photographs duotone, as they liked the duotone quality of one of my front page designs, just not on the front page, in the same style I did for Studio Brief 2, and perhaps I could use the colours of the flag in the photographs for each different destination. I think this is a really unique idea, and one that I will definitely try for my designs to see if my photographs work better in duotone rather than full colour. It was also suggested that I could try making the large letter "C" on the one page smaller and more central to the page, so the page appears to be framing the letter, rather than the letter dwarfing the page. My peers also suggested a more ornate letter might work better, which the original layout I found this design from did use an ornate serif letterform, so perhaps this would make my page look for effective. A really interesting idea was to make the letterform look like the specific skyline of the destination it was headlining, for example I would use a sans serif typeface, then cut out say the Parisian skyline, so the eiffel tower and the Arc de Triomphe into it, to make the letter specifically distinguishable as for that specific destination. My only worry about this design is that for some of my destinations, Grand Cayman, there are no distinguishable skylines or buildings that I could cut out the letterform into, so it would be hard to make a skyline that would be recognisable as that place. My peers thought the geometrical photograph idea was really interesting, especially where I had used more than one photograph as well. I think following on from this feedback I will pursue with the duotone idea, to see how this works in comparison to the full colour version. I think I will also experiment with trying the geometrical photograph idea on single page spreads, but as a double page spread as well, so with two different destinations on a double page spread, to see how this idea works on a smaller scale.

This is my initial duotone design, where I have used photographs from Singapore, although the heading says Copenhagen, it's Singapore. The Singapore flag is red and white, so I tried to make the photographs different shades of red and white, so that they were more varied, and you can distinguish between the two photographs. I like this design, however I feel I loose the quality of the original photograph, and also all the little details as well. These images are a lot more simple. I showed this design and my original design with the normal photographs to my peers, asking them which one they preferred, which turned out to be an even split which was very helpful. One point that was raised was that the duotone version was a lot more graphic, and would prefer to more creative people, which was fine if that was who I was aiming this book at. The photograph one is a lot more personal and detailed, and allows the reader to have a clear, accurate view at what each destination looks like. One peer suggested that maybe I should use a darker shade of red for my photographs so that they were less garish, which may also allow more detail in my photographs as well, allowing a broader range of shades within the colours.

I tried the darker shades of red, however I don't think this has made much of a difference to the design. I think I prefer the full colour photographs rather than the duotone ones, as I like all the details in the photographs I will use for the book, I think it is important the details are shown, so people get the full picture rather than just an over view. I do think the idea of the destination's countries flag colours being incorporated into the photographs is an excellent idea, but not for this publication.

Here I tried creating two different photographical layouts on this double page spread, one for each destination, so they appear as two separate destinations rather than linked together. I think this look messy and haphazard however, not well organised at all, with the photographs at every angle possible.

I tried to resolve the problem with the design above, by making the photographs symmetrical across the double page spread, although now this looks too forced and planned. I also don't like the long strip across the bottom of the page, it looks too chunky and plonked at the bottom to take up space. I think it would be best if I just stuck to creating a double page spread for each destination, as this allows the photographs to flow most effectively.

This is a layout design for the introduction page of my publication. Here the text is on the right hand side page rather than the left, which changes the whole was the page is read, as ordinarily you look to the left page first, as this is the way the eye read, but now with the text on the right page, the photographs must lead the eye to the right page. I have tried to achieve this with the two long photographs at the top and bottom both seemingly pointing to the introduction text, acting as a frame around it, almost looking as though they are cradling the text. I think this layout works really effectively. My only problem with it are the sharp right angles with the top and bottom photographs against the middle photograph, and the left page looking a bit too ordinarily rectangular with the way the photographs are put together.

The layout design for this Survey Analysis introductory page actually works quite effectively, considering I wasn't happy with the destination single pages. I think this page works well due to the photographs forming almost a circle around the text, flowing easily into one another.