OUGD406 STUDIO BRIEF 2 - DEVELOPMENT

After the feedback I received on my interim critiques, I set about expanding on these suggestions, and trying new colour palettes and typeface options.

I used the typeface Lust Script for the title of this design, instead of just Lust, as I thought this typeface looked more elaborate and literate, which makes the design look more interesting, and less formal too, but not overly so.

I then tried this typeface on a fully patterned background, as I also liked this background and style, as it allows the pattern to be more prominent, and I like the way it appears below the title typeface as well, making it more creative.

I tried the Lust typeface again but this time in a italic form, as I wanted to try a slightly less elaborate typeface, but still maintaining the rounded appearance Lust Script has. I think this typeface definitely works on title text, and makes it look a little refrained, which I think reflects the contents of the book better.

I tried this on the first layout design, with the white banner, and this looks a lot mroe formal now, especially with the use of Lust Italic, as the sharp edges of the "L" have become even more prominent on the white background, which I don't like as this portrays quite a severe image with the sharp lines.

In my previous designs I had tried Lust Script on a blue background, which I thought made it look a little icy and cold, so this time I tried a yellow background, the same shade as used in previous yellow based designs. I think this has a much more sunshiney appearance, and lights up the whole design. My only worry is that the text might not be that easy to read.

I tried changing the typeface colour to black, as I thought this would make it a lot easier to read, and it does, however the back brings the yellow down, giving it a darker tone.

I really wanted to include the pattern into my cover, as it was expressed by my peers in the interim critique that the pattern was really effective. I made it the same colour as the yellow banner, which I don't think works very well as the pattern simply merges into the banner, and I want it to appear separate, so it looks as if it is going underneath the banner and carrying on underneath it, rather that merging into it.

I tried making the bottom half of the cover yellow, and the top half white, so that I could half the title text black and it not make the yellow look dark and dingy. I quite like this design, however there does seem to be a lot of yellow space underneath the title and before you get to the authors names, which I thought looks a bit empty. The detail can be seen a lot clearer in the title text now that it is black though.

I basically reversed the previous design, making the top half yellow and the bottom half white, changing the title and subtitle back to white and the authors yellow, so they can be seen against their respective background colours. I really like this design combination, as I think the white title text on the yellow background reminds me of bananas and custard, which is a very nice, warm feeling. 

I produced the same design as the one before last, only this time I made the title text yellow and the authors names white, an exactly reverse of the previous design. I think this looks a lot more aesthetically appealing, as there are no harsh colours on the page, they all compliment and work well with one another.

My next stage in the development process was to experiment with different colour combinations, which was also suggested in my interim critiques. I didn't choose these colours for any particular reason, I just wanted to experiment with a range of completely different colours, and I thought these colours were the ones which represented a lot of other colour variations.

I started off with blue because I had used this particular shade in my previous designs, and wanted to see how it appeared applied to my design in a different way. I like the blue colour very much, however I still think it makes the design appear icy and cold still, even when applied to a pattern, which is not what I want.

I tried orange, the opposite of blue, and this makes the design appear a lot more warm and inviting. It is also vibrant enough that it brings power to the design, making it a lot bolder than my original yellow design.

I then tried green, and this is my favourite colour so far. It is bold and bright, and warm looking without appearing muddy, as the orange was a little bit. You can also still read the authors names, but just about.

This purple colour is another of my favourite colours, as it is refreshing yet bold at the same time, and brings vibrancy to the page in a delicate way. My only concern is that with the combination of the delicate purple, lavender looking pattern and the elaborate Lust Script typeface, this cover won't look a little too feminine.

my next colour choice was red, as I wanted to try something that was a little darker and even more bold than the previous colorus I had used, to see if this had a different effect on the design. I really like the use of the colour red, however the authors names at the bottom of the cover are really hard to read, with the pattern being so dark.

I then experimented with full and half colour designs as I had perviously experimented with, to see if these designs work more effectively with different colour choices than the pattern does.

I really love the rich red of the background colour, and think it makes the white text stand out marvellously, and highlights the extreme contrast in stroke weight of the title text nicely, making it appear even more elegant. My only issue with the colour red, particularly this lovely shade, is that is has extreme connotations of love and romance, which I don't want my book to be associated with, as it has nothing to do with love or passion.

I tried purple again, and I really quite like this colour on this design, as it makes it look very floaty and delicate. Although this creates really lovely imagery, it is not the kind of imagery I am aiming to create. I want a bold, unisex design, not one that will appear feminine, as men will be less likely to pick this book up.

Green works very nicely, creating a bold image, and adding light to the page in a similar way that the yellow did originally. Perhaps it looks a little too countryside-y though?

Orange, again bright bold colour, creates a lovely warm appearance, although I think this colour is such expansive usage looks a little brown, a bit like carrots, which has connotations of nature, not design and educated writings. Perhaps this colour would work better in smaller quantities.

I then tried another design layout, this time with the top half in colour and the bottom half whire, with the text the opposite colour to the background. I thought this would help to make the design appear more formal, with the title separated off.

I'm still not liking the orange colour massively, as it still looks a little brown. Because the orange isn't that appealing to the eye, the white space below it also becomes massively obvious.

This green colour works really nicely against the white, and I don't think the white space is as obvious as it is with the orange design previously, which is nice.

This purple colour also works really well against the title, however it isn't as strong a colour as the green, so the white appears to almost seep into it, which isn't what I am aiming for.

This read colour is absolutely lovely. It is bold and eye catching, however in this layout it does look a little like red nail varnish has been spread across the top of the page, making it seem a little feminine and seductive.

I thought that the two colours which worked the best, and also portrayed the correct message were green and purple, soI decided to experiment with them on the final design layout, full pattern, to see how the colours perform here.

The purple no longer appears too feminine or like lavender in this design, as the black text gives it a more neutral, less delicate appearance. My only problem is that the sub title and authors names can't be read easily.

This green also works really nicely as a full pattern cover, as it is bold and makes the whole cover pop out at you. The black title text can be read easily on the page as well, and the green brings out the details in it. Similarly to the purple design previously, the subtitle and authors names text cannot be read easily, which is a problem.

I turned the opacity of the background down to 65% on this design, to still keep the same colour green as the full opacity design, but to allow the subtitle and authors names to be readable again. This does achieve it's purpose, although now with this design the pattern isn't as powerful and colourful as it was previously, which makes it have a lesser impact.

I really like this purple shade now that the opacity has also been turned down to 65%, as all the text can be easily read, yet the shade hasn't changed massively, although it being lighter does make it a little more feminine.

These past two designs didn't really live up to my expectations, so I experimented with a pattern and block colour design with the yellow design initially, then applied it to the other colours I have tried out beforehand.

This is a similar design I have experimented with earlier, only now I have changed the bottom white half to a yellow, at 65% opacity, pattern instead, as I wanted to incorporate the pattern still in my designs. I really like this design, as it combines the white title text on a block yellow background I have favourited so much, yet also the pattern too, which adds more imagery to the design.

I tried reversing the previous design, only I found that if I had yellow title text, this wouldn't show up against the pattern background, so I had to use black instead. I don't like the use of black, as it gives a negative feeling to the cover, as black is a very dark, strong colour, to be used against lighter, happier colours, it contrasts too much.

I stuck with the first design, and experimented with it with blue, which same as my blue designs, interesting, the colours work really nicely together, but it still looks too icy.

This orange appears really bold on the cover, and the lighter opacity pattern shows a more subtle version of the colour too, which is interesting. I do think that the orange is a little too earthy still, and I can't get carrots out of my head either.

I think the green works really well, especially the block colour top half, as the colour brings a richness to the design not many of the other colours do. The green pattern also works nicely at a lower opacity, not looking too drained of colour.

I think the top half of this design works very nicely, however the bottom half does not, as the shade of red in too in between colours, it's neither rich not vague, and this means the authors names can't be read either.

I changed the opacity down to 55% on the pattern, and this has worked really nicely. The authors names can now be read, and there is a clear difference between the pattern and the block colour too. The only thing I don't like about this pattern is that the colour now looks a little wishy washy, and has a lot more white in it than is effective.

Purple is the final colour that I chose to produce in this design, and I think the outcome works very nicely. The purple allows the title to be shown off effectively bold, and the pattern makes the authors names clear, yet is still an aesthetically appealing colour to look at, unlike the red.

Of all the designs I have developed, I prefer the last set best, with the top half block colour and the bottom half pattern, using the Lust Script typeface for the title, as I think this combines all the elements I wanted to include in my designs. The white title colour against a block colour, and a vibrant pattern as well.