OUGD404 - Study task 6 - What is a book?

The dictoniary definition of a book is that of written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers. There are many ways in which to bind books by hand such as, contrast chain stitch, stab stitch binding, case binding, spiral binding, comb binding and hardcover. Each type of binding is suited to different type of publication styles. 

This book looks to be made from an outer layer of yellow card, with pages that look to be high quality cartridge paper are they are very thick compared to the card. The book has been bound with the stab stick method that has been adapted to create a nice patterned and secure the pages a lot more than a simple stab stick would. With the black cover and good quality pages this book looks to be a sketch book or possibly a note book. The design is simple but effective for its intended purpose. 

This book looks to be made from a hard front, back and spin cover that has been covered with a piece of fabric that has a dragon screen printed onto it, this method creates a hard outer shell that protects the pages inside. The book has a nice red covering on the inside of the front and back that matches the dragon on the front so it looks consistent. The pages inside are blank so the intended purpose of the book is as a diary or note book that is made to last a long time.

This book is made in a concertina style with a hard front and back cover. This book intended purpose is to show off the artists work. The simple design shows off the back and white drawings off well, with the simple grey front and back, if it would of been any other colour the attention would of been taken away from the most important aspect of he book. The concertina style works really well with the content of the book as the pages flow along with the drawings. 

OUGD404 - Study task 5 - Canons

Canons - principles and rules of a page layout design use to measure and describe the proportions, margins and print area of a page.

Balance - Visual balance comes from arranging elements on the page so that no one section is heavier than the other. Or, in other instances, a designer may intentionally throw elements out of balance to create tension or a certain mood.

Proximity / Unity - In design, proximity or closeness creates a bond between elements on a page. How close together or far apart elements are placed suggests a relationship (or lack of) between what are otherwise disparate parts. Unity is also achieved by using a third element to connect distant parts. 

Alignment -  brings order to chaos. How you align type and graphics on a page and in relation to each other can make your layout easier or more difficult to read, foster familiarity, and/or bring excitement to a stale design.

Repetition / Consistency - Repeating design elements and consistent use of type and graphics styles within a document shows a reader where to go and helps them navigate your designs and layouts safely. Ensure that your document utilises the principles of repetition, consistency, and unity in page design.

Canons are important to layout designs, as they are used to measure and describe proportions of pages, margins and print areas. Popular canons that designers use are Van de Graaf's, Tschichold's Golden Canon and Tschichold's Octavo.

Signage typeface Research

An important factor when design a sign that has text on is you have to consider the legibility of the type from a distance, close up and at a hight. The type must be legible to everyone and also be readable at any angle so people can navigate efficiently without having to stop and try and read the type. Keeping this in mind to make my sign design as successful as possibly i have to make sure the typeface used is appropriate, which has lead me to research which typeface is the most legible and which is the most commonly used typeface for signage.

 From looking at numerous web articles about typefaces and their legibility i found that san serif fonts where the most legible for short and large piece/lines of text and serif fonts are the most rebate fonts for bulk text such as newspaper articles and information. With this information i know that i need to be choosing a font that is sans serif if i want my design to be successful and legible.

When researching the most commonly used typeface for signage a came across a list of different typefaces that are used for different signs around the world. I thought this would be a good starting point to look at them and see which i thought was the most successful and possibly the most appropriate for my way finder design.

British railway typeface

British road signs (until 1965)

Italian railway signs

Montreal metro 

NewYork subway

Swiss road signs

All the typefaces above are sans serif in style and have already been used for signage so they are proven to be legible enough for their intended use. Rail Alphabet and Gill sans are the boldest typefaces out of them all with their dark thick strokes, then its helvetica and frutiger with slightly thinner strokes and then the other typefaces that have more of a delicate stroke. 

Out of these typefaces i think that Frutiger or Helvetica would be the most appropriate was their strokes are not overly bold but not took thin that it limits the legibility when seen at a distance.