Gobi ([info]gobi) wrote,
@ 2009-07-01 09:34:00
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Entry tags:art, do, layout

[Do] Initial Layout Test

Click for big!

Each chapter opens with a double-page illustration from Liz Hooper. The limited edition book will be in full-color, so I'm trying to figure out how to best treat Liz's original black and white illustrations without bastardizing them too much.

I'm using Tibetan buddhist robes as an underlying color scheme, but it's a little too monochromatic right now. I might make the shading of the interior illustrations blue, but keep the outlines and darker tones in the saffron and auburn range.

I'm using Minion Pro for the body copy because it's pretty space-efficient, but I may switch over to Mrs Eaves and just cut more copy.


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[info]justinjacobson
2009-07-01 02:56 pm UTC (link)
If it helps, I thought it could use a little sky blue accenting before I read your comment. Love the layout: evocative but easy on the eyes, which is about all you can ask for.

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[info]gobi
2009-07-01 03:04 pm UTC (link)
Looks like I'm gonna work in some blue then! :D

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[info]viktor_haag
2009-07-01 03:41 pm UTC (link)
I'd be tempted to work in subtle chotchkies to either side of all your headlines that are the same colour text as the body text they're on top of:

• This is a Secondary Headline •

Little leafy flourishes or something -- I'd make them pale and in the same amber palette as your colour scheme, or your accent color (maybe the same colour as the chotchkies around your page numbers?)...

Alternatively, maybe a thin dotted rule under the secondary/tertiary headlines the same colour as your accent colour?

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[info]viktor_haag
2009-07-01 03:42 pm UTC (link)
Oh, and the chotchkie solution only for the headlines that are column-centered, not lower level headlines that are margin-aligned to the following body text...

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[info]gobi
2009-07-01 04:23 pm UTC (link)
Right, I knew what you meant. :)

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[info]gobi
2009-07-01 04:14 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, it's a little plain at the moment. I do want to bring in a lot of little stamps and postal imagery, but I want to get some feedback on the basic structure first. I've never done a square layout before. :P

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[info]viktor_haag
2009-07-01 04:21 pm UTC (link)
The basic structure looks very fine. I thought of the chotchkies to help punch out the section and sidebar heads. Square layouts (in my experience) tend to have vertical space issues because in order to punch out the heads, people often get bound up in font size escalation. With spot colour, chotchkies, and careful use of bolded text, you can head off font size escalation before it happens... (only you can prevent forest fires!) 8)

You'll make the right choice in the end, Daniel -- your layout work to date that I've seen has been quite good.

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[info]gobi
2009-07-01 04:25 pm UTC (link)
What do you mean by "font size escalation"?

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[info]viktor_haag
2009-07-01 04:33 pm UTC (link)
In order to differentiate headline from body effectively, a common attempted solution is to boost the headline font, which then seems to drag along with it extra space on top of and below headlines, and then you start thinking that the headline font is too large wrt to the body font, and you boost the body font a bit to compensate. What started as a 9/12 pairing becomes a 10/14 pairing, and this tends to dis-proportionately hurt your vertical spacing in square page designs because your page height is a scarcer resource.

9/12 body-to-section pairings I think work better, but then you need some clever mechanism to make your section heads pop, especially when they're sharing the page with an illo, or a chapter head. The "bullet trick" is something I've used in the past, as well as the faint underline solution (the trouble with this last is that in layouts that have more than one section head on the page, the page can start looking like a set of stable pens).

But I'm a writer and not a graphic designer, so my recommendations from bitter personal experience may be "well d'uh" observations from those of you what's trained up already... 8)

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[info]gobi
2009-07-01 06:15 pm UTC (link)
Actually, this is exactly the kind of by-the-numbers advice I really appreciate. Thank you!

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[info]viktor_haag
2009-07-01 04:33 pm UTC (link)
I guess by "people", I should have more properly said "me", or "junior writers around my workplace that I've had to mentor over the years"... 8)

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PDF please
[info]lukzu
2009-07-01 04:07 pm UTC (link)
Daniel, can you email me a pdf? luke at burningwheel dot org.

Thanks!
-L

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Re: PDF please
[info]gobi
2009-07-01 04:18 pm UTC (link)
Sending now. :)

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Re: PDF please
[info]viktor_haag
2009-07-01 04:21 pm UTC (link)
Haha! I was going to say, "well, if you want to do square layouts, you can try looking at Mouse Guard to see what works/doesn't work there", but it looks like the man hisself beat me to the punch... 8)

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Re: PDF please
[info]gobi
2009-07-01 04:24 pm UTC (link)
Yup, that's why I wanted to get Luke's input :)

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[info]princejvstin
2009-07-01 04:45 pm UTC (link)
I'm using Tibetan buddhist robes as an underlying color scheme, but it's a little too monochromatic right now. I might make the shading of the interior illustrations blue, but keep the outlines and darker tones in the saffron and auburn range.

Count me in on the "needs another color in the scheme" crowd. Its pretty looking, but something like a blue would make it more readable.

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[info]gobi
2009-07-01 06:16 pm UTC (link)
Do you mean revamping the whole color scheme entirely or just adding accents of blue here and there?

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[info]princejvstin
2009-07-01 06:24 pm UTC (link)
Sorry for not being clear.

Accents of blue, rather than revamping. The scheme as it stands is fine, it just needs a contrasting color (e.g, blue) somewhere in the palette for accenting purposes.

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[info]gobi
2009-07-01 06:31 pm UTC (link)
Phew! Will do. :D

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[info]drivingblind
2009-07-01 08:16 pm UTC (link)
My concern about the blue is that, integrated in the art, it could steal away some of the "ancient scroll" feeling that the tibetan robe colors are imparting. Using the blue exclusively for text-contrast, on the other hand, might be a winner. I'm not sure; more tests required!

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[info]gobi
2009-07-01 08:27 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for the feedback! More tests will be done, I assure you.

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[info]qhudspeth
2009-07-02 01:08 am UTC (link)
Well, the two pages there look really good. I like the amount of space afforded to the columns and how the art can be large but still afford space to the text.
Q

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[info]gobi
2009-07-02 09:40 am UTC (link)
Thanks! I'm adding more space to the margins though. Seems like most folks think it's too dense at the moment.

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[info]qhudspeth
2009-07-02 06:14 pm UTC (link)
I like narrower margins, but I know that's unusual. 8^>

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[info]gobi
2009-07-02 06:49 pm UTC (link)
I get that. Some folks feel like they're getting more of their money's worth if each page is packed edge to edge, others get strained eyeballs unless there's more generous white space. Can't really please everybody though, y'know?

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