Design Rationale:
nnnnFor this project, I chose Colette D.’s image collection. At first, I found this project daunting because it is the largest document I have had to design so far but I had a lot of fun creating it. I used a modular grid consisting of one-inch squares and quarter-inch gutters and a baseline grid. The modular grid helped me align the images from one page to the next and to align the images and text in the table of contents. The baseline grid ensured that lines of text aligned consistently between pages and provides consistent spacing between elements in the design.
nnnnI knew that I wanted the images to be the focal point of each page, so I chose to have just one image per page so that they could be larger than all other elements. The individual pages are symmetrical while the cover page is asymmetrical to create visual interest and draw in the viewer. The colors dark blue, light blue, yellow, and white that are included in the front and back cover pages are from the logo image to create unity throughout the design. I chose not to add additional color to the individual image pages (pages 2-8) because I felt that everything I tried took emphasis away from the main image.
nnnnOne design principle I considered was alignment. Consistent alignment provides a sense of unity, so I aligned each image in the center of the page and along the same module in the grid. Making headings larger than body text helps to create contrast and separate information. I chose a serif font for the headings and a sans-serif font for the body text since this is for digital use and may be viewed on a variety of screen sizes.
nnnnOverall, I am happy with how the design turned out. It is clean and simple.
nnnnWhat I learned from this design:
nnnnThe most valuable insight that I have received during this course is to reduce gutter size to allow more space for images, keeping images the same size, and that an asymmetrical design creates more visual interest, making a design more dynamic. I think that creating pages centered around each image worked well because it allowed a lot of space for the image to be large. This made the images the focal point of each page. If I had to redesign the catalog layout, I might use a different font instead of a script font. This would ensure that the viewer could easily read all the information.
nnnnThe differences between creating a design for digital publication versus for print include print layouts, binding, and compensating for page folds. It is important to use the correct color mode for the design project, like using CMYK for print projects and RGB for digital projects. Printing projects use combinations of four colors, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, to create the colors in a design. Digital designs use RGB, or red, green, and blue, because those are the colors in a screen’s display. The correct color mode ensures that images look the way they are intended to. Using the correct image resolution for each project type ensures that files are not too large and that images in print designs are not too low quality. I learned that the best resolution for print images is at least 300 pixels per inch, but 72 pixels per inch for digital designs keeps the file size down while retaining image quality.
I learned how different types of grids can be used to create balance, hierarchy, alignment, unity, and consistency across pages. A baseline grid helps to align text between columns and pages, while a modular grid can help balance text with visual elements. A manuscript grid is best for designs that only contain a large amount of text. Using columnar grids (two-column, three-column, etc.) can help to break up large amounts of text, giving the viewer a break and preventing them from feeling overwhelmed. The design principles that I found most useful for the catalog project were alignment, hierarchy, and balance because I wanted to create a professional-looking layout that was also clean and organized.
