504 - Type in Context - Cover MockUps

In response to the crit session on Friday 21st I began developing a mockup to help organise the frontal layout of the publication and how I can use each individual section to make the bigger picture...

This sketch shows my last print test and how each cover caused the overlap of images over sections and you can see how it didn't look right.
It felt much too busy, so the suggestion I got given was to really simplify it and hide the images so they are interactively revealed as you flick through each section. 













I began experimenting with these ideas digitally with a simple mockup on Photoshop which overall would really help me decide on a harmonised layout. So first is the layout as sketched above..

I then created a very basic mockup of how it would work if I hid both cover images behind each section..

 Front view

 Start of section 2

 Start of section 3

Start of section 4 











This is a possibility but even though the content, such as titles, introductions, etc, are not present it still feels too plain. By hiding the section 4 picture it does make it feel alot less busy as it is not competing with another section like it was before..

After a discussion with one of the tutors Nick, he liked the direction that I was going in with the project, and suggested I tried having the picture overlapping every section, so it fits together into the whole image. I mocked this up (not very well) but did not like the outcome, however I took inspiration from this concept of overlapping certain elements on the cover to harmonise it as one. Maybe with a title, maybe even foiled!?

With the hidden images it did leave a lot of negative space to be experimented with so to tie the cover into the Serbian context even more, I introduced the Serbian crest off the flag. I wanted to approach it with a more modern slant so I drew over it in Illustrator to get a vectorised representation of the crest. This gives me the possibility of even foiling it onto one of the covers...

I applied this to the mockups and then starting experimenting with the placement of type. The gold-y/yellow is meant to represent using foiling..

This is my favourite design layout as it sits the crest nicely in the top right corner, whilst allowing me to experiment with the foiling overlapping over the three sections. This would provide that harmony across the front page which I was referencing before.











It still did look quite plain so I tried out a mockup with the full bleed image on the front of section 2, but slightly washed out some of the opacity to reduce the harsh impact/contrast with the other coloured sections..

Front cover 

Start of section 2 

Start of section 3 - the aim of this was to really see how it would look with part of the word cut off as you get further back into the book. But I think it looks effective, and not obscure at all as you will always start the book at the start so understand its relevance as you move back through the book.