The Ask Me Anything assessment is almost at a close, with everyone putting the finishing touches on their work. Because I have already made the covers of my book, all I have left to do is finalise the inside of the book and stick it all together.
When designing the inside of the book, there were a few things that I found difficult, frustrating and annoying. My first vision for this was to have opaque, grey lines that swirled in the background as a way of tying all the pages together and giving it a light feel. I also had a script font that I wanted to use to contrast with the serif font in the main body text. However, I found the graphic detail in the background distracted from the main purpose of this project - which is to inform the reader about the interviewee and convey that person’s personality. I also found that the script font was a bit too much and was hard to read.
So, I tried out a more simple version, eliminating the background graphics and keeping the font consistent. While playing around with fonts, it is easy to get carried away; there is a ridiculous amount out there and I always find it hard to choose one that works. In this case, I found two that I really liked - Essones and Courier/Courier New. Essones is a serif font that conveys sophistication and professionalism. Courier is a serif font that mimic the letters found when using a typewriter. I like Courier because it gave it a ‘work in progress’ feel that relates to the process of graphic designers. However, I felt like it didn’t match with the front covers I made and the personality of my interviewee. So, I chose to go with Essones because it was feminine and professional. I also liked the way it complimented the script font I used for her name.
The main thing I was worried about was making my design simple. In our workshops, I was able to see how everyone else is going with their projects. They are all so creative and artsy - and I couldn’t help but compare myself to them. Although, after a talk with my teacher, my mind was put at ease as she said that I shouldn’t feel like I need to fill the space. Some of the best designs are really simple and minimal. So I’m sticking with my simple colour palette and layout, and I chose to make it interesting by playing with the layout and placement of elements.
