(Mike Joslin)
Mike opened the seminar with a PowerPoint presentation displaying step-by-step information and tips of current methods and ways to present newspapers/articles/posters and talked us through the do’s and donts of layouts, fonts, sizing, balance etc. I found this presentation and Mike’s tips extremely helpful with regards to setting up and finding new and exciting ways of presenting my work.
SEMINAR NOTES:
PAGE LAYOUT
Your work has the potential to be out facing. Designs and layouts make a massive statement about yourself- positive | negative.
IMPACT IS IMPORTANT
3 key principles
- Alignment
- Balance
- Focussing Attention
- ALL RELATE TO HOW SOMEONE READS SOMETHING
Elements Alignment
All elements on a page should align with at least ONE other element.
ALIGNMENT
Edge Alignment
-Lorem Ipsum-
is a body of text, work out placement, how things look and are laid out.
Traditional Alignments:
- Left
- Right
- Center
People usually read left-to-right
Small occasions right alignment is hard to read. So is center. Left ranging allows it to be easily readable.
Mike then showed us examples of alignment in current published posters/designs in situ: text, imagery. Some images suggest alignment.
VISUAL ALIGNMENT
Thinking as text as an image.
Seeing the visual aesthetic constructed text and alignment.
Some strong diagonal directions within publications.
The section of a design CAN have its own type of alignment
a design CAN use different types of alignment
HOW TO DO IT
Sketching using ‘layout paper’
Deal with balance and structure rather than specific content-
- Illustrator
- InDesign
-Show rulers- brings guides in
Always consider the alignment when creating your design work.
BALANCE
is the equal distribution of ‘visual weight’
a well balanced design looks right because of our natural environment eg:
we would expect something improperly balanced to fall over.
- Symmetrical Balance- speaks for itself mirror symmetry | visual
FOCUSSING ATTENTION
Effective composition and page layout can be used to draw the viewers attention to the important elements of the page and therefore communicate the visual messages more effectively.
the eye naturally focusses to the part you WANT to view first. Usually an image
Frost designs
In general, it is a bad idea to draw the viewers attention to the bottom of the page.
ALWAYS consider where you would like the viewers eye to look when designing.
MARGINS
grid systems and layout
- Bottom margins should be the largest in width, if all equal is makes the main area looks low!
Large margins indicate QUALITY
COLLUMNS
Consider number of words per line.
less than 8- too small
10-12 is ideal
INTERESTING CONCEPTS-
- Rule of thirds
- Z-layout eye naturally scans a page in this pattern/way
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