Friday 12 October 2018

Additional Research

Yesterday afternoon I visited Waterstones so that I could gather some research for my publication; context and content as well as materials and cover inspiration.

First I looked for inspiration for my cover, I know that I want my publication to have a rich aesthetic to reflect the rich/sleek looking Arabic letters. I think a hard back cover would be most appropriate, as well as techniques like foiling and embossing.

I love the way the book in the first image is foiled, it uses a silver foil which reflects rainbow shades when looking at the book in different angles, I will see if uni provides this type of foiling. Where as the cover in the third image uses just gold foiling, which may be more appropriate if I have a set colour palette. The cover in the second image used embossed type which was foiled in golden, I really enjoyed the combination of the two methods, it looks extremely professional. Additionally, the fourth image also uses embossing and foiling on the cover.



I also searched for books which I found interesting in terms of general cover material, size and small details. The first image shows a pocket sized book which would be appropriate if my publication was made for carrying around, or if I was aiming for a cutesy aesthetic. 

The second and third books used interesting small details; the second book experiments with a glossy technique for the bind of the book where the title is displayed, it is important to think thoroughly about these areas as well as the cover. Additionally, the third image shows a book with holes cut through the cover to reflect on the title which uses the word 'cut' this is a simple yet extremely effective detail. 

I really liked the matte paper stock used for the cover of the fourth book. A matte cover would be best for my publication in order to foil on top... it would probably be hard if I tried to foil a cover that was already glossy.



Whilst I was at Waterstones, I also searched for books which used interesting layout, appropriate paper stock as well as how it is presented. 

The first image shows a layout which I found interesting; the combination of large type with tiny type in contrast with the photographs...composition was thoroughly experimented with. I want to experiment with layout in an effective yet simple way, as language books can be quite confusing. I want my book to have a rich/classy aesthetic whilst at the same time kept quite minimal and effective.

The second image shows a paper stock that I really liked, it is quite hard to see through the image but the stock used was matte and extremely smooth- this fits in with the rich aesthetic. Additionally, I really liked the simple layout of the page. Furthermore, the third photograph below shows a book which was presented in a thin cardboard cover, this makes the book look like it would need to be handled with care as it may be expensive.

The book in the fourth image gave me a really interesting idea in terms of layout for my publication. Arabic books/sentences traditionally start from right to left instead of left to right like ordinary books, this is something that I will consider thoroughly for my book (without making it confusing for the reader) I think this would instantly make my book stand out against other language books that have been made in the past. 



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