OUGD503 - Studio Brief 02 - Type Developments

In discussing how type should be set within the book, research was looked back on as to how other existing children's books do so, which brought us back to the Charlie and Lola series. It was found that the spreads within these books use type in relation to image, working as a whole rather than as individual elements. For instance, in one of these spreads, an underwater scene is visualised. The type presented on this spread has been set within waved lines, working with the imagery as it is reflective of the movement of waves. It was thought this brought a sense of action into the story which would help children engage with the story in a more enjoyable way.

It was also found that some elements of type within these were situated directly within imagery, which shows a more physical interaction between type and image.

Ideas from this research was used as inspiration for the development of type within our final scenes. In a similar way, the type has been placed so that it works around the imagery and plays on what the scene is trying to communicate. For instance, in the sailor scene, type was set on waved lines in order to reflect the movements of the sea waves and provides and interaction between type and image which the judges for the brief have stated is an important consideration.

In initial research of more classical children's books, it was found that these have been written in ways which directly relate to the ways in which young children learn to read, in spelling out words the way in which they are spoken.

Continuing to develop type, this was considered to ensure that the communication of text would be appropriate for it's specific audience. When typesetting the book then, elements of onomatopoeia were included to represent sounds of certain interactions, such as jumping in muddy puddles. This gave the book some 'realistic' aspects which children could potentially familiarise themselves, making for a more engaging reading experience. This also continues then to show a direct link between text and image.