OUGD603 - Guidebook - What Is Publication Design?

What Is Publication Design? Lakshmi Bhaskaran (2006)

Six appeal:
In terms of publication design, six key areas can affect the finished design:

- Format.
- Grid.
- Typography.
- Colour.
- Cover or masthead.
- Use of imagery.

It is a combination of these elements that enables the designer to seamlessly fuse together a publication's content, while at the same time endowing it with a unique identity. The importance of each of these elements vary with the type of publication designed. However, a good design should never override the content, and vice versa; rather the two should work together to support and bring out the best in each other.

Text as image:
A strong typographic treatment can transform a piece of text into an image in its own right. Images can be expensive; using illustrative typography can provide a very effective, economical alternative.

The publication life span:
A publication's life span can markedly affect the way in which it is designed. A magazine with a shelf-life of a month might be able to follow the very latest design trends, but a book with a life span of years or decades must be able to stand the test of time. Book design in particular demands a high standard of craftsmanship in the designer. To a certain extent, this is true when designing any publication, but while an annual report needs to last only a year and a newspaper just a day or a week, a book is all about permanence and, as such, there is no room for error in its design.

Arts and Crafts / traditional styles of typography and book layouts - use as visual research to inspire some layouts throughout the publication such as imprint pages and title pages.

The right format:
Format refers to the physical manifestation of a publication. In short, its the way in which the information is presented to the reader. Books, magazines, brochures, catalogues and reports are some of the most common formats used in publication design. Within these generic formats, designers can alter specific elements such as size, shape, or weight to give their work an added dimension and customise the design.

Hierarchy and layout:
This is about the process of visual management. The layout of a publication refers to the placement of content and how these elements relate both to each other and to the publication as a whole. It is important for the publication designer to organise the space in which they are working - the page. This is largely achieved by devising a grid or grids for the publication that enable you to organise the various elements on the page. When it comes to thinking about layout, the designer should only ever have one thing in mind: content. It is the content and the way the publication is to be used that will, for the most part, determine the layout.

Visual research to show how typography could potentially be used in interesting ways to give an extra element of engagement with the content of the publication. For instance, working type around shapes, shape of the Letchworth Garden City town sign or Three Magnets Diagram or zoning systems, etc.

Martin Parr photography visual research - layout of text and image - how cover design has also been made interesting.

REFERENCE: Bhaskaran, L. (2006) What Is Publication Design? Rotovision: Hove, Sussex.