The cover is the appearance of the book and the main part of the book design. In addition to the protective effect of the protective cover, the main function is publicity, that is, the small advertisement of this book. Therefore, the protective cover should have an advertising effect. However, the effective distance of the publicity effect of the protective cover is different from the posters on the advertising walls or advertising columns on the street. It is a small volume of printed matter placed in the window. There is a distance of 2-3 meters. The protective cover is also different from the general painting creation. It is subordinate to the book and reflects the content, nature and spirit of the book. Without the book, the design of the protective cover cannot be talked about. Therefore, the design of the protective cover should take into account the cultural nature, which is different from the strong effect of commercial advertising paintings and independent painting creation, but can embody the spirit of the book content, can give people the enjoyment of art and the joy of reading Art work.
1. Conceive
Conception is the first step and the most important step in the design of the envelope. Chinese painting theory advocates that “intention is first,†so-called “intention†is conception, conception is the soul of artistic modeling, and protection cover design is no exception. It is common for some protective covers to simply illustrate and translate the content or the title of the book, which is not only plain, but sometimes even distorts the content. There are also protective covers, although they have a strong sense of form, even those that follow the laws of art, but they are not ideological. Maybe they can make people like them for a while, but they will soon be forgotten ?. However, we have also seen some excellent and profound protective covers, which make people put it down and ponder repeatedly. The reason for this difference is the quality of the idea and the depth.
When the designer reads the manuscript or understands the content of the book, the idea activity begins. So we say that the idea is the beginning of design. Because the cover can reflect the content of the book, but only one point, one side, or one angle, it cannot and does not need to reflect all of the content. Therefore, we must grasp the essence and typical of the content, refer to daily life materials and materials, and summarize and refine, Then spread the wings of imagination. At this time, there are many ideas full of mind. Some flashed by, some loomed, and various schemes appeared gradually. Some chances are so-called inspiration. On this basis, more drafts should be drawn, and after more selections and comparisons, after a few selections and comparisons, supplementation and improvement, choose the most ideal plan. This plan may be successful, or it may be partially or completely overthrown to further produce a better plan. Obviously, ideation is a process of understanding and continuously improving things. The quality of the idea and the success or failure are based on the designer's accumulated ideological sentiment, culture and artistic cultivation.
Different categories of books have different characteristics. Literary books use words to describe images, political books use logical thinking, and science and technology books may have images or no images. If you only use the existing images, it is not enough to reflect the essence of the content. Therefore, designers should be good at turning logical thinking that is not easy for readers to understand into concise and vivid image expression.
In the conception activities, the use of associations, metaphors, symbols, anthropomorphism, empathy, abstraction, exaggeration, creative mood and atmosphere can make the conception clever and deep, triggering the emotional exchange, resonance and extension between the designer and the reader To complete the complete aesthetic process together. A brilliant designer pursues the realm of "exhaustive words and infinite meaning". The reader's aesthetic appreciation does not stop at the limited image of the protective cover, but continues to extend to the depth and breadth, so that the end point created by the designer becomes the starting point for the reader to re-create. However, the protective cover is the art of visual communication, and good ideas must be expressed through appropriate forms and techniques.
2. Performance techniques. The performance techniques of the protective cover can be roughly divided into three types:
(1) Realistic approach. The specific plot and image in the book are used to directly express the content of the book, so it is also called direct expression. For example, a book describing war would draw intense war scenes, and a book about agricultural production would draw tractors or farmland. This kind of expression is intuitive and easy to understand, and it is used in literary books, children's books and knowledge books.
(2) Symbolic technique. The methods of association, metaphor, symbol, abstraction, etc. are used to indirectly reflect the content and spirit of the book, so it is also called indirect expression. For example, pens or manuscripts are used in literary theory books, Facebook or curtains are used in drama books, and musical instruments or musical notes are used in music books. If this expression method is used well, it is more subtle and more memorable than the realistic method, and it is more artistically appealing.
(3) Decorative technique. It is expressed with lines, color blocks and decorative patterns in harmony with the spirit of the book content. This expression method is suitable for the cover that is not suitable for expressing the content of the book with a specific image. It is used in theoretical books and academic works.
Each of these three presentation techniques has different characteristics, and it is necessary to select the appropriate presentation technique according to the content and nature of the book. But it is not to say that the cover of a certain type of book. It is only appropriate to use a certain expression technique, and sometimes these techniques are also used repeatedly. [next]
3. Design factors. Text, image, color and composition are the four factors in the design of protective cover.
Text is an indispensable part of protecting the cover. A book must always have a book title, author name and publishing house name, of which the book title is the main item in the text part. Appropriate printed fonts can be used for the title of the book, and can also be written according to the design requirements. Such written titles are generally called book inscriptions. The title of the book not only helps the reader to understand the content of the book in the literal sense, but also the characteristics of the font itself can also enhance the expression and expression of the book content. It is common for some protective covers to be well-designed, but the text is not properly processed, which is inadequate and even destroys the entire work. Therefore, the choice of font, its size, position, arrangement method and color should be closely matched with the entire composition, so that the text becomes a perfect part of the design of the cover.
Some protective covers do not have any specific images, only the text itself. Many people tend to ignore this text-only cover. Many examples prove that using words alone can produce impressive and decorative covers. If we use only text, highlight the title or a group of text on the screen, and retreat the other text to the back, we may get a magnificent effect. Because this kind of cover has an advantage, the text can express itself without restrictions, but the image of the cover cannot use the text and cannot express itself alone. Another advantage is that the text is easier to harmonize with the style of the cover and body text than the image. In addition to using the large size of the body font, you can also use other printed fonts, calligraphy or your own designed fonts like the title page. This method of using other fonts is more flexible on the cover than the cover or title page, because the relationship between the cover and the book is relatively loose. The purpose of using other fonts is mainly to improve the expressiveness of the book title. Next to the titles of other fonts, printing small text fonts is the most convenient way to get in touch with the inside of the book. This type of cover is only suitable for political books, classic books and science and technology books, other types of books are also possible.
The design of the protective cover generally focuses on the arrangement of the two factors of text and image. In addition to the necessary text, the selection of the image part is relatively wide.
The lines, wide borders, and geometric shapes in printed fonts, especially the patterns, have very good decorative effects and endless combinations of methods. We can not only combine them into two-sided continuous, four-sided continuous, frame, small floral decoration, but also freely combine with lines, wide sides, geometric shapes, etc., and find very beautiful changes in color. However, its use should also be related to the content and nature of the book. The protective cover designed by this method has quite high achievements in Britain, Germany, Switzerland and Hungary.
Another method is to use decorative patterns that are associative or symbolic with the content of the book. The publishing house logo popular in recent decades is a symbolic decorative pattern, which symbolizes a certain kind of books of a certain publishing house, and it is worth advocating. The application range of decorative patterns is very wide, from ancient or ethnic forms of decoration as a symbol of classic books or ethnic book styles, to some books using modern abstraction to play with interesting things, there are inexhaustible sources. However, the application of pattern decoration must also be connected with the content spirit of the book, and it is necessary to indiscriminately copy the cover.
The cover of most literary books is composed of illustrations and text. Many of the readers, especially teenagers, children, and people with lower education levels, understand the illustrations more easily than words. Therefore, for books aimed at the general public, it is appropriate to have an illustration on the cover that can introduce the basic spirit of the book content. Sometimes an illustration in the book can be applied to the cover, but it should not be used often, because the illustrations in the book often describe a specific plot, and the cover is mainly to show the content and content of the entire book. spirit.
On the cover, is illustration important or text important? This depends on the content and design requirements. In any case, there can be only one text or illustration, which plays a major role and should not be equal. Illustrations and texts are rare for one person. Therefore, it is necessary to unify the two styles of illustrations and texts as if they are from the same hand.
Covers for professional books, scientific books, popular science books, and plastic art books are often selected as copies of photographic pictures, technical illustrations, or paintings. For example, most professional books use a photographic picture that truly reflects a certain operation process; this picture should have an advertising effect, a clear outline, black and white, and no attachments that have nothing to do with the content. In order to enhance the effect of a monochrome picture, you can add a strong background color around the picture. On the contrary, a colorful picture requires a middle tone "such as a black, white, or gray background. A copy of the painting on the cover of a plastic art book;" It must be large, attractive, and have good print quality; Readers often regard the quality of the protective cover as internal quality. Sometimes in order to imply the reader, this book contains many aspects and plots. It can also be like a mosaic, combining many reduced pictures with intermediate tones between the pictures.
Color occupies a very important position in the design of the protective cover; readers often see the color first, then the text and the image. Therefore, our color is the first impression of plastic art.
The white protective cover is easily stained, it must be protected by glazing or mounting a transparent film. Most designers like to paint a background color that is related to the content of the book to create a certain atmosphere and attract the reader's attention. The color treatment of the protective cover should be determined according to the color tone of the cover and the inside of the book, but it can be more intense and use more contrast methods to enhance the advertising effect. Bright and warm colors can create an illusion, it seems that this book is a bit bigger. Large blocks of interconnected colors can enhance the effect of colors. But the messy color blocks lacking organization will produce a feeling of restlessness.
The color of the protective cover can also not be bound by natural colors. According to the needs of the book content, appropriate exaggeration and changes can be made to enhance the decorative effect of the work.
Because the color of the protective cover must be completed by printing. The performance of printing ink is different from water pink, the same hue is not exactly the same visually, especially the effect produced by the overlapping of two colors or several colors is different. Therefore, designers should understand the basic knowledge of printing inks in order to achieve the desired results in color processing.
The success of the protective cover design largely depends on a good color treatment and a good composition. The idea is to solve the problem of what to express and what to express. Composition is to organize the image formed in the idea on the screen.
There are various forms of composition, such as: vertical, horizontal, inclined, curvilinear, intersecting, centripetal, radial, triangular, overlapping, sideline, scattered, ground Grained, etc. These forms provide a general skeleton for the entire composition of the composition, and also pay attention to the specific arrangement of the text and image on the skeleton. The form of composition should be used flexibly and not copied blindly. What is more important is the accumulation of practical experience and the spirit of daring to explore innovation. Although the form of composition is ever-changing, there are only two kinds of symmetry and equilibrium. The symmetrical composition gives a stable and solemn feeling. Equilibrium is an equal amount of inequality, and is another method that does not follow the central axis. It feels vivid, compact and novel. In addition, the approximate symmetry or the balance included in the symmetry is more intense and intriguing than the completely symmetrical design effect. On the contrary, the same is true of approximate equilibrium or the inclusion of symmetry in equilibrium.
In nature, all vivid phenomena are related to contrast. The protective cover should have a moving effect, and the methods of comparison should also be applied: size, height, thickness, density, black and white, simple and complex, virtual and real ... and so on. Application contrast can make the picture change and sense of rhythm, making it clear in primary and secondary order. But pay attention to the organic connection between each other, so that they have a sense of integrity.
The most important thing in composition is to highlight the theme. The main image should be properly handled in terms of proportion and arrangement so as to make it distinctive and prominent. The secondary and supporting image should not be allowed to exceed or interfere with it, causing the phenomenon of arrogance and dominance. Which of the book title and image in the picture is more important? It depends on the book content and design requirements.
The four design factors of text, image, color and composition, they seem to be the four violins in the violin quartet, playing a beautiful and beautiful melody together. If all four violins want to play their voices loudest and most beautifully, it will inevitably make the listeners hear a harsh noise. Therefore, there must be a brilliant band conductor who can skillfully select a violin as the first violinist, and the remaining three violins play the role of supporting and supporting the first violinist, so that he can play harmony and beauty Music comes. As for who is the first violinist, it is not fixed, it should be selected according to the content and requirements of the work. It may be text, image, color, or composition. They are all indispensable and equally important, however, only one of them is the most striking in the picture, and should never be treated equally.
In order to achieve the purpose of protecting the publicity of the cover and beautifying the book, the designer has been tirelessly looking for new expression methods. The continuous emergence of new materials and new processes, especially the use of corresponding computers for programming based on aesthetic viewpoints, provides the necessary conditions for the innovation of book design. If you use too many effective methods or copy each other, then it is easier to lose its value than the simple and concise method. If loud and stable, rough and refined style coexist. Can better highlight their respective characteristics. The cover is more artistically expressive than other parts of the book, even more than the illustration, because in the design of the cover, it can more clearly show the atmosphere of the times and the designer's personal style and artistic perspective.
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