Typefaces in Use

These book covers I have chosen really stood out to me because they were really pushing the limits with the use of type. The first book cover below felt nice to me because of the back and forth movement across the entire cover which works because of the size and weight differences as well. Since we are starting with color it also has given me a couple ideas of how to start noticing a color pallet that is used effectively. These 5 Clarendon book covers also were good examples because you can clearly tell what the title is even if it is not the boldest or largest type on the cover because the designer effectively placed the text in such a way that the readers eye is drawn to it first. I felt that the designer of the book cover "The Kingdom" directly below the first one did a nice job of this by using a lot of negative space at the top and varying the size and weight of his text. It also felt interesting to me because he broke up the title into two sections which really pushes the limits to me and has started to give me ideas of more interesting ways to arrange the type even if it doesn't work it will get me started on thinking more outside the box. Although like I said we haven't really stepped into the realms of color yet, the cover "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You" had a couple nice splashed of color which made the title stand out but it was not over powering or hard to look at based on the designers mellow color pallet. These were just a couple I wanted to note on because I really felt like these covers caught my eye and I was really drawn to their interesting layout and use of type in a unique way not just by where they are placed on the cover but also because of the designers use of weight, movement, negative space, color pallet, and even abstractions of the title.

Clarendon Typeface

Designer: Milan Bozic

Designer: Thomas Starr

Designer: John Gall

Designer: Karen Horton

Designer: John Gall

 

 

Bell Gothic Typeface

Designer: Megan Wilson

Designer: Charlotte Strick

 

 Designer: John Gall

 Designer: John Gall

 

Designer: Paul Buckley

 

 

 

Other Type Faces

 

Book Titles and Text Placement

While perusing around The Raven Book Store on 7th street right off of Mass. I was looking at a whole variety of different books, text, and placement of the text. Although not all of the books that I picked up were very aesthetically pleasing, they were still interestingly layer out which gave me a lot of ideas on how text reads as a viewer. I started to notice which things I read first, and which text was meant to be read first not only by the size and weight of the type but by the placement and where it led my eye. For example on the little matchbox books below, I know that I read "The Raven" first because it is the largest type and your eye is drawn there first. Then below it, in smaller type it tells you what "The Raven" is. The Covers that I didn't particularly respond to were the covers that relied only on the image and put all of the text on one side with one size font because it did not catch my eye and all I really read was the illustration rather than catching what the title was, the author, or any other information. 

I also found that the type of font that you use can make a huge difference on how a viewer reads the title. I particularly liked the more simple and clean fonts the best because it read well and it was clear. I also found that the titles that moved left to right and moved your eye across the page were successful as well, and the titles that just had all the text in the middle were clear, however, were not aesthetically pleasing or interesting.I think looking at this handful of different covers and opening text really helped me get a variety of ideas on how I would read a title, and how I would read the text depending on how it is placed on the cover.