Design book cover elements

1. These six words are: dot, line, surface, black, white and gray.

1. Points, lines and surfaces are the basic elements of a design language. In the eyes of designers, the existence of all spaces is composed of points, lines and surfaces. They interweave, blend and set off each other, forming an order and rhythm. Book binding design is to use the world of points, lines and surfaces. For example, a word, a small figure is a point, and a row of neatly arranged words is a line; A figure is a face, a paragraph of text is also a face, and the edge of the face is still a line. Layout design is purely organized by points, lines and surfaces.

2. Black, white and gray refer to the relationship between light and shade of design works. Any visual art, no matter how complicated its form and rich its changes, boils down to reflecting the relationship between black, white and gray. Handle well and look comfortable; Otherwise, it will give people a gloomy and messy feeling. In book design, it is particularly important to deal with the relationship between black, white and gray.

3. Point, line, surface, black, white and gray do not exist in isolation, they are often different manifestations of a form. For example, on a piece of paper, the place where the blocks are formed consists of dense lines, forming a gray face, with illustrations or titles in black and quadrangles in white. The quality of layout design largely depends on how to deal with these relationships.

4. The most basic requirement of layout design is that it is convenient for readers to read, can be coordinated with the text content, helps to understand the content, and makes people feel comfortable when reading; But it is not offside, it seems that it does not exist, and it will not affect people's reading process and mood. Layout skills are skills you can't see, not independent of words, so that readers can highlight their feelings. The key of layout design is to use the coordination means of point, line, surface, black, white and gray, adjust the proportion of core and four margins, and choose the appropriate font and line spacing. We should pay attention to the rhythm of readers' reading and strengthen the design of the first page and chapter titles. Don't spend too much on fonts, generally no more than four changes on a page. If there is no special requirement, it is best not to place patterns in the margins at will, because in that case, it looks lively on the surface and will actually distract the reader.

Two, five words are: font, figure, color, composition and style.

1. The font should be treated as a graphic in the cover, so besides the accuracy of the text meaning, we should pay more attention to its position, font, size, density and style in the overall composition. My personal experience is to use handwritten characters and irregular fonts carefully. It's not that it can't be used, but it's more difficult. It's not as safe as printing. Because the choice of printing, even if inappropriate, is not much difference, but the wrong use of handwriting will bring fatal damage to the overall design.

2. Graphics can be divided into figurative and non-figurative, and should be selected according to the contents of the book. If it is a documentary, it should be concrete; If the theme is romantic, it should be non-figurative. Moreover, the selected graphics must be matched with the text, and the composition should be consistent with the main style.

3. Color is the visual language that first impresses readers before words and graphics. The main color of each book should conform to the basic artistic conception of the text content and the style of the work. Although everyone has different feelings about color, their understanding of the symbolic meaning of color is the same, such as white for purity, blue for romance, purple for mystery, green for life and so on. We can determine the main color of the book according to people's general understanding and feelings about color.

There are some basic patterns in composition, which should be kept in mind so as to be used flexibly on this basis. Its law has three important points: first, symmetry, which means that the same number of design elements are evenly distributed on the central axis or center point. Its strength is stability and solemnity, and it is suitable for serious books. But it also has the shortcomings of lack of change and monotony. The second is balance, and the principle of balance is equality and inequality. It means that the design elements are placed at different distances, but there are big and small, light and heavy, far and near, giving people a sense of psychological balance. Successful balanced therapy is both reasonable and unexpected, which makes people feel lively, relaxed, vivid and interesting. It can highlight the spirit of the book and the artistic taste and wisdom of the designer. The third is comparison. Contrast refers to putting the opposites of heterogeneity and quantity together, giving people visual differences and differences, such as size, height, thickness, distance, density, black and white, complexity, truth and so on. The use of contrast can make the picture change, have a sense of rhythm, make the primary and secondary clear, bigger and smaller, and make the image more prominent. But the contrast should also be measured, and the picture should have a sense of integrity. If we only talk about comparison but not coordination, it will appear messy, fancy, unfocused and lose beauty.

Although all designers are applying the same artistic principles, the styles presented in their works are quite different. As the ancients said, all diseases can be cured, but vulgarity cannot be cured. Books are elegant things and can never be equated with ordinary goods. It should reflect the designer's unique creativity, not the big platter of computer special effects. The popular trend of book design in the world today tends to be simple, elegant and elegant, which should arouse our reflection and concern.

Three, I want to say five words about the cover design:

1. Simple is better than complex.

Simplicity can make the design intention clear, while clear graphics will have a strong visual impact. Try to create rich pictures with fewer design elements. Get rid of all the superfluous things, don't finish the design language, and leave the imagination space to the readers. Some of our editors always want to express too much on the cover for fear that readers will not understand the contents of the book. The reality is that a small cover can't carry too much information, and the result is often counterproductive. It is better to give up boldly, seize and highlight the things that can move people's hearts the most, and get the effect of one when ten.

2. Ning _ Don't screw it up

Sometimes we emphasize that the design of books should be fresh, lively and modern, but its meaning refers to a relationship in the whole design. As long as one or two design elements in the cover are dynamic, it can show a strong sense of movement. If all the elements are in an unstable state, it is chaos, not excitement. The ancient poem says: "A little red in all green" is precisely because of the green background that red is eye-catching. At present, the covers of some of our books are too messy and noisy.

3. Bright is better than dark

Compared with Europe and America, many book designs in our country always look gloomy. This may be related to our implicit personality, not as straightforward as westerners. Our books can often be read by one person, but they won't show up in the big environment. So I think the cover should be as bright as possible.

Explain clearly

The failure of some of our previous designs also lies in the communication barrier between editors and designers. We can't express our intentions in accurate language, which is often too general and conceptual, so that designers make mistakes in understanding, and sometimes they change further and further. To solve this problem, text editors should learn some design knowledge, master some professional vocabulary, contact designers more and try to communicate with them.

5. Use more examples

I think giving more examples is a simple and effective method. When you find it difficult to explain your intention clearly in words, you can find some book design samples similar to your ideas, so that designers can find the closest reference. At the same time, reading more examples can also attract attention, which is a very important way to improve aesthetic cultivation.