Experimenting with Serifs, Cover and Chapter Pages - CoP Practical

Blue highlight = essay research influence

Looked into serifs earlier in project and asked for opinions of peers.
Overall consensus is that serifs weren't appealing to look at, decided to continue using sans serif font BUT serifs are easier to read than sans, type size does impact this but the current size either could be effective.
SO need to look into serif typefaces more to find one that's both effective and appealing. 

SERIFS:

Calluna Regular:

- Light font, doesn't stand out against the page, isn't enough contrast so might make it difficult to read (Dzulkifli, M. and Mustafar, M. (2013) The Influence of Colour on Memory Performance: A Review. Malays J Med Sci, 20(2), pp.3-9.)

- Serifs are quite sharp, serifs used in earlier tests were also sharp, perhaps this is what makes them less appealing?

Le Monde Livre Book:

- Again serifs are still rather sharp.

- Since the font is book is has more spacing making the letters easier to read. Previous fonts like times tend to appear crowded (wanting to avoid this as it can reduce legibility - Arditi, A., Knoblauch, K. and Grunwald, I., 1990. Reading with fixed and variable pitch. Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science, 7(10).)

Capitolium 2 Regular:

- The serifs are less exaggerated on some points within the letterforms, creating a less aggressive tone.

- However, where there are serifs they're rather sharp, I think this is exaggerated due to the light weight of the font. 

Ivy Presto Text Regular:

- The serifs on these letterforms are much softer, they have a less aggressive tone. Think this is important in developing an appealing typeface, also makes the letters flow together well. 

- Spacing within the text is designed really well as it allows the letters to breathe, prevents overcrowding.

- Test this with all text in same font.

Ivy Presto Text (All Text):

- All text in this typeface isn't attractive, the font in capitals doesn't look appealing. Would be better to stick with sans serif for title (this is supported by findings in essay: a sans serif typeface may be better suited for titles, or shorter text such as captions as the serifs don't interfere with legibility (Serif vs. Sans for Text in Print, n.d).)

What to do next?
- Format book using this typeface and ask peers.

COVER:

The cover is something I need to start considering.
What makes me think about driving?
- Road markings
- Traffic lights
- Road signs 
- Cars, car lights

Playing with the idea of traffic lights, keeping things minimal, incorporating the department for transportation logo as this is on the original publication. 

• Using colours associated with traffic lights and circles to create the minimalistic traffic light. 
• Feel it is recognisable enough but it may need developing further.
• Reconsider the white background, what else could work? 
• Colours on the cover should be eye catching ('Advertising or design industries might do well to take note of the findings' - Mone, 2002)

• Using a single colour to catch the eye of the audience, simple but dramatic.
• Feel this is less successful because it doesn't communicate anything to do with driving. 

Experiment with road markings next

CHAPTER TITLE PAGES:

Left - Full bleed colour background, black number circle

• Full bleed colour creates a really strong visual difference between the pages, but could be distracting to the reader. 
  
• Black circle looks a little odd, seems out of place.

Centre - White background colour number circle

• Visually different from other pages due to the layout change (centralised instead of aligned left).
  
• Isn't as obviously visually different as page colour is consistent with the rest of the publication.

Right - Full bleed colour background, white text

• Same issues of potential distraction due to full bleed.
• Looks better than the left as it more visually consistent across all elements, however on chapter 3 as the colour is really light the contrast isn't high enough, could lead to difficulty processing. Would need to reconsider this. 

Overall:

> May create a distraction but as books isn't to be read in a linear fashion (doesn't have a start to end narrative) this is less likely to have an impact and might help navigation.

> Could support navigational dots and make the inclusion of colour to separate chapters more vivid. 
- Need to ask about this in crit, what do peers think?

> Currently the pages are looking similar, might be worth including to add more visual value to the publication. 

Pics in book:
Printed full colour with white text details (like right hand side on images above):

Printed black text on coloured paper:

> Makes the side of the pages very colourful.
> Also the front and back page have colour unlike the previous example with printed ink. Feels rather overwhelming compared the previous test.