After deciding to convey the story of Apollo 11 through an e-Book instead of a website, I began to explore the methods designers have used to produce visually engaging designs in the traditional form of this medium: print design. This will allow me to study how elements like typography, typesetting and layout structures have been utilised in books and newspapers to create interesting outcomes which reflect and display their subject matter and narrative effectively.
In the late 1940s, the German typographer Jan Tschichold devised a set of typographic rules for British publisher Penguin Books. ****The Penguin Composition Rules were an attempt to standardise the visual language of the publisher's catalogue, both functionally and aesthetically.
(Above) Tschichold’s original sketches, refining the Penguin Books iconic logo
(Above) Examples of Tschichold’s original redesign
At the time Tschichold began working with Penguin in the 1940s, book design was often conservative and ornamental, with highly stylised typography and intricate illustrations. Tschichold sought to break with this tradition, instead opting for a more modernist and streamlined approach to book design.
One of the key innovations that Tschichold brought to Penguin was the use of a standard design template for all of their books. This allowed for greater efficiency in the production process, but also helped to establish a consistent visual identity for the brand. Tschichold's design template included elements such as sans-serif typefaces, grid-based layouts, and simple, bold graphics - all of which I believe allowed Penguin to establish a clean, timeless and thus, sustainable design which has been successfully maintained almost a century later.
After exploring iconic book designs, I decided to browse the University library for interesting designs utilised by books to create effective compositions and layouts that could influence the structure of my e-Book, as I begin to consider wireframes. The library was a great source of inspiration and there were many books to design that utilise unique compositions to convey their content. In particular, I enjoyed studying the art, design and architecture related books in the University library. Due to their subject matter requiring an emphasis on photographs, diagrams and other visual media to translate information, the product designers and publishers were tasked with creating interesting layouts, grids and visual hierarchies to balance content.
(Above) Double page spread from Micro: Very Small Buildings
(Above) Double page spread from Micro: Very Small Buildings
I enjoyed studying books which focus on architecture and design like “Micro: Very Small Buildings” as I found that their subject matter was keenly reflected in the content composition. For example, I thought the use of four columns and grids throughout the book was really visually engaging; creating a sense of structure and construction. It was also interesting to study how the book’s designer utilised a dramatic visual hierarchy through typography. For example, the page heading utilises a large font size and sans-serif typeface (juxtaposed with serif body text) to reflect the modern architecture shown in the images on both second pages.
(Above) NASA Brand Guidelines
(Above) NASA Brand Guidelines
I also thought it was interesting how a similar composition was utilised by the original NASA Brand Guidelines to effectively organise the large amount of content the designers had to translate about the organisation. I decided to explore how I could reflect this multiple column structure with the Apollo 11 content provided on Figma. While I don’t think that this composition will be effective in engaging a younger audience as discussed earlier; I do think that its careful structure is successful in reflecting the event’s sense of technological advancement and precision - perhaps inspired by the aesthetic of manuals utilised by the NASA engineer’s responsible for building the Apollo 11 shuttle. This exercise on Figma, allowed me to explore how grids and columns can really benefit content consistency.
(Above) Double page spread from Architecture 2000: Predictions and Methods
(Above) Double page spread from Architecture 2000: Predictions and Methods
I thought the use of data visualisation and image composition in “Architecture 2000: Predictions and Methods” was also very interesting. Unlike “Micro…”’s use of columns to organise large bodies of text, the above products favours an image heavy documentation of structures. I think that the use of large images that span across the double page spreads was very effective in drawing the audience’s attention directly to the subject matter. I also preferred “Architecture 2000…”’s use of justified body text created a cleaner layout and lines than the previous book - something I will consider in my own project. Comparing the two books, I found “Micro…”’s left aligned paragraphs created irregular boundaries which create a more untidy presentation (further highlighted by the use of four columns).
“Architecture 2000”’s use of graphs and timelines also produced an engaging experience for a reader as they successfully break up the large amount of content covered in the book using book paragraphs and images. As I began to sketch how I might organise and present the data content provided for the final outcome, I considered timelines and graphs as an effective form of data visualisation that could be easily digested by the school aged target audience.