Book Mark Assignment

Bookmark Evaluation

What are CMYK and RGB?

CMYK is a scheme for combining primary pigments. The C stands for cyan (aqua), M stands for magenta (pink) which darkens and deepens shadows, Y stands for yellow; which flattens an image making it look likes it on more of a greyer scale; opposite to magenta, and K stands for key tone.

RGB - The RGB colour model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors.

For my assignment I created a bookmark for the book Billy Elliot. I started off this assignment by drafting different ideas that I could turn into my final design. The bookmark has a silhouette of one ballet arm and leg and one boxing glove hand and boxing boot leg coming out the top of the bookmark which will poke put the book. I feel this is successful as it helps reflect the theme of the book as well as helping bring it too life and make it look more atheistically pleasing and interesting. I chose design three because I felt it was most creative and authentic which would stand out against other bookmarks on the shelf. I decided to use a limited colour plate for my design but the colours I used were bold and bright with a high contrast. I decided it would be most effective to use two main colours; red and black with a hint of grey.  This colour choice was successful for my design because it draws attention to the black silhouette in the background making it stand out and look more effective against the bright, block red front of the bookmark. By sticking too two main colours it looks more professional and less messy also helping the text look more vivid. I used a grey colour on the ballet shoe to emphasise the detail of the ballet laces, using a black colour disguised the shoe laces to much, therefore using grey helped show what the shoe was and helped show the comparison of ballet shoe and boxing boot. 

With regards to the use of typeface for my design I hand drew the lettering which writes the title “Billy Elliot” a typeface that is similar to ‘Kunstler Script’. I felt by using this type of font for the text reflected the theme of the book well because this style of writing looks fancy and sophisticated, mirroring the writing on a traditional Royal Ballet ticket giving the reader a bit of context of what the book might be about before they read anything. It also gives the bookmark a touch of class and elegance. I chose to just use text on the main front cover of the bookmark, apart from the silhouette coming out the edges of it. I thought this was effective because it helped draw attention to the silhouette and make it look more dramatic and intriguing to the reader. So by keeping the rest of it plain and simple helped emphasised that. The scale of the writing took up most of the bookmark and I centralised the title to reflect that Billy’s feeling had always been pushed to the side and not really thought about, but by the end he is the centre of attention when he takes centre stage, the position of the text reflects this. 

I feel the hierarchy of information for this design was the text and the silhouette equally because they both use the same tone of black against the red which is an effective contrast so they come as a pair and attract equal attention. But if I had to pick one over the other I would say the text slightly overrides the imagery because it is clear and simple so the reader is automatically drawn to it to see what the book might be about. In my opinion the hierarchy of information for the design is in the correct order because as the reader is drawn to the imagery being the silhouette, it is intriguing and usual so the first thing they see; which makes it successful because  they are more likely to chose a bookmark that looks different.     

I used a range of tools and techniques for my final design. I started off using pencil and sketching down a few ideas to see what I liked and what best conveyed the boxing/ballet theme. I looked up some examples of fancy writing using the internet for inspiration. Once I had decided on my favourite design I drew a final design and then copied it out onto card, perfecting the design. Once the front cover was done I moved onto designing the back drawing a fancy boarder to reflect the ballet theme. I then went over it using a fine black pen paying attention to any close detail and made some lines thicker around the text so that it stood out and make it more noticeable on a plain background; also it helped show up the detail when I later used digital methods. I then took a photograph of the final design and opened them up into illustrator where I used different filters and white and white effects to make the design look more abstract and eye catching. By using illustrator it enabled me to make my design look more effective as I could block sections of the bookmark and fill it with colour so it was exactly the same and bold e.g. red. 

To conclude the most successful part of my design was the unique way I portrayed both ballet and boxing on one silhouette to show the conflict between the two hobbies and the problems Billy faces. Moreover I feel the silhouettes arms and legs look like shadows coming out the main body of the bookmark; which will make it more successful and stand out against competing bookmarks as it unusual and intriguing to look at. If I was to do this bookmark again I would either chose one of my other design ideas and use illustrator to see if I can make them look more effective by playing around with different tools. By with regards to alterations to this particular design to make it more successful I would add more detail such as drawings related to the theme of the book e.g coal to represent the miners strike when the book was set. These drawings could go in the main body to break up some of the blank space, although in this instance I think it helps keep the focus on the main part of the design being the silhouette and the text.