At this point in the project, I am very clear in my art direction approach throughout this project and I definitely want to carry this through to the design of my e-book. One of the main changes between my prototype and e-book will be the changes in composition.
I felt that looking at print design would be a good place to begin when gathering inspiration for composition. As this is quite a design-intensive e-book, the vast majority of e-books on the market do not act as great sources of inspiration.
Inspiration Board from Print Design
I quite like the focus on double page spreads throughout some these designs. What drew me to them in particular however is that there appears to be consideration payed to ensure the content works both as a double page spread and single pages viewed individually. This is something I want to ensure works well in my design.
<aside> ⭐ REFLECTION: Looking at my prototype, it is a dark UI which I do not think is conducive for a positive reading experience for the user. Because of this, I definitely will have to adjust my content to sit on a white background. I don’t think this will be a complete change, as I feel that some of the writing being on a dark background is more than appropriate. However I need to achieve a better balance of this.
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Following on from this, I will be able to use my full colour palette more comprehensively in the design of my e-book if I am varying between a dark and light background. I felt that I wasn’t able to make full use of it in my prototype. This will involve some substantial change of design elements in the prototype.
I don’t think I need to change the actual designs structurally but rather their colouring to suit this new art direction. I wanted to gather some inspiration for this, again looking at print and poster design specifically to get a better understanding of designing for page format effectively.
I created an inspiration board of graphics similar to the ones I created in my prototype, however coloured in a lighter way which is more in line with what I want to create for my e-book. I really enjoy the monochromatic elements in some of these designs. This could be a great way to utilise more of the colours in my palette throughout my designs.
Colour Inspiration Mood Board
I experimented with applying a similar colour profile to the inspiration images I gathered, to one of the graphics I created for the prototype. I also added a textured overlay to the illustration. Despite this being completely unsuitable composition-wise for an e-book, I think this approach to my graphics could work quite well.
I also had to go slightly off palette and introduce a neutral grey for the background in this design. This is something I will definitely have to review further if I decide to take this design style further.
BEFORE
AFTER
