Re: Book Cover or Movie Poster

I feel as though book covers are more likely to depict and represent what the novel is about whereas movie posters are more for marketing something and therefore adhere to certain standards. Many movie posters for the same genre will look the same, and while book covers can too, I feel like with movie posters you see it much much more.

This article actually talks about how a book cover for the book "It's a Man's World" ripped off the movie poster for "Morning Glory".

Through my Google search I also came across this article at Smashing Magazine regarding the best movie poster designs that I thought was cool.

Re: Book Cover or Movie Poster?

I agree with what Erin said about movie posters being turned into book covers. I try not to buy these books, though I know I have a few books with movie design covers. For instance, I know I have a Lord of the Rings book (Two Towers) with Legolas on the cover, and I'm pretty sure when I bought it years ago it was on display along with each main character represented on separate book covers of the same book, so you could essentially pick your favorite character and have him on your copy of the book (which is what I did, but then again I was a teenager). Now that I look at the original intention of the book cover I see how they updated the type and brightened up the color, making the newer book more modern. From a marketing standpoint I completely understand why the publishers would choose to go this route. Unfortunately, the movie cover doesn't exactly capture the essence of the story, nor does it separate it from the movie. I believe books with movie posters on them may mislead readers into believing the book will be just like the movie, when in fact, they are completely separate mediums and should be treated as such.

Re: Book Cover vs. Movie Poster

Another interesting thing about the book vs. movie poster is the fact that a movie poster can actually be done well in another country's release, but then for some unknown reason, when it comes to America, they totally shitte on it. Case in point, Trainspotting.

Top is the British movie poster. Awesome in color choice, layout is horizontal instead of vertical. The feature of the character names vs the actors name... so, pretty great. (If you want to read more about the design choices go here and see #8)

Then bottom left is American. WTF? Watch how the sorta same concept is done horribly.

Bottom right is a current book cover. Meh.

Book Cover vs. Movie Poster

Great topic! This is something I have thought about here and there throughout the whole class. I also immediately though of how it seems that the movie posters are photos and the books are more likely illustrations. This would be interesting to research, or maybe it's been done. It must be related to how when you're designing a book cover, it's kind of abstract and in your imagination, and different readers would have different visions of the characters. When you have a movie, you have the very specific and very important real-life actors. (Sometimes readers/viewers disagree with those choices.) Then of course you have books that are re-published after a movie and their cover is the movie poster. It's fascinating to see these designs side by side.

Feedback Request for Mary Beth

I know it is a little late now, but I wanted to add my feedback on the new designs. Your concept has really been condensed and brought together much better. With your navigation pages and the tabs on all screens it is much clearer how to navigate throughout the story and gives a better idea of the options of what you are able to do on the pad.

These updates are so much better! I also really like the all of the main pages with the bright solid colors, they really pop. Good revisions! :)

Re: Book Cover or Movie Poster

This was a good topic! It got me searching through lots of different posters and book covers and there really is a significant difference between the two.

In my personal opinion, because the book is the original story, I would tend to believe that the book cover would be a better representation only because it is the original idea. On the latter, some designers are able to really grasp a better understanding and create a beautiful design in a different way. Real people rather than cartoons or illustrations tend to grasp and engage an audience more than if it was not a person, although some movie posters still do not show real people.          

I have noticed that the movie posters always tend to be of real people (obviously), but sometimes not, which could really change your perspective of the story as a whole, but you will never forget the original book design.

Looking through the differences, it is sometimes obvious when a movie poster is much more up-to-date than the book, making the movie poster more intriguing and fresh. After going through a bunch, I am 50/50.

Here are two comparisons that I found interesting:

This cover vs. poster design is a significant update; it is obvious that the movie poster was created much later than the book cover, making it much more intriguing in this case.

In this case, both the book design and poster and very similar, adding color and more of a dark, "dangerous" feel but still seems very simple and clean.

In this case, the movie poster using the face of a person is much more intriguing and interesting, bringing more depth and interest in the story by the choice of design.

Re: Book Cover or Movie Poster?

Shannon-- I'm with you on your stance on book covers vs. movie posters. So much marketing is involved in the movie poster design process, which I'm sure is frustrating to designers trying to actually communicate something about the film, and it leaves little to be said about the film other than how hot Dude McActor looks with his shirt off.  I get that there is a purpose behind it, but after taking this class it makes it frustrating, as you said, ha ha. I also get this isn't always the case and there are some really beautiful movie posters out there and there are just as many poorly designed book covers, giving way to their troupe categories.

What I thought was even more frustrating is books being re-sold with movie poster covers once their film adaptation is released. I always cringe when I see this in the stores, proudly displayed on shelves in Target. It ruins the experience for the reader! I think getting to imagine the characters and settings within the book is part of the experience and having the actors splashed across the cover ruins that part of the reading experience. I get it is a marketing machine, but...well, blah.

Here's a Buzz Feed-esque article on the topic,15 Movie Tie-In Book Covers that Make us Sad.

Here is one terrible example that I pulled:

Re: Book Cover or Movie Poster

I think it's an interesting comparison to make--book covers and movie posters--but I'm not sure you can compare them so directly to decide that one or the other is better.

Yes, movie posters famously rely on cliches: there are many collages of them compiled by Christophe Courtois (his site is in French) that made the rounds of various culture/media/design blogs back in 2011. I saw them on Flavorwire, and they're all worth a look. This one is probably my favorite because of the completely genuine, not-sarcastic caption:

Flavorwire's caption reads: "If someone is running down the street, that street should probably be blue. Also your movie should probably be some kind of thriller.

But! When Schaefer writes that "film posters [are left by designers] to often be overlooked or decried as 'typically mediocre and mired in cliched imagery that unimaginative marketers think will pique an audience's interest,'" he could be talking about many a book cover. Haven't we looked at a number of tropes and cliches of book design here in class? Here's another collage from the same list:

Now, that looks kind of familiar, no? That one-eye technique is used on a lot of book covers, too. So, I guess my point is that while I often like the design of a book cover over the poster for a movie based on the book, both types of design have certain tropes/cliches for a reason. In both cases, these elements signal to the viewer (probably often unconsciously) what kind of book or what kind of movie this will be. Yes, that can be a big problem--it often limits the audience instead of inviting more people in, and often stories are misrepresented in an attempt to market them. But in both movies and in publishing, there's probably not one person making the design decisions for the cover/poster. In books, there's a whole line of people the designer has to answer to, not the least of which is the marketing department, and while I know less about the organizational structure of movie production companies, I'm relatively certain the same thing is true there. 

From the few accounts I've read by designers of movie promo materials, they're often brought in at the last minute, after someone else has taken promo photographs of the movie's stars (many of whom probably have very specific clauses in their contracts about how they can or cannot be portrayed not just in the movie but also in the print/promo packages, I'd bet) and maybe even after trailers have already been released. In that situation, it would probably be difficult to do something unexpected, which seems to be a problem with the movie industry in general, and leads me to my next idea: while the medium of movies may be newer and flashier, I think the movie industry might be more conservative than book publishers, which is saying something, as publishing has always been considered quite conservative in terms of what houses will spend money on. Publishers traditionally only put money into books they know will make it back, but that, like everything else publishing, is probably in flux right now; when you consider the much higher cost of producing a movie v. printing a book, it doesn't seem surprising that movie production companies are even less likely to invest in something really creative and different--hence, movies that rely on cliches being promoted by posters that rely on cliches. Even movies made from books often make departures from the source material due to economic concerns on the part of the producers. 

Back to the visual comparison, though. While novel covers are representing a narrative in language, which allows for the reader to imagine the visuals, movie posters are representing a visual narrative. So, it would be somewhat disingenuous not to use some element of the visuals from the movie in the poster, no? That doesn't mean it's a great design decision just to slap a floating head of the main character/movie's star on the poster, but I do think a movie's poster should reflect the visual style of the movie in the same way that a book cover should represent the narrative style or the characters' reality in some evocative, perhaps less literal way (again, leaving the work of interpretation up to the reader).

Ultimately, I do think the movie industry could learn a few things from book covers because book designers seem to have more faith in readers than production companies have in viewers. Yes, movies are a more passive way to experience a narrative than novels--you don't have to put any effort into them and can just sit back and absorb, which you can't do while reading--, but that doesn't mean that viewers have to be handed a cheat sheet in the form of the poster. So, as just about always with design, I think you have to compare the design to the narrative and see if the design is meeting its responsibilities to the reader/viewer, the writer/director, and the publisher/production company. 

Both of these use tropes, but I found them both to be successful because they are representative of their respective texts and are visually engaging:

Re: Feedback request / iPad dimensions

Hey Mary Beth --

Here are some thoughts I had:

• I don't think you need 4 slide out options for the menu -- I would just make one large menu slide out with the four options listed vertically so the reader has less steps to complete to find an option.
• On the home page, I might expand the illustration and title over more of the page (maybe make the ship larger and move the text down -- let the menu slide over the text/images, if that makes sense? Since it's not static, you don't really have to create space for it.
• There's a lot of text on every page, can you boil the selections down to one or two words? "History" "Family Members" "Mont Royal" etc? This might allow you to do more graphically on the page? Maybe make the words go around the compass? Just and idea!
• I love the addition of the water strokes on the homepage -- I'd mimic that on the last page you posted!

It feels much more simplified!!

iPad screen dimensions: I did my screen first then overlayed the ipad -- the dimensions I used for the screen are 5.38 x7.75, then fit my pad around it. I think mine might be a tad smaller than Mary Beth's.

Feedback request / iPad dimensions

If you're still looking for iPad dimensions, check out the Apple Site. A full sized iPad is 9.4 X 6.6 in.

I've made some significant changes based on feedback from tonight's class and was wondering if I'm on the right track? See images below. I've simplified the navigation menu to four color-coded symbols which appear on every page and function with a simple slide to the left (the first image shows as if the reader has slid over the yellow option and the second shows what they all say for your reference). I've created a table of contents page that includes an about the author paragraph (select black tab on homepage). I've simplified the Mains, Hazards and Friendship pages (red, blue, and yellow tabs on homepage, respectively) and clarified the purpose of each link. The family tree links now take you to the ship stern page where you can select either the Main family or the Hazard family. I will add separate pages for the actual family trees tomorrow after I recharge.

Book Cover or Movie Poster?

So last week we briefly discussed the differences between the Jaws book cover and the Jaws movie poster. This inspired me to do a little more research on the topic and I found there are people who debate which medium is considered legitimate design. In my opinion, much more thought and technique goes into a book cover, and Brandon Schaefer's article The Art House: Book Covers vs. Movie Posters, does a good job defending my opinion: 

"Both are trying to sell an audience on a story which they (assumedly) know little about through an engaging combination of text and imagery. But while one-sheets often use imagery straight from the film to sell itself and its actors, books rely on techniques that are more representative of the text and its ideas rather than as literal as a floating head. The best book covers involve us as an active participant in understanding the tone or an idea contained within the pages behind it. And it’s that type of ingenuity that’s celebrated in the design community, leaving film posters to often be overlooked or decried as “typically mediocre and mired in cliched imagery that unimaginative marketers think will pique an audience’s interest.”

Below are a few examples of book covers vs. movie posters. I picked a few of the books that were frequently mentioned in class.

So for our LAST blog post, what is your opinion? Are book covers a better representation of the story? Is there even an argument to be made? 

Last minute concept change

Hey, all--

I changed my mind about photos/illustrations on Sunday night, so I basically started over [again] on Monday morning. I've just been able to get a little over half of my screens done at this point, but clearly, I couldn't finish much in time to print on the poster printer last night. So, my print-outs using my office printer/copier are not really faithful to what they should be on a good printer/better paper. I'm putting them here so you can see the colors closer to what I'm intending.

 

 

 

Re: Top Two

I really enjoyed this class, from the great ideas for books, websites and podcasts I have to look up after the class is over, to the great feedback I received in my projects.

BUT, top two would be:

1. The specific and unique needs considered when designing a book. I have a new appreciation for well designed books! My cheap self might even BUY a few books just because of their design. We'll see. ;)

2. Stepping outside my comfort zone - watercoloring has never been something I thought I could pull off, but with some tenacity, practice and lots of photoshop help, I did it. I learned that I shouldn't always write off an idea just because I'm not an illustrator, sometimes you just gotta try something new. Love that lesson.

Re: Top Two

Hmmm its hard to say I guess my top two things were learning about different kinds of designers and specific people to look for and also I learned way more about printing which I think will be useful in the future.

Re: The Last Week: Top 2

Hooo boy, my "top 2" are kind of gritty:

1. Costs. I thought I understood how design choices (aesthetic and technical) affected printing costs, but I was wrong. Hundreds of dollars later, I might not have achieved much wisdom but I do have a much clearer understanding of the domino effect between, say, resolution and paper quality and printer technology and subsequent cost. Don't trust printers/lab assistants/computers to be infallible. You have double- and triple-check everything along the way.

2. Diversity of skills. This class has truly shown me how diverse a designer's toolkit needs to be, both technically and aesthetically. I say this knowing I didn't venture all that far outside of my box, but awareness is the first step to growth.

It ultimately was incredibly rewarding to create a book cover to cover. To have a THING that I can keep near my creative space and look at and get a little rush of "ok, you did that." That's important for me and my twitchy ego. My little "Lightning Rod Man" will be right there next to "Pale Fire." I can't wait (/totally can wait) for my thesis year to get started so I can create my own book from scratch without having to, you know, actually print and bind it myself.

Top Two and Feedback

Definitely one of the best things about this class was making the perfect bound book by hand. I was a little nervous about it but it was not that hard to do and turned out well. I can see myself doing more of this, including doing some sewing and case binding. I think this might a good way to make a portfolio book. I'm sort of crafty but might have never gotten around to trying this on my own. Now I know that it's very doable and want to try more. That's exciting!

Second would be the work on the interactive fiction. This has made me really curious about what's out there. If nothing else, I want to try reading books on the iPad and see how I like that. It makes me curious about how I can incorporate this is in my everyday work and how I can get into creating an app. 

Shannon, I find your design intriguing. I don't think it's a problem that you don't see the missing finger right away. I like the mystery there, that you don't see it immediately and can wonder about it, have something more to discover. The bars or stripes add another layer or dimension. I dig the texture of the hand.

Re: The Last Week: Top 2

I've noticed since the start of this class when I am in a book store that I gloss over all the books that are more weakly designed, especially those designed using tropes, looking for something that really pops out at me.  I am paying attention to the illustration, the color, the typeface, the paper quality. I also recently caught myself picking up various books from the shelf in the store and checking out the binding, the folio elements, the front and back matter, etc. Like others have said, I am really paying attention to the overall design of the books. I also feel like I have more insight into why a book was designed a certain way, why a certain layout was chosen.
I learned how to make physical books in Book Arts and Type and Design helped me understand typographic and design elements that go into creating a book, but this class really brought those two aspects together to create a completed project from beginning to end.

Re: Feedback & Top 2

Shannon--I agree with what's been said so far--I like where this is going! I'm not sure it bothers me that you can't see the missing finger right away, as it will have some pay-off when you read the section about the finger. I think you could try moving the bars around some, but I think it can work as it is. My screen is also showing more of an orange than a yellow, like Erin, though that could be a screen color/print color issue. I like that there's some dynamics working with the bars so they're not so literal, and they could be read as something even a bit more sinister than just jail cell bars in the context of what you've told us about this novel. I'm looking forward to see more of how this concept plays out.

Top Two:

I think the set up of the class requiring multiple iterations of the first two projects made the most difference for me. As expensive as it was, and as time-consuming as it was for me (being on campus from 8:30 am to at least 8 pm every Mon-Thurs sounds super fun, right?) to arrange my work around the lab hours, I do think I was able to get farther into my design ideas than I have in other courses. So, though I haven't felt like I've had a lot of time at any point during the class, I have felt like I was able to fine-tune what I did more than with other projects.

Like Erin, my other take-away from this class will be the process improvement of more detailed critique than can often be done in other classes. So, the feedback around the room and the expectation to think not only about the aesthetic qualities of the visuals but also about the conceptual element to design. While this is often the thing I get the most from in design studio classes, it seemed like since the class was a bit smaller than some others, we were able to have a bit more depth to our suggestions, so I got as much from seeing what you all have done as from your suggestions for me (again, like Erin said).

Top Two

The most rewarding part of this class was making the physical book. It's probably one of the coolest assignments I've had and I never would have done something like that if it weren't for this class.

Like Erin I never really thought about book design and now I have a true appreciation for it. Once we are done with class I have a list of designers we frequently mentioned that I want to begin following.

I know it's only "top two," but I am really excited about how many book recommendations I have now. Already bought two that were highly praised and have the rest on my wish list.

Re: Feedback for Shannon/ Top Two

Shannon -

LOVE this idea, too! I agree with Layla in that that I don't get "missing finger" right away -- it may be as simple as removing the bar/s from the middle finger area so the text and the missing finger become more apparent, since your eye will be drawn right toward that open area? Might let it breathe a little more. Also, I'm not sure if it is just my screen, but the yellow is coming across very orange.

Very cool.

Top Two:

I gained so much from the amount of feedback we got during class - not even necessarily just directed toward me, but everyone's projects. It was great to walk through concepts and discuss what made an idea speak to the core of a book. I have always admired book covers that are well designed, but now I pay much more attention to the front and back matter (I also did not know this had terminology attached to it until this class) and how it flows with the rest of the book. My husband brought home a new book a couple weeks ago and I spent so much more time examining the inside and outside that he began to look at me like a weirdo.

Secondly,  I learned a lot about book designers in general. I had never really given much thought to this genre and the idea that there are whole staffs of people doing this, and only this, for a living. I guess I just kind of assumed it was work that was only hired out to agencies (I'm sure some of it is) but learning about the well known designers, their accomplishments (and failures) and publishing houses was very interesting.

Re: Feedback for Shannon

Shannon,

I LOVE this concept!

I don't think it's automatically seen that the finger is missing. I may not have got that if I didn't know that's what you were going for. I think the lines and the text in place of the finger deter from the concept of missing finger. If you want people to not get that idea right away then great, but if you do want them to see a missing finger, you may need to remove some elements (either the lines or the text) away from that section so that there's clearly a missing finger.

Great colors and design though!

Feedback

Hi everyone. Here is what I've come up with for my ebook: In class I mentioned I wanted to do a hand with a missing finger. In the book, she loses her middle finger on her left hand. I also wanted to incorporate yellow and gray which were both mentioned often. The bars represent Little Bee's imprisonment, not only physically in the detention center, but emotionally throughout the entire book.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

The Last Week: Top 2

As I am sitting here thinking about what I want to post about, I figured we can talk about what we have gained from Book Design this semester.

As crazy as it is, I can tell people that I MADE a book with my own two hands. Like MADE IT; designed the cover, the inside pages, folded the pages, glued the spine, put the cover on, and TA-DA, a real life physical book. To me, that is absolutely crazy, but to see how far we have come since day 1 truly is a astounding.

SO, for my last post and as our last week is approaching, I figured we can all put the top 2 things we learned this semester/were the most interesting that we didn't know before that we can take with us moving forward:

1) Learning the overall contents of a book; and how to navigate through it

This course has taught me so much about books in general, being not that big of a reader, I not only learned that a book has "front and back matter", folio elements, title AND half-title, but how important the design is to the book cover. I have learned through this course that people really do "judge a book by its cover" and it is up to us - the designers - to design it to the audience we are designing for.

2) Perfect Binding a Book

This is absolutely crazy to say that I made a book and have something to show for it. Never in a million years would I think I could say I re-designed a book, folio elements, cover, and all. I was unaware of what it takes to create a book, but being a DIYer, I was fascinated when we were told that is what we are going to be doing. It takes a lot of patience, but not a lot of people can say they have done it.


To finish this post with a BANG, here is a list of the 50 Most Inspiring Quotes About Books and Reading

Mind Mapping Site

As promised, here is the link to the free mind mapping site I used: Mindmup:

https://www.mindmup.com/

Re: App Design

I did find the articles helpful. In my own researching, I found these articles. These are more guides that show how people interact with interactive ebooks.

8 Amazing Examples of iBooks Author in Action

About Best Interactive Ebooks

I guess my first problem was figuring out how to design for an app, not the web. All of my first design solutions were very similar to something you'd see on a website. However, after watching some videos on different interactive ebooks and reading through articles, I started concentrating on the physical motions people use through swiping and using that to guide the user through menu items and information more smoothly.

Re: App Design

I found both articles interesting and agree with what's been said already. However I would like to point out that Melissa Mayer's comments really only point out ways to notice when something needs to be fixed and doesn't provide much insight on how to create something in the first place. They are good points to keep in mind, though. The Design For Mobile article is very helpful and I will keep this as reference while working on Book 3. The samples we received in class for this project have so far been the most helpful in regards to completing the actual assignment, but I'm still working on familiarizing myself with transitions beyond the simple click on a link.

I recently came across Building an Interactive eBook – A Production Tutorial, which is somewhat helpful albeit dated (February 2013). Aptara is an interactive eBook developer, and the pdf includes their steps for creating an eBook as well as some samples.

Re: App Design / Feedback

These are very helpful. I feel like I am a little behind in getting everything together, but I've spent more time thinking about transitions and movement because I hate clicking through something that is clunky. If I am in an app that does not move from section to section, or idea to idea properly, I will most likely close it and move on. I found the section (within the second article in the original post) on transitions to be helpful, because you don't want the reader to get lost in a screen. When we are balancing hyper experiences of a story, I think this is incredibly important - in that we make it a new experience for our books- not a confusing one. I was reading an article on smart transitions (even though it was for web) where the author stated, “It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." I think this has been the biggest thing for me in this project since we are creating an environment for the reader, really thinking about how each piece moves seamlessly with the other.


Layla --
I agree with Keith on the heart. The first cover is more enticing and I think suggests the entangling of the characters and you can do more with that inside the following screens. It sounds like you have an interesting mix of information and it is well thought out!

Re: App Design

My experience is pretty much like Abby's. I have access to an iPad and have used it a little bit. I tried out books on it as I worked on this project to see what they're like. The articles Jen shared are helpful and interesting. I found the two sample projects from Amy to be especially helpful in working on this interactive book app. I've thought about how I use my iPhone, apps, and websites as part of this. I need to do more of this!

Re: App design

Both of the articles were very interesting thanks for sharing. For research I mostly just tried to look at examples of what books looked like on the Ipad I borrowed my brother's and flipped through his collection. Colors were definitely important when I was thinking about my design I actually laid out a color scheme first and built the pages around it I used my Color Index 2   that is a book that's just color schemes for web and how to build them to help me with it. Mostly I've just been trying to think of ways to make the book interactive and logically how that would make the story read. It's been a challenge but now that I'm done my twelve screens and got them in order it makes a lot more sense and I'm happy with the overall product.

Re: Book Designers!

I chose designer Sunra Thompson off the Top 30 Best Book Covers of 2014 list because I really like his design for In Case of Emergency by Courtney Moreno. So I started digging around looking for some of his other designs (see below). There's not a ton of info on him, but I did find that he is an illustrator and designer at McSweeney's. Cargocollective.com/sunra displays his complete works, including several illustrations for The New York Times Book Review.

Assignments 7/7 & Feedback

Layla, I'm sorry to hear about your dog. I hope things are getting better. For Thursday, we need to revise the book using feedback from class and expand screens. Bring in as many as possible -- also please have logic in some sort of recorded format (step by step, decision tree, site map, etc.).

Final components are due Thursday, 7/16: A full walk-through for app. Either way the app must be explained. When Amy is paging through the screens she must be able to understand the app. A sample of each type of screen for the app, labeled. An icon for the app. Use tablet templates. Don't forget navigation needs. Here is a link to vector templates for iPad design: http://www.teehanlax.com/tools/ipad/

Roundtable: We'll discuss the blog.

Feedback: I think first one with the words and flowers is appropriate. The second one is kind of plain. I like the heart but think the words inside there should be more meaningful if you're going that way. You need to think about navigation. Will this not have menu choices? How do you get to next page? Is that where the menu will be?

Feedback Requested: Home Screen

Hey Everyone,

I'm having just a terrible week and couldn't make it to class last night. My dog L.E. has been at the emergency vet since last night because of her eye pressure being dangerously high. She ended up in emergency surgery this morning to try to save her vision. She's out of surgery now but will remain there for the next two days at the least for continued monitoring.

So anyway, I was hoping to get some feedback on my two home screen covers that I came up with. My book is Pride & Prejudice. In regards to the logic, I have settled on how the user will also interact with the ebook. Jen, I took your suggestions of using the various dances, and the user will be able to explore the Meryton Assembly, The Evening at Sir William Lucas's, and the Ball at Netherfield. Users will be able to read through the discourse within these scenes, but also interact further with some extras regarding the actual dances of the Regency period that included the English Country Dance, The Minuet, The Cotillion, etc. and hear music that was popular to this time and that Austen particularly loved that included Scottish folk music by Haydn and Beethoven as well as music by Ignaz Pleyel. There will also be of course the linear read, chronology, and a character map.

I appreciate your feedback!

Also, could someone share the assignments for Thursday?

Thanks,

Layla

App Design

I think most of us have said something along the lines of "I don't have an iPad," or "I don't really use an iPad/pad/tablet" at some point in class. I have one, but it's really old and I can no longer update the apps because it's OS isn't supported, so I generally only use it to read ebooks on my Kindle app or to watch Netflix when I don't feel like unpacking my laptop from my bag. So, it seemed like designing for mobile/app visual design would make a good topic at this point in the term.

During my research, in an attempt to find a sense of best practices or tips or theory specifically for app design, I came across these two articles/blog posts that I think are helpful.

3 Rules of App Design, According to Yahoo's Marissa Mayer: I realize that Yahoo in general, and Mayer specifically, have experienced some difficulties during her tenure there, but these three basic ideas seemed useful. It's a quick read, but there's the "two-tap rule," which is probably what you think it is, the "five point rule," which is interesting to consider, and the "98% rule," which is helpful to think about with relation to hierarchy, which is probably even more important in app design than in other formats of design.

Designing for Mobile, Part 2: Interaction Design: This is a longer piece, and part 2 of a 3-part series, all of which is helpful in the larger context of thinking about designing apps. I chose this part to link to because of the sections about halfway down the page on "gestures," "transitions," and especially "Main Navigation," which shows examples of different methods of presenting navigation within the app. For each type of navigation, there's a "Good For" section and a "Watch For" section that helps frame how useful each decision might be. I think all three parts of this series are useful, and relatively easy to skim, with illustrations/examples of apps to clarify the points the author (Elaine McVicar, a UX designer in London) makes.

So, what do you think of these articles? What source material(s) have you looked at or worked with in trying to map out your app, or in thinking about your grid, or about how color schemes might help show hierarchy or interactivity, etc? Have you found anything that's been helpful in thinking through this very different format and its opportunities/peculiarities?

Re: Book Designers

 Oliver Munday: "Oliver Munday is a graphic designer living and working in New York City. Along with his studio, he co-founded "Piece", a socially based design collaborative, with Bernard Canniffe and Mike Weikert. Piece believes that designers can play a significant role in positive change and social justice. Oliver's work has been recognized by many of the major design publications including Communication Arts, TDC, STEP magazine's 25 freshest minds in design, Young Guns 7, AIGA 50/50 and in 2010 he was named one of PRINT magazine's “20 under 30,” in the new visual artists review."

He designs everything from book covers to posters to info graphics. These are some examples of his AMAZING Infographics.

His work is absolutely beautiful, very detailed and cohesive, colorful, and most of all simple. In his case of design, "less is more."