PROPORTION/SCALE/SIZE- Can create the illusion of depth, 3D look.- Can create relationships of strength/weakness.- Can create a sense of vastness- Useful in factual/scientific type diagrams
COLOUR SATURATION (intensity)- the more grey= less saturated- no/little grey= highly saturated- can manipulate emotions,, attitudes etc- can indicate the past/future
COLOUR HUE (classifications of colour on the spectrum)
- Creates moods and denotes significant meanings.--
Red- warmth, intensity, reds have great ‘visual weight’- a red object will draw and hold our eyes more than any other similarly saturated colour. Can represent action, passion, masculinity, emotion, danger etc.-
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Orange- excitement, desire-
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Yellow- (or warm colours such as browns, oranges etc) often reflects happiness, cheerfulness, optimism, joy, enlightenment etc.-
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Blue and associated colours- often used to evoke melancholy, pensiveness, for dream or fantasy sequences. Can also depict coolness, calmness or wisdom.
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Pink- sensuous, emotion, feminine, romantic.
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Sepia- the past, or age.
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Green- knowledge, hope, promise, growth, fertility, life.
-Black- evil, mysterious, powerful, fear.
-White- purity, innocence, timeless, mystical.
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Purple- passionate, smouldering, caring.
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Grey- lack of intensity, bleakness, detachment, neutral, uncommitted.
LIGHT AND SHADE- relative darkness or brightness, as when we refer to a light or dark blue. Light sources can affect how something is represented.
TONE- ranges from lighter to darker.
CAMERA SHOTS- used for a variety of purposes
- Close Up- shows detail (usually engages the viewer in a more personal subjective way)
- Mid- further back, will show relationship to something else. Characters usually take up half to two-thirds of the frame.
- Long Distance- shows entire scene (much more objective, and brings the environment & background etc into importance).
ANGLES- frontal- involvement
- side on- detachment
- verticals/low angles (looking up)- power, dominance
- verticals/high angles (looking down)- weakness, submission
- horizontal shots tend to give balance
IMAGERY/SYMBOLISM- relying on associations with particular colours, signs, symbols and images to enhance significance or complexity. Used to represent an idea, concept etc. eg a Cross, the Statue of Liberty etc.
FOREGROUND/ MIDDLEGROUND/ BACKGROUND- used to indicate relationships.
CENTRALITY- placing of the central figure, object, main idea; focuses attention.
CROPPING- the picture is shortened or made smaller.
LINE/VECTORS- Horizontals and verticals can suggest stability
- Diagonals, dots, broken lines can suggest motion
- Cross-hatching can suggest solidity, calm.
BLUR- Can imply motion
MIST- Can imply memory, gives prominence to a figure or idea
TIME- Indicated by left to right progression
SHAPES/CONTOURS- Squarish shapes can suggest harshness, rigidity
- Curves suggest softness, flow.
PERSPECTIVE- point of view, related to camera shots and angles. Is demonstrated in both graphics and words. Altering perspective can be used to imply changes in character or situation.
CONTRAST- comparing ‘before’ and ‘after’. Changes in perspective, point of view, colours, saturation and style can be made to imply or state changed attitudes.
MOOD- the prevailing atmosphere or feeling.
SETTING- the time and place of the story/scene.
ALLEGORY- A story which seems simple but has an extra meaning….‘extending a metaphor through an entire passage so that objects, persons and actions in the text are equated with meaning outside the text’.
SURREALISM- joining dream and fantasy to everyday reality to form an absolute reality, a “surreality”.
REALISM- portraying the world with attention to life-like detail.
CARTOON ART- Cartoons consist of exaggerated caricatures that emphasize emotion and movement. They possess no subtlety, but are simple and straightforward.
EXPRESSIONISM- conveys an inner feeling or vision by distorting external reality. The influence of expressionism is found in children’s picture books in the form of distorted shapes and provocative use of color and line.
IMPRESSIONISM- depicts natural appearances of objects by giving fleeting visual impressions with an emphasis on light. Color is the most distinctive feature, especially the interplay of color and light, often created with splashes, speckles, or dots of paint as opposed to longer brush strokes. The effect is dreamlike. It evokes a quiet, pensive mood.
BACKLIGHTING- The main source of light is behind the subject, silhouetting it, and directed toward the camera.
FADE IN- A punctuation device. The screen is black at the beginning; gradually the image appears, brightening to full strength. The opposite happens in the fade out
FLASHBACK- A scene or sequence (sometime an entire film), that is inserted into a scene in "present" time and that deals with the past. The flashback is the past tense of the film.
FLASH- FORWARD- On the model of the flashback, scenes or shots of future time; the future tense of the film.
MONTAGE- A technique of film editing in which several elements or shots are assembled to give a main idea.
MISE-EN SCENE- Literally, the "putting-in-the-scene": What takes place on set: the direction of actors, the placement of cameras, choice of lenses, set decoration, props, colours etc.
PAN- (abbreviation of panorama) Movement of the camera from left to right or right to left around the imaginary vertical axis that runs through the camera.
OTHER FACTORS TO CONSIDERElements of Book Design
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Paper stock. Highly glossy paper adds clarity to colours but, as it reflects light, it can make it more difficult to focus on the specifics. This may mean that we don’t feel as ‘involved’ with the characters. Slightly glossy paper attempts to overcome this. Roughly textured paper is more easily worked into various levels of light and darkness. It provides more opportunity for shading, allowing for more detail. This may influence the emotional involvement of the reader in the story’s characters and setting. Rougher paper is also more inviting to touch, supporting further involvement or intimacy with the world depicted in the book.
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Shape and size of the book. Is it wide or narrow? What effect does this have?
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Design and Layout- This could refer to a great many things. But we should always consider:
Does it use pictures on one or two pages?
How is the position of the images (visual text) related to that of the words (the verbal text)?
How are the pages laid out in general?
What are the characteristics of the book’s type/font design?
Does the type support a particular style for the story? Eg, Gothic font for a medieval story.
Type of colours chosen- what kind of visual weight do they have? How are they used to emphasise particular narrative elements of the story?
