TYPOGRAPHIC AND LAYOUT DESIGN: MAGAZINE DESIGN
For this project we were challenged to create local museum brochures, in the 'International Typographic Style'. I chose the Charleston Museum, near Lewes for my subject.
Being the country retreat of the Bloomsbury Group from the time of WW1, I was instantly inspired by the decoration, colours and patterns of the interior and exterior of the house and garden- still beautifully preserved for visitors.
DESIGN ONE: CHARLESTON FARMHOUSE
For my first leaflet, I chose to focus on the interior of the farmhouse and the building itself. This is formatted in an A5 booklet design, and features terracotta and teal blue in the colour palette- which are often found in the decor of the Charleston rooms.
I chose to use bold blocks of colour within the pages of this leaflet, and bold capitalised headings. The main titles are created with layers of transparent text, and pull quotes have expanded spacing to give them more contrast to the main body type.
DESIGN TWO: THE GARDEN
For a leaflet based on the garden surrounding Charleston museum, I chose a gatefold format. For this design I wanted to have a more minimal colour palette and use black and white photography, in the style of the Swiss Designers I had studied as inspiration.
I wanted to use a lot of contrasts in this design, and chose to add delicate white outlines to balance the large titles and images. I played with Indesign 'Layer Effects' and shapes to add sections of blue tint to the pictures. I also used white text and white underlining to highlight quotes and subheadings on the inside pages.
I added the square 'brushmark' logo of the Charleston museum into my main headings on the leaflet, combining the traditional branding with a more modern font choice.
DESIGN THREE: THE 'FAMOUS WOMEN DINNER SERVICE'
For my third and final design, I focussed on the current exhibition of the 'Famous Women Dinner Service' created by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. This collection of 50 plates has only recently been brought back to Charleston, and it inspired me to create a layout focussed on repeated geometric shapes- based on the 50 plates within this collection.
I chose to create a tri-fold design for this leaflet, using a black background with white-out text. I began by making a repeated grid of circles, and then cutting these away where I placed the type. I then laid images within larger circular frames, making a focus within the rest of the shapes. I wanted to the text to appear finer, and used 'Small Caps' as a way of differentiating the pull quotes inside.
Inside the leaflet I made the focus of the design the large image of the full Dinner Service, with key plates picked out around the border. On the front cover, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant are the only pictures used- the two creators of the 'Famous Women' designs. I kept the front cover simple, with a clear white title and black shadow behind it, and combined horizontal and vertical text with the graphic shapes.
