Learn to use colours creatively for magazine and book design.
Visual hierarchy is essential to printed pages. A field of similar objects is a psychological turn-off. Outside the tabloid press, giant headlines are a no-no, so often the lead story on a newspaper spread will be distinguished by having the biggest picture.
In magazines, a feature article will run over several spreads, with the start often flagged by a dramatic composition of form and colour.
Cover stories
Since the first blossoming of the magazine market during the interwar period, publishers have been well aware of the power of colour to transform a cover into a visual sales pitch. Although photography has largely taken over from graphical compositions in mass-market titles, bold use of colour remains a powerful tool.
Standing out and blending in
Whether thanks to the desktop-publishing revolution, strong economies, or a genuine public appetite for ever more printed materials, the world seems to be increasingly crammed with publications, both desirable and unsolicited. One way to make yours stand out from the crowd is by using colour in ways nobody else has thought of.
Buy the book
Book publishers, too, must attract attention to their products. Just as successive editions of a magazine must have enough in common visually to be recognizable to loyal readers, books in the same imprint or by the same author are often designed as a coherent series. Each book is complete in itself, though, and some flavour of its content must be conveyed.
A comprehensive, cutting-edge reference book for a new generation of colour-users, The Complete Guide to Colour brings together key elements of colour theory, practice, and application in one easy-to-use format. From abstract colour theory to the more practical implications of using CMYK and RGB, this authoritative volume may well be the only colour book you'll ever need.
Tom Fraser founded Designer Training Ltd, a firm specializing in professional instruction for design-orientated software. Adam Banks has worked with digital imaging since the early 80s, and contributes regular reviews and tutorials to computer publications.
The Complete Guide to Colour is available at a retail price of £19.95. However, Digit and ILEX have teamed up to save you money. To order your copy with a 20 per cent discount plus FREE P&P in the UK, visit www.ilex-press.com/digitoffer
Alternatively, please write to Digit Offer, ILEX Press Ltd, The Old Candlemakers, West Street, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 2NZ. Or, telephone your order to ILEX on 01273 487 440.