Book cover design (below)

Four designer seals

The cover is the appearance of books and is the main part of book design. In addition to the protective effect of the seal, the more important role is to publicize, that is, the small advertisement of this book. Therefore, the seal should have advertising effect. However, the effective distance of the seal propaganda effect is different from that on the advertising wall or poster column on the street. It is a relatively small printed product placed in the window, and there is a distance of 2-3 meters. Protecting seals is also different from general painting. It is subordinate to books and reflects the content, nature, and spirit of books. If you leave the books, you won't be able to design seals. Therefore, the design of the jacket should take into account the cultural nature. It is different from the highly effective product advertisement paintings and is also different from the independent painting creations. It can reflect the spirit of the book content and give people the enjoyment of art and the joy of reading. Art work

1. Conceived. Conception is the first and most important step in the design of the seal. The Chinese painting theory advocates that "the intention is to precede the pen." The so-called "idea" is the idea, the idea is the soul of the artistic modelling, and the design of the seal protection is no exception. Some common seals are simple to illustrate and translate content or titles, which are not only bland, but sometimes even distorted. Some of the seals, although they have a strong sense of form, and even follow the rules of art, are not ideological. They may make people like it for a while, but they soon forget it. However, we have also seen some excellent ideas and profound seals, which are incomparable and repetitious. The reasons for this difference, the quality of the concept and the depth are the main ones.

When the designer reads the manuscript or understands the contents of the book, the idea activity begins. So we say that conception is the beginning of design. Since the seal can reflect the content of the book, it is only one point, one side, or one angle. It cannot and does not need to reflect all of the content. Therefore, we must seize the essence and typical of the content, and refer to the living materials and materials for generalization and refinement. Then expand your imagination wings. At this time, many ideas are full of ideas. Some flashed through, some looming, gradually emerged in various programs. Some accidentally obtained, the so-called inspiration. On this basis, more drafts should be drafted. In many drafts, after a series of screenings and comparisons, supplements and improvements, choose the most ideal one. This plan may be successful, and it may be partially or completely overturned, further generating better solutions. Obviously, the concept activity is a process of understanding and continuously improving things. The idea of ​​good and bad and success or failure is based on the designer's accumulated ideological sentiments, cultural and artistic accomplishments.

Different types of books have different characteristics. Literary books use characters to depict images. Political books are logical ideas. Scientific books or books have images or no images. If only existing images are used, they are not sufficient to reflect the essence of the content. Because of this, designers must be good at translating logical thinking that is not easily understood by the reader into a concise and vivid image.

In creative activities, the use of association, metaphor, symbol, personification, empathy, abstraction, exaggeration, creation of artistic conception and atmosphere can make clever ideas and depths, and trigger emotional communication, resonance and extension between designers and readers. To complete a complete aesthetic process. The brilliant designer pursues the realm of “exhaustion”. The reader's appreciation of the aesthetics does not stop at the limited image of the seal, but continues to extend to the depth and breadth, so that the end point created by the designer becomes the starting point for readers to recreate.

However, the seal is an art of visual communication. Good ideas must also be expressed through appropriate forms and techniques.

2. Performance techniques. Sealing performance methods can be roughly divided into three types:

(1) Realistic techniques. The contents of the book are directly represented by the specific plots and images in the book, so it is also called direct expression. For example, in a book describing war, he painted fierce war scenes, a book on agricultural production, and painted tractors or farm fields. This kind of expression is intuitive and easy to understand. It is used in literary books, children's books, and intellectual reading books.

(2) Symbolic techniques. Using the methods of association, metaphor, symbol, and abstraction to indirectly reflect the content spirit of the book, it is also called an indirect expression technique. For example, pens or manuscripts are used for literary theory books, facial or curtains are used for drama books, musical instruments or musical notes are used for music books, and the like. If this method of expression is used well, it is more subtle and more subtle than realistic tactics.

Source: First District