Sunday, 24 November 2013

Design Styles and Colour Schemes

I've now started to look into the design style I'm going to go for and the colours I'm going to feature. I've found 2 pieces of work by artist Vanessa Fung, on her own blog.

copyright: Vanessa Fung, http://syfungillustration.blogspot.co.uk

I absolutely love the design style she's gone for. It's retro looking, and the colour she's chosen hold up the retro feel too. They're "muted colours" - colours mixed with shades of grey to "tone" them down, like below.
I absolutely think that the colours play a strong part in portraying the era that the design is set in, and I am almost definitely decided on featuring 'muted' colours in my design. They seem naturally nostalgic, through the use of their slight grey tones, and this will help towards providing a sense of 'the past' in my book cover. The sense of nostalgia the colours give off will also strengthen the "retro" style I'm aiming for.

Muted colours also seem to be a current trend, so whilst giving off a nostalgic, retro feel the use of them will at the same time present the book as a current, "trendy" item, and play a part in appealing to the teenagers of today. 

I also started to have a look at the colours featured in some photos that are actually from the 1960's, or are very obviously inspired by the 1960's. 
"Retro"
Above are all examples of the sort of design style I'm going for.

Summary of the "retro" design style:
- Muted colours, and limited use of them. 
- Use of shapes and illustrations (e.g. a silhouette, items built out of shapes of colour)
- Use of textures (e.g. as a background or to make certain shapes look more interesting)
- Very strong font choices
- Imagery significant to the era you're trying to represent ( a car, clothing etc)

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