Week 3 - Design & Typography

In children's books there was very little change in text that was used from the 1800's to 1900's. Typography was mostly simple black text in a Serif style, and were separate from the images. The lack of variation in typography used in books were mainly due to limitations in the printing process.
  One of the first major publications to break the norms of typography and layout was ' The Mouse's Tale' By Lewis Carrol. The text of the poem is arranged into the shape of the tail of a mouse, despite this being a very time consuming process with how the printing plates would have to be arranged, this process created a new way to look at text. Writers and illustrators realised that combining text and image helped with the flow of the narrative and created a new and interesting way of reading. 

'The Quiet Noisy Book' was originally published in 1950, it was written by Magaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard. From looking at the art style in this book it seems to me that the main influences are a mix of surrealism, cubism and pop art. These influences can be seen through the use of a bright, high contrast colour scheme and the use of unusual shapes. Another feature of this book seems to be that on many of the pages the colour red is the focal point, and in my opinion is the brightest colour amongst the palette, which helps to lead your eye around the page and to the narrative focus. The typography in this book is very simple, but bold and easy to read. Also the text is integrated into the illustrations and in some places spreads across the page which was quite innovative at the time.


'Mustache' was originally published in 2011, it was written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Kevin Cornell and Mac Barnett. The colour palette used in this particular page spread is very suited to the time in which the story is based, and in this case the colour purple on the page is used to draw focus to specific characters and events. In regards to the typography, in my opinion, it seems to be in the style of an exaggerated stereotype of text that would have been used in the set time period. However the main story text is in a simpler version of this font to make it clearer and more legible. Despite the text not being directly integrated into the illustrations in this book the framing used is in a style that links the text and image, so that they aren't completely detached.  






'The Christmas Magic' was originally published in 2009, it was written by Lauren Thompson and illustrated by Jon J Muth. The colour palette used in this page spread is quite muted with varying tones with soft edges that give it an overall dream-like look. The art style used is quite classical with the use of paint, but have created surreal environments. The type face used in this book is quite standard and is quite small on the page, so that the illustrations become the main focus. This is because this is a picture book for very young children so the text is mainly for the adults so doesn't need to be very big. The text itself is in serif form and is an inverted colour to the background it is placed on so that it is easier to read.

When using typography in publications there are many things to consider, such as the amount of text you will be choosing a font for and the age of which it is targeted at. There are two main styles a typeface can have, Serif and Sans Serif. Serif fonts are known for having 'little feet' on the base of each letter, for example 'Serif'. This style is mostly used for large amounts of text as it is easier to read. Plus it is also seen to be used in publications to give it a more classical look, as its a very old font style. San Serif fonts, which is what I'm typing in now, are mostly used for smaller amounts of text and is a infantised version on a Serif font. This style is used in publications that require a more modern look, because the absence of the 'feet' on the letters allows for more manipulation with the letter forms. Sassoon Primary is an example of a San Serif font that is frequently used in publications for children, especially in work books, as this font replicates the way in which a child is taught to write, so not only does it aid with this area of learning, it makes it easier for children to reference text back to their own writing.