June 2002 | Sparks

Creative process for June 2002 design
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Stage I This design began its life as a suggestion for a bookmark. The sketch was shelved to be re-visited later in order to explore more design possibilities. Color and layering are critical with this approach, and it's not quite working yet here.		Stage II We tried a different treatment of the nautilus shell, but still can't make the type integrate with the image satisfactorily. What we really want is the type overlaid on a sheet of vellum, which isn't something you can do on the Web!


	Final We simplified our approach by using a standalone shell and getting integration through balancing the wide horizontal of the nautilus with the tall vertical of the page and type. The typeface is simplified and humanistic. Type color is heavy enough to counterbalance the nautilus but light enough to give a sense of airiness. We lightened the shell and gave it some luminosity so it wouldn't overwhelm the page. This is a design problem we would love to re-visit, searching for different solutions to the problems of integration, visual effects, and scale.