First, I'd like to say: I've had fun working on this project, and I agree with you that it is a "cool friggen' project." Also, I won't consider this project done until you are completely happy --- even when the contest is deemed "finished." I'd also be willing to lay the entire book out for you, for no extra fee, if you found that you needed the help. So,
About the Icons: I wanted to use one color (red) to contrast with the green, and i wanted to keep the color scheme simple, so I kept all the icons, well, simply: red.
The Straight Talk icon is a target. I went with a more elaborate target, because I felt a solely red and white icon would end up looking like the
Target ® logo.
The Real Life icon was a tough one, so I went with your advice to another contestant -- a bar graph exemplifying upward mobility. It's a simple icon, however, I feel it's effective and optimistic, considering that you want to show that your advice works, and over time, will produce positive results.
The Launch It! is a simple rocket...it's the first thing that came to mind, and it stuck.
I wanted the icons to look good, big or small -- that's always important. I used the icons as bullets in some of the special boxes, so you can see this rationale applied in the project.
About the color scheme --- simple, straight forward. Green, red, and of course, black and white. The green not to conflict with your homesite; the red to offset the green and stand out.
About the fonts: They're all from the Gill Sans family. Gill sans and all it's variations (italic, bold, etc.) and Gill sans Ultra Bold for the chapter headings. I used these fonts because they're sleek and modern, and have many different looks. So aside from the size, one can call attention to the information with all the built in properties (bold, italic) without warping the type and breaking many of the typography rules -- stretching and so forth.
I tried to keep the sizes uniform throughout, to give you the template feel.
Along the same note: It was rather tough to create a "template" considering the different amounts of information in the different chapters and special boxes.
Hopefully, this is enough info.
I hope you like the design.
And to reiterate: I'm not done 'til you're happy.
Comments
About the Icons: I wanted to use one color (red) to contrast with the green, and i wanted to keep the color scheme simple, so I kept all the icons, well, simply: red.
The Straight Talk icon is a target. I went with a more elaborate target, because I felt a solely red and white icon would end up looking like the
Target ® logo.
The Real Life icon was a tough one, so I went with your advice to another contestant -- a bar graph exemplifying upward mobility. It's a simple icon, however, I feel it's effective and optimistic, considering that you want to show that your advice works, and over time, will produce positive results.
The Launch It! is a simple rocket...it's the first thing that came to mind, and it stuck.
I wanted the icons to look good, big or small -- that's always important. I used the icons as bullets in some of the special boxes, so you can see this rationale applied in the project.
About the color scheme --- simple, straight forward. Green, red, and of course, black and white. The green not to conflict with your homesite; the red to offset the green and stand out.
About the fonts: They're all from the Gill Sans family. Gill sans and all it's variations (italic, bold, etc.) and Gill sans Ultra Bold for the chapter headings. I used these fonts because they're sleek and modern, and have many different looks. So aside from the size, one can call attention to the information with all the built in properties (bold, italic) without warping the type and breaking many of the typography rules -- stretching and so forth.
I tried to keep the sizes uniform throughout, to give you the template feel.
Along the same note: It was rather tough to create a "template" considering the different amounts of information in the different chapters and special boxes.
Hopefully, this is enough info.
I hope you like the design.
And to reiterate: I'm not done 'til you're happy.
Sincerely,
Tim Becker
28-Nov-08, 8:41pm GMT
Disclosure: I created everything in my entry and I didn't copy anyone else's concept. (?)
more info to come, i wanted to get this files uploaded first28-Nov-08, 8:22pm GMT