IngievV Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Thank you! I was about to die of the pressure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guineverer Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 hey mel! how do i send over the completed pages? anways here's some of the pages i re-sized to a smaller size: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOUCHONNERET Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 amazing!! i love the color and the layouts,great job to all!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haley & Megan Meyer Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 We just kinda stalked this thread Oh and everything looks so fantastic, omg! We are all just brilliant people. Mika is going to love this book! Love The Meyer Twins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 hey mel! how do i send over the completed pages?anways here's some of the pages i re-sized to a smaller size: This is really beautiful guineverer!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guineverer Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 This is really beautiful guineverer!!! awww thank you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 awww thank you!! You're welcome!! ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agnieszka Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 hey mel! how do i send over the completed pages?anways here's some of the pages i re-sized to a smaller size: this is amazing! so nice! my sister is sitting next to me and told me to let you know that being a non-mikafan, so as objective as a person can be, she loves the pages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liliana Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 hey mel! how do i send over the completed pages?anways here's some of the pages i re-sized to a smaller size: OMG This is amazing! I'm so happy to make part of this project! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 The pages are beautiful, but white text on a pale background is insanely difficult to read. The easiest solutions both involve using black text. The first is to use a box around the entier block of text and make the background about 50% brightness within that box so that the text doesn't blend into the black lines in the background (because the black lines will be closer to a dark grey at a lower brightness.) The other solution is to use knockouts wherever the text crosses over the top of a dark line. A knockout can be a small box or an outline of the text. Whichever one you use, you'll want it to be the same color as the main background (that brownish artboard color.) There are some other tricks you can do to make the text mirror the shape of the area you are trying to fit it into, but without Photoshop in front of me, I can't remember the specific tricks I used for that. I kind of agree with you. I think black would look better ^^. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IngievV Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I'm still working hard, just 2 more sections to go and I'm done:thumb_yello: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlau_20zr Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 hey mel! how do i send over the completed pages?anways here's some of the pages i re-sized to a smaller size: amazinggg great job! i love the colours, the shape... ALL! you have talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louiza Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 hey mel! how do i send over the completed pages?anways here's some of the pages i re-sized to a smaller size: these are AMAZING!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guineverer Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 The white looks good, but we want Mika to be able to actually READ the poetry. The problem with white text is that it's very difficult to read, even on a dark background, which is why websites with dark backgrounds tend to a light color for text instead of white. After looking at the pages more carefully and thinking about which knockout option I would use, I would go with the text outline. First, the pale box is unnessary because most of the text does fit into the space. There are only a few spots where the text overlaps the art. Making a large part of the art more pale to accommodate a few lines of text would undermine the art. Small block knock outs would be functional, but they would make it look like parts of the art had been cut away with scissors. Block knockouts aren't the best choice for text in many cases. Thus, the best option is a nice dark text with a text outline knockout. I always found the best text knockouts were 1-2 pts with rounded corners. You need it big enough that you aren't going to have artifacts between the letters (which looks sloppy and makes it harder to read) but small enough so that it doesn't look like you cut a huge chunk out of the art to make room for the text. A good knockout doesn't draw attention away from the text or the art. Why, yes, I did used to get paid for this. I used to spend hours making sure I had tried everything to avoid using knockouts and then making sure that the unavoidable knockouts looked perfect. I'm not doing layout on this project because I don't have that job anymore, which means that I don't have access to graphic design software anymore. I couldn't afford to buy the software for this machine. I miss the software and the job. Best job I ever had. The pages are beautiful, but white text on a pale background is insanely difficult to read. The easiest solutions both involve using black text. The first is to use a box around the entier block of text and make the background about 50% brightness within that box so that the text doesn't blend into the black lines in the background (because the black lines will be closer to a dark grey at a lower brightness.) The other solution is to use knockouts wherever the text crosses over the top of a dark line. A knockout can be a small box or an outline of the text. Whichever one you use, you'll want it to be the same color as the main background (that brownish artboard color.) There are some other tricks you can do to make the text mirror the shape of the area you are trying to fit it into, but without Photoshop in front of me, I can't remember the specific tricks I used for that. thank you both so much for your feedback!! to be completely honest, i'm a little lost with what both of you said about knockouts, so would it be fine if i just changed the font colours to black?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonjourMika1990 Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 ooh guineverer:mf_lustslow: I actually love the white lettering. But again, maybe get some more opinions and take the general vote to make the decision but wow, great work:thumb_yello: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haley & Megan Meyer Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 We like both white lettering and black lettering. Any way it will be brilliant.:punk: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guineverer Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 (edited) ooh guineverer:mf_lustslow:I actually love the white lettering. But again, maybe get some more opinions and take the general vote to make the decision but wow, great work:thumb_yello: thank you and i think i'll be trying out the suggestion that riverstwilight mentioned, just ot be on the safe side! I'm not trying to disparage the white lettering. It really does look great. I worked as a graphic designer for two years, so I have some experience with trying to print things that look great in theory and on the screen, but don't work as well on paper as they do on the screen. White text often looks like a good idea on screen, but printers read white as ink-free areas. So, the text will only be as white as the paper that is used. If that was the only concern it would be fine because most paper is really white. However, another issue that affects the finished product is that ink bleeds a little bit whenever you print something. It isn't a huge bleed that's going to make you think "Wow, that ink really bled into that." However, it's enough of an issue that in small areas, like text, you can get enough of a bleed to make parts of the area smaller or disappear completely, which can make the text completely illegible. Making the letters bold to offset that can cause the printer to leave out spots of ink because the area between letters is to small to print, so you could get letters bleeding together. The other issue that needs to be considered is that light colors come out lighter than expected when they are printed. So, you may have a background that looks like it isn't too pale to make the text disappear, but when you print it, you find that its pale enough to make the text nearly invisible, especially if there's an issue with ink-bleed. Hopefully, the printer would let you know if there's going to be a legibility issue, but most printers are going to assume that you've had everything proofread and gone over the design with somebody knowledgable. So, the printer might not take the time to check. I'm not trying to be difficult or critical. I just don't want an entire section of the book to be illegible because I kept my mouth shut until the book was already printed. yeah i'll try the knockout method that you elaborated on - currently i'm still trying on photoshop, but i'll get back to you on how i'm getting along... currently having some technical problems XD Edited February 6, 2009 by guineverer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollipop_monkey Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Hopefully, the printer would let you know if there's going to be a legibility issue, but most printers are going to assume that you've had everything proofread and gone over the design with somebody knowledgable. So, the printer might not take the time to check. The printer we're going with doesn't offer any proofing whatsoever. It's all on us - they print it just as we send it. That said, we used a fair bit of white text on darker backgrounds last year, and it turned out quite well - but that was white text on dark blues and blacks. My concern in this case is that the beige-y colour might not be dark enough to provide enough contrast against the white text. But apart from that, the artwork looks absolutely gorgeous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haley & Megan Meyer Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 The printer we're going with doesn't offer any proofing whatsoever. It's all on us - they print it just as we send it. That said, we used a fair bit of white text on darker backgrounds last year, and it turned out quite well - but that was white text on dark blues and blacks. My concern in this case is that the beige-y colour might not be dark enough to provide enough contrast against the white text. But apart from that, the artwork looks absolutely gorgeous. We agree with that. Now why didn't I just say THAT? Oh, right, because I always go on and on and on and.... :naughty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guineverer Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 (edited) hey you guys! i found that i have a hard time figuring out the knockout technique which riverstwilight sooo kindly typed out the instructions for me, so i think i'll be converting the whire text to black - that would be alright would it? it would solve the readability issues and all edit: here's a preview of the font in black: is it alright? Edited February 7, 2009 by guineverer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IngievV Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 hey you guys! i found that i have a hard time figuring out the knockout technique which riverstwilight sooo kindly typed out the instructions for me, so i think i'll be converting the whire text to black - that would be alright would it? it would solve the readability issues and all edit: here's a preview of the font in black: is it alright? Better:thumb_yello: I'm done with the pics section Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Better:thumb_yello: I'm done with the pics section Can you show us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKateisaKate Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 (edited) I have a feeling I won't be totally done until the last minute of the 10th. LG is almost completely done, I printed out my proofs. I would say 95%. Artwork needs a little more revision but I would say it's 85% done, and I have some questions for Mel/ Mana which I am PMing thm about later today. Also with artwork, I'm having some trouble placing some of the pictures... they won't place as anything bigger than thumbnails. I will have to fool around and figure it out. Then I have to save them all as new files and I will finally be done! Yay! So that's the updates on LG/ Art sections. Edited February 7, 2009 by AKateisaKate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haley & Megan Meyer Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 hey you guys! i found that i have a hard time figuring out the knockout technique which riverstwilight sooo kindly typed out the instructions for me, so i think i'll be converting the whire text to black - that would be alright would it? it would solve the readability issues and all edit: here's a preview of the font in black: is it alright? This looks FANTASTIC!!! Great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 I think I actually prefer the black letters, reading issues left aside ^^. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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