Design
Truth is light. The design of the spread represents light and truth shining out of the darkness.
The article Treasuring All Truth appears on the front page of lds.org, but the article is actually from the mormonnewsroom.org.
As part of the creative process, I read the article and identified the main messages and key words. I pulled out words like treasure, wired, spin, and scattered. I envisioned images of gold coins, wires and electricity. I had already sketched out ideas for the layout and had an initial layout read to go in InDesign. Next, I went shopping for images. My initial thoughts were not what I ended up with, but those searches led me to the current images which are the inspiration for the spread.
At first I inserted the earth image according to the layout that I planned. But I quickly saw that this image could be much more effective if it reached across the whole spread. The whole creative process was like that. It was a process of tweaking and adjusting. I started with an initial idea and then adapted it as I went along.
I am very pleased with the final result. The images bleed into a dark background so that there is a continuity throughout the pages even though the images are unrelated to each other. The pages are further connected with the typography color and the background color of the subheadings so that all the pages feel like they belong together.
The block quote defines the message of the image, that truth is scattered across the globe. It doesn’t compete with the image for attention because it bleeds into the background of the page. The earth is what first attracts the viewer’s eye, then the quote. The quote repeats the message of the image. The two together complement each other. I intentionally centered the block quote as a contrast to the left alignment everywhere else on the page.
Photography
The first image from Justin Clark at unsplash.com shows a man grasping on to a lighted sphere. This implies embracing truth and corresponds with the title and message of treasuring all truth.
The second image from NASA at unsplash.com shows light scattered across the globe. In some areas it’s dense. In other areas it’s hardly a speck. This went so well with the article that says that truth is scattered across the globe.
Color
After selecting the images and defining the layout, I turned my attention to color and typography. The color palette of blues and creamy oranges came from using the color picker on the image of the earth on the second and third pages.
The creamy oranges bring warmth to the contrast of light and the darkness. The contrasting orange title and quote bring another layer of interest. The heavier color is appropriate for the main title and quote.
Blue gives the piece some color without detracting from the main images. It enhances without becoming a focal point in and of itself. I intentionally made sure to have blue on the first page so that the first page feels connected to the second page. Even if there were no blue subheadings on the 2nd and 3rd pages, adding something blue to the 1st page enabled a visual connection to the image of the globe with scattered lights on the ensuing pages.
Typography
Title, headings, and sub headings: Abraham Lincoln font from lostype.com (Modern)
Body text: Verdana (Sans Serif) The description for the font said “honest”. How could I not choose that font for an article about truth? 😉
Initially I had the fonts reversed, but a classmate suggested I switch and it was a good move. The text is much more readable in Verdana and the titles are much more interesting in the Modern font.
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