Basic elements and concepts of prepress design for

Basic elements and concepts of prepress design of periodical cover 1. Elements of cover design

although some periodicals now add secondary packaging plastic envelopes to show high-grade, their publicity effects are mainly displayed through the cover, and cover design is still the hardware of periodical image

a successful cover design must have the following elements:

1. Highlight the logo and title, facilitate readers' identification, strengthen readers' memory of the unique artistic symbols of the magazine, and lay a good foundation for brand construction

2. it must be in line with the content of this issue and have the function of reading guidance. The selection of pictures and fonts, the size of font, and the use of colors should be coordinated with the content of this issue

3. reflect their own style, and reflect the overall unity in continuity and change. In the absence of mature consideration, sufficient market research or major changes in the positioning of the publication, it is best not to change the cover design style significantly, so that the publication appears in front of readers with a completely unfamiliar face, which will greatly affect the publication

4. overall coordination, unity, eye-catching and atmosphere. Logo, title, issue number, bar code and other elements form a perfect picture with clear visual focus and sense of hierarchy. Strong. It should not be too complicated and fancy

II. Four important concepts of cover design

1. Clear positioning

the first thing to consider in the establishment of a journal is positioning. Only with accurate positioning can it win the market. But what we usually say about positioning often refers to the positioning of content, price and target readers, and ignores the positioning of the cover. Indeed, the cover serves the content, and it must closely fit the content. However, the cover itself should also have a clear positioning. The content and cover positioning of the publication go hand in hand, which has injected a strong force into the market

2. unique aesthetic value

the cover is not a simple combination of pictures and titles. Most youth periodicals, women's periodicals, marriage and childbirth, health and fashion periodicals use female models and stars as their main covers. At one time, according to the suggestions of some readers, the magazine changed the cover from a single picture of a beautiful woman to a picture of two men and women or a family photo. As a result, the sales decreased significantly and the original cover style had to be restored. However, it is clear that readers do not buy the magazine only for beauty photos. If readers only want to appreciate beautiful women, it is far better to buy large wall calendars, picture pages and human photo collections. Readers like the beauty picture on the cover of the journal, because it is a work of art with design awareness, loaded with new cultural connotation, and gives people new visual pleasure and beauty enjoyment. Therefore, it is not appropriate to veto all the pictures of beautiful women on the cover. However, the design level of the cover of some domestic periodicals is not high, and the photos of characters published are lack of design, and even have the tendency of low-level and vulgar, which is the main reason for the disgust of readers

3. reflect the characteristics of advanced culture

(1) clearly oriented

periodicals are special cultural products that affect people's ideological field. Their covers also play a role in spreading advanced culture and encouraging people to be positive

the thoughts and aesthetic tastes of the journal's organizers are often reflected through the cover design, which has a positive guide to the public's aesthetics. The cover design must have rich cultural connotation, reflect the noble aesthetic taste, pursue the profound ideological implication and human depth, realize the organic unity of ideology, artistry and appreciation, give the audience beauty and passion, strength and faith, and become the spiritual sentiment of the readers, A garden to improve readers' aesthetic level and cultural taste. This is also the value and significance of periodical culture

(2) in line with the aesthetic psychology of the audience

when it comes to the cover design of periodicals, it attempts to cater to the gap between the moving knife and the fixed knife on the cover of all readers: it is almost impossible for a crusher above 20HP to be 0.8mm. What's more, let's talk about their main differences here. There are many kinds of periodicals. Each category of periodicals has a specific audience. The phenomenon that all the people read literary periodicals in the 1980s has gone forever. Now the traditional pattern of the periodical market has been broken. With the subdivision of the market, the target audience of periodicals is becoming more and more clear. Whether it can be said that the journal cover design going to the future should be in line with the aesthetic psychology of the minority. The journal cover design should be carefully designed to meet their aesthetic taste and appreciation habits for their specific readers, so as to be accepted by them and win a certain market share

4. brand strategy should be considered

from the perspective of marketing. The journal cover design must achieve the AIDA goal, a is attention, that is, to attract the attention of consumers first. Ibo interest is to arouse the interest of readers. D is desire, that is, the desire to stimulate readers' slow response to purchase. A8paction is to enable potential readers to implement consumption behavior. From this point of view, the following two elements must be considered in the design of journal cover

(1) to facilitate identification

to highlight the dominant position of logo and title, the graphics, colors, fonts and font size must be subordinate to the logo and title, and shall not conflict with the logo, title and issue number. It is necessary to be harmonious and unified, highlight the personalized and identifiable characteristics of the image, strengthen the accumulation of the audience's cognitive image, and ensure the unity and continuity of the brand image

(2) market terminal effect should be considered

in the journal cover design, from the perspective of simple graphic design effect, some covers seem to be successful and have high artistic taste. However, if the covers of some journals are placed on the market, this effect is not obvious. Why? That is, the designer did not consider the end effect of the market. The traditional journal names are located above, below, on the left, and on the right of the journal cover, while most modern journal names are located above the journal. This is determined by the terminal display mode of periodicals, because whether it is a hanging or a horizontal type, the general bookstores and newspaper retail kiosks display multiple copies of periodicals, which only show above the periodicals. Because you can't guarantee that the dealer will always put your publication on the first floor. If the publication name is designed in other positions, it will not be easily touched or even invisible by readers

therefore, the cover designers of periodicals must have a strong market awareness when designing the cover, consider the artistic taste of the cover, follow the market law and consider the market end effect

three conclusion

with the prosperity of the periodical industry, the overall appearance of the cover design of periodicals in China has changed greatly at this stage, and the level has been greatly improved. In particular, the covers of some, enterprise, fashion and animation periodicals have completely walked out of the pattern of the traditional periodical cover by adopting hydraulic loading, with novel design and strong color of the times. What cannot be ignored is that the overall binding level of China's periodical industry is not high, and there is a big gap compared with the international advanced level. The emerging technology has injected vitality into the cover design. The application of network resources, digital technology and the improvement of printing technology have expanded and enriched the means of expression of cover design, making the cover design have a broader space. The art editors of periodicals should speed up the learning and updating of knowledge, so as to make the cover design of periodicals in China enter the fast lane of speeding up, connect with the international advanced level, and inject vitality into the global market