Monday, 13 April 2015

Studio Brief 2 - Ideas

Idea here for the back and front is to visually design the page to have a close representation to a bible. The bible is extremely simplistic & is very universal across the world. The bible design can also come across as sinister & creepy due to aspects like horror movies & a bad representation religion has. The creepy side is what I’m trying to capture visually. The font will be either be a gothic typeface or a typewriter font. These fonts capture religion along with the personalization of the typewriter font as it also comes across eerie & scary. Title name will be minimal but which would create more direct effect & get straight to the point.

Title “Deadliest Cults” creating anticipation & tension. Cover will be hardback cover with hopefully some kind of leather bound material with foiled type to replicate the look of a bible.



Other idea for the font & back is to still stick with the design features like the inspiration of the bible & the stock, colour & type. The difference will be the image. The image will either be upside down cross, which will look scratched or hand painted. The upside down cross has always been closely associated with the devil. This connotation will help my book achieve a closer link with my concept, which is around dangerous & evil cults.

I was also thinking about having the same cross but with also what appears to be tape, taped over the corners, which in the end result will appear to look like a swastika. Implying the association of adaptation & the changing off perceptions within cults & almost communicating that everything isn’t how it appears by using positive symbol or motive to gain evil agendas.



1. These ideas will be for the ‘Heavens Gate’ spread. As Heaven Gate is a cult about UFO’s and aliens, I decided to achieve this by using expressive text. The concept is to start off with information about the cult, so once you’re a quarter of the way down the page, the text turns into alien text. Showing the takeover & control of the aliens, which humans can’t understand or read, almost censoring the information and hiding secrets. The whole page is meant to be more visual than an information page.


2. Idea based around Jim jones cult ‘Peoples Temple’ 2 of the main ideas here is to have a large text saying the words “I Believe in Jim Jones” This text shows the shear disillusion of the cult followers that Jim Jones had, as Jim Jones killed 914 people after making them commit what he called “revolutionary suicide”. The quote/statement represents the effects of brainwashing. Behind the large type will be names off all 914 people.

This idea might be to cramp for all these aspects. Colours will likely be red to represent blood & death. Type will be an ugly typeface or a hippie representation to link the type with the era that the event took place.

3. Feature spread about Jim Jones. Image taking up the whole double page spread. Image will be off the dead victims of the Jim Jones tragedy, It may be hard to look at, but it’s extremely important to show history, I don’t want to sugar coat history. The truth however hard it may be to look at will be displayed. The explicit photo will communicate eeriness and trigger emotional response, which will guarantee the users attention.

Text will be very minimal to allow the image maximum exposure. Type will be off-centered by a couple of degrees to link with the concept of creepy look and feel

4. Another feature image taking up the whole double page spread.  This time it will be for the Klu Klux Klan. Image will be a creepy black and white image of the KKK ceremony. Same format as the previous idea with the small text and off-centered positioning. Type will also be in a 2-column layout to allow breathing room and easy reading for the user.

5. This idea is still based around the KKK cult. However this page will be based around the ‘White power’ side of the cult for maximum visuals. I wanted a massive banner with the words “KKK”. I want the user to feel uncomfortable & feel what the black minority did back in the glory days of the KKK. The background will be black and the type in white to bring out the contrast and depth. Text will be positioned within the middle of the page, it may not be the most appropriate in terms of typical editorial design but I want the user to be constantly distracted by the strength and brutal dominance the KKK had back in the day.

6. Moving on from concentrating on information spreads, I wanted to create spreads/pages which will maximize the concept of creepiness by only using visual semiotics.

6a. KKK page, black background and using only a single KKK member positioned subtlety in the background. Once the user flicks on the page they will be unsure why the page has almost no text and just a single creepy looking Klansman. This uncertainty will make my concept stronger and will make my book more unique and desirable.


6b. Similar aesthetics to the idea above. The page wouldn’t be connected to any clan but will be used for the introduction page. This idea is based around illusions and a creepy motive and exterior behind the image. It will be essentially a circle scribbled round and round. Having the circle hand drawn makes the image more personal and not so distant. By looking at the circle I wanted it to capture the users eye and to put tem into a creepy illusion where they want to look away due to the eerie nature of the scribble but can’t help to keep following the circle round and round.

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