OUGD504 - Other Books

A Decade in Dubai

- The book is primarily a photobook looking at Dubai and its achievements and growth over a decade. 

- The cover uses only black and gold which is an elegant and modern.

- The use of full bleed double page spread images in a large landscape book becomes immersive and almost reflects a life size panoramic view of the landscapes, as if you were there looking across to the different locations.

- The use of glossy stock makes the images vibrant and the shine to the page creates a luxury feel  

- The use of coloured blocks complement the imagery well as many of the tones used within the book are found within the natural landscape of Dubai. This overlap of colours within the imagery and boxes draws the layout as a whole together. Also the use of gold and silver stocks reflect the luxurious and wealthy aspects of Dubai.

- The use of patterns over the blocks of colour creates a contrast between the ultramodern and more traditional aspects of Dubai, which could be an interesting concept to play with in the design of my guide. These are quite subtly reflected in the book through the use of lighter tones over the block colour. 

- Patternation is also used over the imagery through the use of a varnish, which provides a smooth texture and a understated suggestion of the traditional aspects of Dubai. This creates the impression that although Dubai is dominated by its futuristic and modern buildings etc its traditions are still part of and fundamental to the culture.

- Within the book the text is written in both Arabic and English which is similar to the signage within Dubai. Arabic is the official language and English is widely spoken. Having both the languages suggests the multicultural aspect of Dubai and the culture within Dubai.  

National Geographic

Dubai Section  

- Much of the section on Dubai uses full bleed images with a layout that expands over a double page spread rather than treating them as individual pages. The use of the full bleed images creates the effect that the book is framing the scene and suggesting  a wider viewpoint beyond the bounds of the book

- The use of black boxes to surround the text means that the content does not get lost within the image and is more legible on the page. However the use of the black boxes does not stand out too much to distract from the overall images.

- The use of the glossy stock makes the images look brighter and sharper showing off the photography and the landscape to its full potential.   

- Other spreads within the book use a border around the double spread images which creates a more framed, airy feel to the design.