PRINTCast: The PRINT Podcast Studio is a curated collection of cutting-edge podcasts we love about design, creativity, branding, books, and further subjects afield. Inside Front Cover is a show hosted by Sam Aquillano about the design process behind creating the cover for his forthcoming book about launching and growing Design Museum Everywhere.
The Proportion Design team has been in listen and learn more through the first four sessions — taking in a lot of information about Sam Aquillano’s forthcoming book. Now the team, including Blake Goodwin, Paul Reiss, and Andrea Cincotta, is ready to share their distillation of those learnings into three distinct brand attributes that form a triangle. They call this the Proportion Triangle — at the middle is the space Sam’s book will inhabit. The attributes: Passion, Expertise, and Creativity.
The team then maps the previously shared competitor set of similar books on their triangle, and as you can see, most of the books in this space cluster around Expertise. The designers see an opportunity in that middle triangle space, balancing all three attributes.
Proportion goes on to define the brand attributes through messaging themes and tone:
Passion: Energetic typography & color to express visual excitement. A boldness in upward movement that illustrates enthusiasm and excitement. Friendly and conversational. Always supportive and energetic, not too assertive.
Expertise: Built upon a foundation of design fundamentals – clean lines and grid layouts. Easily digestible messaging & clear hierarchy of information. Strong and to the point. Confident and smart without being pretentious.
Design: Clever use of unexpected visual elements. High contrast elements used to guide the eye. Breaks from expected patterns. Witty wordplay, without being confusing, or too ‘smart.’
Based on these themes, they share two creative directions: (1) Nurturing the Journey and (2) Dig Up, Dive Deep— the group discusses both in detail and Sam gives some preliminary direction. Then, Sam shares more title ideas for the team to discuss and debate — the search for a title continues…
Listen in the player above or check it out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Catch up with Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, and Episode 4.
