Text arrangement. Notice the top space is twice the depth of the bottom space, the white text mimics her pale arms.

Notice how the horizon has been placed just below half way, giving the sky more space, which is our natural perception of the sky.

How does the cover grab attention from a distance? the word fashion splits the garment in two, making digestion of the image more palatable.

Huge areas of space created by cropping. The listed text on the left emulates the brim's shadowing.

Great image, and a huge amount of consideration given to the placement of the text. Sometimes all you need is for someone to say 'here's your cover image' and you have to work with that, using cropping and arrangement of text.

See how the text uses the grid within the image, creates a new grid and margins, and frames the person. A difficult composition to get right.

Simple, tidy, stylish, chic, and using the implicit grid.

This one refuses to stick to the grid.

Or does it> Is that text REALLY vertically centred?

What's the cover saying about the book content?

This one uses a nice balance of proportions. Notice the top space is twice the depth of the bottom space, around the type.

A good test – get out a ruler and measure the similarities in space divisions in this book cover. You'll be surprised how much this design sticks within the grid.

Emile Cohl - Fantasmagorie 1908

Émile Cohl created Fantasmagorie in 1908.

To make this film, Cohl placed each drawing on an illuminated glass plate and then traced the next drawing-with variations-on top of it until he had some 700 drawings. In 1908, chalkboard caricaturists were common vaudeville attractions and the characters in the film look as though they've been drawn on a chalkboard, but it's an illusion. By filming black lines on paper and then printing in negative Cohl makes his animations appear to be chalk drawings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEAObel8yIE&feature=related

A List Apart

“For people who make websites”

A List Apart explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a special focus on web standards and best practices. This great site discusses everything from CSS3 and HTML5 to code and content writing and the design process.

http://www.alistapart.com