Page - Bookmark

The bookmark concept is one that adds a pull factor to this small booklet. It needs to stand out and draw in an audience; one that will grow if they expect a small freebee to be in each issue. I was confident on the image that this bookmark would hold as I had seen small diagrams of coffee blends on the internet before and thought that the visual representations of these would be not only useful but also quirky and cute. This bookmark had so many design possibilities and has probably the most enjoyable component so far as it gave me room to experiment. 

After drafting out several design possibilities beforehand I did end up going with the simpler option however if I did an exercise like this again then I would make the visual aspects before, then decide on their arrangement. Although I did enjoy creating the images for this little bookmark, I can say that I HATE drawing coffee cups. I find that the shape is so difficult to get right because if one line isn't at the right angle, then the entire drawing can look misshapen. I didn’t have fun at all completing visual research by drawing coffee cups around our house, but it had to be done. It was also difficult considering what blends to put on the bookmark. The options were either the most popular blends that were more well known, or going for more unconventional coffees that could teach the reader something new. I went for the broader option as I felt that this widened the potential target market and didn't narrow it down to coffee experts and real enthusiasts.

Then I was able to return to doing something much more interesting, which was playing with tissue paper. I had brought this tissue paper as something for collaging perviously in my project, but found it extremely useful for showing the different percentages of each element due to its translucent properties. I drew in pen knowing that this would be most likely to show through the tissue paper, and the results were very pleasing. After watching several possible colour combinations, I made sure to scan the practices into Photoshop. 

Tissue paper bookmark

I also wanted to create a digital variation of these cups so I re-drew several which I scanned as a base for editing. From there it was a simple process of drawing shapes and layering them up into something that resembled the tissue paper in colour and transparency. I much preferred the versions created digitally because although you don't get the rawness of the tissue paper, there is the element of editing which was limited with the scanned version. The colours pop and there’s just less noise in the computer version than the tissue paper variant. 

Initially I wanted the bookmark just slotted into the booklet and left there, however there’s nothing more annoying that everything dropping out of a magazine when you pick it up, which is why I developed a page to attach it to. The background of choice was the stripes I drew with coffee perviously, and edited accordingly. I wanted to choose a colour that would complement and enhance the bookmark. 

I love the finished design for the bookmark and decided to dot around the edge in a gold pen that indicate to the reader that the section should be cut out and removed. With this, I eliminated the need for a title on the page that could possibly be too clunky. I let it speak for itself. 

Final design