The people in charge like this design, but want it to look less 1970s. Of course, I was only alive for 1979, so I don’t really know what to change to get away from that 1970s feel, unless its just a color thing.
And don’t nick me for the stolen sheep dancing across the top; that was not my idea.
What about less restraint on the typesize? I think you could get away with enlarging those bars with the type in it quite a bit. That way the type, instead of the orange background, takes the leading role.
The 1970's feel is probably because of the colors. To me it doesn't really feel 1970's, but I wouldn't really know either because I'm from after 1980. But brown and orange was their thing, right? ;)
Dropshadows are very 'now', me thinks.
You could play around with cut out letters and shadows inside…
. . .
Bert Vanderveen BNO
Strangely, brown is pretty safe "now" color these days, particularly with baby blue and baby pink. At least in clothes, anyway.
I think On Chesil Beach gets its brown on in a very tasteful way.
My question would be, why red and orange anyway? Whether or not that's a "70's" look, it's a pretty harsh combo, and reminds me for of fast food than anything.
I'd think Greens and Blues would be a better palette to work from, especially since the content (assuming) is more of a guide to the less than exciting world of building to code and the use of permits...
Always thought the organized cutting mat grid was a nice touch for topics that require a more linear approach of thinking (which is usually a foreign thing for creative types.)
And I like Jelmar's suggestion, it does seem like the text is floating in a sea of orange...
I'd say that's definitely a 70's era color scheme. But so are the diagonals. That said, the diagonals are a nice part of this composition, so, I'd focus on coming up with some more modern color pallets.
It does seem to be those bars that's giving it a bit of the 70s look. Remember those stripes they used to have in racing cars?
I think it's a good suggestion to be less rigid with the type, does it really have to be all caps?
Beyond that, I wonder if the design really connects with the content of the book. I'm not sure what the particular constraints of the project are, but it looks a little generic from here. Some sort of content cues may help.
It could be an idea to break the page into two background bands of white and orange to give it a greater sense of structure.
I agree with writingdesigning about breaking the background up, that way you would have a horizon to play with.
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