- [Narrator] For centuries printers and typographers
designed a page using a two-dimensional model.
The surface was a flat surface.
Typography shapes and images sat on that surface.
By the mid twentieth century designers began to treat
the page not as a flat surface but as a window
that looked onto a three-dimensional world.
This is achieved with actual perspective
or by addressing the elements with scale.
Using this three-dimensional approach to a surface
the designer modifies typography and imagery to appear
to exist in a three-dimensional environment.
Used alone, the effect is dramatic and energetic.
That effect is multiplied when color
and other forms are added.
When there is no structure the elements create chaos.
The forms may appear to be floating in space.
But I still consider scale, hierarchy, color, and shape.
The pitfalls are the cheesy factor, and chaos.
Overused the effect can feel like
a 1950's 3D movie and seem cheesy.
Another approach using scale to define space
is less obvious, however, the results
can be unexpected and fresh.
Rather than thinking of the elements on the page
as large and small, see the scale because
of where they sit in a dimensional space.
The elements began as identical in size.
Some of the forms recede in space
and others advance forward.
Large typography is closer to the viewer.
Small typography is further back in space.
Images are flat shapes that also exist in that space.
Typographic weights influence the effect.
A lighter weight appears to recede.
A bold weight advances because
the composition exist in 3D space.
Typography, elements, and imagery can overlap.
This can change the meaning or hierarchy.
An interesting technique is to play
with the viewers assumption.
If the typography is bold and small
and the lighter weight is large
what does that mean in 3D space?
Color can enhance a dimensional approach.
Cool colors recede to the eye and warm colors advance.
Try using red for the large typography
and blue for the smaller type.
This creates an even more dramatic effect.
Again, this can quickly become a chaotic mess
without a grid structure underneath.
This helps align elements
and create proportional consistency.
I limit the use of many of the filters available
in Photoshop, InDesign, or Illustrator.
Like eating too many french pastries
one might be okay but twenty will go badly.
Once you begin to see a page or screen
as a window into a three-dimensional world
you'll notice it everywhere.
I knew a designer who began to work this way
and quickly began doing motion design
because he loved the idea of design with movement.
It takes more time than following a simple grid minimally
but the result is worth it.