Before&After: Design Without Rulers

We need a typeface that feels like the image. The image is full of texture; it has a rich, detailed surface and a lot of “leafy-ness.” The leaves are pointy, evenly spaced and actually look a lot like serif type. This 21-page article from issue 47 of Before&After Magazine takes you along as we design a page—not with a grid, but with a picture as our visual guide. Its lines, shapes, proportions and their relationships will govern our choice of type, sizes, colors, layout and everything else.

Color plays a major role in design. The easiest and best place to get a perfectly coordinated palette is the image itself. Sample color swatches with the eyedropper tool, then arrange the swatches by color and value.

© John McWade/Before&After Magazine, courtesy of Gaye Anne McWade.