The legibility of an art piece is determined by the use of colour, line, tone, negative space, font etc. A piece of work is only successful if the work is clear and easy to understand by the viewer. Legibility is especially important for areas such as advertising. In media such as adverts and magazine covers it is critical that you draw the buyer to the parts that you want them to notice first and the information that is considered the selling point for the item. Arranging the page to achieve this takes a lot of consideration and time. Designers spend considerable amounts of time on researching what colours are most effective, where the people's eyes are naturally drawn to on a page and how to apply this to their layout. Blank space is also another concept that has changed the face of media such as newspapers. The modification of newspapers is one example of how design and composition has altered their appearance. What once was a front page of complete size eight font with little divide or white space and no images has now been broken up with pictures and colour. Information has been separated by size and style of the font.
Tone of voice
Whether the piece surrounds an article on elephants, trains or any genre, each will have convey a tone of voice. It is the designer's job to carry the tone from the text to a more visual level, be in the typography of the title to the colour of the background. For example typography can be used to enhance the meaning of a word through it's shape and form by taking the characteristics associated with the word and visualising them. For example: the word "jump" we link it to it's energetic action, a word that is lively. To convey this through typography the designer might look at displaying the word as the action itself, by either stretching, or elevating the text. It may also be displayed in a big font, as it is a confident movement. "Jump" would most likely appear opaque to exaggerate the boldness of the action.
Another element which specifies the tone of the work is colour. Colour can be used to break up space and highlight specific information. It can be applied to set the tone of the work. This application of colour can be found extensively in children's picture books, as a clear depiction of an atmosphere is vital as very young children aren't likely to pick up subtle references, so it needs to be exaggerated to the point where they will understand it. Simple methods such as a character's emotions being portrayed through the weather would externalise the internal of the character, which young children might not pick up on as they may have not experienced it themselves. However, linking it to a subject that is easier to identify by emotion will strengthen the whole of the work.
