Assignment 1.2 Investiagion of Ancient Manuscript

I chose to review the Bible from Ethiopia, and was initially drawn to the detail and clean lines in the images and print of this text. The images consisted of deep backgrounds with bold colors depicting the images. This drew my eye to the details of the text as well as the images. The use of colors for this text is an excellent illustration of contrast. The oranges, reds, blues, and yellows work together to draw attention to the images and borders of the pages. I also noted a difference in print color interchanging from black to red. I wondered about the significance of this, and found through my reading that the black ink represented the main text, while the red ink represented the titles and essential rubrics. Repetition can be seen through aspects of the illustrations in the text. The curved lines over the heads of the people represented repeat throughout the text. The bold colors depicting the images and deep backgrounds are repeated throughout each of the images. While the borders are different they do follow a similar pattern of rich lines and columns over print and arches over tables. The unified order of the print is a strong example of alignment. Most pages of print are divided into columns of block alignment. They are neat and spaced in a way that is easy to see. The borders of the pages serve the purpose of helping align the block alignment of the pages. The placement of the print on the page denotes the use of proximity. The text remains close together throughout the work. There are spaces used as needed to separate a title or table. The borders assist the spacing of the print on each page. This early work exhibits the qualities of design that draw a reader in and maintain attention. The principles of design are clearly present in this work.