FRONT COVER
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The development with this idea would be based on the colour choice in order to build up the identity of the magazine as a neutral one. Taking from the research on gender neutral colours, the article GEN NEUTRAL
By Aleksandra Szymanska discusses the suggested gender neutral colour palette, primary and secondary.
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A minimal, neutral typeface is used for the title and the
serif typeface Didot is used as the feminine aspect to portray intelligence.
The sentence about the magazine is presented to follow an orderly masculine
approach, but work slightly against the grid.
The initial approach of developing the artwork was to take each individual elements and layer it up in the way that is appears within the magazine. It looks interesting as a stand alone piece of artwork, but for a cover which would also need a title and type etc. it was evident that it was too busy. To try to overcome this problem, the artwork was developed to be a duotone piece so that the type could have more of a contrast and also the overall cover will appear more neutral in aesthetic. The background is the full bleed artwork and the type is placed on
top so that it is not a main focus. The typeface colours were changed in attempt to create a contrast, but still appear fairly neutral in comparison to the first development. The darkest element on the page is the title and the short description as these are the most important in ensuring that the audience is aware that it is a magazine. To develop this, the contrast between the
back and the type would need to be increased so that the title etc. stands out
when printed. As another part of the development, the layering of textures was removed and a block colour was used to see how it worked in comparison. Aesthetically it works really effectively, but it does not represent the content within the magazine very effectively which is the main aim of the brief.
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The layout of the title was influenced from one of the more experimental
neutral wireframes, using layers as a way of removing the gender associations. The
masculinity is seen to work in combination with the neutral and then the
feminine influence is shown in the centrally aligned text and use of imagery. A similar style of artwork has been developed to use as an experiment for this layout idea to the other one, but it is a little more minimal and the textures are less overlapped. The developments show the use of the colour palette that seemed to be considered fairly neutral in regards to the research undertook. The contrasts between the colours have been played around with and below shows the ways in which the title and the background could work together. As a further development, the use of an image not as a full bleed background was tried and it seemed to work well as it really allowed each of the different elements to stand for themselves which could help to portray a lot more about the overall magazine concept than before.
CONTENT
That’s Mucho Flow
The initial sketches show a wireframe idea of the layout that has been put together by using the visual research as an inspiration.
The opening page of this design project seemed most effective when it was yellow as this colour is the one most associated with the overall branding. It is bright and eye catching within the magazine. The title of the project was initially placed in a similar gridded layout to the image showed on the Instagram page to advertise the food and drink that will be available there. The development showed that it looked visually more engaging to have it all placed on the left side of the spread and then have the text isolated which will draw attention to the content and then the reasoning separately.
Development of this initial spread continued and the text was moved to the bottom section of the page with a quote in a larger font above it. This worked well because the reader was instantly drawn to a quote about what the project was about. The screenshots show the process of laying it out to flow in the most effective way, the pink blocks ensuring that it is even.
The images of the artists are arranged in a similar style to the festival schedule as a way of trying to portray the overall visual into the magazine. The screenshots show the process of trying to find the way that worked best, working against the grid to make it look exactly the same. This did not work well because the images had to be very small and also spread across two pages which did not work very well. In order to improve this, the images were staggered a bit more, slightly different to the style of the timetable, but visually this worked much better.
Play In Our Everyday
The images below show the project presentation that the designer made , which will act as the main inspiration for the design of this section of the magazine. The typeface used was Helvetica Neue LT Std 55 Roman which was identified to be what Charlie Bird used. The designer has the text very large on the page and uses it as a main focus so this was transferred to the magazine content design. The layering of the images is an interesting way of creating a background texture rather than just using a block colour, something that seemed appropriate for a project about play.
Disrupt The Male Gaze
The layout of this page was based on one of Melissa's posts on instagram, in particular the placement of the typeface. I used Typekit to find a suitable font, Menlo bold italic worked well when the outlines were used. I placed it within the margins of the page so that the images could then work within the grid. I started by putting the two images together like the instagram post but then on the right hand side added another with the same spacing as the others. I experimented with placing some text on the right side of the page, underneath the third image but in doing so it became disjointed and the harmony between the content was lost because the placement of the image was altered and then didn't sit in line with the others.
The artist uses a lot of block colours as backgrounds, so this was something that I wanted to transfer into this magazine spread. I took the colours from the illustrations and worked on the basis of having one side of the page light and the other dark so that the titles could then be coloured effectively to contrast. The colours were swatched using the eyedropper tool but the choice had to be carefully considered because if a colour on the edge of the illustration was used then it would look as though it was part of the background. The colour of the title was taken from an illustration and to try and keep it consistent the main body of text was also changed to it. The colour did not work well on the lighter background, so a dark complementary colour was then chosen.
TypEmoji: SF Ghost
The design for this section was based on the style of the type specimen that Jae Ee released with the typeface which visually was very interesting as the text was in a number of directions. The design developments started off by getting the text and then matching a quote to it in a similar style before it then progressed to using the actual typeface to discuss the project. The previous designs in the magazine had been designed with a large focus on colour, often being full bleed. Although colour would need to be considered, the colour palette would be much more limited and white space would be used as the designer had, alongside pale blues and pinks.
Make Some Noise
As the project was just two prints, it was very open ended about how it could be represented on the page in the style of the designer. Along with the interview, the final high quality images were sent over which had a slightly off white background. The development fo this section was mainly about deciding whether to leave the background white, or keep the backgrounds that originally were on the prints.
In order to try and figure this section out I made a small focus group and got some opinions on the options.
- "looks too placed on a page just randomly"
- "off white does not go with the rest of the magazine"
- "the background colour isn't a big part of the designs, so just have it white"
- "the white makes the spread more minimal and focus more on the actual prints themselves"
- "the grey background makes the artwork appear dull in comparison to the white"
As the project was just two prints, it was very open ended about how it could be represented on the page in the style of the designer. Along with the interview, the final high quality images were sent over which had a slightly off white background. The development fo this section was mainly about deciding whether to leave the background white, or keep the backgrounds that originally were on the prints.
- "looks too placed on a page just randomly"
- "off white does not go with the rest of the magazine"
- "the background colour isn't a big part of the designs, so just have it white"
- "the white makes the spread more minimal and focus more on the actual prints themselves"
- "the grey background makes the artwork appear dull in comparison to the white"
ReflectUs
The design style for this page was in response to the quote “We wanted a design that was simple and clear, yet striking and bold. The design hits all the right notes and offers a freshness that amplifies our vision” - ReflectUs. The layout of the page took inspiration from the website as shown below, with the text in predominately blue and red. The large quote is in a bold typeface which is similar to the design style of the project. I took a screen grab of the typeface used on the website so that I could identify one to use within the magazine that would look similar or work in a complimentary manner. Upon revision, it would be too much to use exactly the same typeface so Helvetica Neue was chosen as a neutral alternative. It works well in the heavier weights as well as the lighter for the body of text. The development started by placing the quote right aligned towards the top of the page and then the body of text in a column style below. This was then developed further as more images were added and the style of other related work was explored more.
The design style for this page was in response to the quote “We wanted a design that was simple and clear, yet striking and bold. The design hits all the right notes and offers a freshness that amplifies our vision” - ReflectUs. The layout of the page took inspiration from the website as shown below, with the text in predominately blue and red. The large quote is in a bold typeface which is similar to the design style of the project. I took a screen grab of the typeface used on the website so that I could identify one to use within the magazine that would look similar or work in a complimentary manner. Upon revision, it would be too much to use exactly the same typeface so Helvetica Neue was chosen as a neutral alternative. It works well in the heavier weights as well as the lighter for the body of text. The development started by placing the quote right aligned towards the top of the page and then the body of text in a column style below. This was then developed further as more images were added and the style of other related work was explored more.
#DeltaDatingWall
The brick wall was used to instantly show the context of the design outcome and some of the illustrations were picked out to show the design style that was built up for the advert. The images were stacked as a three which is the same amount that would appear on an instagram page, but in the shape that they would appear on an online dating profile (tinder). The writing is in a justified alignment to ensure that it remains neutral and the explanation of the project remains as the main focus.
The brick wall was used to instantly show the context of the design outcome and some of the illustrations were picked out to show the design style that was built up for the advert. The images were stacked as a three which is the same amount that would appear on an instagram page, but in the shape that they would appear on an online dating profile (tinder). The writing is in a justified alignment to ensure that it remains neutral and the explanation of the project remains as the main focus.
Sans Forgetica
To develop the design style for this project, I used the PDF about the typeface that was sent over when the typeface was downloaded. Elements such as the backgrounds colours, the use of red and the quotes in a central alignment on a single page were all used as part of the magazine design style. As the typeface is about increasing the cognitive process that someone uses when reading in order to improve memory and understanding, it seemed appropriate to use the first page not as a place to explain the project. The decision to have the whole spread filled with the alphabet was informed by this reason as it would leave the audience questioning why sections of the letters are missing and what this alphabet actually meant in terms of a design project in response to an issue within society. The large quote on the left page of the second spread takes the style of the designer, but is adapted for the space available in the magazine. The pages were originally designed to have the same dotted texture as the pdf, but it looked too busy on the page and design wise did not add anything worthwhile.
To develop the design style for this project, I used the PDF about the typeface that was sent over when the typeface was downloaded. Elements such as the backgrounds colours, the use of red and the quotes in a central alignment on a single page were all used as part of the magazine design style. As the typeface is about increasing the cognitive process that someone uses when reading in order to improve memory and understanding, it seemed appropriate to use the first page not as a place to explain the project. The decision to have the whole spread filled with the alphabet was informed by this reason as it would leave the audience questioning why sections of the letters are missing and what this alphabet actually meant in terms of a design project in response to an issue within society. The large quote on the left page of the second spread takes the style of the designer, but is adapted for the space available in the magazine. The pages were originally designed to have the same dotted texture as the pdf, but it looked too busy on the page and design wise did not add anything worthwhile.
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