Magazine - Initial ideas

Based on the wireframe research, I have decided to take elements of each of the gender associations to build some wire framing that would essentially act as a neutral alternative. 

1 

Working on the research form the essay on the fact that all design decisions work on presenting something in a particular manner, this initial idea focuses on the use of type in order to challenge the gender associations that are present within design. 

The initial wire frame works on the idea that the neutral element if represented through the sans serif typeface with a thin weight and placed centrally very small at the top of the page. The research had revealed that the more feminine approaches to editorial design relied on the use on serif typefaces as a reaction against the common use of Futura during the modernist design period. But the more modern magazines such as Riposte use typefaces like the one used below. The masculine aspect will be the small, but bold, capitalised list of numbers in reference to the designers who the work belongs to if this is the route of identity revealing I choose to go with. This reflects the organised masculine approach to editorial design but the actual typeface choice has the masculine qualities expected. 

2

The idea takes the very minimal typeface as the title and reinforces it with the thin line weight and small size. The serif typeface of Didot was chosen based on the research into the current association with it being able to portray intelligence and it is often used in the 'smart women' editorial pieces. Upon revision, the writing on the front would be more appropriate to be the title of the project rather than the names of the designers so that any gender associations can be removed. If this was to be changed, the main focus would be on this section on the front cover which conceptually works well. 

3

The layout of the title is taken from one of the neutral wireframes and it is bold and very much the main focus of the front cover. The wireframe shows how the image/colour would be full bleed and the type would be layered on top of it. The titles typeface is neutral but bold, so combining the more masculine approach with it works well. To introduce a feminine element into the design, the content/artist names have been placed centrally within the spacing that has been made up from the title.