Design Strategy:
When trying to decide on what story to use for this project, my first thought was to find one about Padma Lakshmi, the host of Top Chef, because it’s one of my favorite shows and I thought that I could make a nice food magazine. I had a very hard time finding pictures of Padma that were large enough for the layout, so I decided to change my subject. I then decided upon Ellen Page because she recently starred in a movie called “Whip It” that was directed by Drew Barrymore, which one of my best friends from elementary school is in also). I liked that the story I found from USA Today gave an overview of where Ellen stands with her career right now. She’s becoming more daring and independent, and I think that we will be seeing her in more movies in the future. My first step was finding the images I would use in my layout. I chose a large image of Ellen for the cover spread, and although the spread is pretty minimal, I think it complements the softness of the image. I then chose images of Ellen with Drew Barrymore, an image of Ellen’s character in “Whip It” and three small images from other movies for the jump spread and the sidebar. The image that I chose for the cover is a very compelling image because it appears that Ellen is looking directly at the reader. There was also a great amount of space around her in the picture where I could place cover lines.
Choice of Typeface
On the cover I chose to use ITC Quorum Std Black because I thought that it was an interesting typeface with the points on each of the letters. It also is very bold and draws the attention of the reader. I made this typeface white and the apple of the “I” red so that the magazine title as well as the special touch of the apple were sure to stand out. For the cover lines I chose to use Gill Sans Ultra Bold Regular. Because of the simplicity of the san serif type and the thick lines in the letters, this font is easy to read and draws the readers eye. I added touches of red (C=3 M=99 Y=100 K=0) throughout the cover to tie in with Ellen’s bright red lips and the red of her revealed underwear. The red also ties the cover lines to the apple in “BiTE”.
On the cover spread I chose to use ITC Kabel Std Bold and Book because I think that the quirky typeface is appealing and relates to the quirky characters which Ellen Page often plays in her movies.. I especially like the lowercase “G”s in this font. I used Scotch Roman MT Std for the folios on my pages because it is a discreet font that doesn’t draw attention away from the article, but still is visible and looks sophisticated.
On the jump spread, I used Janson Text LT Std 55 Roman for my body text. I chose this because I thought that it was easily readable and I liked the soft shapes of the letters because it gave the spread a feminine touch. I used Stone Sans Sem ITC TT Semi fir my sidebar because I wanted it to stand apart from the rest of the article. I still needed something that could be read easily, but I didn’t want it to blend it with everything else of the page.
Color:
On cover: red (C=3 M=99 Y=100 K=0)
Cover spread: red (C=30 M=100 Y=95 K=0)
Jump spread: red (C=0 M=98 Y=100 K=0) gray (C=66 M=59 Y=58 K=41)
The red colors on the cover, cover spread, and jump spread were used as small touches to draw the readers eye across the page and to tie the spreads together. Although the reds were different, It think that they were similar enough to create cohesion. I used different shades because I drew the red colors from images present of that particular spread. I sampled a dark gray from the image of Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore to use for the sidebar. I needed the sidebar to stand out on its own, but to not look randomly placed on the page.
Photos:
Cover:
72 pixels/in
photographer: Collier Schorr
Cover Spread:
72 pixels/in
Jump Spread:
1. 72 pixels/in
photographer: Peggy Sirota
2. 72 pixels/in
I really like how you used an apple as the dot on the "i" in Bite on your front cover, it gives your cover an extra something. The red color pulled from her lips really ties the whole cover together. The deckhead on your second spread is very creative and again, the red used throughout all the spreads pulls the whole magazine together. The placement of your photos on the third spread is visually pleasing and leads the reader though the spread from left top to right bottom. I also really like how you placed the two pictures of Ellen and Drew side-by-side.
ReplyDeleteI am such a fan of this spread- and I was instantly attracted to it when it was first shown in class. The fact that you featured Ellen Page alone hooks me in, because she is a star that is not often featured in such an elegantly edgy way. The visual "look" of your spread still alludes to the playful, youthful side of Page but also suggests that she is diversifying her roles in the future and is prepared for a more mature audience.
ReplyDeleteYour cover was incredible- I would read a magazine like "Bite" hands down- is it marketed to offbeat Mac users? ;) Your fonts were diverse, but not so much so that it was distracting. The subtle purple really offsets the red in her lipstick and the white font.
One your first spread, the "Paging Ellen" headline works on multiple levels- the line coming down the side of the page subtly screams "This is about Ellen: look how cute she is, but she's also sophisticated, folks!" The text is nicely aligned down the side of her arm, also, which makes it pleasing and readable. I would never have thought to feature the relationship between Page and Drew Barrymore- not only is your art direction spot-on but so is your article content! This was fabulously original, and you should submit it somewhere or at least to be sure to highlight it in your portfolio. Great job, Hannah!