Publishing 1 // Project 3

14.12.16 // Week 15
Chia Yee Hsean (0322352)
Publishing 1: Print Media
Project 3: Magazine Design


Progress Slideshow

Final Submission

Google Drive link

Reflection

1. What was your main design direction?

It was hoped that the final magazine would feature dynamic, immersive yet informative spreads, showcasing the best and most exciting animation work. The main design direction was to create a magazine that contained modern graphic design influences, such as clean lines, interesting alignment, contrasting spreads, etc. Elements that conventional animation magazines seemed to forgo, sometimes in favour of a messier layout with too many images or graphic elements. Essentially, I was unsatisfied with the lack of animation magazines that discussed 2D animation, as well as those that delved deeper into the storytelling or emotional (rather than the technical) aspects. And so with this project, I challenged myself to come up with a magazine that will be able to do all of that. 

2. What was your main aim in resolving this project?

With that in mind, I wanted to make a modern animation magazine that was not only generous with its images and backgrounds but also with the amount of information within its pages. This meant having to balance impactful visuals with heavy body text. Personally, I think the magazine lived up to the brief in that:

- it appeals to the target audience through its dynamic layouts/colours

- it communicates the information effectively

- there is a visual unity throughout the magazine

3. What were the tangible, measurable outcomes that you achieved?

The magazine certainly felt modern yet fun, thanks to the choice of colours and layout. The illustrations on the cover and feature articles added to the personality/feel of the magazine. I feel that the alignment also played an important role in which it balanced the illustrations/images and large body texts. The little nuances in text alignment helped inform and direct the reader’s eyes. 

In terms of layout, there was a deliberate effort to have quieter layouts interspersed between the heavier, contrasting ones. These layouts would add visual interest to the magazine but yet complement each other and contribute to the overall aesthetic/mood/tone of the magazine. 

As for typography, I took a cue from several established magazines and kept the same typeface for body texts and page headers. This helps the reader distinguish parts of the article, and also add visual unity to the layouts. 

4. What were your observations?

It took me a while to envision the style/feel of the magazine and work towards refining that style. But it helped for me to focus on the cover story and work outwards from there; to design the feature articles to complement the cover story and each other. I also had to learn to juggle this assignment with other priorities, because such is the nature of this course. 

However, I did enjoy illustrating the magazine cover as well as the supplementary illustrations for Feature Article 2. Not to mention the exploration of different layouts and alignments. 

5. Carry out some reflections.

I’m glad to have been able to practice what I learnt from the previous assignments onto this magazine. And to have learnt more ways to refine my designs/layouts. Although I can’t say that I took too many risks in this assignment, because I feel that I’m still introducing myself to the fundamentals of editorial design.

This assignment also forced me to come out of my shell(?) and proactively ask my peers for comments/feedback on my magazine. So I really appreciate whatever insight they gave me. I also learnt to give more concise and constructive feedback to my peers as well, and I’m glad to have played a part in their development/growth. 

Besides working on further refining my skills/designs, I would definitely like to try out more layouts with plenty of white space and interesting alignments in the future.