Magazine Layout Inspiration

For the current project, I briefly flipped through the magazines provided by Professor Greenan. Along with those magazines, I decided to do some more research and look for a view inspiring layout ideas on the internet.

I found two that really stuck with me for very different reasons.

The first one was ironically an article about design!

What I most admire about this layout is the simplicity. It isn't necessarily plain, but it isn't over the top. I feel as though the center image saves the layout from being too dull. I also admire the way the title, short description and a specific quote have been secluded. If I was creating this piece, I probably would've been self conscious over leaving that much white space, however, it works extremely well in my opinion.

The second one is an article about pumpkins! (I'm a huge fan of Halloween and fall, in general, so it seemed like a good fit.)

The use of color and shape stood out most to me in this layout. I absolutely love the way the "p" is holding most of the text and the use of a mellow orange that mixes well with the white. Also, the line that runs along side the title down to the E is a great addition. It instantly draws the reader to a specified point.

For our in-class project, I decided to use the pumpkin article, so I'm hoping to incorporate something from each of these examples. I can't wait to share the final product in a few weeks! Wish me luck. :)

Initials

For the initials project, I began envisioning what I wanted it to look like right after Professor Greenan displayed a few examples on the projector.

Before I get into any details, here is the final product:

Considering that we couldn't incorporate anything besides text or color, I decided that I wanted the colors to represent my personality, but also correspond with one another. The blue is something that I wanted to represent the peace and calmness I like to have in my life, but I wanted it to be a deeper shade of blue to reflect that I am an intense individual and am quite melancholy at times. The yellow, being my favorite color and even the color of my room, is meant to represent that I strive to be happy and bring joy into other people's lives through humor and what not. And the use of black and white were to bring a sense of simplicity to the piece.

As for the fonts, I wanted to use three different fonts because I am not one to stick to a single thing. My favorite of all fonts is script because I'm a big fan of writing. I find it to be the most natural handwriting for me.

As for the words that I used, the obvious being my initials, a mini paragraph highlighting the things that make me, me, and a quote that I try to live by. I wanted to bring certain words/phrases to the forefront, which is why I selected the words: writing, music, films, hockey and living, to be featured in a larger script font.

After the critique, I was happy with the overall feedback and outcome and did take into consideration that if I had the opportunity, I would have aligned the R, A, E much more.

It was a good first project and I'm glad I had the opportunity to do it! If anyone has any addition feedback, please leave a comment. :)

Watching Helvetica

For the last half of class on Wednesday, we began watching "Helvetica". Since I was signed up for this class last semester, I had already seen most of the film. However, I took more notes this time around and found some interesting things that I had overlooked originally. 

Interesting facts about the typeface, Helvetica:

1. It emerged in 1957, when there was a need/want for a new modern and classic type face. 
2. The font was created by Max Miedinger, who worked as font salesman. 
3. Helvetica means "the Swiss" type face in Latin. 

Helvetica is the chosen font for a number of well known businesses around the globe, including American Airlines, the NYC subway system, Jeep, BMW, Target, Verizon and The North Face. 

One characteristic of Helvetica that was mentioned in the film was the use of horizontal letter slicing. For example the way to lowercase "e" is cut so cleanly. 

Although I'm not as enthusiastic when it comes to fonts as the individuals highlighted in the film, I do understand the importance of font selection. Typefaces have the ability to give your words a mood, emotion and feeling. They can make a company look more professional and clean cut, or give something a slight edge. 

P.S. If you didn't notice, I specifically used Helvetica has my font for this blog post!