Critique: Spring Preview

Hey fellow designers,

There has been some confusion over my cover design.  The image I used was my vision for what I wanted in a studio shoot.  Obviously I don't have the rights to use Twiggy and we had to use a different photograph for the cover.  Also, the image in the background was a swirl image I found that I manipulated in Photoshop to create the mosaic look.  I am still learning the whole process of Illustrator and wanted to show what I was going for should the cover I chose be picked.  It did, and after meeting with Theresa she showed me how to create a similar look in Illustrator using gradients.  I took colors from the first concept with the eyedropper tool and made my own psychedelic radial gradient.

The final background image came out like this:

I played around a bit and tiled the gradient like my original concept, but decided it looked better without it the second time around.

As for Twiggy, I used the pen tool to cut out her glasses in Illustrator, then made a clipping path and placed them in InDesign.  I filled them in white and added black circles and the psychedelic "Spring Preview" text within them.  I put a bit of a drop shadow to make them pop out.


After my roommate graciously volunteered to be shot for the cover, we came up with three options:

Since Kelsey didn't have the mod-look I initially was going for, we decided to have more fun with the cover.  I asked a few of my friends and people in the office which one they preferred, and it seemed like every one was leaning towards the first shot.  Myself, included.

The cover we went with Sunday looked like this:

After the photo shoot and reworking of the background, I still really liked the cover.  I thought it encompassed the fun and excitement of spring.  I also liked how it was as if she was kissing winter goodbye.   The reason I wanted her to be in black and white, a part from standing out from the background, was because it showed that transition between seasons.  It's almost spring, but we're not yet there.  Just a few more weeks of braving the dreary conditions and then our days will be filled with sunshine and happiness.

There were some people who didn't like the kissing expression of the new cover.  Some comments said it was "too sexual" for VOX.  I consider myself a feminist and completely disagree.  I thought the cover was cute and more visually appealing than the dead-pan face of the original.  Alas, I didn't have much of a say and had to go back and redo the cover again with the expression-less photo of Kelsey.

You should all see the final on Thursday in print, but it will look more along the lines of this:

Not as fun, right?

Anyways, I learned more in this weekend than I probably did the entire last semester of Magazine Design.  I have a clear vision but I know my execution techniques are still playing catch-up.  When I began thinking of a design for the Spring Preview issue, I sat down with a pencil and sketchbook and drew five completely different rough versions of my ideas.  Some were completely ridiculous, and others I could never complete with the skills I currently have.  The whole publication process and collaborative efforts of the entire staff makes it even more difficult to get your ideas across, but overall I'm still happy with the way the cover turned out.  I have a feeling my entire semester will be spent immersing myself in the world of design and going through tutorials and endless magazines to become a better designer.  

Thanks for the help and support!

See this: Portlandia

Hey all,

This isn't part of my formal blog post this week, but I wanted to put up this clip because I thought it was so relatable to us as journalists.  I have become a recent fan of the show Portlandia, since the whole season is instantly available on Netflix.  I'm not calling all J-school students hipsters, but there's always a pressure on us to have read everything and be in-the-know.  Here's a clip from the show I thought you may enjoy:

So...

Did you read it?

Winning!

There will be revisions before publishing and a self-critique later on, but here's my cover for the Spring Preview issue:

Not sleeping pays off.

[[Happy dance]]

Don't miss this! Edward Leida

You've already heard me blab about one of my favorite magazines.  Why stop there?

W

Yep!  It's W, another American fashion/culture magazine.  Although it's also a larger format than most magazines, like Flaunt, it has a very different design aesthetic.  Last year they came out with a great video that gives a brief inside look at how Edward Leida, the Design Director of W, puts the magazine together and makes it beautiful.  He also offers a lot of great design advice.  Check it out!

I hope you all enjoyed this as much I did.

Response: Graphic Style/Flaunt magazine

I found a lot of inspiration while looking through Graphic Style this week.  Everything was so beautiful and my mind immediately went off in a million directions.  I particularly liked the Modern design section, specifically the pages on Futurism and Constructivism.  I have always been drawn to minimalist designs and geometric patterns.  This applies not only to my magazine preferences, but a lot of the clothing and jewelry I like as well.  You may be thinking... isn't she always wearing boyfriend jeans and sweaters, or that god-awful uniform with the black and gold striped tie?  && You'd be right, but I'm talking more about the items I treasure.

One of the magazines I always am excited to look through is Flaunt.  It's a fashion/culture magazine with larger than life photographs and provocative content.  It's eye candy.   (You'll see this is a trend with me)

Any oversized fashion magazine with beautiful photographs that's a bit risky and scandalous is mine off the shelf.  I can't help it.  I have the same reaction to gold glitter, shoulder pads and the color turquoise.

I took a snapshot of this cover from Flaunt's website.  It's not the newest issue, but the magazine is less than fifteen years old.   This one, from the Bronze Age issue, looks a lot like the examples shown in the modern section of Graphic Style.
Don't believe me?

El Lissitzky: Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge

Of course they aren't exactly the same, but there are definite similarities.  

Here's another example of a Flaunt cover, issue 103:

The old is always being redone and improved upon.  What's completely original these days, anyways?

{Like you haven't heard that one before}

SO, you should all go out and get a copy of Flaunt.

That's all, folks!

Critique: Roll On

I'm here and blogging which lets you all know I survived my first week of this capstone course.  I was feeling super confident before receiving the syllabus, but after seven double-sided pages of assignments and expectations I was brought down a notch.  Not for long!  

I know each one of us has commitments outside of this course and it has certainly been hard for me to get back to waking up early, taking 15 credits and working.  Did I mention my roommate decided we were going to run the St. Louis (Half) Marathon in April?  The last time I seriously ran was on my high school soccer team, so I've got some work to do.  Thanks, Kelsey!

After a week of meetings and sharing my confusion with all the other 'zine kids, I've finally passed that stage from dread to excitement.  Note that my excitement starts now, after the first assignment.

Our first assignment was to design a five page photo essay and VOX cover.  The story centered around a local store in Columbia where customers roll their own cigarettes.  Photo stories typically leave less room for creative thinking because the photographs are the main focus.  I'm not a huge fan of photo covers so I thought of ways I could make the cover interesting without them.  This is what I came up with:

Initially I wanted to find a rollie pouch of loose-leaf tobacco and alter it so the name of the tobacco was the title of the story, but couldn't make it look like I imagined.  I thought of photographing my own pack of tobacco and then manipulating the design, but that plan didn't work either. (No, Ma. I don't smoke.  It's for school!)  Under the pressure of time, I went with the Marlboro design.  In the story, Renwick distinguished between "smokes" and "cigarettes."  There are no extra additives or fillers in the tobacco that Roll On Premium Smokes offers.   I came up with the title "Cigarette Break" because of that separation.   The story isn't about a break from smoking.  It's a call for the community to come gather, socialize and enjoy a healthier alternative to packaged cigarettes.

In hindsight I would have gone with a photo for my cover.  I strayed from using one because I knew everyone else would, but realized I should have kept the photography element throughout and forgone the illustration to keep the theme consistant.  Class critiques are coming, so I'll have more to say on this later. 

For the next two spreads I chose photos that I felt were the most visually appealing and also captured the essence of the story.  

I like the opening photograph but would have made it less text heavy next time and played more with the fonts.

[[Splash page/Opening Spread]]

 [[Second Spread]]

{END}

Again, not my best work. I'm still getting a feel for the course and learning how to manage my time so I not only get everything I need to finished, but done well.  I expect the nerves and confusion to last another week or two, but it's getting easier each day.  

I have another competition design due Friday, which is a mock up of the Spring Preview issue for VOX.   After that, hopefully two days sleep. But, really.

I'm also thinking of ideas for the February 9 issue.  It will be my first published design [two days after my birthday!] and a chance for me to see how the whole process works for VOX each week.  The content isn't concrete yet, but I'll be designing the music department of that issue.  

Now, off for creative dreaming! 

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz...

HELLO!


     & 


Welcome to my blog.  I'm still working out the kinks and playing with the header, but here is the first official post.  Throughout the next four months I will use this space to share my designs for VOX magazine as well as projects I am working on for the design capstone.  My thoughts on other design blogs as well as anything that catches my eye will also go up here. In other words, this blog is both my virtual inspiration board and portfolio.  


My name is Brittany Duncan and I'm from Las Vegas, Nevada.  Ne-VAHHHH-duh.  I have been obsessed with magazines for as long as I can remember.  It's not usually the stories I'm into, but how the pages are put together.  It's like Christmas each time I go into Barnes & Noble and look at all the different types of magazines there are and how beautifully some are created.   For me, a great magazine is a piece of art.  I keep them.  I reread them.  There are a few on display in my bedroom.  
I love fashion, music, traveling and being out in nature, but I came to Mizzou because I wanted to create magazines.  


This is my last semester at the University of Missouri and I am excited to see all the skills I've acquired manifested in this blog.  The real world is approaching fast, but the mystery of the future is a propelling force rather than a hindrance. 


Wanderlust.  Every few months I feel the urge to pick up and go somewhere.  Anywhere.  I'm always planning, always trying to get away and experience something new.  These moments usually result in road trips to the beach or weekends spent hiking in the mountains.  There was a time I bought a plane ticket to New Delhi, India without telling my parents and wiped out my bank account in the most interesting two weeks of my life.  Great food.  Great people.


I may have a problem.  


BUT, this time is different.   Instead of a mini vacation or week long camping trip I have to return from, there is nothing to hold me back.  The map is blank and I can go anywhere.  There are cities I've never been to and amazing people everywhere I can't wait to meet and learn from.  Job permitting, I'm about to embark on my greatest adventure yet.


I'm on the brink of the rest of my life, and I have everything to look forward to.  


          CHEERS!