Final Professional Pic Article

My main goal for this rev was to make it feel like an article rather than an ad. I think I accomplished that, though it's still lacking in the color department and totally forgot to address the issue pertaining to the mood of each photo and how they clash. I hate it when I remember what things I was going to do when I'm writing it out the blog post. Go figure. I do like where I'm going with the header, but now that I'm looking at it, the "prevent child abuse America" on the lower half of the opposite page is competing with the header. I really can't explain why I couldn't wrap my head around this one. I think my choice in photo really inhibited my thought process with magazine article spreads. I could get it out of my head that I needed to use color despite the fact it's black and white. It was a challenge I wasn't able to overcome and now I know I need to work on it in the future. Even though this layout looks like it's nowhere near done, it took me around two and a half hours to fix up to this point. Sigh.

Final Professional Pic Ad

I'm still not too happy with how this came out. I wasn't able to figure out how to add color to the hair in PS, so the color is still an issue. I did address the floating head issue and enlarged the picture, but the hair flowing into the second page gets cut off where the picture ends, which is a bummer. I'm not too sure if I like where I've placed the word "youthful" compared to its original location. I think this layout is better than the last, though it still could move forward from this point. This one took about two hours to rearrange and mess with, but I'm frustrated since I still didn't get very far.

October Pic Spread Rev #2

I couldn't blog about the initial layout for this one cause I was dumb and forgot to make a jpeg for the first before I went in and made all the changes for this one. The first one was really crappy for a number of reasons. The main reason was the fact I didn't have original photos incorporated into the design. I like to call those "place holding pics" that I used until I was able to get out to Thousand Hills for some real ones. I definitely fixed that issue in this revision. I also had tons of orphans and widows in the text of the first one, which I believe I addressed well in this revision. I added some polka dot flair to the side. I'm sure you won't be too thrilled about that, though I think it gives it movement and visual interest. It took me about two hours, not including my trip out to Thousand Hills for this rev.

Part #1 Midterm Portfolio

I chose this design because of my use of typography. I was trying to simplify my style a bit more than in previous poster redo's because I tend to clutter layouts with large text and oddly placed images. I wanted to show that I'm capable of keeping things simple while maintaining visual interest and I chose to make the image interact with the headline. I think the way I did this is successful and leaves a lot of negative space. For more visual interest and to draw your eye into the layout even more, I added some splatters to reference sweat and motion of the dancers for more appeal. I think I could have utilized a callout from the text, but I did want to keep the quote to create a mood for the event. The parallel lines created by the dancers and the header create an interesting, asymmetrical balance I've never utilized in my designs before. I used a four column grid, 0.5" margins, no bleed and black and white (no color). This layout took a total of 3.5 hours to put together due to design decision making, which I learned definitely takes more time than I thought it would, especially for a more simple design.

Part #2 Midterm Portfolio

The original layout was a fun one for me personally because I tried to oversimplify. I did this because all of my previous designs were way too cluttered and not very visually stimulating. I wanted to stress the negative space in a way that it would be inviting to the viewer and give air to the bulk of the design. In the rework, I made the font resemble the concept of what the poster was advertising. I also added the mountain graphic, which I created in PS, and made the headline and text slant diagonally. The little climbing man is probably still too small, but I wanted to keep him that way, as almost a part of the header font, because the mountain graphic is the main image besides the headline. I used an 8 column grid initially, but I disregarded it after I started working with the orientation of the header and text. I used a 0.25" margin, no bleed, and black and white only. This layout took me around 4 hours to put together and challenged my design decision making.

Part #3 Midterm Portfolio

This one I chose because it is my favorite one that included a hand drawn graphic. It's definitely not my strongest layout design, but I think it is still an effective poster. The concept is fun because I wanted to make the letters of the headline resemble clay, and the recent addition, the clay splatters, add to the overall effect the concept the headline creates. I used a four column grid, 0.5" margins, no bleed, and black and white (no color). This one took about two hours in total to put together and kept me on my toes for all the different things I needed to do such as scanning then tweaking in PS, which was a lot more than I thought I'd have to do for a black and white composition.

Part #4 Midterm Portfolio

I had a lot of fun with this poster design. Dancing is something I enjoy and since it involves motion and athleticism, I feel like it's a subject I can design for a lot easier than other subjects. I found a great photograph and used a filter in PS to make it more dramatic and graphic looking. The photo is the main draw of the poster so the rest of the informational text I made much smaller. The headline interacts with the photo and is also on a diagonal to create more visual interest. I believe there is enough negative space to keep the design from getting too cluttered and is balanced out asymmetrically with plenty of motion to keep your eye traveling across the layout. I used a five column grid, two colors (black and a PMS magenta-y color), 0.25" margins, and no bleed. This took me around 2 hours to complete and was definitely one of my favorites overall because I messed around long enough in PS to learn how to make graphics exactly the way I want.

Part #5 Midterm Portfolio

I chose this magazine layout because I utilized some design techniques that I've never worked with before and I believe it turned out well taking that into consideration. I like the use of color and the particular fonts I used. I'm not completely fond of the picture I used, but it is comical, attention grabbing and relates to the text. The text body was harder to work with, but I believe it is readable and works cohesively with the rest of the layout. The one thing I think I could have changed is the fact there is no negative space for the reader to "breathe." The balance is definitely asymmetrical with the photo on the far left. I used an 8 column grid, CMYK color, 0.25"margins and a 0.125" bleed (full). This layout took about 3 hours total to put together. It was definitely a learning experience cause it was one of the first magazine layouts we did and challenged my design decision making skills.

Part #6 Midterm Portfolio

I chose this magazine layout because I believe it showcases my ability to work with a simple photo and plain text to create an interesting design. I was definitely going for simple streamlined elegance in this layout. I think I could have developed the concept a bit more with this one, but I really wanted to use this photo for its appeal and the fact the food looks healthy, which connects to the article text. I utilized balance between the photo and the text and made the title appear in the blank space where the photo ends for visual interest. I used a six column grid, o.25" margins, a 0.125" bleed (full), and CMYK color. I really learned how to balance out a magazine layout in a completely different way than I was previously used to, which definitely helped expand my repertoire of skills. This layout took around four hours total to create.

Professional Pic Article #2

This one still looks too much like an advertisement. The body copy should be more of a story rather than information about the organization. The photos are sending two separate messages so the visual concept needs to be more fluid. The title also needs to be related to the text to make it more of an article. Yay for more work!

Professional Pic Ad #2

This one still needs a lot of work. I need to incorporate more color and make the photo larger so it doesn't look like a floating head. There is still too much text and no call-out. I'll have to sit and mess with this one for a while till I can figure out what will work best.

Professional Pic Poster #2

It's coming along. Still need to address some font sizing issues because the call-out is competing with the headline. And the event subtitle needs to be centered. Some minor tweaking and this one should be pretty much complete.

Professional Pic Article #1

My first article layout definitely needs some tweaking. It needs color and a higher resolution pic for the main page. It also needs to feel more like an article and less like an advertisement or brochure. There are also still some widows and orphans I need to address in the body copy. And the little logo in the corner can be deleted.

Professional Pic Advertisement #1

This is my initial ad layout. There is also too much text in this design and the logo is way too large. I need to add color and make some decisions about how to create better balance between each page.

Professional Pic Poster #1

This is my initial layout for the professional picture series. The concept is there but I have to eliminate some information and present the important event information in larger text such as the title of the events and the dates. It's almost there, I just need to simplify because there's way too much text for an event poster.

Rapala Add #2

I wasn't able to blog my first layout because I altered it before making a jpeg. It was pretty crappy. I think this one is better, but definitely not my final one. I still need to fix the resolution on the photos and maybe alter a couple more things that end up bugging me when I look at it another time.

Final Health Mag Spread

I feel like I really refined and simplified this spread from where it started. I think it is more successful, though the text blocks need to be altered to a more readable form. The headline, though effective, is still a bit boring, so I think I could go back and alter it for more visual interest. As I stated in the last post, I had issues with facing pages in creating this layout, but know how to fix this issue in future designs. I believe the presentation of this spread would look a lot better if the pages weren't separated.

Final How Safe? Mag Layout

This is my final How Safe? magazine two page spread. I think I did solve the issues with the excessive bars I had in the previous layout, but the final seems a bit on the boring side. I was going for simple, sleek and elegant, but I didn't think about putting in something besides a photo to grab attention. A technical issue I had dealt with facing pages in InDesign, but I now know how to make a two page spread oriented in the same art board. I also had this issue with the Health spread. From now on, it won't happen. And hopefully I can fix this issue within each of these layouts so I can possibly use them for the midterm portfolio.