ellamishannnn

[ellamishannnn]

Again I really loved the photographs in Lucy’s spreads, especially the money but I just couldn’t find a way to fit it in without it looking awkward in my versions of her spreads. 

But I wanted to focus on this particular photograph she had (which I blew up and decided to make full bleed) because I feel like it really captures her mum’s travels and the stark contrasting environment to her home in New Zealand. 

[ellamishannnn]

This is the progression of the way I’ve changed this spread to fit the design systems used in my publication - a lot more focus on individual imagery which really speaks for itself I think. I love how the text on the left, mimics the line of the waterfall in the background of the photo.

[ellamishannnn]

reflection

I found this project really rewarding and tiresome at the same time. I think at the start I already subconsciously put a lot of pressure on myself because I really love publication design and I’m passionate about it. Because of this I had a pre-conceived idea that I was going to be good at it or SHOULD be good at it straight off the bat. 

I have really struggled with enjoying the design process with projects that I actually like (like this one) because of the pressure I place on myself and my inability to like anything I make because I get bored of my designs like that *snaps fingers*. 

Something I would improv on for next time is my iterative process (specifically for the 24 pgs - designing the cover, intro, contents etc) - not being afraid to create lots of different designs in different styles that could look bad but might end up sparking ideas as I feel like in this project I was struggling to find a visual theme that would fit with each person’s spreads and the minute I found something I liked I clung to it without giving too much thought to any other possibilities.

However I enjoyed the direction I took this publication in, specifically with my own spreads and the design system I ended up creating for the final 24 pgs and I’m proud that I’ve managed to create something I actually like and feel like reflects a bit of the design style I am slowly developing.

[ellamishannnn]

Experimenting with the colour of the text POP - initially (first pic) I was going to stuck with the same red I used throughout my publication, just at a very dialled down opacity. However I quite like these brownish colours, I think it contrasts really nicely with the muted background. 

Otherwise - I’ve fixed the kerning in the title text based on feedback from David and also in the letters POP and changed the subtitle from ‘4 people, 4 stories’ to ‘leaving the comfort of home’ giving the cover illustration some context - a sofa = comfort of home.

[ellamishannnn]

I changed the darkness of the handwriting (turned the threshold up on the photoshop file) so that it matched the handwriting on the outro page and also so that all the letters were legible as before the ‘e’ in ‘The’ was barely visible.

[ellamishannnn]

editorial - draft no.003

POP magazine focuses on people, objects and places, connecting stories from people across the globe through their differences. This issue follows our four individuals as they recount their memories of growing up; from travels in Tanzania & Thailand, life before becoming a mother at 24 & serving in the Israeli army as a teen. All transpiring at a unique time in life where the biggest changes occur; some of the most crucial years of growth. 

The one where they all grow up.

[ellamishannnn]

Moved the first spreads down so the text ‘contents.’ had some breathing space like in my initial iteration.

[ellamishannnn]

Based on my last post, I denied to change the arrangement of the pages on the contents so there’s a system now when you see it with the guides but without guides it still has that ‘floaty’ effect I like.

[ellamishannnn]

I rearranged my contents slightly so there is some ‘method’ to the seemingly spastically placed pages - using the guides I focused on the middle column - with the exception of the first two pages - however now upon reflection ... it would make more sense if it was the bottom spread was isolated from the others (that all sort of work around that middle column). 

I also got rid of the text ‘editorial’ in the top right corner because it felt unnecessary however, feedback I received was that it looked cool having that bold black text in the corners & also felt like it tied that block scribbled ‘POP’ in a bit better. So I put the issue number there instead.

[ellamishannnn]

Decided to add the dictionary definition of metamorphosis on this spread because it fits with the imagery and it PERFECTLY and succinctly describes the theme of my publication.

[ellamishannnn]

After some ideas from Becky I started thinking of other imagery that would support this. idea/theme of growing up and I thought the butterfly was a really nice nod to that point in life when you “spread your wings”.

I initially had it small on the page but after feedback from my friends they all encouraged me to blow it up and not be afraid of making my own imagery/illustration big (something I struggle with apparently haha) while still keeping the white space that’s a characteristic of my design systems.

[ellamishannnn]

This word perfectly describes the theme of my publication and although I don’t want to call/title it that, I like having the comparison/the sort of metaphorical nods to animals leaving their nests (as this word typical talks to insects or amphibians) in the intro/inside cover page potentially along side my butterfly imagery.

[ellamishannnn]

These are the final parts of iterative process of the spread by Amy-Lee - I made the background colour the same to match all my other pages and played around with the text and image placement, also including a pull out quote to give more context to the spread.

[ellamishannnn]

[ellamishannnn]

Have completed all the acknowledgement text and have been playing around with how to make this page look right. It took me a while to actually figure out where to put the acknowledgements since it’s such a big block of text but I settled on the bottom right corner. 

Before it was quite plain and I got given the idea by a friend to add a drawing of an empty, open chrysalis to show the progression from the intro page where the butterfly was coming out of the chrysalis to now (the end page) where it has left it empty. I initially wondered if I should have the chrysalis in the exact same spot it was in on the into/inside cover spread (first pic) but then I decided I quite like the subtlety of it small on the side and the way it fits in the gap between the text.

[ellamishannnn]

Outro pages experiment - I like the people sitting in the letters POP but I think it’s a bit clashy with the rest of the publication - the opacity is too intense compared to the cover.

[ellamishannnn]

Not sure how this fits on the spread - might test out some different placement and size but I like the imagery of the butterfly emerging from the cocoon - describes the theme of this publication well as all the interviews are about life after leaving home “leaving the nest”.