I just spent the first weekend of my last undergraduate semester doing nothing but designing. I remember complaining about my lack of exposure to any design courses my freshman year. Ahhh, life has come full circle. I attended a Photoshop class over the weekend to ensure I maintain my full-time student status. It was a major timesuck and a distraction from my assignment, but I need to avoid paying off those pesky student loans for as long as possible.Anyway, when I wasn't "relearning" Photoshop's various lasso tools this weekend I was working on the first project for my Advanced Magazine Design capstone course. The assignment: create a cover design and five page spread to showcase a photo essay for a localized "Toddlers and Tiaras" story.
I was enthralled when I learned of the assignment, as I am a HUGE fan of TLC's "Toddlers and Tiaras." It's one of the few shows I watch religiously because, well, I can't even explain it. It's really just something you have to experience for yourself. (It airs Wednesdays at 10 PM/9PM central in case you were wondering.)
To my (slight) disappointment, the story we were given was not one of overzealous, ostentatious parents who have put themselves far into debt to ensure their little darling will be the next Miss America. The story featured a father who had given up his career as a NASCAR driver and now supports his daughter's pageant career (young though it may be). He has to help her walk across the stage not because she's too young to do so herself, but because her physical development is far behind that of her twin brother.
Long story short, the article wasn't about the utter ridulosity of the toddler pageant circuit. Rather, it told the story of a devoted father who shares a special bond with his daughter.
Cover
Using this photo for the cover was an obvious choice for me. I chose to use hot pink for the VOX masthead to give it some pop. I came up with the headline and the sub display on my own; I thought it captured the content and tone of the story perfectly. I chose fonts that expressed the same feelings and were also easy to read.
Opening Spread
This photo shows how supportive Ronnie is of his daughter Ellie. Since the assignment was to create a photo essay, I wanted the major elements of the spreads to be the photos. To complement the photos I hand-painted some pink tiaras with watercolor, scanned them into the computer and edited them in Photoshop. I chose to use hand-painted tiaras rather than using Clip Art or actual photos because I wanted the spreads to have a youthful feel, as if a young girl could have painted on them.
Second Spread
I absolutely LOVE the photo of Ellie's parents painting her nails. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to run it as large as possible. Kudos to Caitlyn Emmit for taking such an exquisite photo.
Closing Page
This last page just shows the results of a day at the pageant. Overall I ordered the photos chronologically to show how a typical pageant works for the family.
This assignment challenged me in a number of ways. First of all, I had to make sure my perspective of the story as a designer matched the story's tone and content. I also struggled to find a happy balance while designing, as I neither wanted to over or under design the story.
In the end, I believe my execution was successful. My only concern is that it may not wholly mesh with the designs typically featured in VOX. However, I am happy that the overall design matches the story's content and tone and also offers the audience a logical presentation how exactly this father and daughter duo works.
I'm looking forward to sharing my design experiences from this semester with anybody curious enough to notice. And who knows, a potential career in design might just follow.
>>>danielle<<<
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