Critique: VOX food challenges cover

This week's critique features cover concepts I developed to highlight VOX Magazine's food challenges issue that will be printed during spring break. One problem that arose was defining what exactly a "food challenge" is. Apparently it's really just about people eating huge, spicy or otherwise ridiculous food in a competitive nature. All three of my drafts utilized similar color palettes, which wasn't especially intentional but something that's understandable given the color palettes of the food featured.

meaty madness

Since the story conveys a tone as though the food involved in the challenges is intimidating and confrontational, I wanted to convey a fun photo illustration that gave a sense that the food is "attacking" the challenger, which would be the reader in this case. Although I'm not sure how feasible this concept would have been in regard to the images VOX photographers had produced for the story, I really like how this one turned out.

uncomfortable eats

With this cover concept, I basically wanted to show how unappetizing these challenges can be. I honestly don't think that anybody is going to look at that and say, "Oh, that looks delicious!" I wanted them to think, "Oh God, that looks terrible. Who in their right mind would try to eat that?" Fun fact: after printing my first drafts for critique, my boyfriend pointed out that he read the title as "Uncomfortable Cats." Obviously this would have been a problem, so I would have worked with the type.

the human element

I personally thought that the most compelling part of the story is the fact that actual people choose to partake in these challenges. I definitely thought that showing somebody in the midst of a food challenge would be the best way to entice readers to pick up the issue. In the end, this is the one that the editors and art directors wanted me to rework for our final drafts.

final draft

Unfortunately, once the rest of the photos came in from the photographers, I quickly saw that there weren't any new ones that featured an individual partaking in a challenge. Instead, the photos were basically still-shots of the food, which were obviously not interesting as far as compelling cover images go. I looked through the photographer's raw files of this burger shoot, but this was still the best image as far as content and framing were concerned.

Jan wanted the burger itself to be more dominant as well as more centered, so I zoomed in on that aspect of the photo and tried to rework its position, as well as the title, to make it more of the focus. I knew the words within the title would be crucial for selling the rest of the story, so I worked with the title a lot to find the best way to convey information.

In the end I was satisfied with the end result. I think it looks like something VOX would run, even though it wasn't the final choice for the issue.

Critique: nosh magazine prototype

For our final project we're developing magazine prototypes for a major magazine publisher. My group is working on a publication called "nosh," which is a magazine for young adults who prefer to eat healthy snacks throughout day rather than three larger meals.

The following are some concepts I developed to help me keep on track as I created my prototype.

branding

• “savor the small things” 
• allow the readers to consume the magazine as they would their food: in bits and pieces
• the content should be easily accessible
• articles should be quick reads that busy young
• adults can consume and relish. short & sweet.
• readers want to display nosh on their coffee table and pass it around to their friends

design tone

• light
• fresh
• clean
• a modern adaptation of “retro chic”

covers

• will feature photos that use simple yet elegant compositions and vibrant colors
• fonts and sell lines set the tone for the magazine
• nothing bland or predictable 

departments

• trendy, fresh color palette
• photos feature people reaping the benefits of advice found within the department
• recipes correspond with each department
• take advantage of space in a way that does not overwhelm the reader 

features

• dramatic use of art to entice the reader
• fonts suited to the tone of the story
• healthy food is both aesthetically pleasing and fun to eat, so it should be presented that way

The following spreads feature the sample designs I created for my prototype.

color palette and lifestyles feature splash page

lifestyles sample spread

department spread

additional feature spread

Anyway, I can't wait to see which of our four designs gets chosen. (See Theresa's design here, Christina's design here and Tanya's design here.) The winner will act as art director for the project, and the whole team will work together to create a professional magazine prototype.

Cheers!

Critique: social smoking cover (or "the evolution of a design")

After last week's critique, the VOX editors decided to go with my cover choice. I was told they appreciated my initiative to tone the photo on my own. The original photos had yet to be toned, and as a result they were almost too dark to work with as far as designing goes.

 my original concept>>>

Here's what I turned in (and what they subsequently chose) to be worked on as the VOX cover for the social smoking feature.



After being chosen, the editors had a number of suggestions for the design. They thought the blurbs took up too much space at the bottom and compromised some of the photo. They also wanted the headline repositioned. When printed, the hot pink blended in with the background too much, so I needed to re-evaluate my color usage.

Here is how I revised the cover for print.



Although the art directors all approved of my decision to use three colors, upper management did not. I was required to downgrade from using three colors to only two, which I found to be extremely problematic. I liked how the top to colors balanced each other out and worked in contrast against their respective backgrounds, so I really didn't want to get rid of either of them. However, replacing the orange with either the turquoise or the pink would have made the overall color use unbalanced. Changing the orange to white would have made the deck blend in with the headline too much.

After a lot of deliberation, Aaron and I came up with a solution we found to be the least of all evils. Here is the final product that VOX printed.



I wasn't a fan of the new headline, so I searched for a new font that didn't look as awkward with these new words. I found one that was similar in nature but didn't have "G's" that seemed as weird. I'm also not a super huge fan of how we did the blurbs, but the issue with three colors versus two really limited the options. (This is also the officially toned version of the photo.) I think the use of only two colors makes the story look much more drab than it actually is.

In the end, I definitely prefer the product of my last revision before the color issue came up. As far as designs go, that's the one I'll be keeping in my portfolio. Working on this cover definitely taught me a lot about the editorial process.

(Did you notice that I wrote my own blurbs on my drafts? I got tired of reading "Billy Joel coming to town" and the like.)

Critque: Social Smoking Covers

Well, all of the shenanigans leading up to this project sure did take a whole lot out of me. Of course there was Comosnowpocalypse, which prevented my pitiful Pontiac Sunfire from getting to campus so that I could work on anything tangible. An unexpected sledding injury resulted in a 6 1/2 hour visit to the local ER Wednesday afternoon/evening. As a result I spent the next three days in bed attempting to heal myself.

In an ultimately feeble attempt to work on my design project from home, I downloaded the 30 day trial version of Adobe's creative suite. I was obviously not happy (nor prepared) to set aside 12 hours for its snail-paced download onto my system. Wow. I woke up this morning ready to install it when I learned that my janky old Mac system apparently doesn't support InDesign CS5...$%*#! Needless to say, I got my (injured) rear in gear and was on campus by 10 a.m. prepared to fully dominate both my design and photography projects. Serious productivity (and Red Bull) allowed me to achieve my goal.

Now to the nitty gritty that is critique blogging. The story I'm working with offers a new perspective on an old habit: smoking. The journalist working on the story observes that young adults in Columbia are following a trend of smoking socially rather than habitually.

In other words, smoking is a fun hobby done in social situations—not in daily life. As a college student, I don't think there's really any new, shocking information in the story, but it is noteworthy that this is a trend that's starting to gain some attention. In its entirety the story discusses smoking habits involving cigarettes, hookah, and a limited amount about marijuana (for obvious reasons).

Because the story maintains a light tone, it needs a design that relays a similar feeling. Keeping my technical abilities and limitations in mind, I've created the following three concepts as potential covers for the story.

Cover 1: the social (smoking) network



This article is a blatant parody of a certain social networking site *GASP*. Creating replicas of the buttons took the most time. Finding the best photos for the profile shots was also challenging due to the limited availability of certain subject matter on free photo stock sites. If this design is chosen to proceed, then I will probably invest some of my own money in a better image to represent marijuana. (The best ones I found charged fees I wasn't willing to pay upfront.) Ideally I would like to use a vertical image in place of the pipe so the design is more consistent overall. This should also remove the awkward white space.

Cover 2: Generation Y (are you smoking?)



I came up with this head and deck myself (although the deck admittedly needs work). I think that one of the most interesting aspects of the story is the fact that young adults growing up in Generation Y tend to be social smokers rather than habitual smokers. The story tries to answer the question of why this is so.

In this cover I tried to play off the trendy-indie hip qualities that seem to represent Generation Y. I think this cover is pretty successful, but to move forward with it we would either have to shoot our own photo or find a comparable one that's big enough to take its place because this one looks a bit pixelated when printed full-size. I also question whether the use of parentheses might confuse the reader.

Cover 3: Light up the Night



I don't think the VOX editors will choose this design, but I always seem to be drawn to minimalistic designs myself. While searching for various images related to smoking, I came across this photo and fell in love with it for some reason. The color, repetition and balance are all great, and I love the subtle reflection beneath the lighters. The head and deck were provided, although I did question how well it pairs with the image since there aren't actually any flames in the image. In the end I think this would be a simple way to communicate the story's basic subject matter to the reader, but it doesn't really go much further than that.

So what do you think? I'm a big fan of constructive criticism. I'd rather have my designs torn apart now so that I have a chance to really make something great for the final product.

Dang. After staring at all these designs, it's time to go get my nicotine on. (kidding)

>>>danielle<<<

Critique: spring preview design for VOX

Hello fellow design enthusiasts. I hope all the locals reading this are thoroughly reveling in Comosnowpocalypse.

Our last assignment was to create a design that showcased VOX's annual spring preview issue. I really enjoyed working on this project because we had a lot more creative freedom than we had for the first assignment (a photo essay). With this project I didn't have to worry about overdesigning or detracting attention from great photos as much.

For those of you who might not know VOX's spring preview showcases upcoming events that will be hitting the Columbia area in the near future. Basically reporters gathered a ton of information that was given to designers to organize into monthly spreads. Needless to say, I knew it would be a challenge to find a way to organize all of this information in a way that attracts readers. 

Before beginning work on the project, we were told not to put too much emphasis on conventional spring symbols like flowers, rain, umbrellas and the like. Editors suggested themes centered around the solar system or mechanics. Keeping these general rules in mind, I pretty much ran with this assignment.

After considering the issue's theme and effective tactics for enticing readers, I came up with the idea of working with a slinky. (Slinkies are essentially "springs.") I started looking for images I could use in my design. Because I wanted to go with a retro look,  I considered ways that I could manipulate certain images for a bold look.

I wanted to create a concept based on the type of art and design that I personally appreciate, something that would intrigue me if I found it in a publication. While it might seem arrogant to assume that VOX's audience would have similar reaction, I believe this type of design would appeal to a large part of VOX's readership: both the trendy "hipsters" as well as older readers who would have actually played with the original childhood icon.

Cover



I chose a color palette that was pretty much contained within the VOX color palete, which wasn't something I intentionally planned to do. I created the red color swatch, which I named "cool red," to complement the other colors. The font is "Knuckle Down," which I chose to download because it emulates the shape of the slinky. After re-evaluating my cover, I think that black slinky might be too dark on the teal (pool water) background if it were printed on newsprint paper. Overall, though, I am pleased with the final product.


Splash



I wanted to tie the cover theme into the splash page. I chose a more dimensional slinky image to work with. I wanted to use the "cool red" color because I loved it so much. I changed up the font; the main one I used here is Greasy Spoon because I think it provides a different kind of retro feel.

Feature



For the feature I wanted to carry on the retro theme and the same color palate without overdoing the whole slinky concept. To give the spread a subtle spring undertone, I initially wanted to use some partridge icons to accentuate the feature. After searching for some images, I decided that I wanted to do something a little bit different. A vintage shower curtain actually inspired these little bird fellows. Their eyes lead the reader around the spread. I used some placeholder photos because we didn't have actual stock photos at our disposal yet. I also created subheadings to split up the vast amount of information.

Overall, I'm pleased with how my design turned out, but I can see where it might have been a little too obscure or minimalistic at times (especially the splash page). I'll be proud to showcase this design in my portfolio, as it's definitely one that expresses my personality as both a person and a designer.

>>>danielle<<<