The Art Of Story

The past few weeks, we have been working on an editorial design task, which I absolutely enjoy. The designs have been finalised earlier today. I shall bring you through the individual processes I went through in creating my work.

Firstly, after going through the task deliverables, my faciliatator talked to us about the overview of a design process. Specifically for this one, I have drawn somewhat an organizational chart.

It is important to note down the different processes in order to be have an organized work. Also, for this task, we have been asked to explore ‘warm & cool’. In terms of design, ‘warm & cool’ can refer to colours, typefaces, shapes. But it also can refer to emotive languages. In most designs, ‘warm & cool’ has been reinforced in order to create a balance between the two extremes. Here’s what I think of when ‘warm & cool’ comes to mind.

I feel that this is a really important point to be taken note of during the design process, where the different elements are being chosen.

With that, I did my research and picked out a few inspiration and also sketched out my ideas.

In every magazine, a masthead is essential in identifying the name of the magazine as well as allowing others to recognise the magazine better.

Some really great inspiration for editorial design. Notice how they balance warm and cool factors within the design. Black & white, has been even out with splashes of red and orange.

Some of my ideas being penned down. After much research, sketches and looking at inspirational materials, I took it to Photoshop and started picking colours I deemed as suitable for the concept. Afterwhich, I created 3 mockups of the Smash Arts cover.

My colour palettes & mockups.

Bringing these materials to class, and after much critic session, I decided to pick the first design and improvise on it further. The critic given was:

• Too plain
• Good use of masthead though
• Titles were too linear
• Single style & font type can be a little boring
• Lack of balance in design on right & left side

With that, I worked on my design and improvise it. What I did:

• Create balance by adding graphics on the left
• Portray more font styles & types
• Utilise colours in graphics in order to create a more colorful look, less plain than before

Here’s the finalised cover! (colours are affected due to CMYK colour mode)

The next week, I had to create the table of contents and a 2-page spread article. It was a really good thing that I had to redesign my initial cover as it had made it easier for me to work around with the added elements to form as part of the concept. (having circles and the stipulated colours)

So here are my table of contents (which I like, very much!) and my article.

If you notice, I wrote the description myself, too. Hahaha, I really enjoy writing thus explains why I refuse to use dummy text. I like imagining that I am really developing a real magazine. Gets me all excited! :D

Sorry for the absolute horrid colour turnout here! But anyway, I very much have enjoyed the few lessons of Editorial Design. I love it!

Au revoir,

Sakinah (: