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New Visual Language the masthead of the magazine, i knew i wanted to do a modernist style magazine so my masthead had to be blocky and have impact and ignore delicacy, i liked the more sturdy type as it screamed confidence and assurance but after some work i picked one i liked mixed with a few others. I knew i wanted my mathead in

a circle then it would stand off the page and would be isolated making it easy to see. After some further development on illustrator i quickly moved away from my original idea of a more blocky typeface and went for something thinner but still sturdy and easily visible. i tried experimented with different types and shapes to see if i could find a nice combo when

i decided to use 2 types, one delicate and one sturdy which complimented each other and looked really up to date and unique. I also went with the full word instead of the initials as it had more substance and made a more complex masthead. tried a few different colour variations but finally went with the ple green as it linked very well to my front cover.

MASTHEAD DEVELOPMENT

MASTHEAD

REFINEMENT

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MAGAZINE

COVER

EXPLORATION

The magazine cover in my eyes is the most important part of a magazine, its the first thing to catch the consumers eyes and it will never get picked up if its bad. Seeing as the theme was either modernism or Post modernism i immediately jumped at the chance to do a modernist style piece as the flat colour and linework is my favourite form of design. The magazine cover was fun to do but was the easiest part of the magazine because it wasnt as technical as the page layouts of inner pages.

A common shape seen in modernism and swiss style design is the circle so i couldnt think of amore fitting shape to use. i used varying transparencies to be more visually aesthetic.

Took the cirlce thing a bit further layering them ontop of each other but added some orange rectangles in the back to frame the page better.

i couldnt quite get the colours correct on this cover, i moved on as i was stuck with this covers overall look.

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Took inspiration from Armin Hofmann’s work using the towers

but coloured instead of black, i found black was too much.

I like Brockmanns work and his use of unfinished circle arcs, i

added my own flare by adding colour and using straight lines

alsoto contrast the circular.

This is the magazine i went for in the end, it was originally

without the triangles but it needed something on theleft

without being over bearingthe points contrast against the

circular pattern

i like this one the most but i couldnt make a cover i was happy

with the colours i used throughout complement each other

greatly but i couldnt make the sub heading work.

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DIGITALARTS MAGAZINE

MAGAZINE

PAGE

LAYOUTS

A few varients on page layout and sizing between text and image. Its easy to draw thumbnails of magazines but making a page work well with the text and images is much harder and i found not many of these even worked but the simple layouts worked best. I used the digital arts magazine as inspiration for my layout thumbnails, i always buy the digital arts magazines that are mainly digital painting and graphic design just beacuse its what i enoy most. And they were a big help as google image search only gets you so far.

I didnt use the grid for the thumbnails but found a magazine grid on the internet which when placed behind my page and set to template worked great for all my inner pages. overall i stuck with the same few and varied them as i went through depending on what images i had and how much text, i found it really hard not to fill gaps even though gaps are fine and in digital arts it seems gaps are the best thing to have on a page. even though indsign is the software for this work i found it more complicated and ended up working in illustrator and seeing as most my work for he pages was being made in illustartor i thought it fit quite well.

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MANIFESTO,

A STUDENT

OF DESIGN

Get some rest:

A massively important factor for a student of design is sleep and lots of it. Sleep deprivation is quite common in students as they

statistically average out at 4-5 hours a day of sleep opposed to the recommended 7-8 hours and this takes it toll on the body and mind and

can hinder creative flares. Sleep can also benefit you in ways of inspiration, as your dreams can be a fantastic source of idea generation

but that’s only if you can remember them…

Don’t be so harsh on yourself:

Being self critical is instinctual, its very rare we will be proud of our work unless its self indulgent design but when it comes to being seen

and judged by others we suddenly become a very harsh critic and nothing is ever good enough. Subconsciously we think we’ll be judged

in secret and we strive for our work to be flawless so nothing bad can be said about it, which is nonsense.

Just do it:

If you have an idea, write it down… don’t try and remember it, just type it into your phone or write it down on your hand if you have to, just

make sure you record that idea or you might regret it later when your wracking your brain and cant remember the “revolutionary” concept.

Don’t get overwhelmed:

Often you will find yourself overwhelmed with what seems like an infinite amount of work and deadlines just over the horizon, don’t worry

just break your work load down and take some time to plan your time effectively maybe taking a priority system. Just like the old saying

“how does one eat an elephant?”

Exploration!:

Exploring concepts and ideas is key! If you come up with a fantastic idea don’t stop there… explore it and branch out from it and a better

idea could come about and make the previous one seem kinda crap. Only good can come from exploring your work, so just do it.

Collaboration:

Your mind is limited and can only imagine things it has been inspired by and everyone has different sources of inspiration and knowledge

so it’s just smart to listen and discuss ideas with fellow students.

Experience is key:

Your going to get nowhere unless you get out in the world and explore! Not only are you going to see so much design and inspiration on

the journey but also you could experience something that changes your outlook on life and completely change who you are as a designer.

Take a break:

You need a break… take a 10 minute break from a hardcore design session and just ponder it, look at your creation from a distance, mirror

it or just take a break and come back with fresh eyes and a new perspective.

Repeat good design:

You can only get better if you practice and in design repetition of method etc. is practice and you must keep doing it, and doing it until you

are the best… then keep doing it. Practice makes perfect

Do not cap your imagination:

Always have a sketchbook on hand in case of imagination emergency and something so brilliant and awesome pops into your head you

can blast it out onto paper and have it recorded physically. As well as doing the work assigned by brief you should take time to doodle and

really draw some stupid stuff, it will get you in the mood and get your creative juices flowing and you might just bring some awesomeness

into your brief too.

Good design makes you think:

Good design can be interpreted differently by anyone whether its “good design is simple” or “good design is invisible” but I think it should

make you think about what it is placed on whether it be a physical product or concept it should just trigger thought provoking conversation

with a random person next to you.

Pen on paper:

Ideas should be sketched, they should be doodled roughly and show how your unique brain matter comes up with the stuff it does. A final

finished piece, polished to perfection is all well and good but the more important part is what led up to that, how did this polished piece

even happen? Sketches break down an intimidating skillful process to something much more relatable and possible for students.

Change it up:

Do something new every once in a while, really dive out of your comfort zone and use methods of work you think you’d hate or couldn’t do

and you might surprise yourself and others at what you are capable of and to broaden your horizons.

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