arielsativa

[arielsativa]

Proof 3, Final.

One spread that works and why:

I really like how this spread turned out. It took quite a while to get the article to be aligned properly without any orphans or awkward spacing. I think that the very structured text, and having all of the photos in the same shape, the wild colours in the art don’t overwhelm the page. I also really like the white space on this spread. 

One spread that I want to improve and why:

I think this spread is working for the most part. I swapped the pages around at one point to keep the magazine from having too much repetition in the pages, and I think when I did that I should have moved the captions on the portfolio page to the right side of the page. Looking at it printed, I think it might be a bit heavy on the right side, and moving the text to the right side of the page would have balanced that out a bit.

Reflection:

I loved this project! I have gone through so many different versions of each page, and changed things around drastically since the first draft. By the end I was on Proof 8. It is really cool to look back through all of the different proofs and watch it evolve and develop a personality. I learned how to use my tablet, and do hand lettering, which was really fun, but a lot harder than I thought it would be. I changed the columns around multiple times, and finally settled on a 9 column grid. Originally I was going to use a three column grid, and then a five column grid, but I found them too limiting. Eventually I settled on a 9 column grid. 

Seeing the magazine printed was so satisfying, and I am really proud of how it turned out. This project has opened my eyes to the possibility of working on magazines in the future, and I am really happy to have this for my portfolio.

Thank you to Nancy, and everyone who gave me critiques throughout the process of making this magazine. Thank you to the artists who let me feature them in this magazine, especially those who connected with me to write articles, and let me take photos of their work. 

[arielsativa]

Refinement

Changes Made:

I changed quite a few things around since the last proof. Mostly photos that weren’t good enough quality once I got it printed properly. I found it hard to find good enough quality photos for some of the artists that I featured because most of the photos that they have shared were through social media which compresses photos quite a bit. 

I also hand lettered quite a few of my headings throughout the magazine. It was very time consuming because I am a perfectionist, so I ended up deciding to have two fonts for headings. I also found that when I stopped trying to make every letter perfect, I ended up liking those versions better. 

The biggest change was probably to my contents page. I really loved the contents page that I had before, but I searched the whole internet for a better quality photo for it, and couldn’t find one good enough. However, I changed it to a painting with a more simplistic colour palette, and I think it makes the hand lettering I did stand out a lot more. 

Feedback:

My feedback was all pretty similar this week. Mostly minor things like slight alignment changes, or tweaking the rag on an article. I found it really helpful to get other people to look at it, because they could tell me where their eyes went first, and that would help me determine whether I needed to make changes or not. 

Steps on Moving Forward: 

I have always had a problem with finishing things because I always want to keep tweaking them. I find it hard to look at something I have made and walk away from it without making any changes. I think because this class was so structured, and we had to have each step done in a certain time frame, that helped me learn to have to finalize things. 

It took me a long time to get all of my pages done because I would get fixated on the tiny details on each page. One day I just put all of the big content like the photos and articles without any sort of design element, just to get it on there, and from there it came together really fast. I think that will be one of my biggest takeaways. It’s kind of like baking! You have to get all of your ingredients together before you can start icing the cake!

[arielsativa]

Proof 2

Feedback:

Text: 

The font for the artist’s name is distracting. Choose a font that doesn’t have any letters filled in as they are taking away from the art.

The kerning on the contents page needs to be checked. The space between C and O is a lot more tight than between T and S.

Make sure on each page, the artist’s name is in the same place, and is centred in the pink box. Either make the box the same size on each page and more the name down so that they are all the same distance from the beginning of the box, or make all of the boxes different sizes, and keep the names aligned to the top left of the page in the same place on each page. 

The sources can be condensed in size. They don’t need to take up the whole page. It is an interesting photo, you don’t need to waste the whole page on the text.

“Story” all of your pull quotes so that the quotation marks go to the left a bit and the text is all aligned. 

The colons on the social media titles don’t need to be there. 

Make sure that websites are all on one line. “WWW.” can be eliminated if space is a concern.

The new hand lettered font on the front is a nice touch. Try to make some headings in that font for the rest of the pages too so that it stays consistent.

Images: 

The back image is pixelated. 

The new cover is working well, and goes with the centre spread still, but it doesn’t go with the back cover anymore. Keep it consistent.

The images need to all be the same distance apart from each other. Take rulers to all of your pages and make sure they are perfectly aligned.

Layout/Alignment: 

Try moving the text in the centre fold down a bit. There is a lot of white space and it looks a bit crowded. The pull quote is a bit big on the right side. Try making some sort of interesting thing happen with the article on the left. A pull quote or interesting way to break up the text would make it more visually appealing.

Steps Moving forward:

I need to find a way to bring the cover/centrefold/back cover together. I have to find another back cover as this one turned out pretty pixelated. I am going to continue to make more headings in a font similar to the one on the front cover. 

Insights: 

Seeing it printed in colour and cut down to the right size was really cool. It looks way better in colour than it did in black and white. I didn’t know about using the story feature in inDesign, so that was helpful. It’s amazing how many things you can look over on your own work after you have looked at it for so long. It is so helpful to have other people look over my work and help me see what I am missing! I learned how to use a tablet so that I could write my own title for the magazine. It was really frustrating at first, but once I got the hang of it, I couldn’t put it down!

[arielsativa]

Proof 1

Feedback:

Text: 

Try to limit the amount of fonts on the page. The font for “Portfolio” can be the same as the pull quote.

The heading is still being cut off a bit too much, but is awkwardly spaced if pulled up higher. Try another hand lettered font.

Watch your hyphenation. 

Be careful of orphans or widows. Try balancing your ragged lines.

Images: 

Make sure that the hexagons that the images are in are properly aligned to the columns, and use a ruler to make sure they are proportionately spaced from each other.

The cover has come along nicely, but is still a bit of a confusing theme. You might want to try another illustration.

Layout/Alignment: 

Try aligning the categories in the social media square to the right, and the artist’s information aligned to the left. This will make it less confusing and give it a more balanced, professional look.

Make sure you are toggling between the print view and the layout view. Be careful not to align to the bleed marks instead of the column marks.

Steps Moving forward:

I am going to go forward with changing my cover and centre spread now that I have gotten the rest of the pages to where I want them to be. I still like the idea of using an illustration, so I might try one more, but if that doesn’t work out, I have taken some beautiful photos of a local artist’s studio, so that would be nice on a cover as well.

Insights: 

I really like the typeface that I had for the title and headings, but the fact that random letters are capitalized and the rest aren’t makes the lines of text quite uneven, and makes it a bit hard to read with the layout that I have. I think that the addition of the artist’s name and social media in a consistent shape and place throughout the magazine has really brought the pages together regardless of how different each artist’s portfolio is. 

[arielsativa]

Rough Draft Version 1

Feedback:

Cover:

The title of the magazine, along with the illustration, and the blue paint splatters gives off more of an impression that it is a swimming magazine than an art magazine. Try making the subhead more prominent, and changing the colour of the splattered paint. 

It might look more put together with a photograph instead of an illustration on the cover. 

The idea of using a canvas texture is interesting, but it is not obvious enough and makes it just look grainy right now.

You could try hand lettering the title, and maybe even the headers.

Text:

The oversized headers on all of the pages create consistency throughout the magazine, but be careful not to put them too far off the edges so it doesn’t lose legibility.

Try experimenting with pull quotes! You can also have more than one header, subhead or pull quote style. Try changing it up a bit.

There is a double name in the table of contents.

Be careful of double spaces.

Try adding the names at the top, like a bookmark so readers can flip through the pages and find the artists easier. 

Try doing the same idea as the artist’s names, but with their social media information at the bottom. 

Ensure you are using paragraph styles.

Body copy size is working nicely.

Take out the word “Biography”. It is unnecessary.

Photos: 

The image bleeding off the edge of the page is very effective and makes the page feel larger.

Try switching up the photo layout a bit. Instead of using the same grid for the photos on every page, try only including 1 large photo for one artist, and multiple for another.

The front cover and back cover don’t really go well together, maybe try adding either the front cover to the back as well, or try making the front cover more colourful, and similar to the back. 

Page Layout/Alignment:

Try switching the layout of the page around for some pages, so that the article is on the right side and the photos are on the left. This will create a more exciting, visually interesting magazine.

Ensure you are using the columns properly. Try increasing the amount of columns on your master pages so that you have more room to play around with the photo and text positioning.

Insights: I received quite a bit of in depth feedback for my rough draft. I found it very helpful, and will take it all into consideration when preparing my first proof. I want to make sure that I have all of the fine tuning done before I start redoing pages but I think after talking to a few of the students, I want to redo my cover and centre spread. I want to write the title in my own writing, and I might try doing the headings in my own writing as well. It was really satisfying seeing my whole magazine put together in print. I really like where it is heading and can’t wait to see it done!

Steps on moving forward: I need to make sure that I have everything aligned properly. I need to enter all of my sources, and ensure that it is in the proper format. I also need to make sure that I have all of the photo credits on the page. I am going to read all of this feedback as I am editing, start from the first page, and work my way through to ensure that every page is being edited.

[arielsativa]

Review of Task 7

Insights:

Cover: My cover is of a girl in a bathing suit facing away from the camera. This is an illustration I did a while ago that I thought would fit well with the title of the magazine. I brought it into illustrator and then image traced it so that I could fine tune any little marks or lines in the drawing. I thought it was a bit too black and white compared to the rest of my super colourful magazine, so I have been playing around with different watercolour splatter brushes to make some colourful paint splatter effects in the background. 

Centre Spread: I used the same illustration from the front cover in my centre spread, except I layered two versions of it on top of eachother, and changed their colours to create a slightly different image. It almost looks like two girls in matching bathing suits are holding hands now. I thought this would be a good way to keep consistency throughout the magazine. I also lowered the opacity of the image so that it isn’t the main focal point of the page. The page has a piece of advice from Denise Goddeau, one of the featured artists in the magazine. The article is titled “Go Easy on Yourself” because artists are known for being their worst critics, and it can be really stressful being the perfectionists that most of us are. Sometimes it is really helpful to hear from other people in similar circumstances about how they dealt with similar problems. 

I think I might add some more quotes from other artists as well. At the moment I think it might look a bit empty for a centre spread. I think having some sort of article about this subject, with the quotes from the artists in a decorative quote would look nice.

[arielsativa]

Centre spread

Insights: 

I wanted to keep the image that was on the cover but bring a new personality to it on the centre spread. Familiar content with a new twist. With the new layers and added elements to the layout, the painting could be interpreted in many new ways. I thought it went well with the featured artist giving advice to other fellow artists. It could also be interpreted as one person being there for themselves in their artistic journey. However it is interpreted, I wanted to reinforce the common theme that most artist’s advice echoed: Don’t be too hard on yourself; inspiration and opportunities will come with patience and practice. 

Thinking:

I wanted this page to be a nice breather for the reader, as most pages are fairly information heavy. I thought it would be fun to add paint splatters all over the background, similar to the cover but more toned down so that the text is still easy to read. The heading is short and sweet inspirational message, and is the brightest colour which commands the most attention. I tend to lean towards traditional placement for text, so I was trying to avoid that for this page. I started off with the heading in the middle of the page rather than the top, and then placed the rest of the text from there.

Work Approach:

I drew the illustration of the girl with microns and white gel pen, and then scanned it and uploaded it to photoshop. I then watched numerous tutorials on how to create a paint splatter effect on a photo, and experimented from there. I downloaded different paint splatter brushes, and made the paint splatter background seperately. Then I put them both into an illustrator document, and image traced and expanded my illustration. This was helpful because when I was adding a paint splatter effect to my illustration, it made a few parts a little wonky. Once I was happy with the paths of my illustrations, I brought them into inDesign, and I played around with opacity, colours, placement, feathering, flipping, cloning and cropping them until I was happy with the final layout, and was ready to add the text. 

Takeaways:

My favourite takeaway from this was creating a “workspace” document and hiding the artboard so that I had an infinite amount of space to fiddle with my illustrations. I also learned that once I changed something on an illustration, I would clone it and then make more changes from there (that way I could always go back to the previous version if I wanted).

[arielsativa]

Cover

Insights:

Reflecting the title of the magazine and the focus of the theme, I have created a cover to be an illustration of a woman in a bathing suit. This may represent her taking a “splash” literally into the water, or figuratively into the world of art a design. I hope that the raw illustration of this cover page invites artists of all medias to dive into whatever artistic world they may be dipping their toes into.

Thinking:

Originally, I had planned to create a more sketchy/non conclusive drawing for the cover. However, the more I drew, the more I thought that the idea of a finalized drawing with colour variations integrated would be a better idea. I thought it would be a good idea to take articles from local artists and use their most inspiring quotes to pull readers in.

Work Approach:

I had a hard time deciding if the name of the magazine should be prominent or behind the main image as you see commonly in magazines. I decided that since this is such an image/art based magazine, and since the image on the cover and the name of the magazine are so closely tied, the name of the magazine doesn’t need to be huge, but I still think it adds to the colourful, fun look and feel of the magazine. I used CYMK colours which are bright, fun, and those four colours are the ingredients to every piece of art that will ever be made.

[arielsativa]

Contents page

“Continue experimentation by creating one version of the contents page of your magazine. Push the boundaries by experimenting with design principles—play with structure, hierarchy, contrast!”

Version #1:

Version #2:

Look and Feel: My magazine is featuring many different artists, each with their own styles. With that in mind, I wanted to showcase the diversity of the content on the title page to gain the reader’s interest, and give them a quick glimpse of what type of content will be featured. I really liked the geometric shapes as frames for the photos on the layout pages that I did on task 4, so I tried to keep that sort of fun, artistic look and feel going on the content page with these arrow shapes. I think that the arrow shape helps guide the readers through the images and type, and points them towards the next pages. The little black arrow shape create some continuity between all of the different featured art. I kept the colour palette for the text and background black and white to keep it from taking away from the imagery, and keep it easy to read. I also wanted to keep as much white space as possible, to keep it clean, and avoid a crowded, confusing content page. 

Problems: I had a bit of a problem finding a way to arrange all of the photos without having them fall on the centre part that will be folded. Because it is not a centrefold, having the photos continue from one page to the other would cause problems, and take away from the photo as they will be broken up, and may not line exactly up. I tried making the arrows go up and down to avoid this, but it didn’t look very good, and didn’t seem to invite me to flip to the next pages as much as the arrows pointing right did.

Takeaways: I did about 6 different versions of the table of contents. Each time that I redid a layout, I found something new that I liked or didn’t like. In the end, I had two versions that I really liked, which are pictured here. I spent a long time doing version #2, where each artist’s art is featured, and I like the idea of readers being able to get a glimpse of what is to come in the next pages, or being able to find exactly what they are looking for, but I think I like version 1 better overall. I think it has a cleaner layout, and has continuity between the two pages, without breaking up the image too much.

[arielsativa]

Personality comes in all Styles

Personality comes in all Styles, (Body text, A Head, B SubHead, C Pull Quote, D Picture caption and E Picture Credit to be exact)!

It can be a little tricky to put all of these components together without overdoing it, and making it look cramped. I had a lot of fun playing around with different ways to bring the fun, energetic tone out in these layouts. I used a typeface for the artist’s name, that looks as if it has been painted right onto the page. There is a fair amount of information in the article, so to keep it fun and interesting, I used geometric shapes for the photo placeholders on the portfolio pages. 

Version #1

For this version, i tried to keep most of the information on the first page, so that all of the focus could be on the images on the portfolio page. I think the honeycomb shape that the images form will draw the reader’s eye comfortably from the top left to the bottom right of the page. I made the pull quote a bright colour to draw attention into the article, and so that even if the article gets passed by, the pull quote still gives the reader a piece of advice and a bit of insight into the artist’s personality.

Version #2

For this version, I tried to change the article and heading placement to a little more non-traditional places. I also thought that separating the paragraphs this way might break up the text a bit more, making it seem like less of a daunting read. I also changed the photo below the artist’s name to a less traditional photo shape, which I thought might add visual interest. The portfolio still contains 8 photos like the first version, however, some are larger than others in this version, giving them visual hierarchy. The portfolio page in this version also has a lot more white space, which could be a nice bit of visual rest with such a bold layout.

[arielsativa]

Margins, columns, and folios

Today I experimented with possible layouts for the pages of “Splash!”. Using the same content for both versions, I explored how different amounts of columns, margin sizes, and placement of the page content (text, images and page numbers) affected the look and feel of the magazine. I have chosen Lustria Regular, size 8.5, and 12 pt leading as the common typeface throughout Splash!

Layout #1:

This layout has two columns on the first page, and three on the second. It is fairly simple, as it will be a heavily image focused magazine. There will be a photo of the artist (preferably working) on the page with the biography, along with the artists name, age, medium(s) of choice, and social media links. The second page will feature mainly images of the artists work, with brief descriptions of what the work is. It will also feature a quote from the artist about something interesting in the artist’s life, their techniques, experiences or advice for fellow artists. I chose to put the page numbers at the top for this layout and make them quite a large size, just to try something a little different. 

Layout #2:

For layout #2, I switched the page numbers to the bottom, but put them on the inside corners rather than the outside. I like the way they look this way, but it will make it a bit more difficult to find the page number if someone was flipping through. I also switched the name of the magazine, and edition number to the top to avoid crowding the bottom. The quote from the artist is in with the biography on this layout, to give the photos on the portfolio page all of the attention. I used a four column layout for the first page, and a three column page for the second page. Originally I wanted to try using a 12 column layout, but it ended up being unnecessary for such an image focused page. Lastly, I made it so that the artist’s name stretches across both pages, which I think gives the page a unified feel, but could cause a bit of confusion as to whether it is one or two artists being featured. 

I really like the look of the second layout, but I think that the simpler one might be the one to use to avoid the pages feeling crowded once all the photos are in there.

[arielsativa]

Let’s Get Real!

Let’s get real (and a solid start to the magazine) by sourcing real content!

Image Source: http://www.mpgautheron.com

Image Source: https://shop.mikael-b.com/

Image Source: www.charmaineolivia.com

Image Source: http://tylerhaysart.com/

Long Article #1: What Lifts You

“I wanted to provide people with a brief escape, I wanted them to step into a piece, become a living work of art and then reflect on what is most important in life.”

Long Article #2: Mikael B

“Everybody dreams. Everybody strives to get lost and find themselves, to find their purpose in this life, but we ultimately make the distinction between what is realistic and what is idealistic. Mikael B. refuses to make this distinction, continuing to grow into the passionate young artist that he is today.”

Long Article #3: Charmaine Olivia - Inspiration

“There is a deeper meaning to all this.. And it’s that the point is not to get noticed.. Getting noticed and receiving recognition for your time and effort can be a beautiful thing.. but nothing compares to the feeling of actually creating… Let that be your motivation! Let that be your source of inspiration.“

Short Article #1: Pamela Holloway

“Evolution, like creation, is a natural process and should not be hindered. The need for growth and expression in all cultures is necessary. It is really important to preserve the past, but it is also important to keep creating, to ensure the continued growth of both the people and the individual.”

Article Source: http://cedarmooncreations.com

Short Article #2: Sketchy Stories

“I think it is a combination of feeling inspired and the ability to execute the ideas based from those inspirations. An awesome concept in mind will just be useless without the proper skill, discipline and style to make them materialize.”

Article Source: http://fridayillustrated.com/interview-doodle-artist-kerby-rosanes/

Short Article #3: Tetrachromacy

“[A] world-renowned leader in the field of color vision, discovered I was a “Tetrachromat,” someone possessing an incredible genetic gift. Tetrachromats have four color receptors in their eyes instead of the usual three. This “super vision” allows me to see up to 100 million colors – 100 times those with regular vision!“

Article Source: https://concettaantico.com/about-concetta/

Short Article #4: Alex Garant

“They say the eyes are the window to the soul. The eyes in Alex Garant's paintings are like a gateway to another dimension.”

Article Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/alex-garants-queen-of-double-eyes-is-mesmerizing_us_55d202b6e4b07addcb43723d

Small Article #1: Marina Fierz

“My work reflects my stages in life, my personal evolution, and each piece tells a story through colours, textures, materials, and subject matter.”

Article Source: www.marinafierzart.ca

Small Article #2: Camilla D’Errico

“She has distinguished herself through her ability to seamlessly weave comic art and manga with surrealist elements, wrapping it all together with an extensive emotional palette.“

Article Source: www.camilladerrico.com

Small Article #3: Alexis Diaz

“I put elements together like in a puzzle until the moment of mutual understanding.”

Article Source: https://www.widewalls.ch/artist/alexis-diaz/

[arielsativa]

Anthology Topic

“Splash!” will be a contemporary art magazine highlighting a collection established and emerging artists of today. There won’t be an age limit on artists who are chosen to be featured, however, it will focus on current growing artists rather than those who have retired. “Splash!” will have three main sections: Local (British Columbia) artists, Canadian artists, and International artists. “Splash!” will feature a diverse collection of styles, disciplines, and content. It will aim to introduce its readers to current artistic styles from artists from diverse cultures around the world, while giving artists the opportunity to share their stories and work.

Target Audience

“Splash!” will be inspirational to contemporary art lovers of all ages, genders and lifestyles, but geared toward young aspiring artists and art students. The articles will be focused on the successes and pitfalls feature artists have had, different artistic methods and advice for fellow artists. The target audience would be (but not limited to) people between the ages of 16-35 who are interested in pursuing a career in the arts, expand their artistic style, and be inspired by other successful artists.

This is Emily. Emily has always been an artistic person, who has enjoyed many different kinds of art since she was a young girl. She is in her last year of high school and has been encouraged by teachers to pursue a career in the arts, but she is unsure what type of art she would like to study. Hearing stories from other artists about how they became successful would be beneficial, but she is very busy with school and work. Having a magazine with personal stories and advice from a variety of different types of artists would be inspiring to Emily, and might help her with her future career choices.

Image Source: http://www.culturedmag.com/david-yurman-debuts-young-artist-prize/

Look and Feel

“Splash!” will feature a lot of imagery of art by each artist featured. While each page will have a different personality, embellishing the look and feel of the style of the featured artist, there will be an overall contemporary theme to create harmony throughout all of the pages, and in hopes to not limit the audience with a gender or age targeted overall feel.

The overall theme will feature bright, bold accent colours that catch the eye and compliment the imagery. The layout will be fun and artistic, featuring images cut out into unconventional shapes, bold colour, and fun typefaces for titles. Articles will be more toned down with more conventional use of colours and typefaces to keep it easy to read and to not take away from the imagery.

Here are two examples. In the first photo, I love the way the geometric shape of the photos allows for a number of photos to be on one page without looking crowded, and the titles are colours that compliment the photos nicely. In the second photo, I like how the imagery is the main focus of the page, and the text doesn’t take away from it with its simplistic, easy to read typeface and colour palette.

Image Source: http://www.stratford4.com/magazine-layout-ideas/beautiful-magazine-layout-ideas-create-your-own-wedding-magazine-with-twenty-pages-magazines-yearbooks-and-weddings.html

Image Source: http://www.fixour.us/graphics-and-design/graphics-and-design-inspirational-tbl/

Tone

The tone will be fairly casual. Articles will be focused on the artist’s journey and include many quotes from the artists. The tone of the articles will include slang and casual jargon, given that the target audience, and artists featured are generally a younger crowd. The overall tone is meant to be fun, energetic, uplifting and inspiring. It will be intended for a diverse range of ages therefore, there will be no swearing. Viewer discretion is however advised as there may be tasteful nudity in some art.

"I’m so unsatisfied with just another ‘pretty picture’ painting […] What interests me are the things that are subtly strange, things to keep me interested." -Charmaine Olivia

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” -Pablo Picasso