PLANNING - FLAT PLANS/TEXT

In order to have a clear plan for the magazine, I made some flat plans for how I want the cover, table of contents, double-spread and back cover to look. These flat plans are similar throughout all the issues, bearing some layout, colour or picture differences, but focused on the same idea. These sketches do not indicate the final layout and plan for the design, however, they help guide me into making further design decisions and having an organised and easy creation process, while still allowing me to add new ideas and be creative.

The magazine that inspired me the most is Atlas Magazine, as the pagination is very creative and clean. I plan to take inspiration form their style when creating my own issues.

THE MAIN COVER

This is the main idea for the cover design, I think I want to have a portrait on the main cover, but not necessarily a front portrait or a portrait of a single person. As for the layout, I sticked to what I agreed with my colleagues, but that can always change during the development of the issue. I'm almost certain that I want the masthead to be placed on the left upper side, that being because of two reasons.

Firstly, the left third of the magazine is something that I want to pay attention to, since most magazines, especially in western countries, are displayed on a magazine rack, that is often build to show only the left this of the magazine, so I have to make sure that the logo is easily recognisable. Secondly, since the logo is rather crammed and not as long as most magazine mastheads, placing it in the middle might make the magazine look too crowded.

As for the title and issue, I've decided to place them rather symmetrically for a clean look, but this is not permanent. Their placement will depend on the complexity and composition of the photo I will choose as my magazine cover.

Other great ideas for the main cover design that I have:

I thought of ideas like flipping the portrait 180 degrees, placing the logo in the middle or the right, of changing the layout of the writing, changing the composition of the cover image and much more. These ideas are all relevant to me, and I will consider and experiment with them when I will design the final magazine.

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CONTENTS DOUBLE-SPREAD

When looking at the design proposals for the contents double spread, we can see that I did respect most conventions, yet still managed to challenge some.

On the left page I want to stick with the title, a picture and any other short details in a small font on the bottom. I want to centre the picture, so the page has a clean look and everything is pleasant to the eye.

For the right page, that's where I want to write the contents of the magazine, I plan to organise this information in columns with headings, and separate the information into two main categories, articles and editorials. Since this a fashion focused magazine, most issues will have editorials in them as well as articles, and I think separating the two will make the information on the page clearer to the audience.

As for other design details, I had this specific idea in mind that I saw was often used in Atlas Magazine. They often use the "A" from their logo through the magazine, and I think that is a very subtle and interesting way to market your name and constantly remind your viewers what magazine they are reading. I incorporated this idea in two ways throughout my sketches. In the first one, I added a pattern of our "a" behind the image. In the second one I placed the pattern behind the writing, in real life the pattern would probably be very opaque, so the writing could be easily read. This could make the pages a more interesting aspect and composition. These sketches are ideas and concepts that will most likely change until they reach the final product, but I think they are a really good start.

The final product will be similar throughout all the issues, yet still have some different layouts, colours etc.

TITLES FOR CONTENTS

Each category will have between 6 and 9 headings, all with shorter subheadings. All these titles will have the page under and the author/creator if any, or other necessary details. I've also tried to relate the topics for the articles with the editorial so they go hand in hand and the content is interesting .

For the article category, I have multiple ideas for supposed articles that I think would fit this magazine and the topic really well, while also appealing to our targeted audience.

- What does how we dress say about us?

- We're the game changers.

- Interview with Virgil Abloh

- The cycle of trends

- Racism in a country where racism doesn't exist

- Who is Heron Preston

All these ideas are topics I think would interest our targeted audience and that are in relation with the topic I chose for my issue, however all these titles are invented and the content does not exist. When I will create the actual magazine, I will most likely change some titles, add or take out some ideas.

For the Editorial category, titles should be shorter and composed form a few key works, since editorial are mostly composed by pictures and very little text, that allows the viewer to understand the theme and topic through visual images.

- Sonia

- Race (related to "racism in a country where racism doesn't exist")

- Confidence

- Them

- Care Free (photoshoot 2)

- Revolutionary Minds (photoshoot 1)

- A loop in time (related to the cycle of trends)

I've come back to write these titles after doing the plan for my shoots so I had all the ideas:) Again, all these are just proposals and I'll come back to them for inspiration when creating the final version of the magazine.

DOUBLE-SPREADS

For the double-spreads I haven't created any flat plans, that being because I will create a post dedicated to the planing for the feature article/editorial, where I will present more ideas regarding the layout.

BACK COVER

For the design of the back cover, I don't want anything complicated. I plan on having an image displayed on the whole page, which a barcode on the bottom, on either sides and maybe some very little writing.