Graphic Design The Magazine Cover

The Design Principles Fonts Balance Proximity/Unity Alignment Repetition/Consistency Contrast White Space

Strong Sunshine Funny Retro Classical Scary Fancy Typed Font Teacher Questions. How can these be rearranged? Does the colour choice effect the word too? Font The font you choose can completely change the meaning of a word. Look at the words listed up above and think about the font that they have been written in.... Does it look correct? Now Try the same words with the fonts swapped around.

Strong Sunshine Funny Retro Classical Scary Fancy Typed Font Font’s are very useful at providing emotion and feelings for a word but they are not always readable. When it comes to headings and title what do you think matters most? The Font or the understanding? Font On a magazine cover you have only one chance to make a statement and choosing the correct font is essential especially when it comes to sales.

Balance Balance allows the eye to flow easily over a page. How do you feel trying to understand this page? Does it look or feel okay? Are items fighting for your attention? Three types of Balance: symmetrical asymmetrical radial

Balance Three types of Balance: symmetrical asymmetrical radial Now what do you think? Easier? Our bodies need a balance of nutrients to keep us healthy but every now and then it's OK to feast on chocolate, ice cream, and an entire super size bag of potato chips. Balance in design is much the same. For most of our reading our eyes and minds are most comfortable with evenly balanced layouts where the graphics don't overpower the text and the page doesn't seem to tilt to one side or the other. Three types of Balance: symmetrical asymmetrical radial Asymmetrical design is typically off-center or created with an odd or mismatched number of disparate elements. However, you can still have an interesting design without perfect symmetry. Asymmetrical layouts are generally more dynamic and by intentionally ignoring balance the designer can create tension, express movement, or convey a mood such as anger, excitement, joy, or casual amusement. The top one shows this. Symmetrical balance is easiest to see in perfectly centered compositions or those with mirror images. In a design with only two elements they would be almost identical or have nearly the same visual mass. If one element was replaced by a smaller one, it could throw the page out of symmetry. To reclaim perfect symmetrical balance you might need to add or subtract or rearrange the elements so that they evenly divide the page such as a centered alignment or one that divides the page in even segments (halves, quarters, etc.). Balance Three types of Balance: symmetrical asymmetrical radial

The principle of proximity states that related items should be placed physically close together and unrelated items should have space separating them. Proximity/Unity Proximity and unity is about ensuring that all elements on the page are of equal standard and help create balance or produce impact.

Alignment Is this page easy to read? What stands out the most? The principle of alignment states that the designer should use alignment of elements as a tool to create visual unity or organization. Designers recommend that each element placed in a work should have at least some alignment with another element on the page. Clearly this is not happening on this page. Alignment Is this page easy to read? What stands out the most?

Alignment Now ask yourself the same questions about this page. By altering the layout, we allows the eye to flow more easily over a piece of work and gives the brain time to acknowledge what is happening. And avoids your eye jumps all over the page as each individual element fights for your attention. Alignment Now ask yourself the same questions about this page.

If we compare the 2 pages we can clearly see what a neater and more readable layout would look like. Alignment Alignment is essential to any front cover especially as all the headings are fighting for your attention. They all are equally important.

Repetition and Consistency The principle of repetition states that the designer repeat some element through the product. The repeating aspect ties the work together. For example, compare the two images above. The left image is various shapes that have nothing in common except that they are the same colour. The right image has the images all aligned they are equal in size and proportion, you could use these on different pages of a magazine to refer to different sections. Where do companies use repetition and consistency? How do we know that a specific product belongs to a certain company? Repetition and Consistency Repetition and Consistency brings structure to a magazine. It allows the pages to flow better and can involve colours, symbols or fonts.

The principle of contrast states that the designer should make elements very different (add contrast) in order to make the design interesting and direct attention. The newsletter design to the left is a simple neat layout. But it lacks elements that make the design interesting. Notice how the improved design to the right uses contrast to highlight the key important factors. Contrast Both of these share the same content. What allows one to be better than the other? Write down which you think has the most Visual Impact?

Don’t let the name confuse you whitespace doesn’t need to be white. Just like people feel claustrophobic when there is too much going on in a small space, the eye also feels uneasy when it finds itself with no way out. Whitespace gives our eye a chance to breath and our brain time to process what is happening. The positioning of Whitespace also has rules. Don’t place it centrally! Whitespace Choose one of these images and write down exactly what you see. Next write down why you think the designer has positioned the elements where they have.

You might even find a few problems with the professionals. Collect a magazine and then begin to dissect it. Explore the different Graphic Principles mentioned in here and write down where and how they have been used. You might even find a few problems with the professionals. The Task Contrast Fonts Balance Repetition & Consistency Unity & Proximity Whitespace Alignment

Create the magazine cover and individual page for your magazine . The topic has been provided to you in your Brief Pack. You will create: A planning page of thumbnails A development of final idea (Drawn Visual) A final copy built using Photoshop Folio Work Cars Health Music Gardening Hair and Beauty Fashion Sports Film