"Arkitekt" cover

Have designed several covers for the Arkitekt magazine. Have been trying out different images and typefaces for the title. My idea was to use very thin typeface for the title but it was almost invisible between all the colors. So I have different options here.

This is final cover that I came up with. I was not really pleased of the image I used in previous options because of the perspective it was taken from. So I chose an image of the window of the old post office building in Wolverhampton. I edited in Photoshop and came up with an interesting and simple effect. I moved off the place RGB channels that made it look like 3D image. Also it links to the colorful lines that I used in my final 'Hooray for Carbuncles' layouts.

Hooray for Carbuncles (finishing)

Taking on board all the feedback and comments on boards I started improving my layouts.
Here are my final improved and developed layouts for first and second double page spread.

Spread no.2

Spread no.1

Then I started to put it up in Indesign. And these are my final outcomes.

Spread no. 1

Tex Gyre Adventor, Didot and Latin Modern Roman typefaces were my choice for my final outcomes.

I used calmer colors so that it doesn't make a viewer sick.

The title "Hooray for Carbuncle" in combined from 2 different typefaces Didot and Tex Gyre Adventor. I wanted to show a bit of contrast and make it more interesting and in some way dynamic. In the green drop-shaped figure in considerably large font under 'carbuncles I put an introduction text aligning it with 'carbuncles' left side.

Main body copy is aligned with the top of the 'H' and was used in Latin Modern Roman font that is available for free from the internet. Then it continues on the second page and the beginning of this is aligned with the text that is under the word 'carbuncles' then it continues and the beginning of the second column of the article is aligned with the start of the article on the first page.

I decided to put the quite in colorful speech-marks and stretch it across 3 columns so that it stands out from the aligned article. 

Spread no. 2

Here I have used same approaches to build this layout as in the first one. I tried to link it as much as I could. The title 'Georgian Architecture' here is positioned exactly in the same place as the title on first layout. Also title 'today's terrace....' is positioned on the same level and matches the height of the 'Georgian architecture' title and then an image of the same height progressing to the edge of the page.

I decided to make 'Georgian architecture' article the main one because it has go the most of the text. Generally it was the hardest one to make compositions with. Word 'architecture' is as long as the introduction copy and words 'an introduction' is the same length as two columns of smaller paragraphs that link to this article. And put the vertical blue line across the page to sort of separate two main article from each other the same approach was used on the second page.

Hooray for Carbuncles (Continuing)

After couple of failures with my previous layouts I moved on.
I started to simplify my layouts a bit by making them to look a bit less busy and balanced. Here is what I came up with.

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Again taking into consideration some feedback from my peers I had make some improvements and make some changes to overall design. First thing that catches your eye is color and it is a bit too bright and rich and in some points there in an article on 2 colour background which makes it very difficult to read. Also there is a text over image which on print was almost invisible and of course unreadable.

Hooray for Carbuncles 3

Based on the my visuals I started to transform them into digital version.

 

However taking some feedback on board I had to change it. On of the main points was that it would be difficult to read. It is not clear where an article starts, continues and finishes. 

At this stage I did not focus on typefaces which made it even more complicated and harder to design.  

Then I decided to start adding some geometric shapes and images inspired by a layout from unknown magazine that I came across online.

In progress I realized that I am making it a bit too complicated and I need to simplify because all these shapes and provided text did not really work out. I gave up on this layout without even getting it done completely.

Hooray for Carbuncles 2

From my early drawn visuals of individual articles I started to design double page spread layouts.
I came up with an idea of using geometric shapes in my layouts and images to make it dynamic and interesting. Here are some of the visuals

Hooray for Carbuncle

By provided brief I was required to design a cover and and two double page spreads for an architecture focused magazine - Arkitek.
I explored a range of ideas using hand generated visuals. The text was supplied and must have been use all. Images was left to my choice in terms of content, and "treatment", but must have been art directed and created by myself.
I could choose any format for my magazine solution although each individual page must have been larger in both directions than a standard A4.

I started off by exploring and gathering ideas form variety of magazines. Do not really remember the titles of all the magazines on library shelf that I looked at but some that inspired were "GQ UK", "GQ France", "GQ Australia", 'GQ Russia", "GQ Italy", "GQ Germany" "GQ India", "Esquire UK" and "Esquire Czech republic". Issues are available online in PDF format. GQ issued in different countries are completely different layouts, designs and solutions from each other, what was quite interesting to compare. I would say my favorite ones are UK, Russia, Australia and Italy.

My first attempts to design a news pages!
Found it the most difficult and complicated to design. Here are some rough thumbnails for individual articles that will be put and organized together to build a nice layout.
Base and inspiration sources were:
Variety of magazines;
Books:
Typography Now, Next Wave by Ricky Poynor, Edward Booth-Clibborn.
Frost (Sorry Trees) by Lakshmi Bhaskaran
The Art Director's Handbook of Professional Magazine Design
The Best Of Newspaper Design (Edition 28,29,30)

And here I have got some of my rough thumbnails for double page spreads for the introduction article.
It was much easier to design because there was much less text provided than for the news double page spread.

'Where I live'

I had to create a response to the title, 'Where I Live'

The final piece was required to be created in Adobe Illustrator to demonstrate ability in a range subject specialist techniques and show an understanding of variety of image-generating materials, processes and techniques.

As I was not quite familiar with this particular software I found it quite difficult and challenging to produce the final work.

Inspired by various artists and designers particularly artist named Zutto I produces a little planet.

At the beginning of the process it was very difficult because I did not understand how some particular tools in the software worked.

Entire image was set up from many different sketches. First thing I started work on was globe, I scanned drawn image in and using pen tool drew out outline and afterwards filled it using gradient tool. Then I drew little town on the globe using geometric shapes. And for the background I used an image off the internet, then I live traced it and moved some particular parts of it to make it more abstract.