After recognising that I should focus on using illustrations and can adopt a variety of styles I chose an article from Reductress that would provide interesting material to create an image from 'Get It Bitch, This Woman Got In the Shower'. Wanted to diversify the layout of the illustration as I had placed most on either one page if the spread, perhaps slightly moving onto the other page but never spread across both. The successful thing about this spread and how quickly I managed to pull it together I think is due to the fact I thought about the placement of the article body text whilst producing the imagery to go alongside it. This was one of my aims of how to work when I started making the magazine as I realised it would be more successful (integration between text and image looks better) and would mean a faster process long term in producing spreads.
It was suggested by a peer at the time that I could draw a bath for the article body text to sit in, but after starting to draw it I decided that there needed to be more white space than more imagery within the page and so left this out when digitally improving it. Instead I placed the title coming out of the shower head as the interaction between image and text and put the body text beneath it in a simple straightforward way.
Also checked with a peer for legibility of the title I created as I could see that I had not done it in the clearest fashion, who told me it could be clearer and so I re-drew it and also made sure the style was consistent across all the words (eg. shower was too structured and the letters needed to be more rotated and playful, which was chosen to reflect the ridiculousness of the article's topic).
Had some problems with image tracing the image with the low quality photos I took of it: Need to make sure I spend the little extra effort getting a good photo so that I don't spent extra time having to retake it and sending it to myself.
For a professional magazine insert I needed to produce a contents page and wanted to have another spread which would present the various workshops the website offers as a way of financial support for the insert, which would include a QR code for people to easily scan and reach the website from - a direct link between the online and physical publication. As the insert already has a lot of illustrations inside I felt that these pages could rely simply on the paint marks used across the spreads and should incorporate some doodle lines to bring it back to this style inspired by Steve Hockett, which would heighten the satirical element to these pages.
At first I simply placed the QR code in black and white on the design but realised that for it to look more integrated into the design I should spend the time image tracing it and making it the same colour as the paint mark I wanted to use to develop into these content and workshop spreads.
I wanted lots of colour and texture within these spreads and so produced two different page forms, one in which the form and colour filled up one page and one where there would be white space for me to place text. After creating these I decided that like the way I have repeated illustrations across article spreads in different ways, I could use these simply with different colours and reflect them to be on different pages for the content spread at the start of the insert and for the workshop spread at the end of the insert. This would bring the insert together from start to finish.
Had some trouble laying out the contents page as I wanted to have the text curve within the rounded rectangular form, however with the workshops being listed in a very fragmented way with the place, what event, whether it was sold out or a website link to book it, it did not fit well using this method and the rag looked awkward. I found that centralising the text solved the problem and the process of making sure the text curved within the form was not lost as the text is still moved slightly within the boundaries to look more clean. Having it in such a oblong form also reflects the satirical tone that should be associated with the idea of doing these comedy writing workshops and brings a playful, fun quality into it, which would encourage the reader to sign up and go.
I did the opposite on the Contents page and had the text in white on the solid colour form page for some variety. This also meant having a lot of white space on the opposing page but I feel this works well for balance with all of the different textures and lines within the artwork of the spread. Initially for the contents page I also wanted the text to fit round within the form for the text and image to integrate, however with peer suggestion that sometimes it is best to have it simply centred in justified text I changed it.
Spent some more time on the front cover after finishing the main body of illustrations and spread layout for the magazine content.
Played around with using simple the R logo on the front in large to see if I could produce any appropriate outcomes following the principle of simple is best. Created some quick forms which have been altered and added to using the paint marks I used throughout the magazine which I placed behind the the R and throughout the front cover, and while these worked with the aesthetic of the magazine there was still a satirical element missing.
When making various outcomes using paint marks and various forms I looked back at the research I did on Steve Hockett for this doodle style to apply which has a very satirical feel to it, but it still did not feel very reflective of the content inside and so decided to do what I planned the other day on taking elements from each article illustration and integrating them somehow into the cover.
Following tutor feedback near the start of the brief surrounding this idea of using the eye in the R letterform as a dynamic form which could be used to reflect the main article of the issue, I created these four different logo adaptions. These are most definitely the most successful for the front cover idea yet, but when placing these into a format for the front cover I could not find an interesting structure that would reflect satire as much as the doodle idea above does (which is still a limited amount).
With the red black theme again as well it gives off too much of a Labour feel which will put some people off it, but I thought I would try it within this new cover design idea as it does reflect the main colour of the website. It was suggested to me by a peer that I could try and create a border of the themed R's and place the Reductress logo R at the centre as the first attempt feels too busy. This different in sizes between the R's will create a sense of balance. However this border idea feels too contained and does not reflect the sense of freedom a feminist magazine should present.
Recognised the colour red would not work well in most formats and decided that with the abstracted flower there would still be a consistency between the website and the publication even if I changed the colour scheme and so played around with the turquoise colour I have used across the magazine in the workshop and shower article spreads, which I decided for the final design would be appropriate as it subverts what the reader would expect of a feminist magazine (which tend to employ pink or red colour schemes) and therefore links back to this notion that this magazine is not just a feminist magazine but a satirical feminist magazine.
After failing to produce any front cover ideas I was happy with I decided that I could use the same idea from the contents and workshops spreads where I use an abstract oblong form of solid colour or an outline and then integrate the different illustrations from each article spread into this form in a fun and playful way without having to involve the R I designed, which I felt was restricting the design. However as soon as I started to lay it out I knew this wasn't the aesthetic I wanted for the overall magazine.
Although it is satirical as it uses a variety of funny images, it would be difficult to involve more textures within the cover with the extent of detail within the drawings without there being a lack of balance between those elements and space. I wanted the cover to be filled with some kind of form, image or text for a big impactful message as soon as the reader comes across the insert in the magazine they are reading.
As another idea instead of using these different R's to show what the inside content is, I would use one article illustration alongside a paint texture. I chose the fanny article as this would catch your eye as a front cover and as it is so conspicuously something feminist and funny, particularly with the different representations I have drawn them as. To keep the cover balanced with all of the detail coming from the fanny illustrations, I ensured that there was a large solid colour area in which the R logo with the developed Reductress flower could be placed. I spent a lot of time pulling out the solid colour area further across the page for this reason.
- Paint texture with the chosen colour looks like it could be rushing water (which any woman will recognise as a funny play on this idea of someone eating them out)
- The fact the paint texture has also been altered digitally in integration with the form I produced makes the cover resonate with the fact it originated from a website, an online space
- As I made some of the fannys half hide behind the paint texture it heightens the satirical aspect of it more
Peer suggestions were to make the fanny illustrations the same colour as the cover so that the cover becomes more of a cohesive unit, which greatly improved the piece. It also inspired me to have the back cover continue this image with the fannys moving over to the back cover and for the paint texture turquoise form to go down and up around the back cover too.
For there to be minimal text on the cover I placed the name Reductress and ISSUE 1 simply on the top right hand side down vertically. This gives it a clean finish and still provides the information necessary. Kept the type the same as I had been using within the magazine of Basic sans, which I downloaded on Type kit as it reflects the satirical tone of the articles with its smooth and rounded letterforms rather than a sharp edged and traditional serif font which was suggested to me to use for the article body text for legibility. I decided not to do this additionally as the magazine is about breaking creative boundaries (in reflection of other independent magazines in competition against the digital world), and exploring the use of new modern readable fonts comes under this aim.
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