Very first attempt at a spread I made while I was still collecting photos from my personal archive I could potentially use for the assignment. Went for a simple design, keeping the colors minimal and leaving the photograph pop as the only non-black-and-white element; opted for bird, sky and water visuals which I ended up keeping as a concept for this spread. The goal with the photographic illustrations was to convey a sense of fluidity, a silent calling, questions posed and yet to be answered, a sparkle of belief and hope in a dark place.
Spreads shown at Midterms
Continued building on top of the initial concept, kept on moving the birds around as the balance in the spread felt off. Went for a digital nostalgia sort of visual language with the choice of pixelated typefaces and design elements.
Decided to keep the same color palette as the last spread, alongside keeping the choice of Redaction as a typeface; photo from a self-taken video as a visual which I data-moshed and added blob-tracking to via TouchDesigner.
The digitally distorted mountainous landscape is a nod to the dissonance between digital and real life spaces, the disharmony between the two and the ongoing decade-long discourse about the two’s effects on each other.
Wanted to incorporate retro digital visuals (Cellular Automation applied to a self-taken photograph) and keep the article spread simple, clean and not as straining to the eye to look at as the title spread; ended up scrapping this page altogether.
Final Design Proposal
Opted for a mix of retro digital + faux analogue for the overall look of the spreads, using original photographs and applying different types of cellular automation to some of them, while keeping the base image intact for an overprint effect.
Used circuit boards as inspiration for more creative ways to take advantage of the 12 by 12 grid I had chosen for the spreads in pages 5-8.
Typeface choices aim for simplicity and readability with a subtle node to the theme of this edition of the magazine: more playful characters sprinkled throughout the spreads, in-between standard serif and sans-serif fonts.
The design proposal is meant to carry itself with an air of quiet nostalgia, a sense of dissonance, distortion of memories of moments passed.
Cover Design
Used a photograph I took of a hang-out set-up left outside after a party – tied well into the Coming of Age theme. Considering the main demographic of Honours Review is people freshly stepping into adulthood and out of adolescence, the implication the image carries of a once inhabited space of joy and familiarity now being vacant aligns with one stepping out of a phase of life and into a new one. The couch on the back cover and arrow pointing towards it vaguely hint at the remnants of one’s adolescent self being carried into adulthood, still present in a way, even if everything else has seemingly changed.
Slight change in the font choices so as to lessen disharmony and business in the design after receiving feedback.
