Layout design

After I finished editing the photos and writing the article from scratch, I started to bring my project to life by creating a draft in Canva, in order to make an idea of how the final product will look. The images above represent a sketch of the magazine which I will later use in my mock up to successfully finish the task. Even if I will most likely modify some elements, fonts or colours until they reach my expectations, this will more or less give an idea of how the things will overall look like.

1. THE COVER

As I have said on my previous posts, I decided to use the portrait photo as the Cover Image, as I think it inspires "reality", as this could genuinely be the cover of a real running magazine.

Since starting this Politics & Media project, I came to the conclusion that my dominant colours for the pages will be a deep navy blue and a soft pastel pink to create some beautiful contrast but also give some life to the magazine, as I didn't wanted it to be to monochromatic or depressing (the subject is already a more serious one). That being said, I started by choosing the colour of the background, which will also be the one for the rest of the pages.

I chose the perfect shade of pink and gave it a nice finish with implementing some subtle soft frames around the photos, in the shade of navy blue. This idea initially came to me from the National Geographic cover, but I realised that creating such a thick margin would not fit the aesthetic; so I drew a simple, modern and elegant frame with just a few lines.

At the right bottom of the page I added the barcode and the dateline, as I thought it would look better and be more visible on the front. At the top of the page I've written the Masthead of the magazine"Global Lens" in a blue Cormorant Garamond as well as its subheading "Media & Diplomacy Magazine" but in a pastel pink Lora font.

For the Lead Article Line I went with a classic and bold Times New Roman text to improve the readability of the words, while for the Supporting Cover Lines I used the same font but in the original form, to don't captivate so much attention that the reader doesn't know were to look first on the cover. I also moved the cover lines on the right side of the page in order to have a better view at the model in the main image.

2. THE CONTENT PAGE

For this page I decided to keep it simple and easy to read. First I went fully with the white boxes and the topics of the articles, but as I finished the page, it looked very blank. Then I added the other two pictures as seen above and gave life to the idea.

The title "CONTENTS" was written in a Cinzel, black font as I didn't want to overload all the pages with the navy coloured text. The textboxes were done in a Times New Roman with a lot of space between the rows to keep the lines very aired and readable.

3. THE LAYOUT

This was the part where I think I have spent more time and been more careful and conscious of the changes and decisions I've made. The thing which I targeted the most in this area was to create the perfect balance between the pictures and text. In order to do this, I came to the conclusion that one extended photo on the first page, while two smaller others on the second page would make the great combination in order to make this happen.

First Page. In the first page I added the beginning and introductory part of the article, more exactly the part that really was most relevant to the "Toolbox- Essential apps, podcasts, and newsletters for following world affairs" title. After adding my image and putting the text written in Times New Roman to keep the style of the magazine more cursive, I was left with a pretty big empty space below. My first idea was to move everything higher and add a quote below the article text, but as more as I thought about it, I realised that I can use this idea just placed differently. The quote would have more impact if placed at the beginning of the page, capturing the readers attention and inviting them to discover more in the text.

So then I moved everything lower, searched a big inspiring quote related to the subject and placed it high and big on the page, followed by a smaller size subheading which represented the author of the quote. The quote itself was written in Playfair Display font while the authors name was in the Lora one.

I am really satisfied with how this page came out and its contrast between the image text and background, really attracting the reader into the politics and diplomacy world but in a more interesting and captivating way.

Second Page. In the second page I did the classic X scheme, as I like to call it. This refers to adding a picture in the left upper corner while the other one opposite to it, in the bottom right one; the text works the same just in the other sides. I like this method because it is simple and effective, even though in this case it was a bit different because the interview had to occupy a bigger amount of space. So I added the quote instead of the text in the corner and the interview in the centre, as it was the main element of the paragraph. This text was also in Times New Roman but the quote in Old Standard and surrounded by a navy square box, to match the alignment of the text (square style).

Picture wise, I used the black suit one and the White House one, as it was more rectangular and fitted this page better. The picture from the photoshoot seemed fittable here as the article is referring to an interview with a student named Ana, and the image represents a female that seems to be working in the same domain, after her dressing.

Both of the pages were finished by adding the number of the page and a limiting line at the bottom, both navy blue coloured.

4. THE BACK COVER

For the last page of the magazine I wanted to reach a minimal style, no picture added or extravagant element. So, I decided to go for a rectangle at the top of the page for something geometric, over which I added the company's logo. I wanted to use this logo somewhere in the magazine but it just didn't fit anywhere; and that's when I realised. I should put it on the back cover.

After creating a balance between the elements, I wrote in the centre of the page: the number of the magazine, phone number, email address and the official magazine site. Everything was added to a pink background to have the same vision as the front cover.

Overall, the layout design was definitely one of my favourite things I've done in the Coursework Development Task and I really enjoyed watching my magazine finally look more or less final. I can't wait to add it to the magazine mock up app and get the surely final product.