Digital Magazine Layout Analyses

This was the double page spread for the front of my magazine. I used my fragile 5 pic story images of the hot air balloon. I think I used the best image for a double page spread as it uses space well and leads into to the story appropriately.

As it is a light hearted and fun story I wanted the font on the first page to reflect it. The font on the image above was an experimental font I downloaded from dafont. I chose it because of its relevance to the story with balloons, however wasn't happy with how it looked. The font in the second image was also from dafont. I liked this one a lot more as it blended in better with the image, wasn't overly childish and is clear and present. I decided to put the title on a slant. This made it more dynamic and went with the flow of the image.

Also I had a bit of sub text saying the words and photos are mine. In the first draft I placed it bottom right and in the second bottom left. It worked better in the bottom left I believe because it was close to the title and there is less distractions. The bottom right of the image has a lot of ropes which I felt obstructed my text and made it look out of place and harder to read.

This was my first layout design for this spread and I really liked it so decided not to change it. All of the images were cropped in order for the most effective placements. I like how the top two images kind of like the pages together. I used a shadow effect on the top and bottom edges only in an attempt to link the images together. I felt this was an effective tool so I decided to try it on the other images. I used I a drop shadow for the other 3 images. The drop shadow on the image of the balloon lifting off is most effective. It gives the image a further depth and looks as though it's coming of the page a bit. I wanted it to be quite in your face, as when I took the photos I hadn't realized how big these things are. So this effect kind of lifted it off the page a bit, which I liked so I decided to keep it and just for aesthetics I included a drop shadow on the other two. I made it so that the shadows on the images were all going towards the centre of the page.

Originally I filled the layout with placeholder text to establish how it would look and thought worked well. When I came to actually writing my own words I simply introduced the story and with the remaining space on the page captioned each image.

I think overall I was happy with the outcome of this layout. It was a different style from my first layout of the black and white images. Seeing as i'm still in the development stage of creating and understanding layouts, I will keep changing my style and experimenting with new and different layouts and determine which ones work the best.

Film Magazine Layout Analyses

This was my first attempt of creating a double page spread on InDesign. I was happy with my outcome as I feel the the first spread has a strong establishing image that creates a lot of space and divides the page adequately. I used quite a bleak and plain font as I felt it was effective with the tranquil atmosphere of the opening image. I tried this spread with and without the sub text but I felt the sub text created more of opener and would draw readers in better, giving them a brief outline of the whole story with a powerful establishing image to back it up.

Turn the page to the next spread with the story in it. The images I chose reflect the concept of isolation well. The layout is very simple and basic. The quote at the top of the page looks good and I feel creates a flow towards the text. I much prefer the front spread to this spread, like I said this layout is pretty basic and simple. I think if I were to do it again, I would muddle the images up a bit, place them in different positions on the page and change the layout of the text accordingly.

This was another layout that I tried for this spread. I liked it however I felt the layout I used was more effective in a simpler way. I felt it flowed more and separated the words and the images apart from each other. The layout I chose was more orderly and kept it simple which I preferred.  

Second magazine layout