Critique: First Prototype Draft
- This week we had the first draft of our magazine prototype due. We are creating the prototype as a pitch to the large magazine corporation (which shall remain nameless by request). For this week, we had a cover, department page, feature spread and color palette due. Our magazine is title Plaid Dad and is based off of the Better Homes and Gardens Red Plaid Cook Books. The magazine is geared toward males ranging in age from 21 to 35. It is mainly aimed at family men who want to improve their skills in the kitchen as well as around the house. Here are my first drafts.
- I realize even after this first draft that this assignment is going to be much more difficult than I had originally anticipated. Not only the workload but especially designing to a male audience. I'm going to have to get in touch with my inner-tomboy in order to create something that will attract and keep a male audience interested and engaged.
- I faced some difficulty in organizing the department and also in trying to make a feature about moms still seem 'manly.' This should definitely be an interesting project...
Response: First draft class critique
- I was lucky enough to be one of the first drafts that we critiqued in class on Tuesday. I got a lot of helpful feedback and what it really came down to is I have not yet accessed a creative side that is male-friendly yet. After hearing the critique of my classmates, Jan and Erica, I realize that I have a LOT of work to do. Basically, I'm planning to basically redesign my draft completely. I think I need to include more bold typography that is fun and approachable. The typography I am using at this point is a little too intimidating as Erica pointed out.
- Jan told us that she was going to be tough on us this week, and I'm so glad she was. I thought that my design was gender-neutral enough for the type of magazine that we're creating, but after her comments, I realize it definitely is not. It needs to be completely geared toward men. While some other mens' magazines have a small female reader-base, Red Plaid is intended to just be for men. The class critique definitely helped me to realize that.
Check It Out: Some really awesome logos and more
- SO, this daunting logo assignment is glaring at us from our calendars. 20 logos sounds like a LOT for just one company, but this feature from YOUTHEDESIGNER.com shows 33 original, modern, fun logo designs. The battery logo below is my favorite. It's very quick-witted and at the same time straight to the point.
Check out more awesome logos HERE.
- Today, Paste Magazine featured the work of artist Patrick Dougherty. He creates LIVING tree houses. He weaves together tree limbs into life-size creations that can even be made to depict people. It is an unbelievable sight and definitely a form of art I've never gotten to see before. I can't imagine the planning and time that goes into making one of these magnificent structures. They are definitely a sight to see.
(Photos by inhabitat.com)
- You can read about the sculptures above and see many others HERE.
You and your fellow designers on Plaid Dad have definitely got your hands full -- considering none of you are men, I'm sure the concept is a lot harder to visualize then the rest of us can see. But I do like your cover a lot. I found it new and different -- something I could see being a perfect fusion of magazine and cookbook. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the logo link. These examples help to illustrate Jan's point that logos aren't just typography. I like the battery example; it might just seem lie the word battery, but the illustration pumps it up. I also really like the Chef Boyar Dog!
ReplyDeleteI loved the look of your department page. I know that Jan said a lot of the department pages with the small thumbnails looked like they were catalog pages, however I thought it was very clean and appealing. While the gadgets are definitely cool, even with the small images I get the gist of what it is. The design was also kind of a cool way to include a plaid-like pattern into the page.
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