Reading Assignment No. 3/Blog Assignment No. 6

Reading Assignment No. 3
Publication Design Workbook, pp 64–65
Publication Design Workbook, pp 182–191
Creative Characters
Rising Stars
In Your Face
Fontshop Newsletter Archive
Emigre News

Blog Assignment No. 6
Compare and contrast the examples of printed newsletters in Publication Design Workbook to the email/HTML newsletters above:

• What similarities do the different formats share? What visual clues indicate the serial nature of the publications?


• What are the major differences? How does the format limit the presentation of the content?


• Of the printed newsletters shown in PDW, which layouts do you think would readily translate into an email newsletter? Why?


• Fontshop and Emigre publish digital newsletters as well as more traditional printed newsletter style promotions? Why?

Perfect binding

Though the project handout specifies a saddle-stitch binding for the magazine, you are welcome to experiment with perfect binding. Keep in mind that craft is a significant part of the grade.

More magazine design

An extensive, informative and insightful description of the redesign of The Atlantic, by Michael Beirut and his team at Pentagram.

Advertisements

I've been asked a number of times now about the inclusion of advertisements in your magazine designs. I am not opposed to them. They can lend your finished project a sense of authenticity. However, I am more interested in you concentrating your efforts on the assigned magazine elements first.

Magazine layout research exercise

Pick up a recent (within the last 12 months) copy of Wired magazine, or even better, head to the library to compare multiple issues. Each one is a master class in typography and page layout. Examine the typographic variety and marvel at the skill with which the designers combine typefaces – in one issue I counted eight distinct typefaces used on one spread, and it looks effortless.

Study the Contents, Departments and Feature Articles. How many grid variations can you find in one issue? If you lay the various grids over one another, how do they relate? Are all of the columns the same width and depth, do they start and end in the same place? Why, or why not?

If you buy your own copy, take it apart. If you go to the library, take tracing paper and lay it over the pages. Using the text provided for your issue of Baseline, reconstruct the grid of a Wired feature article that has at least 3 pages of text. Print it in black and white and bring it to class on Monday.

Blog Assignment No. 5

Research a magazine designer or art director that was active between 1930–1960 and post a short bio. In addition, discuss what made their work groundbreaking and influential. Include images of magazine covers or spreads.

Think about what Pentagram designer Luke Hayman said in the short interview we watched in class on Wednesday. He said, "I'm a big fan of copying, but not copying directly from your peer." Hayman encourages researching the design archives. He specifically mentions the internet, but what other design archives are available to you?