Response: CRMA judging

Yesterday in class we were Preliminary Design Judges for the City & Regional Magazine Association for Spring, 2012. I really enjoyed doing it because I tend to be so focused on the same magazines that I'm used to reading that I can forget about all of the other beautifully designed magazines that are out there. I learned I loved Los Angeles Magazine. It is definitely one that I am not familiar with but one that I would want to read more of now!

Judging these magazines made me appreciate all of the hard work that goes into just one issue of a magazine. There are so many aspects to a magazine, whether it be the type of design used, the color schemes, the writing style, the variety of stories, so much hard work and time goes into every single page. After my judging experience, I decided that in order for me to improve my own designs, I need to read a more variety of magazines rather than my go-tos. I think as a designer I can get myself into a design slump, where I tend to use elements of design that I've previously used before. To get myself out, I think it would be beneficial to look at all types of design, regardless if it is my own style or not, and be able to build off of other ideas.

I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation, but I have rather high anxiety about getting a job when I graduate this May. After my judging experience, I came to the realization that there really are a TON of magazines out there that I would never even think of. We looked at quite a few city magazines, but there are so many other kinds of magazines available that I regained confidence that I will find a job.

You Can't Miss: MediaMilitia

I came across this site from a good friend of mine, Justin Cole, who is a graphic design major who told me about it. I always see cool stuff in magazines and advertisements that I wish I could learn how to do, and this site has actually helped me branch out of my usual design ways a ton. This semester I'm wanting to try a lot of new things with my designs, especially wanting to learn how to do more in Photoshop. This site includes a bunch of different tutorials that I can see myself getting really into. 

It works a lot with 3D type, how to make paint splashes in Photoshop (which conveniently I have been wanting to learn!), creating vivid lighting, and a ton more. 

Hopefully by my next post I'll be able to do this. Fingers crossed...

There is also a tab for inspiration, where you can view other designers' work and gain ideas from that.

This website has a ton of variety, and after finding it from Justin I'm now wishing I had more friends majoring in graphic design! Oh the possibilities...

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For the semester, I chose to follow magCulture.com/blog which is a blog that is about, yes you guessed it, magazine culture. 

The "Magazine of the Week" for this week is "Projekt" magazine. When I saw the title of "Magazine of the Week" I immediately figured it'd be a current, popular magazine that they give their opinion on. Instead, "Projekt" was formed in 1955 as a Polish magazine. Unit Editions, a publishing company that produces high-quality books on graphic design, just announced that they are doing a publication on "Projekt." The magazine features Polish posters, Polish graphic designs, all from the Soviet era.

 After doing some research about the magazine, I grew to love all of the vibrant colors used in the posters and graphic arts. I also realized it isn't just a typical magazine with cool colors, however. The magazine visually describes the struggles it faced surviving Soviet domination. Poland had to deal with censorship, which made it difficult to express through journalism. Looking through the different spreads of the magazine, I can feel the sense of rebellion.

I'm a sucker for design with awesome contrast. I love all of the black, and the way they tied the black in from the cover to all of the spreads. Now thinking I should look to 1950s magazines for inspiration more often!

Critique: Rock 'n' Roll

After a somewhat stressful first week of Magazine Design Capstone, we made it!

I'm finally starting to get used to the whole process of Vox. It is rather overwhelming at first, but I think we will all get the hang of it with time. I think what I am not quite used to yet is the quick turnaround. I like being able to design something and be able to go back to it a couple days later and make changes, but I'm getting used to the fact I will need to change my ways. It's a learning experience and making me a better designer already!

Our first assignment was designing spreads/a cover for a photo essay on a cigarette store in Columbia where you can roll your own cigarettes. 

For my cover, I chose this image because I wanted to choose a close-up image and I thought it was a great picture because the photographer was able to capture the smoke in a cool way. As I'm getting used to the quick turn-around, I would have spent more time on pushing typography.

For my opening spread, since this is photo essay and the emphasis should be on the photos rather than the text, I wanted to use a dominant photo that took up the whole spread. I chose to not use any text until the second page.

For my second spread, I tried to vary the distances to which the pictures were taken. There was not a whole lot of text that came with this story so it was easier to put in larger photos rather than find a way to fit both a large amount of text and lots of pictures. I chose to include the black border around the top right photo because I felt it made the photo pop and it made the photos more cohesive together rather than include the awkward white space.

I continued the black onto the third/last page of the story to make the spreads consistent. I enjoy designing photo essays because I love emphasizing photos in my designs. I appreciate good quality photos and love being able to showcase them in my work; I feel it is a good way to complement the design.

I have also been working on designing covers for a later issue for Vox. I think I've decided designing covers are my favorite because there is a lot of freedom and a way to add so much of my own creativity. Stay tuned for my covers and Spring Preview designs!

Welcome!

Yay for blog post #1!

So here's a little about myself. Hope you can find it interesting. My name is Blair Weaver. I'm a senior Magazine Journalism major with an emphasis in Design (obviously) and I also have a minor in Business. I came into school wanting to major in Business and do design stuff on the side because it's been a passion of mine for quite awhile. But then I thought to myself, why wouldn't I just major in something I enjoy doing? Plus I hear Mizzou's Journalism School is pretty decent...

I'm from Kansas City.. the Kansas side to be specific. And no, I am not a KU fan- if I was, I would go there. I started loving design in high school when I was on the Design staff and Ads Editor for my school yearbook. I have continued to pursue my design dream throughout college, from designing various marketing materials during my internship with Maxus Properties, to becoming a Magazine Design TA last semester, and have continued my business interest by studying abroad last summer in Bergamo, Italy through the Trulaske College of Business.

This semester I will be designing for Vox, so keep checking in for my most recent designs!

Ciao!