New visual language: Research and development document

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A New Visual Language Joshua Juhasz

a new visual language Form Follows Function


A New Visual Language

CONTENTS 01

.................. : BRIEF REQUIREMENTS

02-15 .................. : MODERNISMS 16-24 .................. : ARTIST RESEARCH 25-27 .................. : GRID SYSTEMS/USES 28-38 .................. : GOOD/CLASSIC DESIGN 39-53 .................. : MASTHEAD DEVELOPMENT 54-55 .................. : COVER LAYOUTS 56-56.5.................. : STYLE SHEET/KERNING/TRACKING 57-67 .................. : COVER DEVELOPMENT 68-115 .................. : MAGAZINE PAGE DEVELOPMENT


A New Visual Language

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The Brief: Requirements

The brief explains that in this project I am required to create a magazine entitled, “New Visual Language�; I am going to create the first issue of this new magazine which will focus on how form follows function this will be an exploration of Modernism and Post Modernism. After researching into Modernism and Post Modernism it is important that I generate a a piece of work that not only explores the origins and philosophy of the movement, but which also relates to my area of practice which is Graphic Design. I also need to submit designs for a broad sheet, which should be based on my personal and visual research from the year. I should include edited versions of the following into my magazine... City In flux Earth Artefact Type Transcription New Visual language

You Should produce...

I must create...

. Masthead (Title)

. Original research into Modernism/Postmodernism

. Cover Design . Contents page . Inner page/s

. Thumbnail visuals design layouts . Grid, Layout, Type and image selection experimentation . Multiple solutions and design refinement . Mast-head . Broadsheet cover . Inner pages


A New Visual Language

Research An exploration of Modernisms and magazine design


A New Visual Language

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Research: What is Modernism? MODERNISM:

Expressionism

Cubism

Bauhaus

Modernism was a cultural movement which occurred for almost 100 years! It spanned from the 1860’s to the 1970’s during this time lots of changes were happening and a lot of the art created during this time was inspired by the Industrial Revolution. Modernism generally includes creations of people who felt that the traditional forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, and philosophy were becoming outdated in the new economic, social, and political environment of an emerging fully industrialized world. Modernism it seems then was a revolutionary movement which inspired the world we have today. Modernistic Movements: Impressionism Cubism Constructivism Bauhaus Surrealism Art deco Expressionism Fauvism

These are three popular movements in the Modernism movement, Expressionism was a very weird and new style of displaying emotion. This is a very popular piece called “The Scream” by Edvard Munch it portrays a characters emotions through a painting. This was one of the first paintings which seemed quite surreal and had deep artistic portrayal of a character.

Cubism was also a big art style during the Modernism movement, Cubism revolutionized painting and sculpture and also influenced literature and music! It was a very important step in defining a modernistic world. Picasso was one of the main artists who developed cubism as a style creating art pieces like this one entitled “The weeping woman”.

To me Bauhaus was the single most important in the Modernism movement, It’s new style combined crafts and the fine arts and to me it defined a configured a new style of art called Graphic design. Form was very influencial in this period, grids were made to make typography and other visual language sit on a page as well as possible. This style is very significant to our modern thinking today!


A New Visual Language Research: What is Post Modernism

POST MODERNISM: Many people think of Post Modernism being a reaction to Modernism and rather than being an artistic movement like modernism it would be a way of thinking. I agree with this idea because I don’t feel it is as revolutionary as Modernism was you can’t define Post Modernism without refering back to Modernism. Post Modernism was based around breaking the rules of Modernism and disregarding form and communicating in a much more expressive way, we can often see signs of post modernism today on Punk album covers which expressess the hard and disregarding music movement. I personally don’t like the Post Modern style, I think that the style is messy, unprofessional and pointless. I think the lack of form that artwork like this possess has a childish quality. The overall designs are hard to read in your face and use way too much colour.

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A New Visual Language Post Modernism: Punk Punk It is now thought of as a musical taste but it was a very defining moment in post modernism, punk was everything against modernism. Form wasn’t important and strong bright colours where always used. The aim of punk was to break the rules of modernism by not using the grid system or colours which worked particularly well together. Emphasis was much more on how the album looked rather than what it said. A lot of hand-drawn type was used for it’s messy aesthetic and obvious rule breaking attitude. It challenged the modern ideal and pushed boundaries.

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A New Visual Language Post Modernism: Pop art Popart is a post modern movement that originated in the united states in the 1950’s. It combined popular culture such as celebrities, news and art to make statements or just re-invented art pieces sometimes like pastiche’s of the originals. Pop art is still used today and is very popular in posters and flyers, pop art style is always bright and colurful and is mostly always a vector image created on Adobe Illustrator. I like the style of this movement and how ordinary objects can be made into great design through this style of design.

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A New Visual Language Post Modernism: Installation art Installation artworks are artworks which have been made in an exhibition like space like a museum or a gallery. They use a range of every day materials to make their artwork they use materials which will bring strong feelings back and memories this makes the art piece stronger and connects more with a target audience. Installation art is always mainly 3Dimensional and this 3D quality is what makes the artwork so interactive and fun for the consumer.

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A New Visual Language Post Modernism: Surrealism Surrealism is a movement which started in the 1920’s. The primary aim of this movement was to make dreams a reality by making weird and wonderful artworks which could only exist in a dream. Salvador dali was a big part of this movement who made works of art like the persistence of memory. Artists painted unnerving and quite scary looking scenes in which everyday object were given personalities and expression.

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A New Visual Language Modernism: Bauhaus Bauhaus was a school which was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919. The school combined all of the arts into one school and focus on producing art which had a structure and a form. Grids were made to create beautiful set typography. This is where modern day graphic design was born and modernisms form and structure came from this modernist movement!

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A New Visual Language Modernism: Cubism Cubism is thought of as a modernist movement because of it’s use of geometric shapes to create form and structure which creates an art piece such as these I have gathered. But I feel the movement is much more post modern in my opinion because of it’s appearance. No real grid system has been employed and colours are reflective of being quite in my opinion “Post Modern” I think that I would describe cubism as a whole as being Modern/Postmodern. I do like the style of the shapes that make up an object.

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A New Visual Language

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Modernism is all about form and layout, on a modernist poster you would expect to see an adaptation of the Grid system; the use of typography would be clean and most likely HELVETICA because of it’s clean cut simplicity.

POST MODERN

MODERNISM

The placing of objects and type is much more stressed in Modernism, Grid systems are used to create beautifully spaced typographic language along with some visual language.

HELVETICA

Post Modernism is quite the opposite, the form and layouts aesthetic is much messier. The typography is usually a lot less practical and focuses on the visual side of things to express something in a more visual way than a Modernist poster would.

S o long a s it’s VISUA L


A New Visual Language Research: Post Modernism Graphics

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A New Visual Language Research: Modernism Graphics

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A New Visual Language Research: Modernist Graphics

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A New Visual Language Research: My Understanding of Modernism MODERNISM: My understanding Modernism to me means conveying a message of formailty through form, structure and clear typography. The aim of a Modernist poster or design is to communicate a message using more scaled professional looking techniques. A Modernist design would be created using the Grid method so the typography can be aligned exactly so it looks as good as it can do on the page. Because they use a lot of typography font is also very important HELVETICA is used a lot because of it’s clear structure easy to read lettering the font works well as a “modern” font. Colour scheme’s like this one work well, Red, and white contrast well and give a clear and defining edge to each individual letter. This in turn makes the font easier to read and overall it looks a lot bolder on the background. A grid has been clearly used for the type on this design, although the type isn’t as easy to read the publication as a whole still looks modernised and professional.

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Research: My Understanding of Post Modernism POST MODERNISM: My understanding. Post Modernism to me means informal and impractical, it is created as an escape from formal and modernist views and follows a rule breaking role within Graphic Design. It includes bold in your face kind of fonts and typography with the intent to strike and impact you. They rarely use HELVETICA because of it’s modernist appeal and form which some post modernist designers have described as boring and non expressive.

THE LAY o UT

IMPRA CTICAL

Today Post Modernist designs are used a lot in Punk album covers because of there bold and brash style which seems to work well with the style of music and movement that the “Punk” scene seems to offer. The post modern style is something I am not interested in, but I feel I could add sections or indicators of the post modern style in my magazine.

IN

PUNK

used POST MODERNISM TODAY:

iS

ALBUM DESIGNS


A New Visual Language Research: David Carson

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Post Modernist


A New Visual Language

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Research: NON-FORMAT

Post Modern/Modern NON FORMAT: They are a graphic design group who create designs that I can place as being both Modern and Post Modern, I love the layouts they create as they are quite clean and easy to read this would make them quite a modernistic layout. However there use of other elements such as overlapping text and stretched typefaces display quite a post-modern design, I like how the these two aspects work together well to create a visually stimulating piece of work. The typography is dominant on the page, the type is expressive and the style works well with a clean pale background.

Inner pages are laid out in a Modernist style and the main focus on the layout is for all of the text to be seen all of the time. Although I like this notion of making sure everything is see-able I don’t like the overall layout and the placement of text and image. It doesn’t seem to follow a particular grid and it looks like the text and images have just been put onto the page without a strong grid method.


A New Visual Language Research: NON-FORMAT

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A New Visual Language Research: Jamie Reid Jamie Reid: Reid is a British artist born in 1947, he was born in London and grew up there. He also attended art school and while he was there he met a fellow student called Malcom Mclaren, he would later become the manager of the band the “Sex pistols”. After Mclaren formed the sex pistols in 1975 Reid started to work with him on creating album covers and other pieces of art work for the sex pistols and this style of artwork would define the punk rock scene in the later 70’s. His work is very iconic and very post modernistic, his use of colours and type setting are informal and it seems like a typical post modern design. Although I don’t like the post modern style I have to appreciate the trend that he set using his designs for the sex pistols.

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Post Modernist


A New Visual Language Research: Emigre EMIGRE: Emigre is a graphic design foundation based in the USA California, they were often criticized for being a threat to Modernist ways of form and structure. The magazine itself uses a variation of a lot of different colours and effects some are more vibrant that others creating the revolutionary modernist style that they were best known for. The Masthead stays the same but the location on the page itself changes in every issue, this again extrudes a post modern style that they are best known for.

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Post Modernists


A New Visual Language Research: Matt Willey Matt Willey: Willey is a contemporary designer that uses a lot of Modern and Post modern principles in his work, he has created covers for magazines and a lot of structured design with post modern influences. We can visually see different aspects of the post modern and modern influences in his magazine layouts, “PORT” is much much Modernist in terms of style, the text is clear and proportionate to the base text and the layout is simple and clean. Where as in the “Plastique” magazine form is less important, emphasis is put more on the visual appearance rather than the communication of a particular message. However the end product is still effectice visually, I would plce this magazine as being a contemporary take on a post modernistic style which also still works as a Modern style. This is a great example of how the Post modern and the Modern can work together in one publication.

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Contemporary


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Research: Josep Muller- Brockmann

Modernist

Muller-Brockmann Brockmann was a Swiss Graphic design best know for his simple designs and use of clean cut typography also shapes and colours which inspire a lot of designers to this day. He wrote a book which explained how Grid systems are used and incorporated in typography and graphic design; he had strong modernist views about how everything should be laid out. Everything should be clear and easy to read the design should be simple and not overpower the typography which was normally his main focus when designing. The aim of his designers were not to dazzle or entertain, his main focus was communicated a message as easy as possible through simple typography and crisp layout. While the majority of other Swiss designers used HELVETICA Brockmann used a font called Akzidenz Grotesk which was one of the first widely used sans serif typefaces.


A New Visual Language Research: “Spin”- Graphic design Spin Spin is a graphic design company who focus on their “Ability to meet the increasingly complex needs of our clients with fresh, clean thinking that sets us apart” There work is beautifully simple and has a influential modernistic style throughout most of their work. They create a wide variety of different simplistic designs in 3d elements and on screen and in print. The designs I find most interesting are the magazine publications, I find the layout inspiring and the modernist style has been portrayed well in most of his publications and prints.

http://spin.co.uk/work/christies-shanghai/

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Modernist


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Research: Build

Modernist

“Build� is a graphic design company, they specialize in anything from print, web design and moving image. They class their work as being a mixture of Post modern/Modern style. However I feel that their work is mostly of a contemporary Modern style. The clean and professional style is very inspiring, the negetive space creates more room for the design to breate making a much more Modern and professional outcome.


A New Visual Language Research: The Grid system The Grid The grid is very important in Graphic design, because of the form it creates through accurate measurment the grid is very useful when creating a a Modernist publication or design. Type is the biggest benefitter from the grid, it allows you to layout type in a measured and ordered way which makes the visual aspect look a lot more professional and the communication through the type much more succesful because of how the grid has allowed the kerning of the type to be a lot more spacious. This gives the design more room to breathe; it makes the design look a lot cleaner and more professional.

The Grid doesn’t just use vertical lines, the grid can be created in a number of different ways depending on what layout you want to achieve on your outcome.

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A New Visual Language The Grid: Types and Uses There are many different types of Graphical grid system which can make out lives easier as designers, they obviously can help us manipulate and layout typography in the best visual way. There are an endless amount of different grids that can be created using different layouts and lines. Horizontal, Vertical and curved grids are used to layout different type designs on a publication in modernist posters HELVETICA is used on the grid because of it’s clear and defining look. I have also got an example of how a grid has been used on an axis on the publication, I want to try this out because I like how different shapes can be incoporated to make a very interesting cover. Josef Muller Brockmann has used a lot of this style in his work and it is definitley something I have been inspired by.

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A New Visual Language Designs: Using the Grid

A

Testing the Grid Here I have used the title and the subheader to create a simple layout using the grid method. The main aim of doing this was to get a feeling of how to use the grid system and how type can be used in this sort of graphic way.

NEW

VISUAL LANGUAGE In this Issue of New Visual Language we will explore how FORM follows Function.

FORM FOLLOWS

FUNCTION

I was inspired to try this by the Modernist style I researched in my research, I love the simplicity of the design and the fact that it is so clear and minimalist. I also feel that the space created between words because of the grid creates more space for individual words. This in turn gives each word it’s own space, I think that this makes the design look more professional and clean. After researching into what both Post modernism and Modernism entale I have gained a lot of knowledge and inspiration of both sides. However I think that conclusively a Modernist styled magazine would best suite my own style of work.

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My Project Interest: Modernism My design interest: I am most interested in the Modernist side in terms of how it is designed as a whole, I love the structure and how everything has it’s place through the grid system. I also like the clean use of typography modernist publications and designs seem to possess, visual communication is the most important this really interests me more than the Post modern side of design. However I will still add a page about Post modernism in my magazine, after researching some other projects and reading the brief more I have come to realise that there still should be some reference to both post modernism and modernism but designed in either style you prefer.

MODERNISM STYLE THE GRID


A New Visual Language Research: Modernist cover layouts

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A New Visual Language Research: Modernist page layouts

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A New Visual Language Research: Good magazine design

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Moodboard I have focused on gathering magazines that are not only of a good standard but which also influence me as a designer, I have mostly gathered Modernist magazine layouts because of their clean and professional look which I think is more visually pleasing and satisfying than a post modern styled design.


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Research: Good magazine design

Analysis

“ This inner page spread design appears very modernistic in it’s layout. A grid system has clearly been incorporated and used on the text to create form and space between other words so that every piece of every word is visible and clear. I believe that a good magazine clearly communicates a message through visual and type based design.

This is another example of a good magazine, here the publication is quite the opposite in it’s appearance. The aesthetic of the magazine has more of a contemporary modern look and in some ways in similar to the first magazine. The MAG is much less minimalist and has more information on the magazine. Again as expected a grid system has clearly been used to layout type and image cleverly intertwined between each other. The colour system used is clear and bold, because only 3 main colours have been used a three has been created which runs through the entire magazine, the use of image with type could be described as quite Post modern in style but still uses a grid system to create a formal magazine design that is visually appealing.

This is another good layout of a magazine where the content is quite minimalistic, The white space created around the type has not only made the design as a whole look a lot cleaner and more professional but it creates room for the type to breathe this minimalist layout of type and grid works well next to a full page spread of an image; in this case peppercorns are used to compliment the type and give reason behind the little amount of text which is provided.

Good design is not in it’s style or aesthetic, the most important thing is that it successfully visually communicates a message to a target audience (UNKNOWN-2010”)


A New Visual Language Research: Classic magazine design

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Esquire Esquire has become much more flamboyant in a way in that it’s layout is much less formal, text seems to be warped and transformed around images where as in older issue’s text was always in front of the image, at the time this seemed like the correct way to design a magazine and was very Bauhaus influenced.

Esquire profile: Classic Esquire magazines are mainly created as men’s magazine with influences of what a modern man would be interested in. Anything ranging from Sports, cars and tech to humour, sex and music, this magazine has been around since 1932 when it was first published as a mens magazine in the U.S. The magazine has been around for a long time but still hasn’t lost it’s contemporary style as new and updated versions of the magazine are still around today being used in the same context but with a modern twist. The Font used on the Mast header could be described as quite Post modern in it’s style, the layout is quite modern because a grid system has been used. The new and updated Esquire magazine has been Post modernised in terms of layout, effects have been added to the title and other bits of text on the cover to make the magazine more contemporary and new. This change in style shown visually through a single magazine is a good example of how style has changed.

Unapologetically sophisticated and unashamedly masculine, Esquire delivers style with substance. (Esquire magazines: www.Hearstmagazines.co.uk)


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Research: Classic magazine design

Vogue

Vogue: In 1892 Vogue was founded by a Arthur Turnure as a weekly publication is the United states of America, when we think of a vogue magazine now we think of the beautiful women that appear on most magazines with the big VOGUE title. However it wasn’t always like that. Vogue has always been a classic magazine but has been used since the 1890, at this time cameras were obviously not used illustration of a women was used instead to capture the femininity of the target audience that vogue wanted. This classic magazine has always had a similar layout which is quite modernist, the loud and bold title is evident in most of the 20th-21st century vogue magazines. The use of the grid can also be seen in some of these magazines, however different fonts have been used across different issues which demonstrates Vogue’s wide variety of style throughout there magazines.


A New Visual Language Research: Classic masthead design

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GQ The masthead is always aligned top left of the magazine and the colour is changed and adapted to fit it’s background, it is used behind and in front of the photograph depending on how much of the face is visible when in front of the model. Overall the masthead is very strong, its simplistic attributes offer a clean and professional style which works well over every issue of the magazine.

The GQ masthead is very iconic and I think can be considered a classic masthead, the design was originally titled the “Gentleman’s Quarterley” but was then shortened to GQ for it’s catchy simplicity. The popularity of the GQ magazine is what made the Esquire magazine so popular.

The mast head as a whole works very well, because of it’s size it’s easier to place on the magazine, the logo/ masthead is very recognisable because of it’s popularity and it’s symbolisation of the word itself. The colour scheme is well thought out and the colours are very modern, colour is very important and is something I need to consider carefully when designing my masthead.


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Research: Classic masthead design

Times Magazine Times Magazine is a weekly American magazine that was founded in 1932 in the Modernist era. The masthead is now thought of as being a classic masthead, the large bold font is now essential in any issue of the magazine. This serif styled font is very recognizable and appears to be quite romanesque, a bold red is used as a theme in the masthead which is also used as a border that surrounds the cover of the magazine.

The First issue of Times magazine was first published in 1923, even in the first edition the masthead’s aesthetic still has a serif quality and a roman looking type.


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Research: Abbreviation logos

Abbreviation logo’s are very popular because they easily distinguish a company or brand with only a couple of letters which visually describe a certain thing. I am going to try and use this method in my masthead for my publication, I think creating an identity fr my publication is very important and the masthead should reflect what the company is all about and mirror what the publication is going to be all about.

Here are some good examples I have gathered of abbreviation logo’s, normally these sort of abbreviations are letters with other objects incorporated. The font and type normally are good visual indicators in recognizing what the whole company is about.

All of these logo’s use one block colour, this means that the logo can be incorporated and changed to suit a particular background when featuring on a magazine or publication. When I’m creating my own I need to ensure that my logo/masthead works in a wide variety of different colours.


A New Visual Language The Plan: My Magazine aesthetics My Plan: After researching both backgrounds of post modernism and modernism I have come to the conclusion that Modernism interests me much more than Post modernism. I prefer the clean cut and professional appearance that a Modernist design offers and the typography which has a simple elegance and communicates well with me. I will use the Modernistic research I have gathered as inspiration, Designers such as Spin and Build will help me gain inspiration for layouts I create for my publication/ magazine.

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A New Visual Language

Development A development of Modernisms and magazine design


A New Visual Language Development: Masthead Design

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Thumbnail ideas When creating my initial thumbnail sketches for my Masthead I started to sketch abbreviation logo’s this was helpful because it gave me more ideas rather than just having a title as “A new visual language.� I started to make shapes that I thought could be abbreviated as the letter NVL standing for a new visual language, I followed this idea and quickly came up with lots of different ideas involving triangles and other shapes to create master header designs. The header needs to be remember-able so the simpler the better was always at the forefront of my mind when I was sketching these ideas, I have in mind which of my sketched ideas are my favourite and I will now refine my ideas to make it easier to choose a header to develop.


A New Visual Language Development: Masthead Design

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Thumbnail refinement Here are the ideas I chose to develop, I liked all of the ideas in there own way. I think all of these rough sketches display a good margin for development I can see how each one of them could be used to title my publication. I like the idea of having shapes to make up the header because it plays on the fact that the magazine is about a new visual language; visually expressing the title through this method of different shapes seems to be relevant and smart. In order to know which one of these to take forward I need to vectorize a couple of my favourites to see which one has the most potential for development and which one will work the best titling my magazine. Appearance is the most important thing and visually describing what the magazine is about couldn’t be more important than in a magazine based around a new visual language.


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Development: Masthead Design

Vectorising mastheads

1

3

2 Number 1 is a masthead I created when I was thinking about the Bauhaus. I have used all of the simple geometric shapes in my masthead and used the Triangle turned on it’s head to abbreviate some sort of V standing for visual. I like the idea of using the simple shapes to make up the masthead, However I think that the actual title of the magazine is lost and for a first issue the title needs to be clear. I don’t think that the actual title of “A new visual language” is clear enough I would solve this problem by either adding the title to the shapes or using abbreviation like I have done in masthead number 2.

Number 3 is a abbreviation masthead along with a visual masthead using two triangles on there side which I feel I could develop further to make the masthead a lot stronger than it appears now. I used the Pen tool to make the abbreviation NVL and connected an Oval brush definition to give the letters a smooth edge. I also feel that this could be developed as a masthead the abbreviation is strong and the overall appearance and relevance of the masthead is good quality.

Number 2 is a masthead designed to be a visual interpretation of the letter N, I have used simple geometric rectangles to create the N and the opacity tool so each of the rectangles is visible. This is a simple and effective logo which I think demonstrates a new visual language with it’s appearance and the abbreviation of a new visual language which it’s representing, the N and V are clearly visible and abbreviate a “New Visual”.


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Development: Masthead design

Masthead experimentation I chose this masthead to develop because of it’s potential and the amount of different experimentation I could try out. The circle, triangle and square offer a wide range of different ideas; the geometric shapes are a good example of a visual language because of their simplicity. Now that I have chosen the masthead I am going to take forward I have started to develop my chosen masthead by experimenting with different shape and layout. I have used splices and different typographic experimentation to make the masthead/logo look more appealing. I have stuck with basic geometric shapes to create different elements of my masthead, I have experimented with size and shape to help me visualize how I want my masthead to visually express what the magazine is about.

A New Visual Language

A New Visual Language

New

Visual

I have a few favourites from this page in mind, I will refine these ideas and experiment with type, colour and layout until I find one that I like and which I think will work on my publication. I also need to think about how it is presented on my page and will it stay in the same place on my magazine for ever issue I produce.

Language

A new visual language

N

L


age

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Development: Masthead refinement

Masthead 1

I chose to refine this masthead because of it’s simplicity and elegance, I love the splice through the middle which creates interest, I will develop this making changes with colour and typography along the way. I could change the splice direction, for instance I could experiment with a diagonal splice to see which direction I prefer.

I could experiment with different colours, I need my masthead to work on most background so this is very important.

Colours like this work well together because of the contrast between the darker grey and lighter red, these colours work well as headers.

I could also experiment with adding type to The spacing of the shapes is important, the my masthead with layout, most new magazines kerning of each shape has to be tested and include the name of the magazine as the experimented with so the masthead has the most professional and clean outcome possible. masthead because they want their magazine to have an instant identity.


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Development: Masthead refinement

Masthead 1 I started with this masthead, simple geometric shapes split in half to create a sliced effect. I then experimented with diagonal slices, I thought that this made the masthead look more interesting and overall was more pleasing to look at.

I decided that I liked the diagonal slice I thought that it made the design look more interesting as a whole, after I was happy with the diagonal I started experimenting by using the bottom half of the shape straight and the top half diagonal.

Once I was happy with how the slice looked I started looking at colour and what colours I could use on my masthead, obviously the colours would change depending on the background I have on my cover. I am not too worried about being able to distinuish each letter the visual aspect is much more important, I can add the actual name of the magazine elsewhere in my text.


A New Visual Language Development: Masthead colour

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A New Visual Language How I will use colour

When choosing colours for my cover I will bare in mind which style I am making the magazine in; because I am creating the magazine in a modernist style I will focus on my research ad the use of colours in modernism. I already know that a modern style uses a basic colours like primary colours and a strong bold colour like black, I have tried to replicate this style in the colours I have used on my masthead.

modernist colours

My masthead works in a variety of different colours as I have proved, it doesn’t lessen the design in anyway and the colour only adds to the unique style of the logo. Because I can use a range of different colours this means that the masthead is adaptable to different backgrounds on my cover. I think that this is very helpful when designing my cover because it allows me to be free-er with my choice of background colours.

Modern colours are very strong and they compliment each other on a publication well. Primary colours like red,blue and yellow are used with black to emphasise the type which is usually black.

post-modern colours

Post modern colours are used for the opposite reason, they aren’t meant to work well together. Bright of high contrast and in your face. The intention is very much to grab your attention. Used a lot in punk themed designs

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How I will use layout

Gaps are multiples of 42

modernist layouts

The masthead is sectioned into 3 equal parts, the circle,triangle and square fill the different sections to create a more structured masthead which appears to be more professional and a cleaner design overall.

Gaps are multiples of 29.75

I have used the rulers to create a grid for myself, this helped with the layout and the positioning of each and every element of my masthead, I have adjusted the shapes at the bottom of my master header to make them straighter I think that this has overall made the design look less messy and much more ordered than it was before. I used multiples of my document length to create an even spacing throughout, this made it easier to organise how each shape would sit on my masthead. Because of the modernist style I want to create my magazine in a grid system is imperative in getting the right placement of my masthead and other features that will appear on my cover the cover will set the context and the feeling that the reader gets for the rest of the magazine. The cover is very important and so is understanding how to layout and use the grid system to my benefit. A modernist layout is obviously very structured, a grid system is incorporated to create a form and professionalism in their designs. This is a style I want to replicate in mine.


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Layout experimentation I created a simplistic grid on InDesign using the margin options available. I then experimented with the different size and placement of my masthead, I added a bleed to my page so I could judge how much of the masthead would be bleeding off of the page once i resized it to make it bigger. I am happy with some of the layout that have come out of this exercise and I feel that the masthead works better on the left side of the publication because of the diagonal nature of my masthead which doesn’t work well flipped on the other side as I have shown in my layouts with the grid.

modernist layouts

A modernist layout is obviously very structured, a grid system is incorporated to create a form and professionalism in their designs. This is a style I want to replicate in mine.


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Development: Masthead

“ I have proved that my masthead can work in an array of different colours and the final colour of my masthead for my publication depends solely on my choice of colour for my background; the red and black combination works well because of the contrast between both colours, using primary colours will really help me express how modern I am trying to make my layout of my final magazine. Overall I am happy with the masthead, the aesthetic is strong and the meaning behind the masthead is also very strong, the overall layout is clean and professional and I will start to experiment with how the masthead can be used on the publication in some further developments that I produce.

“

I have tried my masthead in a variety of different colours and layouts and I am happy with the outcome I have gotten. I think the masthead represents my magazine well and the Bauhaus style I have applied using simple geometric shapes has paid off in replicating the simple visual style of the era. Because of this I would describe this masthead as being quite a modernistic masthead which is great since my magazine’s appearance is going to be based around modernist layouts. I really like the layout of the different shapes, even though the layout could be thought of as quite post modern because of my use of the grid system on this masthead the overall aesthetic is modern.

Good design is making Something intelligible and memorable. Great design is making Something memorable And meaningful.

(Dieter Rams: German designer)


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Development: Masthead

This is one of my favourite designs so far in developing my masthead, work needs to be done on the last letter to make it look more like the letter I want it to but I feel like I am on the right lines.

I have decided to develop the masthead even further because I wasn’t happy with the clarity of the letters, the title wasn’t very understandable and so I have made some changes to my design. I have gotten rid of the line that sliced through the masthead and replaced it with nothing creating a solid white line that runs through my masthead creating different sections in my shapes. This alone gave me more chance to experiment with other objects and add different colour tests throughout the masthead.

I experimented with adding more shapes into my 3 geometric shapes. I found that I could create letters by forming shapes I created with the pen tool and by rotating the circle create different letters which I used in the two different colours so that they became visible. The L still needs more work because of how it looks like a C but I feel I have made a good step forward in developing this masthead and now can focus on making the letters clearer.


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Development: Masthead 01

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When I was experimenting I came up with 3 different L’s using the pen tool and half circles, these shape dramatically changed my masthead because once I changed one shape other shapes had to be changed so that the letters looked like they belong together. I created letters without a circle and instead I used negative space to fill in for the circle which was previously in the background.

I have decided to develop the masthead even further because I wasn’t happy with the clarity of the letters, the title wasn’t very understandable and so I have made some changes to my design. I have gotten rid of the line that sliced through the masthead and replaced it with nothing creating a solid white line that runs through my masthead creating different sections in my shapes. This alone gave me more chance to experiment with other objects and add different colour tests throughout the masthead.

I experimented with adding more shapes into my 3 geometric shapes. I found that I could create letters by forming shapes I created with the pen tool and by rotating the circle create different letters which I used in the two different colours so that they became visible. The L still needs more work because of how it looks like a C but I feel I have made a good step forward in developing this masthead and now can focus on making the letters clearer.

03

I like the quarter semi circles I created using the minus front tool and geometric shapes, the L and V seem to be more refined and the V looks more like a V because of the pointed nature of the quarter circle.


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Masthead: Kerning I re-created the semi circle that made up half of my shapes, the reason behind this was the semi circle was slightly off straight making it difficult to align. Now that the semi circle is straight I can find it easy to measure the circle and use the grid system to complete the whole of my masthead.

In this development I have worked on the kerning of the individual shapes, I have used guides to ensure that the spacing between the shapes are identical throughout my design. I didn’t want to create all of the gaps that cut into the shape identical, the reason behind this is that the shape that cuts into the bottom of the circle to make the negative space of the letter is more important than the line that goes straight through the middle of all of the shapes. This makes the letters easier to understand and makes the masthead clearer as a whole.

Overall I am happy with the kerning and the spacing between each letter, the tracking is also good and the masthead as a whole works well as an abbreviation of a new visual language. Much better than my old one did.


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Masthead: Finals These are my final mastheads, after working with the kerning and different colour I have finally completed it. I felt that I couldn’t add or takeaway anything from the design so now I know that I am happy with my masthead. I have created 2 sets of colours and felt it was best to have the masthead as one block colour, this means that I don’t have to worry about 2 colours being visible on the same background; now I can focus on one block colour and the background which seems a much easier method. I am happy with the Kerning and Tracking of the masthead. The spacing between the shapes are well measured and it makes it easier for each letter to be read, the height is also exacly the same throughout my masthead and this will be easier when I start to play around with the layout of my masthead on my cover because the letters are in a straight line which makes it easier to incorporate a straight forward grid.

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I only used two shapes to create my entire masthead. Geometric shapes have become very useful when I have been designing my masthead visuals.


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Cover layouts

Masthead

Masthead

Masthead

Masthead

a new visual language Form Follows function

Here are some simple thumbnail layouts of my cover page, after researching into modernist magazine designs I have gathered that their designs are quite simplistic and professional. Sometimes the magazines are very minimalist and only have a title and some small text at the bottom of the page, this minimal style works well to give the masthead and other bits of text and features on the cover their own space which gives the design more room to breathe.

I think this style of layout is the answer for my magazine, I don’t want my cover to be overcrowded with information and I want each element to be presented well in a minimal but modern style which uses the grid system to structure each part of my magazine.


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Cover layouts

Here are some more cover layouts, I have tried out other types and styles of layout and tried not to just stick with the minimalist layout based around modernism, on some of these layouts there are much more information and the cover displays much more content on what you can find inside the magazine. I have used a much elaborate style on some of the layouts on this page, using diagonals allows room for much more content and the grid system I will create would have to be a lot more thought out baring in mind the diagonals on my cover and how they would be presented.

Overall I prefer the minimalist style more than the layouts that hold more content simply for there style and professionalism which is demonstrated through their clean layouts. I also like the idea of having a border around my cover like on “TIME� magazine they use a border as a theme throughout all of the magazines they publish. However in saying this I have had the idea of combining the minimalist style with the diagonal grid to create a design similar to the layout of the second cover layout from the left.


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Typography style sheet F o r m

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F u n c t i o n F u n c t i o n F u n c t i o n F u n c t i o n F u n c t i o n F u n c t i o n

All together I have used 3 different fonts both in 2 different styles, I tried to limit my choice of font after researching into different modernist magazine I realise that not a lot of different styles of fonts are used.

H ELVETIC A N EU E H E LVE TI C A N E U E AV E N I R N E XT AV ENIR NEXT A R IE L

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H ELVETIC A N EU E H ELVET IC A N EU E

A lot of modernist styled magazines use a Helvetica font because of it’s cleanliness and professionalism, it seems like the obvious choice when designing a modernist magazine but other fonts also can look good on my magazine. I will test different fonts to see which one works the best with my subheaders and body text.

I used a lot of different fonts and styles in that font, I also used tracking and kerning so I could make the text look as clean as possible. Using bolder styles work well because of how it gives the subheader a more powerful attribute which can make the subheader look more important on my designs and my layouts.

The body text style is also very important, the text as a whole it what sets the tone for the magazine style. I have used the same style and texts as I have on my subheaders to see which works the best.

The body text style is also very important, the text as a whole it what sets the tone for the magazine style. I have used the same style and texts as I have on my subheaders to see which works the best. The body text style is also very important, the text as a whole it what sets the tone for the magazine style. I have used the same style and texts as I have on my subheaders to see which works the best. The body text style is also very important, the text as a whole it what sets the tone for the magazine style. I have used the same style and texts as I have on my subheaders to see which works the best.


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Kerning and Tracking

KERNING

TRACKING

KERNING TRACKING KERNING TRACKING “Kerning” is the space between each letter of a work, I must be adjusting this a lot to ensure that every letter of every work is visible. I need to be careful not to go to far with the Kerning of each letter because this can make the word look too spaced out and make it equally as hard to read as when they are close together. It seems that you have to be able to identify striking the correct balance between spacing of letters in words.

“Tracking” does a similar job that Kerning. The difference is that tracking focuses on the space the word as a whole takes up. It uses kerning between letters to make the word itself bigger. These two tools are a very important way of justifying my type face to make it look as neat and as professional as possible. Tracking is a useful way of getting rid of any Rivers (lines between text), and will be very useful to me when I’m creating my magazine layouts.


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Cover colour

I want the colour of my magazine to reflect a modernist style, using Red is an obvious choice for this reason because of it’s bold style which evident in a lot of modern designs. However I want to get beyond that, using paler colours will bring out my cover more and will work well with the typography which will be a lot clearer because of the faded background. Using an off white colour is a good choice because of how easy it is to work with, the foreground will be emphasised especially if black or bolder colours are used.

I will try my masthead on some backgrounds like these to see which style of background works the best, I predict that a paler style will work better than a bolder style because of the aesthetics of my master-header. Nether the less I will try a range of different colours to see which experiment works the best.

I will test some off white clear samples to see if any work well with the colour of my masthead.

Bolder colours appear more modern than paler colours so I will try both. Appearance is the most important thing.


A New Visual Language Covers with Mastheads

I feel that the black works better on the paler backgrounds with the header as a whole because of it’s bold style which really stands out from the rest of the background. I feel that I could also use lighter colours like white on these backgrounds, the master header wouldn’t be as bold but they would compliment each other well and the master header wouldn’t look as harsh on the pale background this would also work with a grey.

58 Lighter

This isn’t the actual size the masthead will be, after experimenting with colour until I am happy I will move on to focusing on creating some of the initial layouts I have already made. Testing layout will be great and experimenting with different type faces until I have a good outcome will be very important when designing this magazine.


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Covers with Mastheads

After trying darker and lighter colours I have come to the conclusion that these colours work a lot better than the pale colours I tried before, my masthead looks a lot more comfortable here and the thumbnails look much more professional overall. Black and white mastheads work very well on these types of backgrounds and these are definitely the ones I am going to take forward and develop with my layout ideas.

Darker

The black and red and the black and yellow work particularly well, the boldness of the black sits very well on all of these colours which appear to be very powerful and work well together overall.

I have used primary colours because I feel that these best describe the modernist movement and it’s style.

Black and white also work well they contrast well from each other but perhaps don’t work as well together as the other do.


A New Visual Language

60 Layout refinement

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Form Follows Function

Form follows function a new visual language: issue 1

Form Follows Function

In this development I have focused on refining my layouts I created earlier so I can start to see first hand which direction I should develop my layouts in. I have chosen a few of my favourite layouts and used the same colour themes with my masthead so I can focus more on how the different aspects of my cover are layed out as a whole. I have kept the minimalist style in all of my layouts because I think that they are the cleanest and the most modern in my opinion.

The layouts with the block shapes behind the masthead work well and they help the masthead and the other parts of the cover to sit on the cover well. I think that this also gives more of a structure to my design and even though I have not used any particular grid system in these layouts as yet the design as a whole looks very structured.

This combination of colours work well because each colour is very strong and contrasts from the other, even with the contrast the colours still works very well together and all in all benifit the shapes and the layout.


A New Visual Language

61 Refining and Producing

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This is the first cover I have chosen to develop further, I chose this one because of how it was unique and interesting to any other layout I created in the initial thumbnail process. Initially I started with a diagonal design with my masthead and subheadings also in diagoncal box’s. I then moved on to creating seperate sections on my design so that everything didn’t seem as squashed together. I think this has worked well and the magazine cover as a whole looks more understandable and clean.

I used the Tracking tool to make the text more spaced out, this has made the text cleaner and a lot easier to read; the fact that it has it’s own space makes the design look more relaxed. In my last development of this first initial cover development I used the grid to tidy everything up. If I were to develop this cover further I would experiment with different colour and experimentation with different fonts.


A New Visual Language

62 Refining and Producing

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Red, White and black have worked well and I think that this colour scheme demostrates a modernist style which I wanted to convey in my cover designs.

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I have experimented with different colour and played around with rendering different objects to see which one works the best, I still feel that the minimalist style is evident because the cover isn’t too overloaded with a lot of information and body text. I can see how the grid has been enforced in some way but I still feel that more could be done so that the grid system could be more clearly evident.

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Cover development 1


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Cover developments

Refining and Producing

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Here are the two covers I have developed. The first cover I chose to develop was the one where the masthead is in white. The aim was to create a minimalist styled layout with not a lot of information, I felt that this benefited a first issue because of it’s simplistic layout and good graphic language which clearly demonstrates what the magazine is about. The second cover is more complex, it uses diagonal lines that look much more interesting and a completely different layout. I have still incorporated the minimalist style in this one and have tried not to overload the design with two much info. I think that the Graphic language on both of these covers I have developed is of a good standard, however I need to work with the grid more to ensure that the finished product is of a good standard and looks clean and professional within keeping of the modernist style.


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Cover development

Refining and Producing

Form Follows Function In this exciting first issue we will be exploring how form follows function through modernism

In this development I have started to organise things on my cover layout more, I have created a Grid which I am sticking to on InDesign using 10 collumns and 5 rows. Using a lot of rows and collumns is very beneficial because scaling and sizing becomes easier to work with. Here in this development I have started to use my masthead with a little bit of text and a subheader. Playing around with these elements will give me a better understanding of how I want my cover to look.

Here I have made sure that the text, subheader and masthead all have the same distances apart from once another. This will make the cover look more professional and spacially aware to other object that I will place onto my cover in further development.


A New Visual Language

65 Analysis of design

AVENIR (Light/Regular)

Cover

Form Follows Function Issue 1

This is my finished front cover. I have added a border and taken away the effects I added on Photoshop to create this minimalist layout which looks clean and professional. I am happy with how the masthead takes control of the entire page and really stands out from the rest of the features on my design. I think that the grid system has worked well in my effort of demostrating a simplistic cover which doesn’t offer too much information. I am happy with the use of font, Avenir has worked well in different styles and when I worked with the kerning and tracking of each letter the font held up well and no quality was lost in a readable aspect. the colours are reflective of a modern magazine and a modern tradition, the use of a primary colour and black gives the publication a bold and powerful appearance which so often appears in modern design. I am also happy with the play on how form follows function, the use of the barcode to create the subheader block demonstrates how functionailty comes after form and the appearance is much more pleasing when we can see the form and the function both in full use.

Overall I am very happy with how the cover looks, the cover as a whole I fell is aesthetically pleasing and in itself demonstrates a new visual language through form following function. Now I will move onto my inner pages and my content pages, creating double page spreads of visually pleasing modern design that also relates to the colour theme I have created on my cover.


A New Visual Language Cover

Here are some more designs I have mocked up for the cover, I realise that my cover has to reflect what is inside and after looking at my cover I realised that my cover looked quite post modern and messy and it didn’t really reflect what is inside my magazine. I therefore have changed the style and made the cover a lot more minimalist I am going to keep the same font as I thought it worked well on my original cover and it resembles what’s inside.

66 different style

I am going to experiment with different type setting and colours to see which one of my cover designs I should choose. I prefer the bolder red because it makes more of a statement to me and reflects what style is inside. The minimal design works well and the masthead works better as a smaller title.


A New Visual Language Covers

67 different style Here are my final cover designs I have created for my magazine. I am very happy with the overall design and the idea that made it. The cover is derived from the masthead and the 50/50 split style that the masthead is in. It is also a slight representation to the two halves of modernism (Modernism, Post modernism) This cover was inspired by a modern minimalist layout which I have tried to keep as a theme running throughout my magazine. I think that the cover is successful at foreshadowing what is inside this magazine because of it’s modern style. I think that it’s bold but minimalist style is also intreaguing and because there isn’t a lot of information the reader is intreagued to what the magazine is about.


A New Visual Language Contents page

Here are some initial thumbnail layouts of how I can visualize my contents page, I have kept the layout simple and tried not to add too many elements. I think that this enhances the fact the magazine is being created in a Modernist style. I am happy with the layouts I ahve created and I will create my final contents page in 1 of these styles.

68 Thumbnails

I have used a range of different layouts focusing on where the title of the page is and how it interacts with the rest of the numbers and type that is going to be on my contents page. I also like the idea of splitting seperate parts of my pages up with red lines this will become another themed style that will become more clear as you read on and on in my magazine.


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Contents page

Style sheet

On this page I will focus on my magazine’s appearance. Colour for backgrounds and typography will be explored until I find something that I am happy with. I want to create a theme which runs through my magazine, this means that I need to choose my typography carefully to make sure that every part of the type works along side with every other feature on my magazine.

I am going to use these three colours. The reason behind this is because these colours are not only described as being “Modern” when used together. But they also are going to be a theme throughout my magazine, Red,Dark grey and white work really well together and demonstrate a bold modern magazine well.

AVENIR (LIGHT OBLIQUE, LIGHT, THIN)

HELVETICA NEUE (CONDENSED BOLD)

GEOMANIST (BOLD,LIGHT,THIN)

Avenir works the best on body text and small subheaders because of it’s subtle appearance which I still find attractive. This font works well along side Helvetica and is most commenly used as body text where Helvetica is a bold header.

This type face was an obvious choice. Helvetica is over used everywhere today and was the most important font of a modern design. It works well in a variety of different sizes and also works well with other sans serif fonts like AVENIR.

This is a font I have recently dowloaded, it’s a sans serif font and is very similar to Helvetica because of it’s wide variety of different styles. This font also has a very modern appearance and because of the wide variety of different styles can be used on titles and body text alike.


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Contents page

CONTENTS Helvetica (Cond bold)

Style sheet

This is a test of which font works the best in my body font. This will set the tone for the rest of my magazine so the font needs to be useful and fit for purpose.

CONTENTS

This is a test of which font works the best in my body font. This will set the tone for the rest of my magazine so the font needs to be useful and fit for purpose.

CONTENTS

This is a test of which font works the best in my body font. This will set the tone for the rest of my magazine so the font needs to be useful and fit for purpose.

CONTENTS

This is a test of which font works the best in my body font. This will set the tone for the rest of my magazine so the font needs to be useful and fit for purpose.

Geomanist (Bold)

Avenir (Light)

Helvetica Neue (Bold)

I have found that on my contents page Helvetica works better as a title. It’s bold appearance works on any background which makes it a safer option and a better option for my title. I also like the GEOMANIST font that I mentioned earlier, this font is also very bold and will work well as subheaders and some body text. Overall I am now comfortable with the tools I have to start and build my pages. I have explored font and colour and worked with both together now I can get on with developing the rest of my pages.


A New Visual Language Contents page

CONTENT

In this first issue of A New Visual Language we will be exploring how form follows function in an aray of different visual designed briefs. Some of these briefs include Earth Artefact and a City in flux.

01 05 11 13

71 Dev 1

New Visual Language An exploration of a new visual language. This page focuses on some initial research of mine into the two types of Modernism and how form follows function. Learn more about A New visual language on Page 1.

An exploration of a New Visual Language, Modernisms and initial research focused on how form follows function.

Earth Artefact

Earth artefact was an exploration of how contact could be made in different ways to an extra terrestrial species. This brief was an exciting and visual take on the phonograph records! Learn more on Page 5.

Ty p e Tr a n s c r i p t Type Transcript was an exploration of typography focused on creating a new interesting type face inspired by a particular artist. This brief was made to test us on our skills with creating a font! Learn more on Page 7.

City in Flux This was my first brief. It was an exploration of how a city is constantly changing over time, we could choose to express this in any which way we wanted to! I chose Architecture. Learn more on Page 12.

This is my first development of my contents page. I have used a vertical layout of my information and title because of how the grid works well with the red lines that seperate the text and layout. More development has to be done to this page, I am going to work with the background and colour as well as adding another page to my double page spread. This page would be introducing a font or soemthing that will be repeated and used throughout my magazine.


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Contents page: Dev

01 05 11 13

New Visual Language An exploration of a new visual language. This page focuses on some initial research of mine into the two types of Modernism and how form follows function. Learn more about A New visual language on Page 1.

Earth Artefact

Earth artefact was an exploration of how contact could be made in different ways to an extra terrestrial species. This brief was an exciting and visual take on the phonograph records! Learn more on Page 5.

Type Transcript Type Transcript was an exploration of typography focused on creating a new interesting type face inspired by a particular artist. This brief was made to test us on our skills with creating a font! Learn more on Page 11.

City in Flux

In this first issue of A New Visual Language we will be exploring how form follows function in an aray of different visual designed briefs. Some of these briefs include Earth Artefact and a City in flux.

CONTENT

CONTENT

In this first issue of A New Visual Language we will be exploring how form follows function in an aray of different visual designed briefs. Some of these briefs include Earth Artefact and a City in flux.

Double page

This was my first brief. It was an exploration of how a city is constantly changing over time, we could choose to express this in any which way we wanted to! I chose Architecture. Learn more on Page 13.

01 05 11 13

New Visual Language An exploration of a new visual language. This page focuses on some initial research of mine into the two types of Modernism and how form follows function. Learn more about A New visual language on Page 1.

Earth Artefact

Earth artefact was an exploration of how contact could be made in different ways to an extra terrestrial species. This brief was an exciting and visual take on the phonograph records! Learn more on Page 5.

Type Transcript Type Transcript was an exploration of typography focused on creating a new interesting type face inspired by a particular artist. This brief was made to test us on our skills with creating a font! Learn more on Page 11.

City in Flux This was my first brief. It was an exploration of how a city is constantly changing over time, we could choose to express this in any which way we wanted to! I chose Architecture. Learn more on Page 13.

An exploration of a new visual language. This page focuses on some initial research of mine into the two types of Modernism and how form follows function. Learn more about A New visual language on Page 1.

Earth Artefact

Earth artefact was an exploration of how contact could be made in different ways to an extra terrestrial species. This brief was an exciting and visual take on the phonograph records! Learn more on Page 5.

Type Transcript Type Transcript was an exploration of typography focused on creating a new interesting type face inspired by a particular artist. This brief was made to test us on our skills with creating a font! Learn more on Page 11.

City in Flux This was my first brief. It was an exploration of how a city is constantly changing over time, we could choose to express this in any which way we wanted to! I chose Architecture. Learn more on Page 13.

In this first issue of A New Visual Language we will be exploring how form follows function in an aray of different visual designed briefs. Some of these briefs include Earth Artefact and a City in flux.

CONTENT

CONTENT

In this first issue of A New Visual Language we will be exploring how form follows function in an aray of different visual designed briefs. Some of these briefs include Earth Artefact and a City in flux.

01 05 11 13

New Visual Language

01 05 11 13

New Visual Language An exploration of a new visual language. This page focuses on some initial research of mine into the two types of Modernism and how form follows function. Learn more about A New visual language on Page 1.

Earth Artefact

Earth artefact was an exploration of how contact could be made in different ways to an extra terrestrial species. This brief was an exciting and visual take on the phonograph records! Learn more on Page 5.

Type Transcript Type Transcript was an exploration of typography focused on creating a new interesting type face inspired by a particular artist. This brief was made to test us on our skills with creating a font! Learn more on Page 11.

City in Flux This was my first brief. It was an exploration of how a city is constantly changing over time, we could choose to express this in any which way we wanted to! I chose Architecture. Learn more on Page 13.

Now that I have pretty much completed my actual contents page I need to focus on what my double page spread is going to look like as a whole. I have used block colours and a gradient to see which ones work the best, I have come to the conclusion that the gradient when done correctly and a primary colours work the best in keeping a theme and looking professional all in one.


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W

elcome to NVL! In this the first issue of many more we will be exploring a new visual language and how form follows function, we will also be looking at some set briefs which explore a new visual language through form following function. In total we will explore 4 different set briefs in depth. A New Visual Language, Earth Artefact, Type Transcript and City in Flux will all be walked through final design, thoughts on the brief and how different intial ideas were generated early on in the brief.

Double page

01 05 11 13

New Visual Language An exploration of a new visual language. This page focuses on some initial research of mine into the two types of Modernism and how form follows function. Learn more about A New visual language on Page 1.

Earth Artefact

Earth artefact was an exploration of how contact could be made in different ways to an extra terrestrial species. This brief was an exciting and visual take on the phonograph records! Learn more on Page 5.

Type Transcript Type Transcript was an exploration of typography focused on creating a new interesting type face inspired by a particular artist. This brief was made to test us on our skills with creating a font! Learn more on Page 11.

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE PRESENTS:

“THE PERFECT FONT”

GEOMANIST “I suppose it’s like Helvetica but better”

9 weights

Sans serif

*****

City in Flux

W

elcome to NVL! In this the first issue of many more we will be exploring a new visual language and how form follows function, we will also be looking at some set briefs which explore a new visual language through form following function. In total we will explore 4 different set briefs in depth. A New Visual Language, Earth Artefact, Type Transcript and City in Flux will all be walked through final design, thoughts on the brief and how different intial ideas were generated early on in the brief.

01 05 11 13

New Visual Language An exploration of a new visual language. This page focuses on some initial research of mine into the two types of Modernism and how form follows function. Learn more about A New visual language on Page 1.

Earth Artefact

Earth artefact was an exploration of how contact could be made in different ways to an extra terrestrial species. This brief was an exciting and visual take on the phonograph records! Learn more on Page 5.

Type Transcript Type Transcript was an exploration of typography focused on creating a new interesting type face inspired by a particular artist. This brief was made to test us on our skills with creating a font! Learn more on Page 11.

City in Flux

This was my first brief. It was an exploration of how a city is constantly changing over time, we could choose to express this in any which way we wanted to! I chose Architecture. Learn more on Page 13.

Here I have tried the gradient background and the block background. The gradient background offers more depth and sets a good atmosphere for my information to sit on. The radial gradient pulls you into the information which is very important and I think works well on this design.

CONTENT

CONTENT

Contents page: Dev

This was my first brief. It was an exploration of how a city is constantly changing over time, we could choose to express this in any which way we wanted to! I chose Architecture. Learn more on Page 13.

The block background works better in my opinion because of how striking it is, the modern appeal is much more apparent in this design. I do however think that it looks a little too bare, I am going to try and work something into the background to make it look more interesting this could be a pattern of some kind of my mastheads.

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE PRESENTS: NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE PRESENTS:

“THE PERFECT FONT” “THE PERFECT FONT”

GEOMANIST GEOMANIST “I suppose it’s like Helvetica better” “I suppose it’s like Helvetica but but better”

*****

9 weights

Sans serif *****

Sans serif 9 weights


A New Visual Language Making a pattern

74 Double page

I made this pattern using my masthead on illustrator. First I imported my masthead onto another illustrator document, I then created a rectangle to scale of an A4 DOCUMENT and created a small box of my mastheads, using this I then went to PATTERN and MAKE PATTERN, this allowed me to actually make my pattern in illustrator. Once I was happy with how the mastheads were arranged in rows and columns the pattern was done. The pattern was now on my swatches I could now draw another rectangle this time making it the exact size of the A4 DOCUMENT I could select my swatc pattern and the pattern was now added to my document. I changed the pattern colour to a darker red so it was visable from the background but not too much as to distract attention from the foreground.


A New Visual Language Contents page W

CONTENT

elcome to NVL! In this the first issue of many more we will be exploring a new visual language and how form follows function. In total we will explore 4 different set briefs that challenge the idea of form following function and A New Visual Language, Earth Artefact, Type Transcript and City in Flux will all be walked through final design, thoughts on the brief and how different initial ideas were generated early on at the start of the brief through research.

01

06

14 18

75 Final design These are my contents pages that I have produced, I have worked with the grid more to ensure that everything on the design is measured correctly and now I am very happy with how it looks. I am also happy with how I have set up a trend for the rest of the magazine; introducing the font that I will be using in my magazine was a smart idea and the layout it contemporary and clean.

New Vi sua l La ng ua g e An exploration of a new visual language. This page focuses on some initial research of mine into the two types of Modernism and how form follows function. Learn more about A New visual language on Page 1.

Earth Artefact Earth artefact was an exploration of how contact could be made in different ways to an extra terrestrial species. This brief was an exciting and visual take on the phonograph records! Learn more on Page 5.

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE PRESENTS:

Type Transcript Type Transcript was an exploration of typography focused on creating a new interesting type face inspired by a particular artist. This brief was made to test us on our skills with creating a font! Learn more on Page 11.

City in Flux This was my first brief. It was an exploration of how a city is constantly changing over time, we could choose to express this in any which way we wanted to! I chose Architecture. Learn more on Page 13.

THE PERFECT FONT

GEOMANIST “I suppose it’s like Helvetica but better”

*****

9 weights

Sans serif

I have tried to use only basic primary colours to reflect on a modernist magazine and I feel that this page sets the rest of my magazine up nicely. Using different shades of grey and black with red has worked well and is very themic and typical with a modern styled magazine. I am also very happy with the pattern I have created of my mastheads, now the page looks a lot more relevant to my magazine and overall the appearance is much more pleasing with the pattern rather than having the one block colour.


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I really liked this layout where the title is vertically typed, the next steps were to play around with the 3 different fonts that would feature in my magazine to see which one works the best. I found that the sub-header worked the best with the GEOMANIST font for it’s bold appearance which really stood out on this page.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there isn’t anything left to remove.

I started with a line design that I created inspired by the grid system, I thought that this design would be a good base for my text to sit on. I had ideas of how I wanted my header and my text to be laid out on this page I would add the title of the project I was introducing in this case a new visual language and I would also add the quote that comes with the brief this would become a regular occurrence throughout each of the intro pages to keep a theme running throughout my magazine.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there isn’t anything left to remove.

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE

Development

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE

New Visual Language pages

(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)


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New Visual Language pages

Font

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there isn’t anything left to remove.

Helvetica

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there isn’t anything left to remove.

Geomanist

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE

Avenir

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there isn’t anything left to remove.


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New Visual Language pages

Development

Once I was happy with the font I was going to use I started to add more features like more text and the page number. I also added a pattern background like I did with the first double page spread, this made the whole page look a lot more interesting and gave a texture to an otherwise plain background which I thought my research was com the first set brief that we are was his a isgood outcome. Once start my initials. I started by going to look at, the brief is called

T

“New visual language” and focuses on creating a magazine in the style of a post modern or a modern ideal. I chose to create my magazine in a modern ideal because of my interest in Grid systems and structure; a post modern design wouldn’t offer this structure that I am interested in therefore this style of magazine would have been totaly illogical. The brief extract says that,

ideas for mastheads on pa a few I liked, I chose to cre tion logo because of it quir much better it would look I felt that a longer masthea distractive and useless. A sh is much better for grabbing a consumer which is what creating an abrehviated ma The rest of the developme brief was quite standard: G colour and font choice on focusing on layout and how manipulated and made to The publication would be s for each brief that the user about. I organised this by c tents page which displayed briefs were and the numbe they were on. In conclusion how each page looked, th each brief was well presen ist styled magazine which h the grid and bold but intrac which worked well as bod ers for each section of my

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there isn’t anything left to remove.

“You are to submit designs proposals for a new graphic design publication entitled, “New Visual Language.” The first issue will focus on Form follows function an exploration of Modernism and Post Modernism.”

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there isn’t anything left to remove.

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE

Added more information now that the font was chosen.

I understood this and began my research, I started to research into different Modernisms which allowed me to gather a better understanding of how to start to create my magazine. After researching into different modernisms and the history of the movements I researched “Good masthead design” and “Classical magazine layout”. This gave me a better idea of what my magazines aesthetic should look like, and overall gave me a better starting point for my initial thumbnail ideas. I looked at designers such as “Build” and “NON FORMAT” because of there structured layouts and beautiful font. After looking at artists like these I discovered that a lot of modern styled magazines are very minimal in there style; I took this inspiration and started to create my initial thumbnail ideas for my cover and masthead. I didn’t want my cover to be too overcrowded with information I felt that this would only bring my design down and a minimal design which is more focused on appearance is the way forward when creating a modern style.

Created another background using masthead to give the background more texture and interest.

(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

01

The aim of this brief was to magazine entitled “New vis with a post modern/mode fluence which doesn’t look reproduction. I feel that I ha and this brief was a good d how I can use type and lay styled magazine. Form following function is a this brief was set to achieve have different meanings to For instance form following reference how for is alway the product functions. Whe object the function is only and how we percieve the

Used GEOMANIST for the number it matched my header and brought the whole page together. It feels complete.


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New Visual Language pages

Development Brief 1: 11/05/15 New visual language

T

Once my research was completed I could start my initials. I started by sketching initial ideas for mastheads on paper and chose a few I liked, I chose to create an abrehviation logo because of it quirkiness and how much better it would look on my magazine, I felt that a longer masthead would be distractive and useless. A shorter masthead is much better for grabbing the attention of a consumer which is what swayed me into creating an abrehviated masthead. The rest of the development process of this brief was quite standard: Going through colour and font choice on every page and “You are to focusing on layout and how type could be submit designs proposals for a new manipulated and made to be more visual. graphic design publication entitled, “New The publication would be split into sections Visual Language.” The first issue will focus for each brief that the user would read on Form follows function an exploration of about. I organised this by creating a conModernism and Post Modernism.” tents page displayed where different Perfection is which achieved, briefs were andisthe numbered pages that I understood this and began my renot when there noththey were on. search, I started to research into differenting left to add,Inbut conclusion I was happy with Modernisms which allowed me to gather whenhow there eachisn’t page anylooked, the information of a better understanding of how to start to leftbrief to remove. was well presented in a moderncreate my magazine. After researching thingeach ist styled magazine which had evidence of into different modernisms and the history the grid and bold but intracate typefaces of the movements I researched “Good (Antoine Saint-Exupery) which worked well asde body text and headmasthead design” and “Classical magaers for each section of my magazine. zine layout”. This gave me a better idea of

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there isn’t anything left to remove. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

Once I had the lines that are becoming a theme throughout my magazine I then started to type up what was going to make up my body text. Once I had done that I worked with the leading of the type so the words were visable and easily readable. Once I had my text it was just about adding the final touches like the page number and title. This was a fairly simple process but one I considered carefully I worked with the font thouroughly until I was happy with the outcome and the visual aspects of the design/layout.

01

Overall this brief is a good representation of how a form follows a function. The visual element is a lot clearer and the exploration of modernisms is clear in the final product. Research was very important into the different Modernisms and the choice of Modern is clearly reflective in this magazine. This was a great brief to work on because of how structured it was, there weren’t too many unknowns and oppertunities were there to try different layouts and explore a whole range of traditional and contemporary design.

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE

his is the first set brief that we are going to look at, the brief is called “New visual language” and focuses on creating a magazine in the style of a post modern or a modern ideal. I chose to create my magazine in a modern ideal because of my interest in Grid systems and structure; a post modern design wouldn’t offer this structure that I am interested in therefore this style of magazine would have been totaly illogical. The brief extract says that,

what my magazines aesthetic should look like, and overall gave me a better starting point for my initial thumbnail ideas. I looked at designers such as “Build” and “NON FORMAT” because of there structured layouts and beautiful font. After looking at artists like these I discovered that a lot of modern styled magazines are very minimal in there style; I took this inspiration and started to create my initial thumbnail ideas for my cover and masthead. I didn’t want my cover to be too overcrowded with information I felt that this would only bring my design down and a minimal design which is more focused on appearance is the way forward when creating a modern style.

The aim of this brief was to produce a new magazine entitled “New visual language” with a post modern/modern styled influence which doesn’t look like a slavish reproduction. I feel that I have done this well and this brief was a good demonstration of how I can use type and layout in a visualy styled magazine. Form following function is a big part of what this brief was set to achieve, the phrase can have different meanings to a lot of people. For instance form following function could reference how for is always a part of how the product functions. When we look at an object the function is only seen by the form and how we percieve the object to work.

01

T

his is the first set brief that we are going to look at, the brief is called “New visual language” and focuses on creating a magazine in the style of a post modern or a modern ideal. I chose to create my magazine in a modern ideal because of my interest in Grid systems and structure; a post modern design wouldn’t offer this structure that I am interested in therefore this style of magazine would have been totaly illogical. The brief extract says that, “You are to submit designs proposals for a new graphic design publication entitled, “New Visual Language.” The first issue will focus on Form follows function an exploration of Modernism and Post Modernism.” I understood this and began my research, I started to research into different Modernisms which allowed me to gather a better understanding of how to start to create my magazine. After researching into different modernisms and the history of the movements I researched “Good masthead design” and “Classical magazine layout”. This gave me a better idea of what my magazines aesthetic should look like, and overall gave me a better starting point for my initial thumbnail ideas. I looked at designers such as “Build” and “NON FORMAT” because of there structured layouts and beautiful font. After looking at artists like these I discovered that a lot of modern styled magazines are very minimal in there style; I took this inspiration and started to create my initial thumbnail ideas for my cover and masthead. I didn’t want my cover to be too overcrowded with information I felt that this would only bring my design down and a minimal design which is more focused on appearance is the way forward when creating a modern style.

Once my research was completed I could start my initials. I started by sketching initial ideas for mastheads on paper and chose a few I liked, I chose to create an abrehviation logo because of it quirkiness and how much better it would look on my magazine, I felt that a longer masthead would be distractive and useless. A shorter masthead is much better for grabbing the attention of a consumer which is what swayed me into creating an abrehviated masthead. The rest of the development process of this brief was quite standard: Going through colour and font choice on every page and focusing on layout and how type could be manipulated and made to be more visual. The publication would be split into sections for each brief that the user would read about. I organised this by creating a contents page which displayed where different briefs were and the numbered pages that they were on. In conclusion I was happy with how each page looked, the information of each brief was well presented in a modernist styled magazine which had evidence of the grid and bold but intracate typefaces which worked well as body text and headers for each section of my magazine. The aim of this brief was to produce a new magazine entitled “New visual language” with a post modern/modern styled influence which doesn’t look like a slavish reproduction. I feel that I have done this well and this brief was a good demonstration of how I can use type and layout in a visualy styled magazine. Form following function is a big part of what this brief was set to achieve, the phrase can have different meanings to a lot of people. For instance form following function could reference how for is always a part of how the product functions. When we look at an object the function is only seen by the form and how we percieve the object to work.

Overall this brief is a good representation of how a form follows a function. The visual element is a lot clearer and the exploration of modernisms is clear in the final product. Research was very important into the different Modernisms and the choice of Modern is clearly reflective in this magazine. This was a great brief to work on because of how structured it was, there weren’t too many unknowns and oppertunities were there to try different layouts and explore a whole range of traditional and contemporary design.

02


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New Visual Language pages

Final Brief 1: 11/05/15 New visual language

T

“You are to submit designs proposals for a new graphic design publication entitled, “New Visual Language.” The first issue will focus on Form follows function an exploration of Modernism and Post Modernism.”

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there isn’t anything left to remove.

NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE

his is the first set brief that we are going to look at, the brief is called “New visual language” and focuses on creating a magazine in the style of a post modern or a modern ideal. I chose to create my magazine in a modern ideal because of my interest in Grid systems and structure; a post modern design wouldn’t offer this structure that I am interested in therefore this style of magazine would have been totaly illogical. The brief extract says that,

(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

01

I understood this and began my research, I started to research into different Modernisms which allowed me to gather a better understanding of how to start to create my magazine. After researching into different modernisms and the history of the movements I researched “Good masthead design” and “Classical magazine layout”. This gave me a better idea of what my magazines aesthetic should look like, and overall gave me a better starting point for my initial thumbnail ideas. I looked at designers such as “Build” and “NON FORMAT” because of there structured layouts and beautiful font. After looking at artists like these I discovered that a lot of modern styled magazines are very minimal in there style; I took this inspiration and started to create my initial thumbnail ideas for my cover and masthead. I didn’t want my cover to be too overcrowded with information I felt that this would only bring my design down and a minimal design which is more focused on appearance is the way forward when creating a modern style.

Once my research was completed I could start my initials. I started by sketching initial ideas for mastheads on paper and chose a few I liked, I chose to create an abrehviation logo because of it quirkiness and how much better it would look on my magazine, I felt that a longer masthead would be distractive and useless. A shorter masthead is much better for grabbing the attention of a consumer which is what swayed me into creating an abrehviated masthead. The rest of the development process of this brief was quite standard: Going through colour and font choice on every page and focusing on layout and how type could be manipulated and made to be more visual. The publication would be split into sections for each brief that the user would read about. I organised this by creating a contents page which displayed where different briefs were and the numbered pages that they were on. In conclusion I was happy with how each page looked, the information of each brief was well presented in a modernist styled magazine which had evidence of the grid and bold but intracate typefaces which worked well as body text and headers for each section of my magazine. The aim of this brief was to produce a new magazine entitled “New visual language” with a post modern/modern styled influence which doesn’t look like a slavish reproduction. I feel that I have done this well and this brief was a good demonstration of how I can use type and layout in a visualy styled magazine. Form following function is a big part of what this brief was set to achieve, the phrase can have different meanings to a lot of people. For instance form following function could reference how for is always a part of how the product functions. When we look at an object the function is only seen by the form and how we percieve the object to work.

Overall this brief is a good representation of how a form follows a function. The visual element is a lot clearer and the exploration of modernisms is clear in the final product. Research was very important into the different Modernisms and the choice of Modern is clearly reflective in this magazine. This was a great brief to work on because of how structured it was, there weren’t too many unknowns and oppertunities were there to try different layouts and explore a whole range of traditional and contemporary design.

02

I like the minimalist style of the double page spread, not having too much information on the double page has worked well because of the amount of free space the body text and the project intro page design has. I think that the sense of space is very important when designing a modern magazine and coupled with the Geomanist (Light) type face I have used makes the magazine look a lot more formal and like a magazine should. I am also happy with how I have used the Grid system to lay out my type in the best way possible, leaving space at the top of the page has worked a lot better and has again given the small title and the body text seperate sections of the page to work with. The leading adjustments I made to the type have paid off and the words are a lot more visable this makes the read quality a lot more pleasant and overall makes the magazine look a lot more professional.


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New Visual Language pages I want these pages to be filled with the most important bits of research that were the most influencial on me when I was creating my final magazine. The pages will hold the research I did about Modernism and graphic designers such as build and non format who were important when I was thinking about how my magazine was being presented.

Double 2 These pages should hold layout inspiration and the most inspiring parts of my research with filtered into making my magazine. When talking about some of these inspirations you can reference colour and talk about how it inspired you in a certain way. I could do a page about modernism and a seperate page about the best pieces of work.

The first page will be looking directly at Modernism and how it inspired me to create my magazine in the first place. I don’t really have to produce a dictionary definition of modernism just describe how it inspired you and what you like about modernism. ( What interests me the most about the movement).

The second page is going to be about particular piece of work that inspired me, the page could be split in half 1 half could be talking about how it inspired me analysing the colour and layout. The other half could be my actual layouts for the magazine presented in a nice way explaining the process. Stuff like that.


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NVL spreads

Initials These are some initial designs for the further pages I will develop for my new visual language section of my magazine. I have sketched a few simple layouts which will make up all of my pages and now feel that I can move forward and develop these pages to a finished state. I am satisfied that I have enough initials to be able to develop the amount of pages I have. My layouts mostly consist of modern styled initials, this is because these are the things I am most interested in when creating my magazine. I think the overall aesthetic and appearance of the magazine is very important and the pages should reflect a modern style and be able to work together to make the pages of the magazine look like they belong together. I have experimented with different layout of my headers and type next to images to find the best possible layouts. From these experiments I have chosen a few layouts that I have made my favourites and the ones I will develop.


A New Visual Language First page: Modernism

These are the 3 colours I already have in mind, these colours are an obvious theme that run throughout my pages but they don’t have to be the background or any particular part. Dark Grey, pale and a red are very modern colours and are definitley the three I want to use on most of my pages.

83 background

Another option is to use these colours on the page but not in the background. I could use the pattern I made using my masthead as the background so the background isn’t just a plain white. I think this is a good choice even though it’s experimental I think this could be a good option.


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First page: Modernism

development I Modernism New visual language 11/05/15

MODERNISM Design through structure and beauty

This is my first development, I have made a small heart icon on illustrator using the elipse tool and the pen tool as a quirky addition to my magazine. This pages layout is looking very similar to the first intro page I think that I am going to eventually add a background throuhg my development and make decisions on what type and images should feature in my magazine.

For a first layout I am very happy with the outcome, I now have a basis on which I can build the rest of my designs. I can work into this page more and focus on the appearance and the pages aesthetic and how it links in with the rest of my magazines attributes.


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Design through structure and beauty

(Modern Cubism)

11/05/15 I Modernism New visual language Design through structure and beauty

MODERNISM

11/05/15 I Modernism New visual language Design through structure and beauty

11/05/15 I Modernism New visual language

modernism

development modernism

First page: Modernism

(Modern Cubism)

(Bauhaus:2007)

(Expressionism)

(Art Deco:2007)

(Expressionism)

(Bauhaus:2007)

(Art Deco:2007)

I created the grid I was going to use using red lines, these will become features in my pages of a way of alligning things and splitting up pages into sections which will make the magazine as a whole more understandable and easier to follow.

I experimented with different layout of the title of the page and found that I liked the vertical text as it feels more like a tag of the page which I could replicate easier on further pages. I decided to add tags for each section of modernism this is another easy way of organising my information so everything is more understandable.

I added the images I was going to use and experimented with the layout of the images with the tags. I found that using rows was easier because it allowed me to have more room for text and information that I was going to add later on.


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(Modern Cubism)

(Bauhaus:2007)

M

odernism to me means conveying a message of formailty through form, structure and clear typography. The aim of a Modernist poster or design is to communicate a message using more professional and textbook techniques like the grid system. A Modernist design is created using the Grid method this gives the designer more of an idea of where the placement of objects and features of his publication should be placed. Generally, a modern approach uses a bold range of colours. The colours are normally primary and are coupled with a darker colour like black to give the whole design a lot more power.

(Modern Cubism)

(Expressionism)

(Bauhaus:2007)

Expressionism is a focus on visually demonstrating how a person or situation is feeling. It was a very important stage of the Modernist movement because it combined emotion with graphic language.

(Art Deco:2007)

To me Bauhaus was the single most important in the Modernism movement. It was essentially the birth place of modern Graphic design and combined all of the crafts into one school.

11/05/15 I Modernism New visual language Design through structure and beauty

modernism

11/05/15 I Modernism New visual language Design through structure and beauty

modernism

development 11/05/15 I Modernism New visual language

Design through structure and beauty

modernism

First page: Modernism

M

odernism to me means conveying a message of formailty through form, structure and clear typography. The aim of a Modernist poster or design is to communicate a message using more professional and textbook techniques like the grid system. A Modernist design is created using the Grid method this gives the designer more of an idea of where the placement of objects and features of his publication should be placed. Generally, a modern approach uses a bold range of colours. The colours are normally primary and are coupled with a darker colour like black to give the whole design a lot more power.

(Modern Cubism)

(Expressionism)

(Art Deco:2007)

(Jackson Pollock) (Bauhaus:2007)

Expressionism is a focus on visually demonstrating how a person or situation is feeling. It was a very important stage of the Modernist movement because it combined emotion with graphic language.

(Art Deco:2007)

To me Bauhaus was the single most important in the Modernism movement. It was essentially the birth place of modern Graphic design and combined all of the crafts into one school. (Expressionism)

The style “Art Deco” often uses rich colours, bold geometric shapes and ornimentation. It first appeared in France and was popular during the Modernist period.

Cubism was a big art style during the Modernism movement. Cubism revolutionized painting and sculpture and also influenced literature and music! It was a very important step in defining a modernistic world and we can still see cubism being used to this day in vector.

I added the images I was going to use and experimented with the layout of the images with the tags. I found that using rows was easier because it allowed me to have more room for text and information that I was going to add later on.

“The modern artist is working with space and time and expressing his feelings rather than illustrating.”

I writ out my text and found that I didn’t have as much room to play with as I originally thought, I solved this problem by moving things around and experimented with the best layout for my page.

The style “Art Deco” often uses rich colours, bold geometric shapes and ornimentation. It first appeared in France and was popular during the Modernist period.

Cubism was a big art style during the Modernism movement. Cubism revolutionized painting and sculpture and also influenced literature and music! It was a very important step in defining a modernistic world and we can still see cubism being used to this day in vector.

While I was experimenting with layout I added the page number and a quote as interesting features to my page. I felt that now I have all of my features on the page experimenting with layout will be a lot easier because I now can look at the page as a finished product with nothing left to add.

03


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11/05/15 I Modernism New visual language

(Modern Cubism)

“The modern artist is working with space and time and expressing his feelings rather than illustrating.” (Jackson Pollock) (Art Deco:2007)

Inspiration

Final

Design through structure and beauty

modernism

NVL spread 1 11/05/15 I BUILD New visual language

(Build.co.uk)

(Expressionism)

“Build” is a graphic design company. They specialize in anything from print, web design and moving image. They class their work as being a mixture of Post modern/Modern style. However I feel that their work is mostly of a contemporary/Modern style. The clean and professional style is very inspiring, the negative space creates more room for the design to breathe making a much more modern and professional looking piece of design. All of builds publications are great and the prints are always of good standard.

Cubism was a big art style during the Modernism movement. Cubism revolutionized paint-

ing and sculpture and also influenced literature and music! It was a very important step in defining a modernistic world and we can still see cubism being used to this day in vector.

The style “Art Deco” often uses rich colours, bold geometric shapes and ornamentation. It first appeared in France and was popular during the Modernist period, I like this style of design because it fits in with what I am interested in. Bold and simple geometric illustration.

Expressionism is a focus on visually demonstrating how a person or situation is feeling. It was a very important stage of the Modernist movement because it was one of the first that combined emotion with graphic language.

The inspiration I gain from build is from the layout of there designs. They are quite minimal and don’t have too much information and as a result their style appears to be very modernised and clean. This is something that I have tried to replicate in this magazine, by not adding too much information and text the whole design in visually pleasing and relaxed.Their use of the grid system is obvious and as a result the whole piece is well measured and balanced, I love their work.

(Bauhaus:2007) To me Bauhaus was the single most important in the Modernism movement. It was essentially

the birth place of modern Graphic design and combined all of the crafts into one school. The Bauhaus was the trend setter and was considered to be a new way of thinking about design. All Bauhaus designs uses the grid and simple geometric shapes, it seems then that without Bauhaus we wouldn’t have the modern style of design that we love today.

03

04

This is my completed page about Modernism and inspirations that went into creating my magazine initially. Overall I am happy with how the magazine looks, the colour scheme is smart and basic and follows the theme style of the whole magazine. Using the same colour schemes for the different pages but in different ways has worked well, the colours still work well together even though they are oposites; I think that this has been beneficial when creating themes and strong colours scheme throughout my magazine so far. I am also happy with the layout, I think that the placement of the text in variation to the images are strong and look professional and clean. I have used the same grid system on both sides of my pages which creates a structure and a likeness between both the two joining pages. Now I am happy with this page I can move on to developing pages within a new visual language about my work and my experimentation with layout and mastheads. This seems like a good idea having a timeline like magazine which takes us through how I created everything and the order I did it.


A New Visual Language masthead page

Here are different colours I have tried, I tried these particular three colurs because I wanted to keep a theme of colour running through my magazine. Blue and red work well because they fit in with the modernist style. I think that the green would look a bit odd and quite post modern as it’s a much brighter colour than red and blue.

88 pattern choices

I like the red but I need to bare in mind how the colour I choose will look next to my development page and as a whole as my spread. I think then that the colour blue would work better than the red because it seperates the pages and adds something different which I think is important.

Although I do not like this colour, I think the offset masthead background has worked well. I think that it looks a lot more inetresting than the other masthead background. However I need to be careful that it doesn’t look too messy after all this is a modernist magazine everything should look clean, structured and professional.


A New Visual Language masthead page

89 playing with patterns


A New Visual Language masthead page

90 development

After trying both styles I have decided to go with the one on the right without the masthead effect. I have chosen this one because I felt that the masthead on the left looked too messy and disorganised which didn’t fit in with my modern magazine. I am happy with the one on the right for it’s simplistic and modern look and obvious use of the grid system. This is the one that I will use on my double page spread.


A New Visual Language

91 Final

11/05/15 My Initials New visual language

New Visual Language

initials through to final design

development

NVL spread 2

(Initial layouts) Overall I am happy with my cover. The cover is of a minimalist style which I feel works well within keeping within the idea of a new visual language. The modernist style is obvious and it’s influences are directly based on minimalism and colour; Primary colour is used well with bolder colours like white and black to offer more contrast which gives emphasis to certain features on the cover. Abbreviated language is used in the form of circles, each half circle and quarter circle making up the letters NVL standing for a New visual language. This shortened version has worked well and has kept the whole design simple and clear to understand. The use of the sub-header on the bar code is ironic. The fact that the bar code is being used as a solid background for my sub-header (Form Follows Function) is demonstrative of form following a function in itself. I think that this use of a play on words with irony has worked well and was smart. My initial layouts were very simple to create, I used them as references when deciding where everything would be placed when I was creating my cover layouts. I found that I liked the minimalist style of the layouts more because I felt that this represented a modern styled magazine along with a grid system which I also used in development.

05

A b b re v i a t i o n l a n g u a g e : T h e M a s t h e a d

This is the final of my 2nd NVL spreads, on this page I was focusing on some of my initials of my cover and talked through how I went through the process of developing the cover for my new visual language magazine. I also have added a page dedicated to my masthead, I think this page breaks up the pages of information well and acts as a good visual page which displays my final masthead well as a page in my magazine. I am also happy with the colour scheme I have used, using blue has broken up the theme for a page and this adds more interest and is quite a modernist layout in my opinion. I am very happy with the layout of the pages, I am happy with the way that the lines of the text are all justified and alligned it makes the design look less messy and more professional.


A New Visual Language Earth artefact pages

92 initials

These are some initial thumbnails of my Earth artefcat pages. The reason I haven’t sketched more than needed is because I knew that I wanted to create a theme throughout my pages and the 4 sketches that I made work well in sticking with the theme and style of my magazine. I am happy with the initials because I feel that they are clean and professional and reflect a modernist styled publication well. When I was originally creating my initials I was focusing on how the pages as a whole work together. I ahve used some initial sketches of pages that I have also used in my other initials for other sections of my magazine. This is important in experimenting with how the pages work together as a whole rather than originally. I have some initials I am happy with I feel that I can move on with these pages of development and start to create my pages which will make up the Eart Artefact pages of my magazine.


A New Visual Language Earth Artefact title page

From my initials I decided to go with this style of layout inspired by some of the magazine’s I researched which were minimal but compact with information. I experimented with the blocks and the different layout I would use. I used the geomanist for the typeface because of the theme I am creating throughout my magazine.

93 development


A New Visual Language Earth Artefact title page

After experimenting with type I eventually decided that I would use the type over to the right hand side separated from the actual title. Separating the page into different sections helped me plan where each thing would go and helped me visualize how big certain bits of the title could be.

94 development


A New Visual Language

95

Earth Artefact title page

Final Brief 2: 11/05/15 Earth Artefact

EARTH The Brief

For millions of years man lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination.

A R T E FA C T

We learned to talk.

AN EARTH ARTEFACT

Earth Artifact is the second set brief we are going to explore, the briefs focus is to create a new spin on the phonograph records in order to be able to communicate with extra terrestrial life. This brief is very wide spread and the creation of a new set of phonograph records can be made to be anything from Infographics, Data visualization or animation. I was more focused on creating a set of infographics even though I explored more than one of these in my development process. I felt that I could express phonographs records more visually and understandable to alien life through posters and print; even though I originally thought that animation was a great idea I found that time was against me with the deadline of the brief only being 6 weeks away. I didn’t feel that I was experienced enough at this point to create an animation and illustration was the best visual way forward. My main focus when completing this brief for me was to create a set of infographics/ posters about the Human race to give alien life a misinterpretation of who we actually were. The range of posters are from a company I invented called “Project Green” a set of environmentalists who’s mission is to save the world at all costs. The humans are destroying the Earth with there technology and slowly destroying themselves and ultimately life on earth. My posters represent all of the bad things about the Human race in the hope that extra terrestrial life will help terminate the human race for good to save the Earth. In the next few pages you will see the posters that have been created, read on to see my initial ideas, the inspiration I had and the completed posters about the Human race.

(Stephen Hawking) “Mankind’s greatest achievements have come about by talking and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn’t have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future with the technology at our disposal - the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking”.

06

07

This is the final title page of the Earth artefact section of my magazine. I have created the main title page the same I would any other way and changed the pattern background to something more relevant to my project itself. I also changed the tracking of the letters so everything matched up in the end. I will create all of my title pages in this way so that starts of new projects and sections of my magazine are more recognizable. I am happy with how my brief page looks, I think that the combination of objects and text has worked well on this particular page I am also happy with the spacing and the negative space which isn’t being used it makes the design seem like it has more room and overall makes it look a lot more professional.


A New Visual Language Earth Artefact spread 1

This is my next spread development of my Earth artefact pages, this spread focuses on creating a development page for the icons I made for some of my final pieces. I already had the layout I wanted in mind because of my initials and how it would fit in with the rest of the design. I also have all of the features that will appear on this spread and it is just a case of moving things around and trying different elements in different places until I find a layout which I like.

96 development


A New Visual Language Earth Artefact spread 2

This is my next spread for my earth artefact pages, on this page I have focused on creating a page dedicated to the inspiration I had when I was designing my final outcomes. I have used some of Funders&Founders work along side with something I have tried which was inspired by them to show how their work has influenced me to start to create vector illustration. I am happy with the layout I finished up with the type and image work together well and the type setting off the bold against the lighter text works well in adding some interest.

97 development


HUMANS HUMANS AND THERE AND THERE AND THERE A New Visual Language HABITAT HUMANS HUMANS HUMANS HABITAT HABITAT AND THERE AND THERE AND THERE HUMANS HUMANS HUMANS HABITAT HABITAT HABITAT AND THERE AND THERE AND THERE HABITAT HABITAT HABITAT Funders & Founders

development

11/05/15 Funders & Founders Earth Artefact

designers that inspired me in the process

inspiration

Earth Artefact spread 2

11/05/15 Development Earth Artefact

Icon development

Characterized Illustration is something I’m interested in I have tried this style below.

Funders and Founders are a design company who mainly create inspirational and motivational infographics using illustration. They gave me the inspiration to create the posters/infographics because of the style of the infographic and how things were iconized. I decided to create my infographics using icons this would not only make the poster easier to understand for alien life It would also be a quick and simple way of visually describing something. I tried to create my own icon of a well known character inspired by Funders & Founders, I created an illustration of The Queen of England using the pen tool and different methods. Funders and founders style are very recognizable for their geometric styled vectors of famous people and their start-up guides that inspire so many people to try something they have never tried before. The fact that their illustrations also inspire so many other people is part of why they inspire me. In my finals they will inspire me to create my illustrations in a simple style.

“We are startup evangelists and infographic authors our mission is to inspire everyone from engineers to moms to do a startup.”

My development process was mainly done on Adobe Illustrator, I created small illustrations like these as icons to add to my bigger poster. I was very happy with these illustrations and they represent what I want them to represent well. The gas mask is a representation to how Humans are all bad, the mask almost looks alien in a sense. I have tried to give a mis representation of Humans which is evident in most of my illustrations I have done. Icons like these were created on illustrator using the pen tool, first I made the outline of the icon as well as using a reference image to help me visualize what the icon should look like. After I made my outline I experimented with different colour & type for the icons when I was happy with the colour I added shadows to give the icon more depth. Once happy with all of these factors I added the icon to my final piece. I created a range of different icons, these icons would do different jobs and represent different things on my outcomes. Icons were a quick and simple way of being able to identify something. Overall I was happy with the outcome and how the icons looked on my final pieces.

***** “Inspirational”

08

09

98 Final

This is one of my final double page spreads for my Earth artefact section. These pages focus on some inspiration I found and some development I went through, overall I am happy with the layout of both the pages; the text and the images work well together and the layout is clean and professional. The pages aren’t overcrowded which is what makes this page a good one, because there isn’t a load of information the pages are a much easier read because there isn’t too much to look at. This is another example of how I am using minimalism in all of my pages to reflect on a modern styled ideal which has inspired me so much.


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Earth Artefact spread 3

PROJECT GREEN

Final

VOYAGER PRINTS

10 metres

Project Green is an operation designed to protect planet EARTH from species that endanger it’s exsistence by polution, violence and other forms of destructive nature. Mankind is the biggest cause of this the population of this species has grown way too high our mission is to fix it.

120 degrees

Delta v=v\e

(Blueprint outcome)

This was my first final outcome, the outcome is based on the blueprints of the rocket that will hold the new phonograph records which I have created. I created the outline of the blueprints and the grid which the blueprints sits on in illustrator. I then moved the design over and added my text on InDesign because of how much more you can do with font on InDesign rather than on Illustrator. The point of this design was to create a blueprint of a rocket which will go into space to find alien life. It also tells us a little more about the company Project Green and gives us a better understanding of how things are going to work with this set of posters.

HUMANS AND THEIR HABITAT HUMANS like to feed off of animals and living things they hunt and kill to survive. They rely on suplies and natural resources to survive and will attack anything that stand in their way.

FACTFILE

Loves- Killing Hates- Aliens Eats- The Living

Destructive, Vile, Controlive, Smart

“HUMAN”- A weaponised 20 metres

species that thrive on killing living things. A dangerous and unforgiving species that love to see the pain and anguish of any living being.

The VOYAGER spacecraft holds information of the HUMAN race and there habitat, the biggest human threats to EARTH and how to destroy humans without putting earth at risk. Aerodynamic wings push air down the craft which allows for a more stable flight path.

Where the species populate EARTH- a spherical planet that habitates life such as Humans and living things.

Blast defectors

THRUSTERS need max intake of OXYGEN

Humans live on these parts they call them countries. Pieces of land the humans have claimed for themselves.

These parts are called “Water” 2/3 of the world is this substance.

Our sample point, 38° 57' 33.804" N, 95° 15' 55.739" W, is located in Zone 1501, "Planet Earth"The position is specified as "Zone X Y" as follows: 1501 636973.515 73077.180 (meters is assumed) 1501 636973.515m 73077.180m (meters) 1501 2089808.121ftUS 239754.527ftUS (US Survey Feet) 1501 2089803.941ft 239754.048ft (International Feet)

We need to the

!

A big rock that orbits the earth called the Moon

(Humans & Habitat)

This was my second final outome and was one of which I was most happy with. I made all of the elements seperately and added the icons and text together and experimented with different layout and colour until I got to this stagewhen I was happy with my final outcome. The aim of this poster was to give a wrong impression of what the Human race is actually like, by using fake definitions and facts I have advertised the human race in the most ridiculous and horrid way possible. This is to ensure that the alien life will attack and help us save the earth from the humans.

This is the first of my final double page spreads of my final pieces in my Earth artefact section. I had no choice apart making the final pieces bigger because when shrunk down the small lettering becomes pixelated and hard to read. I also think that having the final pieces bigger give them a sense of presents and conclusion. I have kept the magazine looking the same and themed even on these page by adding the same typefaces and the same style of the dotted red lines and the titles which separate parts of information. Even on these pages I have retained a sense of minimalism which I am quite happy with. I tried a bar of colour on the right hand side of the final pieces but discovered that it took away from the actual final piece and it didn’t fit in well with the rest of my magazine. I therefore decided to use a blank background and focused on using the same style throughout rather than changing colours.


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Earth Artefact spread 4

Final

THE

(Deadliest Humans)

DEADLIEST

HUMANS BARACK OBAMA

PROJECT GREEN CREATIONS

QUEEN ELIZABETH

Alien Hate

Power Danger

Alien Hate

Danger Alien Hate

The RED chip is the most dangerous it sends the high frequency waves.

The BLUE chip is the fail safe if it goes wrong this chip will solve everything!

The ORANGE chip confuses the HUMAN for a short period of time.

The GREY chip must never be used, the results woul be catastrophic.

Infection process

Power Danger Alien Hate

6

JOHN LENNON:

DECEASED, Not dangerous or threatening, his music tortured.

S N

Quite Dangerous, went to the moon in search of aliens to kill.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: DECEASED, Former President, Highly Dangerous.

TIO A

NEIL ARMSTRONG:

5

RE

4

C

The most powerful HUMAN in the UK.

Human Skull

EN

QUEEN ELIZABETH:

Mobile device

RE G

3

The current President of America highly powerful.

T C

MAHATMA GANDHI: DECEASED, highly dangerous.

JE O

BARACK OBAMA:

2

Infected waves

PR

1

JOHN LENNON

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Power

NEIL ARMSTRONG

Danger

PROJECT GREEN CREATIONS

Power

The Green chip is the most powerful it infects the DEVICE.

PROJECT GREEN CREATIONS

Alien Hate

HUMANITY PROJECT GREEN CREATIONS

Alien Hate

Power Danger

DESTROY

MAHATMA GANDHI

Danger

HOW TO PROJECT GREEN CREATIONS

Power

This was my third outcome in my set of posters, this page was inspired by Funders & Founders you can see this in my illustrations of the characters which are very simplistic in their design and style. The aim of this poster is obviously to describe the biggest threats to the survival of the earth. I have used important public figures so the aliens destroy the most important people on earth; the power bars also work well in ranking the characters from the most deadly to the least deadly.

The INFECTED waves from the device penetrates the skull and enters the brain the frequency causes the brain to boil and fuzz KILLING the HUMAN within minutes.

The CHIPS have different powers and should be used sparingly to ensure the complete DESTRUCTION of the HUMAN species no damage will be caused to the EARTH.

(Destroying Humans)

This was my fourth final outcome, I created the sim cards using the pen tool and using different colours for the cards I made seperate cards which do different things. This is the penultimate poster and describes how to destroy humans, it seems that a fitting ending to a set of posters which finally gives up the secret of mankinds destruction. This poster finishes off the set nicely. Alien life will hate us by the point they get to this poster and will be ready to attack.

This is the second of my final pieces pages for my Earth artefact section. I have kept the same style on both final piece pages by using the same font, colour themes and layouts. Again I am happy with the outcome, although it doesn’t use quite the same layout as my other page it still looks like these pages are part of the same magazine which is something that is essential when designing a magazine. I am happy with the layout of my actual final pieces and being the size they are every part of the final piece is readable and visible. This was the most important thing to consider when I was making this double page spread.


A New Visual Language Type Transcript pages

101 initials

Here are some initials for my Type Transcript pages. I have sketched a few layouts and experimented with type and layout of different features that will appear on my magazine pages. Creating these layouts were quite simple my main focus was making the style of the pages the same as each and every other pages. I am happy that now I can start to develop my pages further and start to create my magazine as a whole and work towards a finished product which I can be happy with.


A New Visual Language Type Transcript: title page

This is a the development of my title page spread for my Type transcript section. I have used my type on the page which I have used the grid system on to make it as clear as possible. I have used a popular saying “The quick brown fox” to display my type. I have also talked about the brief next to my type I feel that putting these two elements together was a good choice because it makes it easier for people to make the link between what I am talking about and what I have actually done.

102 development

I tried different layout like this where I separated my text into columns. I thought that this would make it easier to separate what I was talking about but overall it just made things harder. The layout isn’t as clean and modern and the text and the top of the page looks out of place next to my alphabet. I also think that trying the alphabet big like this was a mistake and enhances the alphabet instead of the text and the alphabet as a whole working together on the page.

Because i liked the first layout more than the second I tried I decided to try the same layout but with a different direction and having the text over the right hand side appears to have worked better than the one where the text is over the left. I think this because a lot of my other pages have the same layout and changing it now would be pointless and would take away from the magazine style as a whole.


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Type Transcript title page

Final

This is the third set brief, Type transcript in which we had to create our on font inspired by a particular artist. I was inspired by artists like lizzitski and his use of shape and form, after looking at various works of art by him I started to sketch some ideas down on paper keeping in mind his style and way of thinking I quickly started to form letters out of some of the shapes that where re-occurring in a lot of his designs. After I created my font on paper I then turned them into vectors on illustrator and used a grid system to tweak any changes or rough edges by alphabet had. After I was happy with the vector of the alphabet I had created on illustrator I then tried my letters with different words and sentences this seemed like a good test as it tested my alphabet of letters in a real life situation.

Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form

Type Transcript

Brief 3: 11/05/15 Type Transcript

I really enjoyed creating this alphabet, the process was labourious but rewarding in the fact that I came out with what I find to be a successful looking alphabet. It was my first attempt at making any sort of font and for this I am happy with it the font is inspired by lizzitski and is a play on his unique style of art and design.

(Robert Bringhurst)

14

15

These are the title pages of y next section of my magazine “Type Transcript” I have used the same layout for the title page itself to create theme running throughout my design and so the title page becomes more recognizable as a different section of my magazine. I am also happy with my page with my alphabet, I have used the phrase “A quick brown fox” to test my type and I have shown that it works as a type face on the very first page. Using my font on the first page not only introduces my type but it also gives people an idea of what things they can expect to find in this section. I am happy with the layout, type setting and how it all fits together. The negative space works well on this page as it does on every page and the theme it creates is very helpful in creating a successful modern magazine. I am even happy with some of the smaller features like the page numbers and the small type in the top right hand corner. Which make the design look professional and true.


A New Visual Language Type Transcript: spread 2

These are the developments of my second page of my double page spread, this page is dedicated to my inspiration to create my typography in the first place. I have used the artist El lissitzky’s work on this layout to demonstrate how he has inspired me to create my alphabet through his use of shape and composition. I have created 3 different layout all of which I am very happy with. I will now pick the one which I am the most happy with which will fit with my style.

104 Development


A New Visual Language Type Transcript: spread 2

Here I have used a similar layout to what I have used on my title page, I have used 3 different layout of my text and image to see which one I prefer. I came to the conclusion that I prefer the one that is most like my first layout where the text is to the left of my image and my alphabet works well in comparison to the size of the text and other features on the page. Now I have my two layouts I can put them together and add them to my magazine. I will move onto new page developments.

105 Development


106

Type Transcript spread 2

Final 11/05/15 Development Type transcript

11/05/15 El lissitzky Type transcript

Outcome

my inspiration for creating my alphabet

inspiration

A New Visual Language

El lissitzky

My Alphabet

El lissitzky is a Russian artist who’s life’s work was laced with the belief that art could be factor of change in our world. He was also a teacher and taught in a number of different schools in and around Russia. A lot of his work used weird looking geometric shapes and lines to create an unusual composition. I describe his work as being Bauhaus influenced mainly because of the triangle, square and circle which always seem to feature somewhere at least once in his artwork. I found his work interesting and inspiring because of the amount of different styles of shapes I could find in his work.

This is my completed alphabet. The type has been vectorized and put into a grid to ensure that each letter is the same size, the type is inspired by the artist Lissitzky and so the new font has been appropriately named “Lissitzky”. The diagonal attitude of he letters are inspired by the bold lines which cross the page in a lot of his artwork. I have used bold and straight lines to make up eah letter, this has been inspired by Lissitzky’s bold and angled style which is evident in his artwork. I have also used reflective techniques, this can be seen in some of the letters in my alphabet. (B, D, S, Z) I think that this makes the alphabet more rounded and alike. There wasn’t much point making any more letters than I needed to because this would only make the alphabet confusing; on some letters I even added or took away certain lines to create new letters. This as a whole made the letters more alike and made the piece as a whole look like a completed typeface.

I researched this sort of artwork from him and from these pieces I was able to spot several letters already. M’s and L’s were particularly visable in a lot of his work I looked at because of his attention to angles of different shapes against each other. Overall Lissitzky’s art has influenced both shape and the form of my alphabet and I enjoyed researching his art work.

16

17

This is my second final of my double page spread. On these pages I focus on the inspiration I had initially when I was sketching out some shapes for my alphabet and the actual outcome I had when I had finished with inspiration and development. This double page spread is no different from any other in my magazine and the layout focus is very much styled from a minimalist point of view. I think that I could add some more information because there are certain points of the design that are slightly too minimal and it takes away from the magazine rather than adding to it. However I am still happy with the layout and the professionalism that the style creates and will continue to use it throughout the rest of my magazine.


A New Visual Language City in flux pages

107 initials

These are the last initial layouts I have sketched. I have reflected a modern styled magazine through my initials by creating minimalist and clear and clean cut designs. I have also experimented with other features like the numbers that actually make up the pages. I feel that I have made good progress throughout my initials and I have given myself a lot of different options on how to create my minimalist styles magazine. I have also analysed what I have created by using arrows and text on my initials as guides to make sure I know what I intend to make. Overall I am happy with all of the initials I have made, I feel that I have enough layouts to start to progress and experiment with layout on Adobe programmes like InDesign and Illustrator to use grid systems and other forms of structure and layout to perfect my layouts.


A New Visual Language City in flux: Title pages

This is my city in flux title page, I have used a part of the quote from the brief to make the whole page look more interesting and relevant to the project. In this layout I experimented with an obvious layout where the page is much more separate from where the text is to the other. I found that I couldn’t quite make the quote look in place so I decided to play around with my text more to see whether I could make them fit together better on my page.

108 development

I tried my text in many different places like this one, I still found that my quote looked out of place and I needed to totally rethink my initial designs. I therefore decided to get rid of the text line separation and work with the elements together to come up with the best layout I could.

I am very happy with the outcome of my layout, I decided that separating the text and quote the way I did didn’t allow the features work together the way I wanted them to. I therefore seperated the text into two equal columns and used the justify tool to make the text look clean and professional. I am happy with how the whole page is presented and the quote and the text in the middle of the page gives a more titling edition and is a good opening page to have for my section.


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City in flux title pages

Final Brief 4: 11/05/15 City in flux

(Charles baudelaire)

City in flux

We are enveloped and steeped as though in an atmosphere of the marvellous; but we do not notice it.

“the life of our city is rich in poetic and marvellous subjects”

(Charles Baudelaire) This is the final set brief. The brief is called “City in flux” and focuses on the every changing style of a city across time, culture, social and any other type of change that makes a city flux. In this brief we had to visually demonstrate a city in flux, we could do this in whichever way we thought would be beneficial and which would describe a city in flux the best. Showing different changes throughout the city is also a choice whether it be through architecture or time. This is a very open brief and has many possible outcomes; animation.

18

Data visualization and infographics could all be explored as ways of showing how a city has changed over time. In this brief it was best to research into the language of a city and how data and sinage bombard our senses with visual messages and experiences chose to create mine through illustration combined with a tourist book of various popular architecture and landmarks in Perth, Scotland. I want to show change in a city over a period of time.

19

This is the last title page spread I have created, I made it like all of the other title using Illustrator to create the background and lines and InDesign to set the type and kerning since InDesign works a lot better with type than Illustrator does. I like how I have used one half of the quote on the brief on the title page and the other on the brief page. I feel that these pages are well balanced not only in layout and type but also in colour and the black and white style contrast of each page work well together and creates a style throughout my magazine which I am happy with. Each title page is pretty much the same and they strike a balance between use of colour so they work well next to each other in my magazine.


A New Visual Language City in flux: Spread 1

This is a page dedicated to the inspiration I had in my city in flux project. I tried presenting loulou&tummies work like this to start with but it felt like each paragraph was presented as if I was analysing each design instead of the designs as a whole. I therefore decided to create one big block text which made it feel more like I was analysing their works as a whole rather than individual pieces. This was a good starter layout to see where I could go from here and improve my layouts.

110 development

I made my block of text and used the quote and reference also in the same block of text. I made the images the same sizes and used them as a block of four images next to my text. I found that this layout worked well in presenting all of their designs rather than individual designs. I was happy with this page but I decided to develop it further anyway and tried the design with a reversed style.

This s the same layout as I used for my second layout but reversed. I feel that this style works the best in working with the rest of my magazine as well as an individual page of information about loulou&tummies work. I am very happy with how everything looks and i will now add this to my final magazine.


A New Visual Language City in flux: Spread 1

This is the next page of my double page spread. I have used two of loulou&tummie’s designs which I found on their website on my page, I have referenced them and tried them in on top of each other and in different styles. I love the overall minimalist style of this design and will look great as a double page spread next to my page filled with a lot more information. The balance of the layout is good and the colours work well with the black and white colour theme of my magazine.

111 development

Here I tried both images slightly off centre, I have discovered that it doesn’t work as well as the first layout I tried mainly because of how it looks messy and irrelevant. It isn’t reflective of a modern style and takes up more of the space on my magazine which takes away from the minimalist style which I originally wanted. I think that I prefer the first layout to this one because of it’s structure and simplicity.

I have tried the same layout as I have on the first one but I have tried the images the other way around, I think that even though there isn’t a lot of difference this layout works better that the first one. Now that I have this page finished as well I can add the two loulou&tummie pages together to make my double page spread. I will now move onto making my development and final outcome pages.


A New Visual Language

112

City in flux: Spread 1

Final This is my inspiration double page spread of my city in flux section, I am happy with the amount of space the information takes up and overall the spread is very compact and looks great next to my page of two big pieces of loulou&Tummie’s work. I think that this is one of the most successful pages in my magazine because of the layout and the type setting working together well in my magazine. I am happy with the colour themes and how their work is presented. I think that both pages work well together and strike a good balance of minimalism and information and display text and visuals together equally as well. I think that these pages sum up my magazine in general and represent a modern styles magazine with minimalist appearance and aesthetic.

City in flux the inspiration I used in a city in flux

inspiration

loulou&Tummie 11/05/15

Loulou & Tummie is a Dutch illustration duo who spend their days building an ever expanding empire of colourful graphics and characters that can be found in a lot of print. Children’s stories, posters and magazines are some examples of where their work can be found. Their style is very much of their own, the playfully cute illustrations have become much more of a theme throughout their graphic design projects. The use of the pen tool on Adobe illustrator to create scenes and characters is something that has inspired me a lot in this project. The iconised style of most of their illustrations has influenced me to create my own iconised illustrations in my architecture influenced tourist book about Perth. The colour of their designs is also projective of their bright and poppy style which I like. They have set a certain target audience of a younger generation we can see this in their “child like” characters which are mostly every day objects with human facial expressions to offer a personality and a little bit of fun into the style.

http://loulouandtummie.com/

Loulou&Tummie

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http://loulouandtummie.com/

http://loulouandtummie.com/

“Lead by their crave for toys, happiness and all things cute or robot-like. They abuse their computers to split out designs”

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A New Visual Language City in flux: Spread 2

This page is dedicated to the development process I went through to create my cover and the whole of my tourist book as a whole. I tried this layout which focused more on image rather than text, however I feel that the page looks a little bare and needs some text for people to be able to understand how I went through the development process.

113 development

Here I have used a layout of text I have added and justified using kerning and tracking tools, the styling of the page looks a lot better but I feel that having the text over to the left isn’t working. Because people read naturally left to right I want them to see the process through my visuals first and then I want them to see how I did it afterward.

I have added my thinking of the reading left to right into this layout which I feel works a lot better than the original. The whole style works miles better and I feel that this fits in with the rest of my design more as well. I am very happy with how things now look on my page and I will now move onto the next page which will tell people about my final outcome. I will use a similar style to this one when creating my final.


A New Visual Language City in flux: Spread 2

This is the layout of my next page, I have used initials next to my final design to show how I have gone from initials to final on one page. This next to my development page works well in showing how I have progressed through my designs and come to a final outcome. I have used a layout where the text is seperate from the image which I am happy with but I want my design to look more like the last one.

114 development

I have made the images smaller and now the layout looks a lot more minimalist and modern. I am happy with the aesthetic and what the design is trying to achieve but I now feel that I am going to change the type so that it’s over to the right of the layout next to my images because of the left to right reading that I talked about earlier in my developments.

I am happy with this layout, it is almost identicle to my last and because of this the outcome is clean cut and professional. I am happy with how the individual features look on my design and feel that I can now add them to my magazine to create a completed magazine.


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City in flux: Spread 2

Final

Pages/outcome

Cover initials

There are some initial ideas I had for the cover of my tourist book. I chose to create an illustration that would sit in the background of my cover and is of relevance of what you would expect to find inside the book itself. I experimented with different type and layout focusing on how I could make the cover reflect what was inside as much as possible. I was happy with the choices I created for myself because having an aray of different visuals to work with meant that I was never stuck on what to develop. At this stage it was about playing around with some layouts and colour with type setting to get the best possible outcome.

Welcome To

Perth The Architecture The Beauty The History

Welcome To

Perth

Welcome to

The Architecture The Beauty The History

Perth

Welcome

Perth To

The Architecture The Beauty The History

The Architecture The Beauty The History

After I made my initial layouts I picked three to develop forward, once I had these three and developed a couple of them I refined the cover designs down to one singular design and this was to be the cover of my book. I made the back cover in the same way; creating a few different layouts and developing them until I found one which I was happy with.

I started out by going to Perth itself and collecting some primary research like photographs, flyers and general information about the city from different people. This helped me get to know the city more and it also helped me understand how my book should reflect the city itself.I created the inner fold out pages by using a combination of Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, I created the illustrations of the buildings from reference images I took while I was in Perth. This helped me illustrate the buildings and landmarks as accurately as possible. Once I had made each illustration and I was happy with them I made the background and added the facts onto an InDesign document. Indesign was the best tool for measuring distances between buildings and making sure that the facts were above the correct buildings. I created the pages in sections, I found this easier than making the whole thing at once because it broke up my illustrations into 4 which made the whole process more managable and simpler.

The Architecture The Beauty The History

Welcome

Perth Perth To

some of my layouts and development

11/05/15 City in ux

development

11/05/15 City in ux some of my layouts and development

development

A New Visual Language

To

The Architecture The Beauty The History

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This is my last double page spread of my magazine, I have used the same layout as I did in my last double page spread because I thought that the layout and the colour scheme was inspiring and made me want to replicate the layout so that all of the pages worked well together. As a whole I am happy with how things have worked out, the text is well set and the tracking works well so that all of the text is simple to read. These pages with more information on them work much better than the ones without a lot of information because it makes the pages a lot more compact and striking. The pages look more interesting because of the amount of information they possess, and overall work well together as part of my magazine.


A New Visual Language

“good design isn’t in it’s style or aesthetic, good design has meaning”


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