So I decided to change my target audience ( I hope that's okay, Coni!).
My new target audience will be mothers of young children (up to age 10). I feel my previous designs fit that audience more and its an audience I've never designed for before.
For my designs, I tried to find photos that were completely different from each other and go from there. I wanted each picture to have a child in it (because of my audience), or resemble a family.
Erica, I think this is a good approach for you! I think it's good you were able to dig deep and find your target audience! So good job on that!
ReplyDeleteFirst cover: This one is very" homey." It definitely gives the feel of a family. I like that the image a lot. However, I don't know if I like the Red color for the title. I think because of the image you should find a color that is more warm and less bold. Maybe pulling in some of that dark green from the image. Or an orange, for a positive approach. But that's if you go for this one.
Second cover: I think in this one you have an opportunity to push the typography a little more. Try playing some more on the size, placement, and different fonts. It could be that the mom could be reading this and their child is probably also curious to read; because of this image I think you should be more playful since there are happy kids in this photo. Just some thoughts to consider.
Third cover: I like this one because it gives that message that the child can change the world, or help create a better environment. It has positive energy and I like that. The only thing that is not my favorite is the font for "magazine." Since this looks like a more serious read I don't think it fits. It you want a script I would try a more thinner script. Or even a serif bold italic would work too!
Overall, good progress!
Erica – what a great variety of designs. Each one has its own attributes, but as I reflect on them with your new target audience in mind I see that Layout #3 holds an image that will tug on the heartstrings of every mother in the universe. That image speaks clearly to your audience, and the design is very successful – so with only a little work that could be done. Some thoughts about the others, because they are also well-considered:
ReplyDeleteLayout 1 holds a family walking away from the camera (into the future?) but they actually seem a bit sad, and the field they are walking through isn’t growing anything but weeds. At some point you might want to find a photo of a family in a large garden or agricultural field for use on an interior page.
Layout 2 shows a really fun group of pre-teens – again, the image is worth holding onto as you could find another place for it, inside. I also want to mention your masthead subtitle “Magazine” – I wonder if this font might be more successful then the handwritten (and a bit cramped) font you are using for this word in Layout 3?
Layout 3 – the only question I have is the font choice I mentioned above. The choice of font for this word should be based on your adult audience of women, who will buy the magazine… not the child.
I want to mention that your compositional work, relating your type to spaces within the images, is well done on all of these.
That’s it – nice work.
Cover 1 - Your first design here really comes across more as a brochure then a magazine. The blocking look and plane masthead doesn't speak to me as a magazine. The imagery feels appropriate, but the typography doesn't pop for a magazine, at least to me.
ReplyDeleteCover 2 - Again, great imagery and color, it pops much like the masthead. The cover I feel would make a great magazine cover. It's clean, engaging and full of family fun. I'm not sure about the target audience, but I think this would have a lot of families picking up this magazine to check it out.
Cover 3 - My favorite. An adult is handing a chilling a plant; it speaks to the "future" of food. Your typography is awesome for the masthead. I love the way you've made "magazine," kind of a secondary item to "habitat." This overall cover design speaks to me as a production magazine cover. Great work.
layout 1: there seems to be a lot of empty space that could be played utilized. be careful of "magazine" on the dark green tree, it's getting lost. I understand the idea behind using the white rectangles to increase the legibility but behind "the future of food" it looks off because you can't see the edges at the bottom left and top right.
ReplyDeletelayout 2: this is my least favorite. i think there is too much white space and the size of the type doesn't sit well with me. I think you could change the typeface and size of "the future of food" and it would look better to fill the space on the right hand size of the page. I don't particularly care for how close "the" is sitting to the girl's head. I also think it's hard to read magazine since it overlaps habitat. maybe try moving it to the same line and making the m lowercase.
layout 3" this is my favorite of the three. I like the image and i think it is very appropriate for your audience. I also like that the issue is about the future and that is represented by the new growth of the plant and the young child's hands. I would suggest flipping the image horizontally since right now it looks like the child is reaching up toward its parent. if you flip it I think the image would read more like the parent is passing something on to a future generation rather than the child taking something from a past generation (i dont know if that makes sense to you?) I also think you could increase the size of the cutlines to make the lower right a little more weighted. I really like the colors and the masthead in this one.