A) 2 even columns
B) 2 uneven columns
C) 3 even columns (my choice)
Target audience for the magazine: Well educated adults aged 25–45 interested in learning about the world, actively engaged in making a difference in their lives, and curious.
I wanted my designs to feel clean and structured while still being interesting.
Last week, I was warned against using "justified left" on my paragraphs too often, so I tried out these new designs without it. Also, I played around with a duotone image, pull quote and drop cap.
I really enjoyed working with the 2 uneven columns because it isn't something I normally use and I felt a little out of my comfort zone, but feel I have appropriately filled the space and as a result, think it is one of my strongest spreads.
Tan - I agree with you that Grid B, the 2 uneven columns, is your best design. I think it is because it allows for interesting negative space to counterbalance the page elements, and (as you have done here) it supplies a good sized area that can be used for non-rectangular images - which is a nice contrast to the other rectangular shapes on the page. Here are a few other thoughts about this layout:
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the point size of the body copy is a bit too small for readability? I suggest you print this page ASAP and take a look.
The FL alignment (with ragged right) works well here. Although, all those "fingers" of negative space that separate the paragraphs on the page creates a choppy text column. I wonder if you'd consider pulling together these paragraphs and using an indent to denote the paragraph instead of space between?
But be careful, if you remove ALL the separating negative space, this might create an overly dense page. So if that is the case - one solution to that would be to read the content, and "chunk" some paragraphs together, and leave others as they are. In the end, we should see a column to text that isn't "cut up" into tiny text areas - but instead contains sections that are held together by a negative space "cushion" that surrounds them and holds them together.
I see that you have stacked some additional information for each section along the right hand edge of the right page. Since they are small "nuggets" of info, I wonder if you can incorporate them directly into the sections where they belong? Give the reader this information when it makes sense for them to have it... not after they have finished reading the pages.
Images - love the bug! Now... since you have all this negative space to work with, think about filling it a bit more with an enlarged grasshopper, additional strands of grass... or some element that might extend from lower left up behind the title, and into the negative space above the title? Activating that space up there might be a good idea.
Add an image to the right page? This feature article could clearly go another page or 2... so allow the text to flow off the second page here, and make room for an image that would help tie all these separate sections together.
That's it - hope this helps.
I'm going to agree here with both you and Coni, B is the strongest and also my favorite of the three. In grids A and C it seems the headline gets lost in the hierarchy. The grasshopper in B was a great addition, it really shoots your eye into the headline. I know Coni has given some suggestions on the right hand page and I think they are justified. I would be interested to see what you could do with the main body copy on the right side. I think the single column works great on the left side but it lacks interest and excitement on the right side.
ReplyDelete