Interface Design
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Bon Appétit feature layout
Bon Appétit is one of my favorite magazines. It’s a food magazine and publish stories including food recipes, restaurant recommendations etc. Almost all the photos in the magazine is beautiful and attractive. People will always be attrated by these pictures. For the feature layout, the magazine also relies heavily on photos. The food always look fresh in the pictures. The picture also applies wonderful colors.
Magazine Spread
I am really drawn to two page magazine spreads that have a continuation of a picture from page to page. With magazines, people often pick them up and flip through them rather quickly if they are bored, or waiting for something. I like the idea of having two page spreads in magazines because I feel like they break up the monotony of the average magazine article.
I specifically chose this spread because I was really drawn to the way it has the ability to grab the reader’s attention without using color. The photo itself is stunning, and the contrast between the light and dark parts of the image work extremely well together. I also liked the fact that the photo contained a vanishing point. It gives the photo depth and dimensionality rather than just shooting the sprinkler system head on. I was also drawn to the placement of the type and how it did not interfere with the photograph, but aided in getting the message across.
Magazine Layout
This layout stood out to me because the art direction was so on point. The headline, “Promote yourself” goes perfectly with the visual because the visual has so much life and personality to it. I also like how they didn’t conform to the gutter. They spread the illustration out over two-thirds of the spread rather than stopping at one page–it definitely works to their advantage. Their is very clear visual hierarchy and I really like how the color is integrated with the white background. Catchy and clear.
magazine feature layout
The magazine I chose was Mental Floss magazine because I believe their feature stories are always well designed. I think the use of the large image at the top of the page with interesting content catches the readers eye, and makes the large amount of text less daunting to read. Bringing out the interesting/funny quote from the article helps attract the reader to the content of the story. Additionally, the use of orange, which is a color that pops, helps bring the reader’s eye to the headings of the different parts of the story and also to the sidebar, which includes relevant interesting information.
Magazine Feature Layout
I think the design of this layout is very successful. I really like the way the photo was cropped. The fact that you can not see the women’s face makes the picture very interesting and familiar, kind of like you could know her. I also like that the image portrays movement, by doing so it draws the reader in because the page is dynamic. Another reason this layout is so good is that the picture uses the rule of thirds as well as depth of field. The positioning of the text also really adds to the success of the layout. The readers eye is drawn to the text by having it directly above the peak of the mountain. I also like that the title/text mimics the curve of the mountain. Overall what makes this layout so successful is the use of a strong image and smart placement of text.
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Magazine spread
I chose to include a double page ad as well as a magazine spread. As an advertiser, its really hard to cut through the clutter. Its especially hard to make your magazine ad stand out from all the other ads in a magazine. A good way to do this is to really take advantage of the medium you’re using. In this Apple ad, they created a completely new ad from any ad they had existing in order to fully take advantage of the fold of the magazine as well as the double sidedness.
I also picked a regular magazine spread as well. Spreads that stand out to me are ones that have content streaming across the two pages. I feel like a lot of times, despite the two facing pages, content is kept pretty segregated to the left and the right side. Here, content crosses over from left to right and is also filled with a full picture. Magazines are a really good medium for pictures so I really like when magazines feature very big, high quality pictures.