Magazine Design Project (2022/23)
Publishing Platforms: Women in music magazine
The brief: Produce a proposal for an independent magazine, about an aspect of visual culture.
My concept: A music magazine focusing on women in the music industry, aimed at people who are interested in supporting and uplifting women in the music industry, and discovering new music.
Process: Research, typeface testing, cover ideation, setting up grid and paragraph styles for article pages, laying out articles, feedback crit, make adjustments, continue to attend crits and make adjustments until final submission
Challenges: Breaking away from the stricter rules learnt from previous editorial book design to create pages that feel like a magazine by making bolder design decisions with typography and the different steps in the hierarchy, and with using space
Gift Book Cover Design Project with OUP (2020/21)
A story like the wind – Gill Lewis
The brief: To design a gift book cover for Story Like The Wind by Gill Lewis, aimed at 5-7 year olds
Process: Researching book covers aimed at similar age groups and what different requirements there are for gift book design
Reading the book and noting down/sketching ideas that come from the content, presenting ideas to project supervisor and fellow designers to get feedback to inform further design decisions
Reading the book and noting down/sketching ideas that come from the content, presenting ideas to project supervisor and fellow designers to get feedback to inform further design decisions
Challenges: Presenting concepts of the story in a way appropriate to a younger target audience, especially with the topic being about more serious themes then typically found in books of that age range. Making sure the cover was eye-catching and decorative enough to be appropriate as a gift book cover. Learning how to use photoshop as a canvas with a Wacom tablet as an instrument for the first time
My idea with this cover was to portray the horse as an incredible symbol of hope, dominating the front cover to contrast with the main character who is very isolated and vulnerable.
Book Cover Design Project with OUP (2020/21)
Amber Undercover – Em Norry
The brief: To redesign the cover for Amber Undercover by Em Norry, aimed at 5-7 year olds
Process: Researching series of book covers aimed at similar age groups and within similar genres
Reading the book and noting down/sketching ideas that come from the content
Presenting ideas to project supervisor and fellow designers to get feedback to inform further design decisions
Reading the book and noting down/sketching ideas that come from the content
Presenting ideas to project supervisor and fellow designers to get feedback to inform further design decisions
Challenges: Presenting concepts of the story in a way appropriate to a younger target audience i.e. avoiding spy related imagery that wouldn't be suitable. Making sure the cover was eye-catching enough to stand out on a shelf. Illustrating something to a reasonable standard in spite of not having much experience with illustration
The location based approach to this cover was informed by the challenges with not including spy elements that could be considered too mature for a children's book, this was also a very popular convention of young children's adventure book series.
