Original Magazine Artwork

Here are the two images I created -of which I am proudest- for my fourth assignment, sans text. Click on images to view full-size.

Graphic Design 2 - Project 4 Magazine

Our final assignment for Graphic Design was to choose a magazine and redesign its cover, table of contents, and a two-page spread. I chose Playboy - for a couple of reasons: first, I thought it would show that I am willing to take risks; to touch on subject matter that might otherwise be considered taboo or distasteful. Second, I enjoy a challenge; in discussing my choice with my professor -that there is a negative stigma surrounding the publication- we decided my goal should be to make it "classy". Third, I figured there was no way anyone else in my class would pick this type of magazine (and I like to be different). Click on images to see full versions.

COVER 1:
I know it's not the classy look I was going for; this was my "quick-and-easy" cover (even though it was neither quick nor easy to create). This was my attempt at redesigning the cover to look more stereotypical - what you'd expect to see on the cover of a men's magazine. I used an image from inside the magazine and photoshopped out the model's nipples; the text is the same but I had a lot more fun with the typefaces, colour scheme and arrangement of information. My professor suggested that this cover might be offensive to [women] because the model is bottomless and the entire composition is hyper-sexual; she asked what I thought of cropping the image just above the model's belly button. My defense was that this is the "Sex + Music Issue" - the disco ball is pretty much the only thing tying into music; if I removed it, it would just be the "Sex Issue".

COVER 2:
It's a lot more personal and was a true labor of love (not to mention a complete redesign). First and most noticeable: I changed the typeface of the nameplate. Where Playboy uses a condensed version of "Rockwell" (and I used a standard version), for this cover I went with "Garamond". I thought it was still nicely seriffed but had a classy, retro look to it. The idea to knock out the text was my professor's - she felt that having plain, coloured text on the white background did not stand out enough, and I concurred. The gold colour was sampled from Jon Hamm's tie and, going for class, I used it throughout. Jon Hamm's is the main interview inside; as his character on Mad Men exudes and is the epitomy of male sexuality and class, I thought him the most suitable candidate for the cover. Unfortunately, the only decently-sized picture I could find of him was a bust - hence why he is blended in to a suit I drew up quickly. Wanting to stick with a retro, artistic theme and, believing that a scantily-clad woman was still necessary to compliment Hamm (it is a gentleman's magazine, after all), I drew up the woman you see (in tasteful lingerie). The records were originally one image I duplicated and edited; again, it is the "Sex + Music Issue". I'm exceptionally happy with how this cover turned out.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
This was actually a relatively straightforward redo. Again, I changed the nameplate to "Garamond" (in keeping with my preferred cover), but kept everything together on the same bar. There was a lot of information that needed to be transposed and that, really, was what took the most time. Wanting to give a nod to the original Playboy look, I changed the header font to "Rockwell". Otherwise, the edits are minor - I changed all the images (and added a couple); their positioning; a few colours and highlights.

TWO-PAGE SPREAD:
I'm really proud of how this turned out. In my opinion, everything about the original layout was awful - the image, the placement of information, the typeface used for the title. The word "ghost" was done-up in a warped, "spooky" style; all the copy was relegated to the bottom right of the spread. The attempt to make the article spooky failed completely as the main image reflected nothing of the sort - Mic Fleetwood, waist-deep in water, playing a ukelele surrounded by fake loons. Apparently it was a nod to an original Fleetwood Mac album cover, but it was hardly ghostly. Not wanting to have to wade through mountains of stock images online, I decided it would be easier and more creative if I just came up with a new image myself, so I did! I liked Fleetwoods location -in a swamp- but I felt, to go with the ghost theme, it needed something more suggestive; I threw in some headstones and original Fleetwood records floating to the surface of what could be thought of as a flooded cemetery. Fleetwood himself, too, has something of a more ghostly appearance now, but it is a much more positive take on the supernatural theme. Not everything has to be evil or scary when it comes to ghosts.

Magazine Sketches

Here's a quick taste of the images I've been putting together to use on the [second] cover and two-page of my magazine assignment. The two page spread is an article about Fleetwood Mac; the [second] cover will feature Jon Hamm (and a woman in lingerie... or two).

 

Humnkeycorn

I almost forgot about this little guy! An assignment for my first-year Photoshop class - we had to create a creature and I chose The Humnkeycorn! It's half donkey, half hummingbird, and half unicorn (and if you get the reference then you are awesome). I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Graphic Design 2 - Project 3 Business Card!

How do I get creative and artsy when I have to design a business card for a school project!? This is how!

Graphic Design 2 - Project 2 (Finished)

Behold - the finished fruits of my lengthy labours! Here are parts one and two of my second project for Graphic Design 2. It was a long slog but my efforts paid off in the end and I'm very happy with the results. Hope ya digs! Click on the images to see full versions.

 

Graphic Design 2 - Project 2 (Proofs)

While, technically, this is not the final end product to this assignment, I felt compelled to post my progress. These to documents are what have been keeping me occupied for the past week. They took forever but, what can I say - I like to be creative. Hope ya digs; more comin'!

 

Graphic Design 2 - Project 1

Check it out - my first-ever, finished two-page mock up done in InDesign! It also includes a self-made anti text and driving ad which I'm quite proud of. I must say it is pretty neat to finally produce something with the nifty tools we've been learning - it is, after all, what I came back to school for. 

 

Cooler still is that fact that I can now say stuff like, "man, InDesign is way better than Quark" and actually know what I'm talking about and why!

Final Typography Project

I don't mean to toot my own horn too much, but I'm too stoked with my final project for Typography to not share it. Using the front page of an existing newspaper as a template, the objective was to create our own "above the fold" layout. I chose to be super-creative (and somewhat festive), going with a Die Hard theme - 'tis the season, after all. See if you can catch all the references contained within (some are more obvious than others)!

I'll help you out with one: the phone number spells out "323 F-U-C K-Y-O-U".
I thought it was appropriate, given the association. Hope ya digs!