The Food Project: Developments

Image Edits

I took the images collected in my research and edited them to make them brighter and clearer. I used an app called VSCO because I like the effects on it. I did a couple of edits on certain pictures as some I preferred with a blur on the edges of the images, however when it came to using them in the magazine spreads, some looked better in full focus. I liked adding the blur as it softened the image, making them look more enticing to eat. By enhancing the colour, I was able to bring out the bright pinks more in my spreads and keep the pages cohesive. As I think these pictures are so strong and bold, I wanted them to be the main attention of the magazine spreads.

InDesign Developments of Spread One

These are all developments from the first page. I wanted to experiment with the picture on the left hand page being different sizes, and how it would look if there was a gap around the image. However, I decided to let the picture go over onto the right hand page and let it take up a lot of the space; this was also suggested in my feedback in one of the Thursday seminars. It was this photo that made me choose my colour palette. I didn’t want a pure white background as it was too harsh against the image and text. To soften the page, I added a cream background, which was taken from the buttercream icing on the cupcakes.

I also tried using different images but none of them looked as good as this one blown up on the whole page. I chose Futura as my font as it is a fun and light-hearted typeface, which I wanted my article to feel like. I used brown instead of black, to keep a subtle hint to the cupcake theme. I also didn’t like pink as my body text colour as it seemed to typical of Valentine’s, and it didn’t show up very well on the cream, when it was small.

I tried various ways of making the headline stand out, and even experimented with a different font against the Futura; this was Didot in bold. I kept the letters in lowercase as I felt the capital letters made it more serious. I tried the body in other fonts too, but it didn’t feel as visually pleasing. I like the list used next to the introduction, it felt like a recipe book, which sticks with the food theme. I decorated the page with a vertical line, as I thought it elevated the page slightly.

Indesign Developments of Spread Two

For my second spread, I wanted to focus on the cupcake picture as I felt it was the best one of the pink. I wanted to keep this focus because it was Lily’s favourite and best seller, and I made this a feature of my article. I also wanted to create the feel of a mini article and having the cupcake as the number 1.

I used one of my quotes from my article I had already written and turned the size up on it to see if it would have an impact on the viewer. I tightened the gaps between the lines because it took up too much space. I made a feature of this pull quote because on the previous page, I had a list in the chocolate brown colour, I wanted to try and keep this continuity. However, I wasn’t sure how successful this was, I have been concerned I need more free space, so the pictures don’t get swallowed on the page.

I tried to keep the magazine feeling realistic, so I added picture credits and the title of the magazine (Served Magazine). In the crit, my feedback was that it wasn’t necessary and I didn’t have to add it in, therefore I have taken it out to free up space. Also, the horizontal pink lines don’t work as successfully as the vertical ones, they feel like they are cutting off space rather than adding to it.

Indesign Developments of Spread Three

Out of all the spreads, this was probably my favourite. It is my favourite picture in the collection however, as it’s different from the rest, I wanted it to have its own page. I like it because of the piping of ‘love’, it has an interesting texture. Like a lot of food magazines, I thought it would be a good idea to have a recipe, especially as the magazine isn’t Manchester based, so it would allow for people all over to make something.

I enjoyed making the recipe list and changing the measurements to the pink colour because it made it look different to a normal quote. I also tried to continue the idea of the vertical lines, however here I saw an opportunity to use large numbers, like I had seen in my research, so I tested it out in different shades of pink.

I turned it into another mini article by having ‘2# the cookie’, which I thought made it seem more fun and light- hearted.

InDesign Developments of Spread Four

I struggled most with this spread, I found I was cramming too much information into one. I tried many different arrangements but, I think I need to strip it back even more and allow the quote to stand next to the image.

Further InDesign Developments

I explored a different approach, by changing the theme and font. I wanted to see if a colourful background enhanced the images. As I like pink and red together, I thought this would work successfully but, it looks lost and weak. The title looks better against the creamy background. I liked this font and how the title sat on the subtitle, but it didn’t work as well as my other development.

I tried to push this by experimenting with columns and how I could make quotes sit around the text. I did like the placement of the big quote and the red against the cream body text looked good.

I hadn’t really explored the idea of page numbers so I wanted to test this out, I liked the idea of having the numbers as words instead. Even though I liked how the ‘Four’ sat on the cream line down the side of the page, I didn’t think overall it added much to the spreads, they just got in the way and looked like they weren’t meant to be there. I liked the idea of writing over the imagery, I wanted to develop this idea and see if I could include it in my final work.

InDesign Experiments

As I am new to inDesign, I wanted to play around with the tools. I looked at overlapping the text on images, as I had seen this in a Served magazine spread, but for my pictures it didn’t work as well. It was too hard to read.

I looked at new ways of presenting my first spread, I added the word ‘bake’ to give the reader an immediate insight to what the article was about, as well as the visual clues in the imagery.

I explored how I could wrap my text around the word, and I also looked at balancing the text on top of some of the letters. I had seen a similar idea to this in my research, where Matt Willey had balanced a picture over one of his larger letters. I also wanted to experiment with text on a curve, rather than always straight but, I wasn’t a huge fan of this. It didn’t look sleek.

I kept testing other colours I could use, like brown backgrounds, but I always preferred the cream.

Thumbnails

These are my thumbnails and quick sketches which I did throughout the design process. I like to write things down because it makes me have a clearer vision of my plan.