COP Practical- Layout and Grid

To start my publication I have been looking at grid system books to help me with the layout of my content. 

They have been partically useful to look at as they show the structure of many magazine layouts, how simple it can look on the page but how it can have such a complex grid behind it. 

Here are some of my own sketches of layouts for ideas for my publication. In my publication I will be displaying peoples work in a formal way but I don't want every layout to be the same, some variation of layout will be needed to make the publication more interesting. I would like the publication to be image based with minimal text on most pages. 

Size/format

I have been thinking about having my publication as a newspaper, but flicking through newspapers I think the size is going to be far too big to display peoples work, and there would be too much going on on each page. 

After asking peoples opinions about displaying their work I have decided to make a newspaper style A4 publication, that will be printed on a thin paper, being smaller it could be distributed easier. 

SO&SO Humans of Leeds Exhibition

SO&SO was created to celebrate the anonymous Human of Leeds photographer, who is devoted to capturing the lives of strangers, familiar faces and the unsung heros of our city. 

The exhibition is housed in Lambert's Yard, the oldest timber framed dwelling in Leeds, successfully encapsulaying snapshots of the present day in a building that has seen over four hundred years of Leeds history. 

The walls really spoke and you would see the image in a differently after reading about the person, a fascinating exhibition showing the variety of humans in Leeds. 

COP Practical Research

Topshop Magazine

Topshop has a strong web presents and also have printed material that complements both the website and the shop. The printed material is displayed in store and is free for the consumer to have a browse through. 

The layout within the magazine is simple with a two column grid, I like their use of collage makes their fashion images seem a lot more interesting. The fashion look book shows of Topshops clothes well. 

Leeds Indie Food Festival Festival

A small zine designed by the hungry sand which club, a program for Leeds indie food festival, inside displaying adverts for small independent business' in Leeds, listings for whats happening in the festival, the team and the best places to eat in Leeds.  

A two column grid for image and text, I also like the use of a full bleed colourful advert

A simple three column grid for the text heavy pages 

Original Gravity 

This is just a newspaper that I picked up from the Belgrave, what initially attracted me to pick it up was the illustrated colourful front page. The front page of my newspaper will need to be eye catching and make people want to pick it up and flick through much like this newspaper. What I also noticed about this newspaper was the stock choice, it is a thin crisp white paper but not your normal newspaper stock, I would like to use something like this for my newspaper. 

The content inside this newspaper is well laided out, there is a lot going on on each page and most are type heavy, there aren't many pages in the newspaper as there is a lot on each page. 

Printed Pages 

I have started to look at last years issue of printed pages to get some inspiration. The covers of printed pages are usually a photography with the bold title in the centre in matching colours to the image. 

Using a three column grid and leaving the left column blank makes good use of white space making the page look less over crowded. 

One page image and one text allowing the reader read in one block and refer back to the image. 

Using a double page spread with a colourful image breaks up the magazine well

One thing I do really like about printed pages is their use of colour and type, having their own typeface really does make a big difference making it instantly recognisable as a magazine but also links back to the web well. 

COP In praise of slowness

http://www.ted.com/talks/carl_honore_praises_slowness?language=en

From the crit Richard recommended to looking into Carl Honore and 'In praise of slow'. I watched the ted talk and found it very interesting as Honore has some very valid points about technology and the developing word how we thrive for speed when sometimes we just need to take a step back and slow down. Here are some main quotes/points I took from the talk.

• a world obsessed with speed, every moment of the day feels like a race against the clock 

• we used to dial, now we speed dial

we used to read, now we speed read 

we used to walk, now we speed walk

we used to date, now we speed date

• marinated in the life of speed

• living the fast life instead of the good life

• roadrunner culture

• how did we get so fast?

• is it possible to slow down?

• some places giving their workers longer breaks, for them to get ab=way from their screens

• schools and homework, one school not giving out homework until their students are 13, the schools getting better results as they are giving the kids mind a break instead of bomb barding them 

• put on the breaks

• slow down

• sometimes less is more

• speed can be fun though

• not easy to slow down

• good slow: taking the time to eat a meal with your family with the TV switched off

• we need to make sure there isn't too much speed in the system in the developing world

I would defiantly like to read the book in the summer as I found the points raised relevant and interesting. 

COP Crit

Today I had a crit on my COP ideas so far and got some really useful feedback 

I explained both of my ideas 


One of my main points I had in my essay is the fact that I think that eventually we are going to have no need for newspapers as all news is going to be purely digital. So one idea that I had was to make a newspaper for newspapers.

The primary research I did revealed that everyone I asked had a smart phone and over half the people I had 3-5+ social media apps on their phone. So I thought I could make a campaign displaying how much time you waste on social media and show how become obsessed with social media and create their 'ideal self'. 


How print and web complement each other

From the crit I got a lot of feedback on how I could base my project on how new media and print complement each other. For example how there is 'It's nice that' and 'Printed pages' the same makers with a print and web version with slightly different content but they are both just as popular. 

It's nice that is popular because it is an online blog showcasing arts work and thats new and printed pages is also popular as a printed publication as it is something that can be collected and read leisurely and has a completely different feel to an online website. 

It's nice that

Printed pages 

I think this is a much better idea showing how print and web complement each other as they give the user a completely different feel. 

So my idea now has completely changed, I am now going to look at Behance as an online example that can be turned into a print publication 

What is Behance?

Behance is the leading free online platform to showcase & discover creative work. As a member, you can create a portfolio of your work and broadcast it widely and efficiently. Companies explore the work and access talent on a global scale. 

Behance currently don't have a publication showing peoples work, I feel as if the publication could be quite interesting showing the featured and best work of the week/ month. The publication would be an on going thing with various different issues. 

COP Practical Idea 1

For the crit on Monday I am going to propose my first idea of a magazine/newspaper including news story's and articles about social media and how more young people are becoming obsessed creating their ideal selves online. This is a subject that I am quite interested in so I think I will enjoy designing the publication.

I have found an article and video that sums up what I want to prove in my publication/ campaign 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11327120/Facebook-perfect-life-One-man-proves-how-easy-it-is-to-fake-it.html

COP Practical Idea 2

My one idea was to make a newspaper about newspaper design but after going to the library and browsing some books on newspaper design I have realised just how difficult it is going to be to compile all of this information. I think it is an interesting subject but I feel as if I would like to do this in great depth and I just don't have the time. 

COP Practical Ideas and thoughts

There is so much I could do with this COP practical as my essay is quite broad so I have tried to focus my ideas down. 

My two main ideas at this point are 

IDEA 1

a newspaper/magazine with news stories articles about social media how the younger generation is becoming obsessed. From my primary research from my essay everyone had a smart phone, and most people had 3-5+ social media apps on their phone. The magazine could include articles of how people become obsessed, how people try and create their 'ideal self' online and some shocking facts of how much time we actually waste on social media. the magazine/newspaper could be called 'obsessed' or 'reality'. 

Target audience: the target audience of this idea would be the younger generation 

Purpose: to shock the audience and to inform them how much time they waste on their smartphone/ social media

IDEA 2

newspapers are eventually going to die with the rise of the smart phones and people having more access to the internet to view the news for free rather than paying for it via a newspaper. I could create a newspaper of newspapers. Displaying the beauty of the design of a news paper and showing that having something printed rather than digital has a much better feel to it. Within the newspaper I could look into the best of newspaper designs and contemporary designs, focusing on the type, layout and grid within a newspaper that you aren't going to view digitally. I could look into making a collection of newspapers each one focusing on type, layout or grid. 

Target audience: this idea would have a niche audience of designers who are interested in editoral design

Purpose: to show how good the design of a newspaper is something that not everyone would appreciate. 

COP Practical Categories

Need to think about for my practical

• who is my target audience? 
• what would be the purpose?


My original idea for my COP practical was to turn something completely digital into something printed, or to turn something printed into something digital. I wasn't really sure what this could be and I think I would like to turn something into print as I don't know a lot about web and app design. 

After further thought about my COP practical I have decided to focus in and think about the different aspects within my essay being

• newspapers
• magazines
• social media 
• new media

for each one of these categories I am going to explore the possibilities and think about the audience and what the purpose would be of the piece of design I am going to create. 

COP Practical ideas- Issues raised in essay

After re reading my essay I have realised that my essay raises quite a few issues. I have decided to make note of these issues and then think about what I could do for my practical. 

Issues raised

• the world is becoming more digital 
• young people are becoming more obsessed with social media
• there is going to be no need for newspaper's in the future


Some parts of my essay that I have picked out

• magazine industry has niches to attract certain audiences

• magazines have to project a positive lifestyle

• magazines depict the 'perfect' mens and women world

• technology innovations in terms of media devices, software, apps and the internet have resulted in new ways of experiencing new media

• developments in new media and the evolution of social media networks have radically altered how we now understand the media

• news trade is developing and becoming more digital 

• the mature generations do still tend to buy a newspaper or get them delivered however the younger generation prefer to get their news from digital sources

•when you have something printed it has a different satisfaction to something digital something to keep and be proud of but with digital design it is updated and gone with a touch of a button

• within the magazine industry there will be many fresh new titles to come some of them replacing or refreshing older ones

• the internet may show us a glittering future in some ways but magazines will still be reaching those niche audiences

• magazines aren't adapting to the digital world as quickly as newspapers or books

• consumers are still drawn in my the wiglets, freebees and offers on the front of the glossy printed magazines with may imaginative promotional advertising to draw the consumer in

• the incredible ranges of technological opportunities that can be used to add and interact with print publishing are defiantly a bonus

• the fact is people love magazines and much prefer to have a printed copy to keep and flick through

COP Essay- Research

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11327120/Facebook-perfect-life-One-man-proves-how-easy-it-is-to-fake-it.html

A video showing how you can create the 'perfect' life on facebook, not everything is how it seems on social media.