Layout
Layout - Magazine
Once all of the text and images had been laid out, I would then edit the text so that there would be no widows or orphans in the text. I would also work on the rag so that it would look uniform and proper on every page. This part of the process caused many issues and problems as, while editing, the text overflowed and needed to be adjusted further as more widows and orphans arose in the body text. I was able to fix this problem after spending a very long time editing and readjusting the text so that it would look uniform and have no widows or orphans. Another issue that we had with the project was working with colour. Since we were allowed and encouraged to add colour into this project, we had a hard time trying to figure out which colour worked best. Eventually, after trying many colours, we decided to go with pink as our primary colour, with black as an accent colour and white as the background colour. We felt that keeping the colour scheme simple was the best way to proceed with the project, as adding more colour could have made the magazine and website look very cluttered and become distracting for the reader. In conclusion, my partners and I were very happy with how our magazine and website looked. When we first started the process of making this project, we did not expect for the magazine and website to look better than what we had anticipated. Throughout this project, I learned many new skills that I had not expected when I started the course.
I quickly realized that I had the skills and tools to build a well-made website and magazine layout that flows well and looks appealing to the eye. I was also able to further what I had learned in project one, which was my teamwork and leadership skills. I was able to lead and balance the workload with my partners while also encouraging them to add their questions and concerns. I made sure that, as a group, we were in constant contact with each other regarding any project-related issues or concerns. I also learned that having continuous
conversations with my partners would lead to better and new ideas. I could also step outside my comfort zone in this project as I experimented with new design styles that I usually would not use. Next time, I would like to apply what I have learned in these two projects as I believe they would lead to me becoming a better and successful designer.
Layout - Web
For this project, my partners and I created a fashion magazine and website for the iconic Coco Chanel and her famous Little Black Dress. The skills and tools that I learned through this project were Adobe InDesign, understanding how to use typography, and how to create simulated websites. The objective of this project was to teach us how to use InDesign and how to work with typography - such as hierarchy, spacing, and grids. This project consisted of a larger group, which gave the project more components. That being said, my most significant contribution to this project was designing the interactive website, the colour scheme, and the menu and page layouts. When it came to creating our magazine and website spreads, my partners and I quickly decided to work with Coco Chanel and fashion as we found that it would lead to a more elegant design style. Since our project was based on fashion, our first task was to find images we could use. This part of the process was not easy, as finding high-resolution images related to Coco Chanel’s Little Black Dress was not easy. However, we were able to find some nice images that we used in our magazine and website layouts. The next step in this process was to come up with a draft layout for our magazine and website.
After many critiques, we decided on the layouts as shown. We felt that these layouts were the best suited for our chosen topic. We decided to split up the workload on the project evenly so that we could each ensure that we were all following the structure we had chosen. When it came to designing the website, I first worked on the menu, header and footer so that the rest of the page would then be left empty for the text and images. I then proceeded to work on the website page by page. Staring at the first page, I would first add the image and resize it to make sure that it was large enough and that it was not skewed in any way, shape or form. After the image was done, I would move on to adding the title and the body text. I would continue this process for the next three pages.