Case I: Discontent
By Brian Williamson

The best and worst ideas seem to come in that place between wake and sleep. I sat up in bed during the night and decided that I wanted to call my magazine Discontent. I wanted a magazine about progressive politics and frustration. In my mind, I envisioned it as Mother Jones for Florida: a magazine about immigration, environmental and social justice issues. And, most important for this assignment, I wanted it to be visually compelling.

From listening to Bob Newman, I learned that provocative covers don’t always start off with the greatest art potential. It is up to the designer to create interest. I decided to use a stock art image of a baby’s face cropped tight and played large. The ‘headline’ isn’t set in the usual 100-point type, but because the image is simple and the sell lines are kept at the bottom of the page, a longer, more detailed headline pulls the reader in.

The concept of the feature illustration reflects the headline, but tries not to duplicate it. My initial thumbnails used poker and card game metaphors. Those concepts looked more like illustrations for a gambling feature than a story about foster care.

I originally planned on doing a more complicated illustration that could take advantage of color and the reproduction quality of a magazine. But after working on the headline treatment, I decided I needed something simple and graphic. I made black and white copies of my line drawing and experimented with different color pencil palettes before choosing a spot color.

Subsequent pages in the feature could continue the text of the story, provide a photograph of the family and reference boxes about the Department of Children and Families.

Case II: The Park
By Michael Currie

I had several factors to consider with the magazine design project. Bob Newman, creative director of Real Simple, presented those factors to us.

First, I needed to identify the audience and the direction of the magazine.

I geared the magazine toward 25- to 40-year-olds with an emphasis on culture, lifestyles, entertainment and fun in St. Petersburg. I named it The Park, because a park, with its playground, barbecues and plays, can envelop all of the things the magazine was presenting.

Second, I needed to develop a look that carried the magazine’s identity and catered to the audience. Bob said this is the number one goal of a magazine.

I chose a clean, simple style, which focused on liberal use of white space, a minimal color palette per issue and one display font, Poynter Gothic. Also, conceptual art and illustrations would be key to communicating the story visually.

Third, I needed to deliver that look throughout to make the design consistent from cover to cover.

This was the biggest challenge of the project. I felt the design was consistent in all of the pages, but I struggled initially because I had too many ideas to apply to each page. I stripped down each page to the bare essentials to give the uniform look.

This project taught me how to manage a magazine look and give thought to why it is receiving a certain design treatment with regard to audience and content. That, in turn, gave me a new perspective on restraint, which is essential for consistency. The need for consistency also made me look at design as a whole, not just at the separate pieces that form it.