I have enjoyed this project the most so far, unfortunately not because of the layouts but because it has given me the opportunity to use illustrations.
I was annoyed at the beginning of this project because I was told my illustration was too ‘me’. I understand why I was told this, that is was too early to settle on a design and that the idea of the course was to experiment. However, this did raise a lot of questions for me as to where I would like this course to take me.
I am an organised and methodical person and unfortunately this shows in my work, making it hard to be loose and experimental. However, being pushed by my tutors allowed me to try techniques I would not have ordinarily. I used 3D letters that I had made out of card, placing them in different environments. I also painted a free hand header with ink that I thought worked so well I decided to use.
I gained a lot from the photographer I was looking at, Bruce Connew. To begin with I was worried about being given a photographer as I felt it limited my illustration options. However, I actually felt very inspired by his work, and by his words. I sent him an email at the beginning of the project with a few additional questions, and although he took some chasing, his reply was more than I could have hoped for. He took a lot of time with his answers even though he knew it was just a university project. He also sent a photo from his new, unfinished series which I felt so honoured to have. He also sent me the link to his favourite photograph, I found the reasons behind his choice so interesting. He made the choice not to use text in his books but the clear amount of thought behind each image makes me really wish he had.
I found it difficult to reflect Bruce Connew’s personality visually in the layout, as people are not as simple as they may appear. His work is thoughtful and organised yet his life is spontaneous and dangerous. I used a combination of organised white spaces and neat base text in contrast to the flowing title page and stamp effect sub-heading. I decided to do the whole article in black and white as I felt this simplicity reflected his words better, it also put emphasis on the layout and typography and image choices. I feel that black and white also gives an idea of photography relating to the past, and black and white photography is a technique that Connew often employs.
I was very pleased with my final illustration as I feel the developments I made to it allowed it to work in a much more interesting way. I used photographs I had taken of someone with a camera to paint a black and white, contrasting ink painting. I then wanted to illustrate Connew’s belief that, ‘we are here temporarily, we’re all migrants, from somewhere to somewhere.’ I then used cut out shapes from the body and added small squares as if they were peeling away. I wanted these to represent photographs, drifting away, ‘the photographs will disappear, the books will fall into the ocean in the next major earthquake.’
I found learning InDesign very useful as it is software I have used frequently recently yet I have never actually learnt how to use it. I found it simple to learn and I know it will be very useful in the future.
In the future I would like to attempt a layout that allows me to be much more free in my designs, experimenting with space and illustrations a lot more. Looking at other magazine layouts I found that the most interesting were either the very simplistic or those that tried something very different.
