Templates - Mocking up my designs into PSD templates

Big Issue edition viewed on smartphone:

This demonstrates how contemporary the brand is in the digital world.

This photo template can be attributed to Banku, who allowed permission to use for personal use with name credits.

Big issue pages in magazine template:

This shows how the example pages fit together.

Royalty and commision free image from Flickr.com Creative commons - a great community based resource that allows sharing and therefore reflects the passions of the magazine.

Displaying the types - showing off their uniqueness with flare

Logo Type:

Wanted to incorporate the bricks element into the image - but with a smudgey, loose and slightly grungy feel - raw and urban.  Also a sense of explosion as this is the one that is showing a new side the big issue.

Header Type:

Paper suited this one and the blobs too as it felt as thought though this typeface is used to pull attention on a page, and is associated with a page.  In keeping with the other one the paper is ruffled and not neat and ordered and smudges are dotted about the page.

Body Copy Text

I took the opportunity to explore ways of expressing the function behind clearly readable text, used for body copy.  The quote added an edge to the piece, almost making it a piece of art as the arrangement of letters also communicated the concept.

Quote:
"“I do not think of type as something that should be readable. It should be beautiful.” 
― Ed Benguiat"

Available from: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/typography, viewed on 28/04/2014.

Front Cover developments

In view of the front cover i am designing and some potential areas of visual problems, i looked at other more recent editions of the big issue for inspiration.  One issue is having the photograph of a famous person merging with the text of the headline or big issue logo.

Bill Nighy Cover:

*Uses a black background to allow white text not to merge with photo background.

Available at: http://www.bigissue.com/sites/bigissue/files/styles/bigissue_main_half/public/the_big_issue_no_1092.jpg?itok=ZK_ac4Zq, viewed on: 21/04/2014.


Shakespeare cover:

*Uses a white b/g behind bright text, not conflict with bright b/g of photo

Available at: http://www.bigissue.com/sites/bigissue/files/styles/bigissue_main_half/public/shakepere_birthday_web.jpg?itok=WXDZN7yz, viewed on: 21/04/2014.


Game of Thrones cover

*Uses coloured background behind some sections of text, has enlarged type close together for countering potentially hard to read text.

Available at: http://www.bigissue.com/sites/bigissue/files/styles/bigissue_main_half/public/the_big_issue_no_1097.jpg?itok=mGg8F63Z, viewed on: 21/04/2014,



Flower Power Cover:

*Uses a subtle drop shadow on the white text so as it doesnt blend with the white clouds in b/g image.

Available at: http://www.bigissue.com/sites/bigissue/files/styles/bigissue_main_half/public/1091_small_cover_web.jpg?itok=lqmCTmWn, viewed on: 21/04/2014.


My work - Here is it developed, taking some inspiration from above previous Big issue editions:

How to present a new typeface

Looking around for tips and inspirations, came across this:

http://www.iampunk.co.za/

I am Punk combined with graphics studio King James here - a piece of software was written to evolve existing typefaces into new creations, re births as they call it.


Available at: http://www.itsnicethat.com:8080/articles/king-james-punk, viewed on: 13/04/2014.

Also these:

Available at: http://ilovetypography.com/2007/12/09/sunday-type-present-type/, Viewed on: 13/04/2014.

Further developments...front cover

Made image full page, resized the word SUGGS and made the logo smaller:

It is still a challenge to read the article related text.  Will refer back to the other issues of the big issue for ideas and inspiration how to overcome this problem of the white background merging with the light shades of grey and the thin typeface in the heading.  The bordered text underneath works better.  Also feel the placement of Suggs text doesnt sit evenly around the face and the head might suit being lower to not clash with the simular coloured logo - this i can not change or put on a different background.

Inside pages

First one -

Origonal:

Redesign of interview with John Bird

Same columns (width) and picture content and sizes, new typefaces:
Header, Body Copy and Big Issue Logo (bottom of page)

Second page:

Origonal:

Same columns (width) and picture content and sizes, new typefaces:
Header, Body Copy and Big Issue Logo (bottom of page)

Final Adjustments:

Here are the finished items, with even gaps between the columns and better alignent of "The Mix" header and other headers and footnotes.

Page 1

Page 2

Feel they look like they work together better now, and are tighter.

Front Cover progressions

Front Cover:

Find this cover to be a great inspiration and will influence my own cover redesign.  It is modern and in keeping with such magazine layouts as found on womans weekly or monthly fashion mags.  The bold type fills the width, picture as main background, the text listed on the left.

Available from: http://www.bigissue.com/mix/latest-issue/3401/issue-1084, viewed on: 23/02/2014

My attempts

Heres my making so far:

Ideas Generation: body copy text

Road inspired, with white line down the middle of the capitol letter.

Lower case references back to BIG ISSUE with thsoe letters in red colour of big issue.
However, feels a bit immature and not sophisticated enough to represent the magazine.

In the end i went with an open source typeface called Roboto.  It is neat, smart and easily readable.  It does not cause too much visual confusion or distraction when compared with the Logo or Header typefaces I've created.

Layout of typefaces: Mocked up in a Big Issue inside page

The text colums have too many rivers.  There would be spaces in the paragraphs and also the text has not been justified in a way to make it pleasant to view.  Also the hypens are carrying over the edge, quite unprofessional for a published paper.

Further header typeface ideas

Using open source typeface from Dafont.com called roboto to explore making a body copy text and a header text.
The header text will be more ornate and catchy, to draw the eye in.

With clipping mask layer of a photo of some red bricks in worcester, applied another mask layer of the big issue red hue.

idea 1

idea 2

The filled in letter approach of typeface design really only suits very informal readers, and is often associated with hipsters!  It is a tangent to the mainstream but in a commercial way.  

I dropped this idea, but kept the idea of having some letters that grey shade: the ones that have enclosed bowls.  There was something about this enclosure that matched the brief's focus on the homeless.

Here is the final alphabet:

Ideas development: bricks and white lettering

enhanced contrast and laid out letters evenly

Looks strong and smart - the colours are so contrasting that they make each other's space clearer to read.  It resembles a print that has been pressed through a few times and is worn, through the effects on the bricks.

There is no "The" because in the reinvention and rebranding of the magazine I decided the "The" was surplus.  Why waste a word when getting to the point of the magazine.

Also, historically the vendors just shout "Big Issue" and the "The" is not used then either.

Front covers of Big Issue - January 2014:

The front covers from January's 4 editions:

Taken from: http://www.bigissue.com/mix/latest-issue/3401/issue-1084, viewed on: 23/02/2014.

Large photo, typefaces informal hand writing style, haphazard layout.  text around image feels womans beauty magaine.

Flat colour and illustration outlines, lots of yellow and black - alarming.  Small photo in centre to contrast.  Has journal scrapbook feel.

90's feel, choppy layout of text and images with illustration sketches on graph paper.  Pink and blue conveys equal gender roles?

Full page photo, serious modern and sleek sans serif typeface, little extra text writing.

Ideas development: thick and thin developments

border:

Overall this style, although came together to be stronger than before, lacks a professional touch.

Ideas development: Paint strokes developments

Evening out the spacing:

Then adding red border:

But the look is more of a casual magazine that is in the arts arena specifically.

Ideas development: Scraped letters in paint

Adjusting letters to be more evenly spaced, adding red border:

Ideas development: Bricks logo

Playing with the letters created spelling out "Big Issue" in the bricks:
Feels strong, sturdy, conveys concepts of the street and an urban street life.  Black and white is striking and strong.

Then adding background, with letters cut out:

Then with a red border and black letters:

Although it was interesting to try other ways of using the origonal bricks and lettering, i feel the look of the new developments create a contrived feel that is even slightly dated.  They are not a visually arresting as the origonal.  I will return to try and develop this idea with a closer approach.

Further development of tape letters

Taking the origonal brown tape letters and adding red to the places where they overlap:

Another idea was to make the brown red instead, so all red:

Then to remove the areas of different colour red on the main letter:

I like these workings up because i feel the material and the loosness of layout suit the homeless magazine.  The blocky shapes also convey the key themes i am interested in: stability, home, etc.  Yet I am not convinced this style is the one yet.  It is after all a very loose illustration approach that may not always suit the nature of the articles from celebrities or interviews.

Ideas development: Experiments with the header typeface

based on open demain typeface: perspective sans.

Ideas Generation: logo typeface

vaious from existing free demain typeface

tape brown letters

cardboard strokes

based on existing typeface free demain

paint strokes turned to typefa e

hand drawn quickly

blocky with dark colouring and high stroke difference

italisised blocky and modern

taken from photos of letters down by diglis hotel, 

had to adapt the B and U, but used turned the E into a B and G into the U, through Photoshop.

Pretty dynamic, conveys some of the key words:

Stabiltiy

Hope

Shelter