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Magazine Spread

Eye-hand and Hand-eye Coordination

Assignment Brief

Reproduce a well-designed spread from a magazine for your choice. Pay attention to the details. Think flawless reproduction.

Objectives

  • To learn the basics and best practices of Adobe InDesign
  • To train the eye to see typographic and layout subtlety
  • To evaluate execution through repetitive prototyping and examination

Specifications

Magazine spread must:

  1. Be an opening spread of a magazine article
  2. Include color images
  3. Use a variety of typographic sizes and styles
    Headlines, Body Copy, Callouts & credits

Adobe InDesign packaged folder must:

  1. Be named with your first and last name (i.e. ray-elder)
  2. Include a single Adobe InDesign (.indd) file
    Use stylesheets and master pages
  3. Include all images, icons and vector artwork
  4. Include all used typefaces

Final Deliverables

Be ready to present both the reproduction and the original magazine spread at the beginning of class. Be prepared to save the InDesign packaged folder to the AVC server at the beginning of class.

Printed Magazine Spread: The final magazine spread should be printed and mounted flush on black foamcore. Color printed at 100%. Use crop marks.

Original Magazine Spread: Mount the original magazine spread flush on black formcore.

Adobe InDesign Packaged Folder: Use the InDesign package feature to save all required files to a folder named with your first and last name (i.e. ray-elder).

Timeline

Project hours: 24

Three weeks of the semester are assigned to complete this project. Late work will not be accepted or critiqued. See semester schedule for deadlines.

Week One

Prototype: Choose a well-designed magazine spread. Reproduce the layout using Adobe InDesign. Pay special attention to page dimensions, margin sizes, image sizes, the overall grid and the baseline grid. Print a B/W rough at 100% for one-on-one critique. Icons, images or diagrams may be printed at solid black boxes. Remember to bring the original magazine spread for comparsion.

Week Two

Prototype: Refine the magazine spread typography and layout. Scan and place all images. Recreate and place all diagrams and/or icons. Print a color rough at 100% for group critique. Remember to bring the original magazine spread for comparsion.

Week Three

Refinement & Presentation: Further refine the magazine spread typography and layout. Print in color at 100% and mount on black foamcore for class critique. Remember to bring the original magazine spread for comparsion.

Well-designed Magazines

  1. Simple
  2. Martha Stewart
  3. Rolling Stone
  4. Monocle
  5. Esquire