The CCR

The audio gets cut off at the beginning so you can't hear me say "Hello, my name is Cristina..." Other than that, the CCR is fine. Thank you for being with me through this whole process, I hope you enjoyed it!

À LA CARTE

I present to you, my whole magazine. Enjoy! (For some reason the margins of the TOC and the article get a little cut off when you click to enlarge the picture, but I don't know what to do about it!!)  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NQd6h6gvSdG_Ur4Wc5pWE7zBuiMkzU3V

Last but not least, the double page spread

Drum roll please

As promised in my last post, here is my double-page spread:

You might be able to tell that I didn't end up sticking exactly to what I had planned a couple of posts ago. This is because when I tried designing those sketches on Illustrator, the fonts didn't look good and it was coming out different from what I had planned. Instead of using those designs, I came up with a new concept that was loosely based on those. I decided to keep the words together and not hyphenate them to avoid confusion (also because it just looked weird). Something I kept from my original design however, was using two different fonts. I also made them different colors in order to give the page a bit more dynamic. This is something I have seen in several magazines I have looked at. Furthermore, by putting some fonts in different colors, I get the opportunity to establish a color scheme throughout the piece, which gives it cohesion. In this case, I chose green because of the limes. Something else I did with the fonts was placing the letters that went over the picture in a semi transparent box, so that they didn't take away from the picture but still stood out. As for maintaining the conventions of my genre, I decided to place the title, author name and main picture all in one side of the article, leaving room for all the text in the next page. This is something I have not only seen in the layout of food magazines but also in fashion and lifestyle magazines that are in the realm of high end magazines.

The picture I used was purposely taken with all the subjects in the middle thirds, so that it could be cropped without losing anything. I decided to use only one picture so that it wouldn't take away from the use of the illustrations and the fonts on the next page. I also think it makes the article to look less cluttered. 

As for the layout of the text, I chose to do two columns since this is a common arrangement in most magazines. I prefaced the recipe with a small introduction, then indicated the start of the recipe with a change of font and color that followed through until the last step. The steps are guided by arrows to show progression. I also made the first letter of each paragraph large to draw attention and add depth to the design. I learned that this is called a drop cap and that it is used for decorative purposes.

Overall, I am happy with the way it turned out. Perhaps it could be more fine tuned but as is it looks very professional.

This concludes all the components of my magazine!!! Finally! I will soon post it all together and without grids or anything. 

Last photoshoot

I see the end!!

Today I took the pictures for the article and I also got a chance to get the picture of the bar I needed for my TOC. I left my camera at home so I had to take the picture of the bar with my phone, but it came out pretty good. I was able to get a shot of the bar with the bar tender, the decorations and some people in the back. Here's how it came out:

And here it is after editing...

The difference between the two is not monumental, but it does make a difference. I made the green pop out more so that the picture is more colorful. i also cropped out the trash cans and the other bartender so it looks more clean and professional. 

Now, let's look at the pictures for the article. I had to make sure I took a picture that could be cropped practically in half (vertically) and still show all the elements I wanted it too. In order to ensure I got this down, I made a template and put in a picture as a place holder. I used the picture that was the placeholder as a guide and set up my subjects similarly. Here's the picture I had as a place holder and the set up I put:

As you can see, I decided to take the light box outside. It was a very sunny day and I was able to use all natural light for the pictures, which looked very nice. Using direct sunlight would have been too much, so the layers of the box helped diffuse the light. I took the pictures from a slight high angle in order to show the contents of the mugs and hide the fact that I used a wooden board and not a whole wooden table. Here are my favorite pictures from the shoot:

Now I have to decide which one fits best, edit it and continue working on the article. 

I have already found some sources that have useful content for the article. Also, another thing I had planned to do this week was find any graphic I needed, so I went ahead and looked for "hand-drawn" illustrations in one of my favorite websites: The Noun Project. The Noun Project is a library of royalty free icons for personal use. I found an icon of a lemon and some ice cubes that I think would fit perfectly in the article... for now I won't show them and keep you intrigued until next week. My next post (I PROMISE) will be my article all finished and polished. Hold on to your seats because the best is coming. 

So far, so good

Time off at work = time to brainstorm

As this week has progressed, I have finally decided on the topic of the double page spread and drafted to possible designs for it. The topic will be "The Perfect Moscow Mule". How I decided on this topic was really quite easy. I considered three factors: 1. How well it photographs, 2. My accessibility to the tools needed, 3. Type of article it is. Points one and two overlap in the sense that since I own Moscow Mule cups and I have seen my parents make them, I know how aesthetically pleasing they are and how easy they would be to recreate for a picture. The third point I considered was the fact that doing this article would mean doing a recipe, which is a key element of any food magazine. Doing so would allow me to shine the light on the techniques used to present recipes and combine that with the higher end and luxurious feel of the magazine. Furthermore, this week I also had time to draft the possible layout for the double page spread. Here is how I want it to look like:

I like the first design because it is bold. It allows me to give the magazine a bit more of an artistic look since it gives the fonts room to shine. This is something hard to accomplish, but, if done right it can take the magazine to the next level. I am ready to commit my time to a series of trials and errors to try different fonts and see how they pair together, after all fonts are just as important as the images. As graphic designer Luke Tonge said, "Magazines are a marriage of pictures and words. If fonts are the clothes that words wear, it stands to reason you'll want your text suitably attired." The other aspect that stands out from this layout is the fact that each step has a small illustration next to it. This is an idea I got from looking at different cocktail articles. These hand hand-made doodles (6:00) that gave the piece depth and a more human touch. The touch of humanity serves in showing that this recipe is genuine and can be trusted, something graphic designers claim to be true. Here are some examples I've seen:

The idea of using arrows to guide the recipe also came from the example of Food & Wine magazine. Any way, the second design I made is more simplistic, and places greater emphasis in the picture rather than the font of the title. Here's where the inspiration came from: 

I like the fact that in this concept, the words that would have a bigger type face are "Moscow Mule," since they would clearly show what's most important to the article and draw the attention of a reader that is quickly scanning through pages. Unlike the picture I included above, also from Food & Wine magazine, I would reserve the text for the next page and simply put a caption to the image. 

In the next post I will hopefully have more to share with you, fingers crossed.

P.S. Being that my dad used to work for a company that owned several brands of alcoholic beverages, finding the recipe for a Moscow Mule was easy, since he already knew it and could share it with me. Of course this is only for the purposes of the text, I won't be making the actual recipe for pictures. 

The final round begins

I see the end...

Alright, I first want to acknowledge the fact that this week was extremely productive. With what I did, I am set up to only have to worry about the double page spread and any final adjustments I choose to do. Who knows, maybe I'll even have extra time to do a little extra (an ad :) perhaps). With this last post I want to plan out what I plan to do this week. This week will be less active since my school is on break. However, it won't completely halt the process. For example, this week I will finally be able to get a picture of the bar I need for the TOC. I am going to be working in the Miami Open Tennis Tournament as a ball person, which means I will have access to beautiful restaurants and bars that have been set up for the tournament. I already scouted the lot and think this bar will do the job:

It is a rooftop bar and it fits the aesthetic of being high class. In the picture it looks empty and a bit disorganized, which is why I want to go when there's customers. I'll keep you updated on that. Anyway, here's what I plan to do this week:

• Decide on the topic for the double page spread. 
• Plan the pictures and graphics needed.
• Take pictures for it.
• And if time allows... write the article... or at least a draft of it.

I don't know if I am being too ambitious with these goals, but for now I'll try to meet them. 

P.S. I have thought about what I want to do for the double page spread but I am torn because I am drawn to many different articles. In the end, I think I'll go for the one I can do better in terms of having the resources to photograph it. 

THE TOC

I think.

As promised on my last post, I worked on the TOC and added the missing pieces. I kept the general layout I had planned and simply added the list of articles I had drafted. There were some slight changes to the names of the articles and I also decided to bring my magazine up to 126 pages because I needed to fit one more article. Let's take a look at it.

Isn't she a beauty? 

Anyway, let's break it down like we did with the cover. First, let me address the changes I made to the original draft. I added the name of the magazine as a header on the left hand corner to give a better idea of the brand identity through every page. Plus, it is something I have seen in some magazines such as this one I picked up on Barnes and Noble recently. 

This magazine is within my genre of high class magazines, so it fits the conventions. I also changed the color of the "What's inside?" to match the color of the raspberries in the main picture and continue to be cohesive with playing with pink hues (as seen in the page numbers). Another change I had to make was changing the font and font size for the author names. When I first drafted the magazine TOC, I thought using the same font for everything on the TOC would be a good idea, but I was wrong. Here is how it looked:

I felt like using the same font looked too over powering and took away from the minimalistic feel of the magazine. Something needed to change, so I decided to change the author names (since they are not nearly as important as the article names) and make them smaller and sans serif. This change quickly took the TOC to where I wanted to be: minimalistic and easy on the eyes. It also draws more attention to the article names which are the central focus of the TOC.

Those were all the changes I made to the TOC. I kept the rest as I had it and only adjusted page numbers and added the pictures. I am really happy with the way in turned out and I think the pictures fit well together as they vary from pictures taken indoors and outdoors. The colors also fit well as there is contrast between them. 

P.S. As you may or may not have noticed by now, the middle picture, the one of the bar, hasn't changed. That's because I am waiting to find a restaurant with a nice bar in order to take a picture of it. Once I do that, the TOC will officially be completed! 

THE COVER

No subheading needed

This is one of those posts you might want to bookmark. This is one of those posts that mark a milestone in the process. It's a big day. Why? I finished the cover and WOW. I. Love. It. Let's take a look at it.

Now, let's break it down. As you can see, I kept the general layout I had designed previously. All I did was add the cover lines and the picture I took. The picture fit perfectly because it fits right in the middle, making the subject the main focus. For the placement of the cover lines, I drew inspiration from an example I had put earlier on this blog as well as a food magazine I found on Barnes and Noble. These were the covers I took a look at:

From the Bon Appetit cover, I took the idea of having the cover lines interact with the picture. With this in mind, I easily found three more articles that could be related to the picture other than the main article. This gives the magazine a sense of cohesion and leaves it clear that the cocktail issue is indeed about anything and everything there is to know about cocktails. From this cover, I was also inspired to stick to a rather monochromatic color scheme to give it an artistic look. As for the cover of THRIVE, I drew the inspiration to play with the fonts and wrap them around the subject of the picture. This gives the cover a more playful look while contributing to the artistic look. In terms of the font and colors of the cover lines, I decided to stick to minimalistic color choices with minimal pops of color. The reason behind this decision is that it keeps the cover clean and minimalistic, a common convention in luxurious and high end magazines. Furthermore, I kept the use of serif fonts to a minimum so they wouldn't steal the spotlight from the mast head of clash too much with each other.

I am very happy with the way it turned out because it fits the image of a high end magazine while also looking artistic and not taking away from the fact that it is a food magazine. :)))

NEXT: The TOC

The reveal

Of some pictures :)

I know you all have probably been waiting for me to upload some of the pictures I took for the TOC and the cover. Luckily, I have had time to upload them to my computer and share them with you. I have also taken the time to edit the brightness and clarity of these pictures using the app VSCO on my phone. The app allows you to edit exposure, contrast, clarity, saturation and tone. I used this to brighten up some of the pictures I took, especially for the cover, since I felt they were too dark. Here is what a before and after for the cover looks like:

As you can see, the picture on the right is much darker and the hues of orange in it are not as saturated. This is something I edited to make the picture look much brighter and appealing. Overall, the picture for the cover came out almost like I had pictured it. The only problem I had was the light but I think that was fixed through editing, and once I put it in the cover and add the cover lines, it should be fine. I am also very happy with the fact that the color I used for the cover matches my previous research of maintaining a monotone color scheme (which in this case are the orange and brown hues) that make the image clean and artistic. Also, the glass is centered around the center third of the grid, making it perfect to place cover lines around it and make it the center of attention.

P.S on the cover: If you look closely, there is a line in the background that is simply a wrinkle in the cloth. I edited this out using the Photoshop Mix app on my phone. 

Alright, moving on the the pictures for the TOC.

These pictures are bright and colorful, which I think will give the TOC life. They came out pretty much like I had planned them to come out. Here are they (after being edited on VSCO):

I am very happy with how they turned out... we just have to wait and see how they fit into the TOC. On the next post, however, I will be working on finalizing the cover. I just wanted to sneak a peek of the future of the TOC.

Photoshoot day

Despite all odds, it didn't rain!

It was forecasted to rain on the day I took the pictures, so I was freaking out because this would mean falling behind on my schedule, something I simply couldn't afford. The day began with me trying to figure out how to make a colorful-looking "cocktail" for which I ended up using food coloring and a bit of lime. From there, things started to fall into place my drink looked good enough to be a nice splash of color. 

I shot this cocktail in my backyard to put it into the place where it would belong: a BBQ on sunny spring day. For this, I asked a friend to help me by being a faceless model that was simply stirring the drinks and moving them around. Despite him being in the shot, the pictures had a shallow focus that blurred him out and showed the drink more clearly. 

For the shots I used my dad's Sony RX100 camera. It's not a professional camera, but it is easy to use and pictures actually come out looking great. 

Next, I worked on the shot of the champagne, glasses and used two very elegant and different-looking glasses that I think will elevate the feel of the magazine. I set this shot my the window which had dispersed light coming in through the shadows of the tree. I can't wait to show you how these came out, because I think I really did justice to how beautiful the glasses are. Look at them:

After the champagne shot, I recreated the picture of the pineapples I have as a place holder, but set it by the lake to give it a more "spring-y" feel. This shot was challenging because first of all, I was running out of ice so I had to get creative... and second of all, the table was slanted so everything was sliding off. Luckily, my friend helped my hold the table still and I got some shots I think will work. BTW the little ice I had melted while I went to get new batteries... so you really cant see the drink :(

And finally, I shot the cover page pictures. For this, I had to carve some ice to make a nice, big cube that looks like something Don Draper would use to make an old fashioned. 

Anyway, for the cover page shot I used a light box set up I borrowed from a friend. This was helpful in giving the shot a solid background, something that is common and expected of food magazines. If the background was busy with things like flowers and nature, it would be hard to fit the cover lines. Also, using a light box allowed me to play around with light and give it some natural looks and some artificial looks. (Let's ignore the fact that one of the lights had smoke coming out of it by the end... woops!)

I definitely think I got some good shots yesterday and cannot wait to show you guys. Until next time!!

Picture planning

FYI: I'm not very good at drawing

Hey there! Today you'll be lucky enough to see my ability to draw, and the fact that I am too confident in my abilities as I did the drawings in pen. No room for erasing anything. Anyway, the things I have sketched are the picture for the cover and the shots I want to get for the TOC. During my research, I found this very useful blog post titled: How to use compositional techniques to improves your food photography. One of the suggestions on the page was to actually draw out the shots you want to get in order to have a clearer vision. The page also asked you to consider the grid while photographing and recommended finding a balance between looking staged and understanding where your subject is going to be the most pleasing and powerful to the viewers eye. Keeping these things in mind, I set up the following shots:

For the cover page, I plan on using a white (or light) background and have the drink be in the center, drawing all the attention to it. The drink will be surrounded by "accessories" so the shot can have more color. However, it will not be much since there needs to be room for cover lines and such. The following shots are for the table of contents. In my current draft for the table of contents I have 4 pictures and these are only 3 of them. The fourth one I want to take in a restaurant to get a shot of an actual bar, so it will have to wait. In the mean time, I planned these shots to reflect the article about serving champagne in 5 different ways, thearticle about pitcher cocktails and the article about mini bar shopping. 

For these pictures, I plan on using natural backgrounds and outdoor lighting so it does not look as staged. However, the cover picture will have to look a bit more staged to retain its professional look and the look of a typical food magazine. 

I think it is about time I mention my dad used to work for the company that owns, sells and produces very well known alcohol brands like Malibu, Absolut and Perrier-Jouet. For this reason, I have many types of glasses and just about every tool needed to make a cocktail.