Cheers!

First breakthrough! (Maybe?)

As I put more though into my vision for the magazine, I saw myself more inclined in doing my issue on cocktails. The first reason that brought me to this conclusion is that it would be innovative. I was browsing through old media projects and saw many food magazines, but none of them were dedicated to cocktails. The second reason for my inclination towards this topic is the fact that from what I have continued to see on Instagram, drinks photograph very well. Drinks have the versatility of playing with light and colors in ways food cannot. Drinks can also be put in many different glasses and can have many different garnishes, which are just more opportunities to make the photography more impressive.

Now that I think I have a topic in mind, I have begun to think about the look I want for the cover page. I am also excited to say that I have come up with a possible name for the magazine. Since it is a food magazine (not just a cocktail magazine) the name will be more open to all food. The name I have in mind is "À la carte". What I like about the name is the fact that it is in French, which gives it that elevated and luxurious status right away. I also do not think that it being in French is limiting because the phrase "À la carte" is well-known among foodies and is actually in some English dictionaries. If Saveur magazine can be as brave as to name their magazine with a French word that is hard to pronounce correctly, then I do not see a problem with my idea. However, I do a see a problem with this title which is the fact that is is three words. Yes, they are short, but three words are going to be a challenge to fit in the masthead. Nevertheless, I think it is worth the try because I have no other names in mind as of now. 

So... let's talk about ideas for the masthead. (Keep in mind that these are just first drafts.) I was researching different types of mastheads and came across this blog that had several different layouts to draw inspiration from. It included the following picture:

From looking at this picture, I definitely can tell the importance of working with a grid. It may not be the classic three by three grid, but regardless, a grid is necessary to maintain balance and understand the placement of things. With this in mind, I think my magazine cover could have one of these three layouts:

Option 1 is classic and simple. Having all three words in one line can be an easy solution to the problem of having too many words. However, I feel like in doing so the masthead can never go past a small-medium size which means the font I choose must be really eye-catching to pop. 

Option 2 is very similar to option 1, however, the placement of the masthead and subheading are not centered but rather shifter to the left. This is less common in magazine titles and may be something good in adding an artistic feature. However, I may encounter the same problem with the maximum size the masthead can be.

Finally, option 3 is the most different from the casual magazine cover. It is less common to have the masthead placed on the upper left grid. Nevertheless, I think this can work to my advantage because the words can be spread over two lines. Also, it would give the magazine even more of an artistic touch because this layout is less common.

Before I decide, I also need to consider which fonts can work for the cover. The position of the masthead is just as important as the font I pick. Since the cover of my magazine is the first snapshot of the brand, it must be perfect. I'll keep brainstorming. until next time!

Love/hate brainstorming

So many things I want to do... how will I decide?

Now that I have some idea of what I want my magazine to look like, I have to consider what the content will be. That's a bit of a problem because I LOVE food, all things about it. The ingredients. The condiments. The drinks that accompany them. The desserts. Their presentation. And of course, the rich diversity of cuisines. 
Two topics that I have seriously put thought into are making the issue of the magazine a special feature on cocktails (or mocktails if the thematic of cocktails is an issue) or making the theme a feature (or possibly a whole magazine) around fusion cuisine. 
For the magazine about cocktails, I have gotten much of my inspiration from an Instagram account I follow called @licensed_to_distill which posts high quality pictures of drinks (both cocktails and mocktails). The main reason why I follow this account is because of its photography and because I am fascinated by how versatile mixologists can be when making a drink, making a garnish with just about anything. Here are some of my personal favorites:

I have also seen this trend in other Instagram pages, not necessarily dedicated to cocktails, such as @food52. This proves that even a well-established Instagram account that posts mainly about food still considers and acknowledges the importance of a cocktail as a possible complement to a meal. Here are some examples:

What draws me about the photography of these pages is the potential a drink has in terms of having pops of color, garnishes that stand out and especially how you can play with the light that shines through a glass. These Instagram pages clearly want to establish a luxurious feel as photography is set "fancy" table tops and drinks look simple, yet they have some sort of elaborate garnish or are served in a cool glass. This clean photography with pops colors is something I feel could fit well with the aesthetic I have in mind and is something I can play with more freely. Of course, I have yet to figure out if this topic is viable... if not I can do the magazine on mocktails and create a similar feel. However, I would like it to be about cocktails as these carry a luxurious image in themselves and are popular (considering the licensed to distill Instagram account has over 1 million followers).

As for my idea on making the magazine on fusion cuisine, I think this is a viable path because of the rise in popularity of this topic. Examples of this cuisine include Tex-Mex, Peruvian-Japanese, and Vietnamese-Chinese. It is something that is popular enough to have a following yet it is not as commonly featured as other types of cuisine. Nevertheless, the topic has enough relevance to be one of the first trends fro 2019 the Michelin Guide talks about for new food trucks. However, it also seems to be a topic of some controversy as it has sparked issues with what is labeled as "Fusion Confusion", which is when chefs are too eager to innovate that they fail to realize the fusion of flavors is actually disastrous, resulting in something like this:

Whoever combined Pad Thai and Torteloni needs to do some rethinking... That does not look good! Either way, I do not believe handling this topic would arise much of a problem, especially since I am tasked with doing only one issue of the magazine. If picked carefully, the double spread and photography can turn out to be eye-catching (as fusion cuisine challenges standards) and elegant. Here is a good example of what fusion cuisine (done right) looks like:

Don't tell me that doesn't look good, elegant and colorful. I think going for a combination like the one above (Peruvian-Japanese) for the central topic of the magazine's issue will fit cohesively with the image I am going for. 

Let's see where I am at a week from today with these ideas.

Week 1, day 1

It has begun...

I am back!! And I am not going anywhere now. I cannot tell you how excited I am that we have finally started working on our foundation portfolio full time. During these months I have considered both genre options I was originally drawn to and have decided I am going to work on... (drumroll please)... a food magazine! With this in mind, I also began to brainstorm the brand identity I wanted to give my magazine and came to the conclusion I want it to have an aesthetic that is somewhat artistic and closer to an "indie" food magazine. What I mean by this is that the magazine will have a more luxurious and thoughtful aesthetic that does not have a commercial feeling. For example, in a magazine like this, ads included would be less mainstream and focus more on promoting luxury goods so that the image of the magazine is cohesive all throughout. Design should be clean and not feel cluttered, while also having some artistic choices that channel creativity. 

To better help you picture this, let me show you the kind of aesthetic I have in mind through some examples. 

#1: Saveur Magazine issue on Avocado's 

What I like about this aesthetic is how it is loyal to the green color scheme of the picture of the avocado. I also like the fact that it is eye catching by making a close up shot of an avocado the main focus, something that is not usually seen in more commercial food magazines where a dish, or several are the focus. I also like the fact that the cover lines are kept simple and are usually the same size (of course this is not counting the main cover line). 

#2: Bon Apetit issue "healthy-ish"

Again, it is clear that this magazine has an appreciation for maintaining some sort of artistic vibe because it plays with the pink color scheme. In addition to this, the subtitle above the masthead has an unusual color of the font, that is not one set color but instead has different shades of blue in a pattern similar to the water of a pool. This artistic touch is a pop of color in the pink and pastel hues and gives the magazine a definite artistic look. From this, I also like how the cover lines are centered around the plate and how some of them have the shade of blue introduced in the quirky subtitle. 

Playing with colors like these magazines did is something I definitely want to consider. I want to make sure the combinations of color make sense and should probably refer to a color wheel to do so. I think the contrast of colors and the color wheel are areas that warrant more research, which I plan on doing later in the process.