Spreading the words (onto two pages)!

I was brainstorming (coincidentally while it was raining, because the Sunshine State of Florida does that sometimes) ideas for my two-page layout and came across a website with lots of pretty cool designs. The article, “Inspirational and Attractive Magazine Page Layouts,” provided me with a multitude of magazine layout examples ranging from all sorts of formats. Here are my top 5 favorites:

Example 1: Hooked on the Outdoors

Example 2: The Band

Example 3: From Trash to Treasure

Example 4: A River Ran Through It

Example 5: Through the Eyes of Tiffany Ann

Looks like it is time for a segment called pros and cons. Let’s do this!

EXAMPLE 1: HOOKED ON THE OUTDOORS

In “Example 1: Hooked on the Outdoors,” the pros include the separation of content and photography, the cute and clever style of the title and text backdrop, and the eye-appealing format of the layout. On the other hand, the cons include little content, the slanted alignment of the text, and the small size of the text, in which all of these factors play into the disproportional balance of content and images. Overall, I do like the concept in which it was formatted, but there are some qualities I would alter based on my target audience and purpose of my magazine.

EXAMPLE 2: THE BAND

Good Example of text flow

In “Example 2: The Band,” the pros include the separation of content and photos, the formatting of the article itself, and an emphasized piece of text from the article. In another website, I came across this article, “Magazine Spreads – Good and Bad Practices,” which is probably now self-explanatory, in that it talked about and gave examples of good and bad examples of two-page magazine spreads (these examples are the same ones that my teacher, Ms. Stoklosa, showed my class when she was teaching us what factors to consider when making a magazine). “Example 2: The Band” follows the same format as the sample layout of the good example of text flow from the article, “Magazine Spreads – Good and Bad Practices.” The only con that I have about “Example 2: The Band” is that I feel as though the look of it comes off as too plain, standard, and boring. To me, the spread needs to be sprinkled with personality and creativity in order to engage the reader more.

EXAMPLE 3: FROM TRASH TO TREASURE

In “Example 3: From Trash to Treasure”, the pros include a good use of contrast, balance between text and images, soft colors with a hint of some bold colors so that it is not too distracting from the content, and nice formatting all around. I really like this layout for its simplicity, elegance, and harmony. In the article, “Magazine Spreads – Good and Bad Practices,” there was a common practice that was mentioned that I felt this layout followed beautifully. In the visual to the left, “the gray areas represent the most visible areas of the spread. Darker shaded area is more visible than the lighter shades. Reader's’ eye is drawn to the upper parts that’s why those areas have the most impact,” according to the article “Magazine Spreads – Good and Bad Practices.” If I had to write a con, the only con I would have is that the lines behind the chair do not match up (I have no idea why they chose to do that). Other than that, the magnificent balance and great symmetry make the layout so aesthetically pleasing that it inspires me to achieve a two-page spread that is just as well-done.

EXAMPLE 4: A RIVER RAN THROUGH IT

In “Example 4: A River Ran Through It,” the pros include the clear, cut, and clean photograph of the beautiful landscape, the font and its color as it contrasts and stands well, and the text formatting. This example is also nice and simple as it places emphasis on the aesthetics of the landscape, but perhaps it places too much emphasis on it. In my opinion, cons include the idea that the layout had to work around the photograph rather than the content, in that the title of the article would be awkwardly stretched over two pages (as it would not be centered or divided evenly between the two pages) and the little content that is given can only be placed into that cramped area because then the background would make it too difficult to read.

EXAMPLE 5: THROUGH THE EYES OF TIFFANY ANN

In “Example 5: Through the Eyes of Tiffany Ann,” the pros include the text format, the evenly sized columns, and the images that are relevant to the article. In the article, “Magazine Spreads – Good and Bad Practices,” there were also examples of good and bad placements of headline and intro text, in which this example followed the natural way of looking at an article.

The bad example is on the left; while, the good example is on the right

On the other hand, the cons include the excessive inclusion of images that can be seen as distracting from the content, the unusual and inconsistent style of the headline (which includes its spacing and the fact that part of it is bold and underline while the rest is not), and the poor judgment of making the first letter of each paragraph be inappropriately larger than the rest of text, making a reader’s eye go all over the place. This layout may not be my favorite, however, I feel as though it is a good layout format as a whole for a typical magazine in my genre.

After looking and analyzing all these examples, I feel as though I should secure my topic for my two-page spread before deciding on a specific layout. I did decide, though, my topic would have to be some sort of concept that would fall under the category of “New” since it is the first category mentioned in my magazine and it provides me with a wide range of topics I can choose from (I just need to do more research on that). Nonetheless, it was beneficial for me to research the different types of layout because going through this process allowed me to see my magazine from a consumer’s perspective, not just as one of a creator’s. Ideally, I will be utilizing a similar format to that of “Example 3: From Trash to Treasure,” while mixing all of the other elements that I liked from the other examples.

Work Cited:

Francis, Carol. "Inspirational and Attractive Magazine Page Layouts." Onextrapixel – Web Design and Development Online Magazine. 8 July 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2016. <http://www.onextrapixel.com/2013/07/08/inspirational-and-attractive-magazine-page-layouts/>.

Nikola. "Magazine Spreads – Good and Bad Practices." Magazine Designing. 04 May 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2016. <http://www.magazinedesigning.com/magazine-spreads-good-bad-practices/>.