The Objective
This was an interactive publication assignment for school. The objectives for this project included producing interactive links, magazine advertisements, alternate layouts, animations, original content, and master pages and stylesheets. This project was focused on the use of Adobe InDesign.
The Process
The topic I chose for my publication was fashion. I’ve always had an interest in fashion design, and I was excited to create a fashion magazine with the professional tools and skills I’ve been taught. It was the fall season at the time the project started, so I wanted to create a fall issue for my magazine. I incorporated a minimalist theme that included muted colours, purposeful white space, clean fonts, and clean lines.
Because I was creating a fashion magazine, I was able to try fashion photography. I am not an avid photographer, but I do enjoy photography. The majority of my past photography is of landscapes and scenery, but I have always been curious about photographing people. I went on a photoshoot with a few friends to shoot photos for my magazine. My favourite part about taking photos of people is taking candid shots. I loved the behind the scenes shots of my friends getting ready for a photo, fixing their hair, or talking to each other. The candid shots expressed a sense of realism and are a great example of “capturing the moment”.
To edit the photos, I used Adobe Photoshop. In general, I made a few touch ups, adjusted the focus of the subject and surroundings by using blur effects, and created a mood for each photo. I went with a dark and somber mood for my photos to contrast the common vibrant photos of fall. The somber effect gave my photos a cool and trendy aesthetic which reflects my target audience—young adults and trendy individuals.
I definitely learned a lot throughout this project; I have never used Adobe InDesign so much prior to this project. I developed new skills and knowledge of the tools in Adobe InDesign such as character and paragraph styles, tabs, master pages, links, animations, and alternate layouts. I am now more comfortable using the program, and I am very proud of the magazine I produced for this project.
