Practical - Cover Experiments and Self-led Crit 3.12.18

Logo Development 

A suggestion was given to me to experiment with having the logotype 'Headstrong' in a V shape, as it is a firm symbol for feminine empowerment and the female body. There was some worry that the V shape looked like a tick, however, within context it doesn't give that impression. The most successful design was the top left, which had equal sized lettering, and spaced the words at a direct diagonal. This felt more considered and bold.

Cover Experiments

For several of the cover experiments, I decided to use the images of the fruit to encourage a theme of diversity and to create a friendly, cheerful appearance to encourage the reader. It was suggested in the crit that fruit appeared more appealing than the shot of the body and the underwear. Although the logos in white worked better than the black. Although the body is bolder and more experimental, using an image of one women of specific size and race might counter the intersectional theme I intend the magazine to have.

One of my ideas was to draw over the fruit to mimic body types, it was suggested this could work if done carefully. It was suggested I could trace the images and then digitally input them into the designs or I could use collaged shapes to cover the fruit.

The back of the magazine could be a reflection of the front to create an intriguing mirrored effect. It was suggested that a continuation of the front image might work well, or potentially using a different image that links to the front.

Typeface

As discussed in a previous crit, I intend the magazine to have a combination of both serif and sans serif typeface to synthesise a traditional feminine and masculine aesthetic. The typeface used for Headstrong is ZapfHumnst Ult BT Ultra, which could be considered a Humanist typeface. The style is sans serif yet has more variation in stroke thickness than traditional sans serif, it works to celebrate an amalgamation of the feminine and masculine. It was suggested that I should experiment to find a sans serif typeface which is more rigid and traditional for the inside of the publication, which will balance with the serif typeface Caslon. Within the magazine the content should be playful to match this, making use of variation within the grid system.

For one of the covers I decided to do a quick experiment involving an illustration, this had an interesting, 'emotive' effect but lost some professionalism. This perhaps could be intesting to explore as an insert into the magazine, which might reflect an era of feminism that was more experimental, like the 60s/70s.