Week Four // Editorial Design

Editorial design is the framework through which a given story is read and interpreted. It consists of both the overall architecture (and the logical structure that it implies) and the specific treatment of the story (as it bends or even defies that logic)

Could be defined as visual journalism.

Although these are all newsstand titles, they have an individual look, tone and feel. This is in order to convey effectively the brands message. (Vanity Fair) is intelligent lively monthly for people who like to be connected with the current zeitgeist through well-written engaging content. By contrast, (vogue-Paris) is sure of its position in the market and has no need to shout through cover lines offering shelf shout through its imagery for which it is famous. Weekly gossip title (Heat) is unsophisticated but fun and young.

Zeitgeist = "the spirit of the times" or "the spirit of the age."

Although the are many sizes for newspapers (in particular, a number of European newspapers publish in sizes between a berliner and a broadsheet,) the majority of papers worldwide use one of these formats. 

Broadsheet – 56x43.2

Berliner- 47x 31.5

Tabloid – 35.5x30.5

 

"Editorial design does something else…… it acts as a visual cultural snapshot of the era in which it is produced."

The 1960’s magazine Nova & Oz brilliantly evoked the vibrancy of the decade, but also captured the spirit of the age that celebrated experimentation, innovation & new direction

In the 1960s Nova magazine was was considered a style bible and had a huge impact on the fashion of the era of Britian. It contained articles about feminism, racism, homosexuality (which were controversial at the time) along with fashion. It was unique to the era but unfortunately the success that this magazine had slowly decreased at other magazines copied their concept and ideas which made them not so original anymore.

Oz magazine started its publication in 1963. It featured issues such as the Vietnam War, drugs, the generation gap, censorship, sexuality, gender politics and rock music and this magazine helped to bring these to the public to create awareness. Above all, it focused public attention on the issue of free speech in democratic society.

A newspaper is a vehicle for communicating news and ideas.

 

Supplement newspapers should be more adventurous.

This week we looked at editorial design. This subject really interests me as I would love to work in publishing after I finish studying.
We looked at various magazines and analyzed what they were about through their design and we also looked at iconic magazine such as Vogue and saw how they distinguished themselves above other magazines.
We also looked at the difference between a cover that is nice to look at or to attract a certain market and concept covers which show a message.

We also looked at a magazine called Adbusters which is focused on culture jamming and cognitive dissonance which is when something that has been said is then spun around to send a message. This is used to bring a feeling of discomfort to bring you to the point of changing your attitude, beliefs or behaviors towards something to restore balance and reduce discomfort throughout the society.

Week Three // Communication

This week we looked at various way we view things in communication. We looked at how important it is to look at the background knowledge, history and culture when viewing a piece of communication to truly understand the concept and its meaning. We also looked at Semiotics which is the study of signs and how it began with the analysis of language and Graphic Designers use words and pictures as signs. This led us to Pictograms which is a sign that reveals its meaning by showing us a resemblance of an object through a picture. Pictograms are used widely in everyday life and I find it so interesting how our mind has been trained to automatically know the meaning of each sign.

"Can be direct, or inferred, or metaphorical, or carried obliquely by association."

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Pictograms.

 Then we discussed indexes which communicates through sensory features whether it be sight, hearing or by smelt and implies or directs us to something else.

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Examples of Indexes.

Bullet Hole - Suggests crime

 

Wave - suggest greeting or goodbye

Lock - suggests strength, security, trust, safety

 

Correct Tick - usually used on cleaning products packaging and suggests that the product has been approved. 

 
Seal - Suggests importance, royal

 
Tree - Suggests growth, vitality, positivity

 
Footprints - Suggests mystery
 

Week Two // Excusion to the MCA

For week two we headed off to the city and went to the Museum of Contemporary Art. I found the art quite underwhelming as most of the pieces were conceptually brilliant but visually were not amazing. One of the artworks which was really interesting and probably my favourite was a set of 5 video screens set up side by side. In the middle there was a mother praying and on the other screens were her children listening to her prayers and you could see their reaction to what she was saying. It was quite intriguing to watch their emotions on their faces. Another piece of artwork which was not so great in my opinion was an open space with a rug and a TV. The TV had vision of Muslims praying and on the rug there was a book with the lyrics to their prayer. The idea was that people should kneel down in front of the footage and read lyrics on the page. I don't agree with it simply because it was too forceful and made people kneel and pray without realizing what they are really doing. Anyway, here are a few pictures that I took.