Response: Prototype presentation

This week we finally went to Des Moines to present our magazine prototypes. While Home Canvas had some constructive criticism, we were told that we "hit a home run with our magazine." I almost cried I was so happy. Overall I was really interested in the types of criticisms they gave to groups in general. Since I was on the design side and not the publishing side, I was shocked by some of the questions they asked about publishing such as how they would get people to add them on Facebook and how Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are not actually free media when you need to hire someone to run them 24/7. It's one of those things that I overlook when thinking about what goes in to making a magazine because I have gotten so caught up in making sure it looks good. I definitely need to take those kinds of things into consideration when I'm thinking about the costs of magazine in the future.

Critique: Prototype Q&A spread

This week my biggest accomplishment was figuring out a way to make my Home Canvas Q&A spread work. I think I finally nailed it down, although I have a few more tweaks and touches to add. Here's how the spread looks now:

I am really liking how the two images look on the right page of the spread. I think it really helps contrast all the text in the Q&A. It also helps draw the focus instead of the headshot. While I want to showcase the woman who the Q&A is with, that image is so paling and boring. I wanted to use the two images on the right to really bring color into the spread. I also like how the inset photo looks. I was worried it might look disjointed, but I think the two images pair well together and make it work.
What do you guys think? Hopefully I'm headed on the right track!

Critique: Home Canvas Prototype

This week I worked a lot on my Home Canvas department prototypes. I think they're coming along really well now. I want to play a bit more with some of the color choices and maybe adding a few more visuals, but I definitely think they make more sense and are more cohesive now. Here's how they look:






My biggest issue so far is just playing with the Q&A. I really want a different photo (preferably an environmental shot) but I don't think that is going to be possible. The photo just does not work well with the Q&A. I also am still working on the organization of the page. I'm hoping that my publishing group tomorrow will have some suggestions.

For tomorrow I am also creating a masthead/editor's letter page for Home Canvas. I also am creating a first draft of the Tiger Hotel feature for Vox and a potential cover for the ROTC and Fire feature issue on 4/12. I should probably get off the blog and get back to work. Wish me luck!