Task 4
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This document contains 4 layouts created in InDesign along with analyses and reflections. Layout 1 uses 3 columns with images acting as headers and footers. Layout 2 improves on guidelines and balance with a header image spanning 3 columns. Layout 3 takes inspiration from fashion magazines with more white space, a single offset image, and simplistic structure. Layout 4 experiments with a 4 column layout, half page image, and use of color across elements. The extension task breaks rules by creating an asymmetric margin and placing elements at angles to achieve an experimental look.
Task 4
- 3. This is the first page that I created using the program InDesign, I was told to produce a page with three columns, once I had adjusted the page settings to match this criteria I was then able to go on to think about the layout of my text and images. I created content boxes on the page for where different images and columns would be positioned so that I could think about what kind of image : text ratio I would have within the page. After doing this I then sourced two different images that would be used within the page and would fit in with the layout that I desired. Because I had chosen to have two images which would lye vertically across the bottom and top of the page, acting as a header and footer, this meant that I had to use Photoshop to adjust one of the images (the footer) so that it would look fitting with the page. After I had done this I used the content boxes to place the images into their correct place within the spread, using the guidelines I made sure that they were both in line with the margins. I then sourced some lorem ipsum text to insert into the page, and added the text into the columns which I has already created, I used the guidelines to make sure that they were all equally spaced out throughout the page and flowed well. I added a pull out quote to break the text up which was a larger size to the rest of the text and works well with the use of a drop capital at the beginning of the copy to create balance for the eye when looking at the page. I think that for my first attempt at using InDesign, this was a good attempt at creating a page which could be use within a magazine or any other publication, however I have not properly used the rulers and guidelines to their full potential to create a balanced piece of work. I think that I could have explored the program more thoroughly in order to create a product of better quality, however producing more page layouts would help me to do this LAYOUT 1
- 5. LAYOUT 2 For my second page layout I decided to use different guideline to create a more interesting spread, when I opened up the blank document I changed the columns and rows to 3x3 with a 2mm margin. With my first layout I liked how the images were acting as headers and footers to the page, so I decided to have one image was a header across the top of the page, so the first thing that I did was create a content box which took over the whole top section of the page (the first row and three columns) the image that I placed into this section is a very good example of how guidelines are very important, you can see that there are 6 subjects within the image, and when you look at the guidelines on the image you can see that the subjects are so evenly distributed within the photograph that two of the subjects are featured within each column of the page. After I had the image in place I then went on to creating content boxes for where I would have the copy within the page, I chose for there to be three columns of text, however they would be broken up with a pull out quote at the top of the second column and a small image at the bottom of the third column. I made sure that both the pill out quote and the photograph fitted into one specific section created by the overlap of the rows and columns, meaning that they were the same width of the text too, making the page as a whole seem more balanced and even. I then added the text to the columns and used a drop capital at the beginning of the copy and again at the start of the third column to add some interest to the text itself and make the spread look more aesthetically pleasing. I think that after creating this layout I have become more aware of how guidelines can be used to ensure that a page looks balanced and in line, comparing this to my first layout you can see how the use of rows as well as columns helps to create a page which is level and ordered.
- 7. LAYOUT 3 After my first two creations I decided to produce something a little more simplistic and clean looking, I started by looking at different page layouts found in fashion magazines and particularly liked the style of the articles that had more white space within them, which made the spread seem more stylized as well as classic and clean. With this in mind I decided to source a hand drawn fashion sketch that would be used within a magazine relevant to the subject. Once I had done this I then began to produce a blank document within InDesign which only had two columns and three rows, I thought that this kind of structure would be a god base for a more simplistic spread. I decided that the image I sourced would be the only image on the page and would be situated to the right hand side and the title would be opposite on the left as the eye reads left to right and I thought that this kind of situation would make the page seem more reader-friendly. I used the guidelines of the rows and columns as well as extra rulers to ensure that the title was positioned in the center of the first unit, and applied a very feminine font that I think aesthetically matched the theme of the image text to the text, I also added a crosshead underneath the header with a left orientation within the text box which I think adds balance to the header and adds interest. I then simply created content boxes for the copy which filled the rest of the two columns without over lapping on the image or the title, and made sure that there was a small amount of white space once the text had finished as I wanted to add a blob to the page. I decided to just add a small graphic of a love heart to the bottom left hand corner of the page, however I made sure that I used guidelines to make sure that this graphic was in the correct position within the unit to ensure that it would not offset the rets of the page. Even though this page is very simplistic, I think that the concept works well and that I have begun to understand more how even if there is a lot of white within a spread, a page can still look effective and guidelines can help to make sure that parts of the page are placed correctly.
- 9. LAYOUT 4 I decided to create one last layout to make sure that I feel comfortable with using InDesign and understand how to use different elements within the program to get the best results I can in the future. I created a page with four columns and two rows to try and use a different structure to what I had already produced within my other layout experiments. I proceeded to use content boxes to start to piece together the placement of my text and images, I thought it would be interesting to source and image that could be placed down the first two columns of the page, this would mean that it would take up half of the page and that the text : image ratio would be even. I found an image that fitted perfectly within the content box and was both colourful, then I decided that the title should reflect a colour from the image, so wen on to create the header using the guidelines and placed it at the top of the next two columns, extending over both of them and extracted a red colour from the image and applied it to the text. Then I went onto create two content boxes for the rest of the copy which would be in two even columns placed next to one another. I thought that having the text in a reverse colour (black background with white font) would add an extra element to the page, and adding a drop capital to start the article which was the same colour as the red used in the title would tie the whole thing together. I included a pull out quote towards the end of the copy to break up the text and has the quotation marks in the same red so that it was more noticeable. I don’t think that this is the strongest of my layouts, but I have explored different ways of setting out a page and how colours and images can be a large influence on how copy is accepted within a piece of informative copy.
- 10. EXTENSION TASK
- 11. EXTENSION TASK This was an extension task where I was asked to use a 3x3 grid and to try to ‘break the rules’, this meant that I didn’t not have to keep to the guides that I set within the program InDesign. I started off my opening up a blank document and setting the 3x3 grid as instructed, I then decided to create my own margin which would be larger on one side than the other, giving an offset feel to the page as a whole. I did this just by creating a black content box and altered the positioning of it so that it created this effect. I then sourced an image that would be suitable that could be used for my margin as the white space did not look right and I thought that with the black background a splash of colour would look interesting. I found a tie-dye image and placed it into the document making sure that it fit the content box I had designated for it and ensured that I changed the arrangement of the object and sent the layer to the very back of the page so that everything else would sit on top of it. After this I then decided to add an image into the page, I sourced one and placed it into the top left corner, I changed the angle of the image however kept the frame in place, meaning that the original image was now on a slant however seemed as though this was meant to be as it is in a conventional frame, this gives a more interesting feel to the photograph. After this I went on to focus on my copy, I had decided that I would put a large emphasis on using a drop capital, so created the drop capital and made it span a whole unit (with a whit coloring so that it would be legible on the black background, I then put the rest of my copy into the final 1 ½ columns. I think that the arrangement of the margins, copy and imagery of this layout is very experimental and would work within an artistic magazine/newspaper product, or even a fanzine as the layout has a rebellious feel as this is what was set within the brief of this extension task.