OUGD404 // Large Publication 03

Continuing from the use of Hef-tone to complement colour in my smaller publication on CMYK, I chose to incorporate vivid colours inspired by their outfit. After to speaking to tutors, it's prominent on my mind that lookbooks and picture books have the ability to bore the viewer very quickly. With this in mind I want to do something really experimental and different, still incorporating design rules to produce an unusual and visually stimulating outcome. As general lookbooks/magazine shots or style-finder publications stick to the natural colours of the image, I feel this would be a good factor to explore hopefully adding a more vibrant (and memorable) quality.

The editing style that is displayed in these images links the concept into the imagery, by incorporating a colour filter onto the photos gives it a slightly more diverse appearance. This concept links to the artistic influence of the location and the subject, resembling the style in the imagery by replicating the diverse colours and tones used in the scene. By leaving out Vernon Street, another subject link is created by all photographs being taken in public spaces of LCA Blenheim Walk. Each photographic composition is intended to empower the subject.

Experimenting with Layout //

As I want the publication to be engaging and visually engaging, I wanted to explore popular contrasting colours used to suggest a instantly light hearted tone.

Introduced to a calming spacious ascetic, the deeper you delve the colour enhances.

I tried to hint at the real outfit and the colour realism by composing a smaller zoom-in next to the Hef-tone. A symmetrical double page ascetic has been tampered with, giving a break up in page styles and creating a slightly un-linear composition of pages, which is hopefully more engaging.

Still including traditional publication styles and full bleed imagery. As the outfit was predominantly black, I felt a monochrome stylisation would introduce a element of calm. The quote is surrounded by negative space and injected with colour, hinting at traditional fashion publications ascetic.

Possible front covers //

As the content of the book is very striking in colour and composition, I felt adding a calming exterior would complement the 'in your face' middle, possibly evening lulling the viewer into a false sense of security by the juxtaposition.

Alternate cover options, differing from the yellow. As the inside of the publication is very vivid and colourful i'd like to offset this, whilst providing a calming natural space. This could be complemented by toned paper, possibly even a sleek wrap around casing, enhancing the tactile quality I hope to achieve in production. 

Experimental colours with three main typefaces, Din and Baskerville (regular and SemiBold-i-). Prior to deciding on colour, I experimented with the effectiveness of photoshopping the people out of the images, leading to a catalogue of floating clothes. As my photoshop skills are not at the level where I can remake the image via clone stamp etc, I felt a white/flat background would be too much. To still incorporate this style I experimented to see how effective it would be as a cover, yet in a critique it was raised that this presents a misleading theme to the viewer, so I subsequently scrapped the idea.

Inserts //

As many popular magazines contain something the viewer can take away with them or pin on their wall, I thought i'd give an element of this towards the Look book. In the critique some peers said that even though the removal idea (image above) was not appropriate to be content, there was no reason not to feature it elsewhere.

Final design chosen for its simplicity, varied type alignment and monotone contrast with the rest of the publication.

As a magazine insert I opted for a post card style, which will be complete with a stamp on the flip side, adding a textural quality. My intention with this is to create a souvenir people can keep, smaller and more versatile than the entire lookbook. This can either be sent easily as a postcard or pinned up for decorative purposes. The small plant on the back side is the plantlifecreative logo, adding a subtle ambiguity for the unknowing, yet still relating to my personal branding.