Here’s my last design for my Magazine cover. As I will mention later in this post, as a designer I like simple designs but they need to have an eye catching thing as well.
I got my inspiration from Bauhaus. I think it’s still the most me even though I like to explore new eras and styles as well. For the name of the magazine I found a nice typeface that carries the Bauhaus style. Otherwise the layout is simple, the typeface is all sans serif and it uses a photograph that is placed to cut the name of the Magazine. All unnecessary is left out.
As feedback a tutor mentioned that the parkers could be experiment a bit more, maybe italic. I will try that still and work with those more. Otherwise the layout was getting compliments.
I sometimes don’t know why I’m doing this when I could take the easiest way and just design what I feel the most comfortable and, well, easiest way of doing but while I’m learning, getting new information and be able to explore new things as well why would I. I could spend the time to my Mandatory Assignment, especially when I think that I just complicate the things so much that the end result doesn’t benefit from it either (I could spent the time to work with one topic and go deeper with that one). I just do have to believe that in the end I’ll become better designer and have more assets in my pocket to work with.
The thing is that I use to know exactly what is my style and I still do know what I lke the most. But at the moment I want to explore more, add more, do something else as well, be able to fulfill different customers hopes and requests. That’s why I try to come off from my comfort zone (I think the first one was the Mandatory Assignment 0) and try something else as well. I can always come back to to “my style” and I do think in the end it is shining through no matter what.
So when this weeks assignment was to design a cover for our own magazine. I found at least three different time ears and designers that inspired me. From the design styles Bauhaus would be the one that suits me the best, clean, simple, straight forward, easy to copy. But then once and awhile I get bored with it and try to find something to add to that. And this time I found Louise Fili. I loved her colours, modern designs, Italian influence and Art Deco touch to her designs. And the fact that she’s a woman designer. Most of the designers in the past are men. I would love to try her style but for my magazine cover it’s not me – at least yet.
I especially looked female designers and I do like some of the Vavara Stepanova’s fabric patterns but otherwise Constructivism as a style is not what would represent me or my style.
We are living at the moment in California again after living in China for three years. That’s me as well, the beaches, surfing, vivid and old style colours etc. So I run into Joseph Binder and his posters. He was a Austrian-born (1898) designer, who influenced both in Europe and in USA. He used compositional principles derived from Cubism and De Stijl to his works. I like the details and simplicity of the posters he have made. The other one was A.M. Cassandre and his posters that had influences from Surrealism and Cubism. They were popular in Europe and the US during the 1930s. Then I have to mention Mehemed Agha who was influencing many of the US Magazines as a art director (Vogue, Vanity Fair, House & Garden).
We were also asked to look back to what we have learned during this period. We did deepened our skills to draw with Illustrator and when ever there’s a change I like to use those and explore the ways I’m able to use my new skills. So I combined two together and started to design a illustration for the magazine.
Here’s my Modern American design influenced magazine cover. I have to mention that this Magazine cover is not finished. I didn’t end up tuning it to the end while it didn’t quite feel like me.
PAULIINA VIINIKANOJA 