# Design is hard.  Need some input.



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

I. AM NOT. A DESIGNER.

I repeat.

I. AM NOT. A DESIGNER.

And lord knows that if I could hire one right now, I totally would, because outsourcing sounds like a DREAM right now... but that's literally all it is in this stage of the game.  A dream.

SO.  As a result, I'm surrounded by 25,000 copies of Vogue, Bazaar, and Marie Claire, trying to gain inspiration for my Senior Pricing Guide "Magazine".

The inside pages and spreads, while not yet refined, are coming along okay.

The COVER, however... different story.

I had a totally different image than this one, as a place holder so I could start designing a few months ago, and once I dropped the actual image in all hell broke loose.

I spent a long while tweaking things, and thinking back to the "Design for photographers" book (or whatever it's called) that I read a while back, but I'm officially stuck.

This is what I got.

It's not quite there yet.

What suggestions would you make (about the design, not the image)???

I don't want to tell you specifically what I think yet, because I want to see what ya'll say... but I appreciate your input, in advance. 

:salute:


----------



## Dinardy (Jul 15, 2013)

Bolder fonts? I was having a hard time reading "WHAT TO WEAR" and "2013 PRICE LIST" The current chosen fonts just don't flow well with me. As far as information and placement on the grid, really not that bad IMO. I would bold your

...I was a yearbook editor in high school, but that was a long time ago so don't take my words too seriously lol. 

I really think this looks pretty good and is in need of only slight tweaking... but thats just me!

I think that picture is great by the way, very pretty.


----------



## Benco (Jul 15, 2013)

Dinardy said:


> Bolder fonts? I was having a hard time reading "WHAT TO WEAR" and "2013 PRICE LIST"



Yes, this ^

Otherwise it works just fine, good job.


----------



## radiorickm (Jul 15, 2013)

I agree. Not necessarily bigger, just bolder, maybe a different color. On the bottom of the page, the lettering just kind of "fades" into the picture when it goes over her seeater. Something to make it stand out a little more. It's ok on top on the hat. 

Good Job!


----------



## snowbear (Jul 15, 2013)

I agree that the type at the bottom gets lost.  Other than that I really like it - good job.


----------



## ryanwaff (Jul 15, 2013)

I really like the heading and the text in the red block, those work well. The image is also wonderful. 

However  as the other have said the font needs to be bolder. I would also align  the "Show off your style" with your heading and the text in the red  block. Not only will it look neater and more organized, it will also  allow for bleed around your image with printing. The worst thing to have  happen is to get some letters or even just parts of them cut off the  side because they were too close to the edge. Although having said that, it is also not terrible where it is either. 

With your "2013 Price List" the spacing above and below it is not equal. I would suggest moving it up slightly. 

This  one is merely a thought, don't know how well it will work, but perhaps  moving the "what to wear" heading into the red box as well, separated by  a line or something may look better, because "behind the scenes" can be  linked to what to wear for a fashion portrait, kind of like a tips  section... Right now the "what to wear" just looks slightly awkward  where it is.


----------



## Designer (Jul 15, 2013)

Emily; I like this mockup, but some of the text is hard to read, so I would just make them a little darker, and in the case of "what to wear" jus ta little bolder.  Keep the red rectangle.  Good design!


----------



## runnah (Jul 15, 2013)

Font is better suited for solid back grounds. Do you have a less busy shot?


----------



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

ryanwaff said:


> it will also  allow for bleed around your image with printing. The worst thing to have  happen is to get some letters or even just parts of them cut off the  side because they were too close to the edge. Although having said that, it is also not terrible where it is either.
> 
> ...
> 
> This  one is merely a thought, don't know how well it will work, but perhaps  moving the "what to wear" heading into the red box as well, separated by  a line or something may look better, because "behind the scenes" can be  linked to what to wear for a fashion portrait, kind of like a tips  section... Right now the "what to wear" just looks slightly awkward  where it is.



There is actually more bleed on the file than what you're seeing here.

I thought about adding another block element, but I think I only want the one there so it doesn't feel overused or repetitive.

I agree with all your other points though.

My biggest issue is figuring out what to do with "Show Off Your Style", because I feel like it's too close to the edge (Just in general, not because of the bleed), but if I move it to the right, it looks weird over the subject.

I dunno.


----------



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

Designer said:


> Emily; I like this mockup, but some of the text is hard to read, so I would just make them a little darker, and in the case of "what to wear" jus ta little bolder.  Keep the red rectangle.  Good design!



Yeah.....

Problem with this font is that there literally is no "bold" option.  I'm not sure if their is a way to fake it like with the italics in InDesign... but I couldn't find one.  I'm not totally fluent in InDesign though, so maybe there's a way.

Does anyone have any font suggestions that are close to what I have but a little bolder?  I chose what I did cause I wanted it to be kind of sleek, and it worked with the last image I had, in but once I dropped this in, it doesn't stand out enough, obviously.


----------



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

ALSO... thank you everyone for your input :sillysmi:


----------



## runnah (Jul 15, 2013)

Ebrima
EngraverGothic
Euphemia
Franklin Gothic Book

I could keep going but there are a million fonts that look like that. You should post the image so we can all have fun designing a cover.


----------



## Designer (Jul 15, 2013)

She has posted this image, but the idea of a cover was not in the works at that time.


----------



## Benco (Jul 15, 2013)

e.rose said:


> Problem with this font is that there literally is no "bold" option.  I'm not sure if their is a way to fake it like with the italics in InDesign... but I couldn't find one.  I'm not totally fluent in InDesign though, so maybe there's a way.



Can you assign the font an outline? If your software allows it that's a good quick and dirty way to go bold with fonts that have no bold option.


----------



## Patrice (Jul 15, 2013)

The magazine is called 'Seniors' so maybe your model could be slightly older. There are great looking women that are in their 50's and 60's. Unless the magazine is aimed at high school 'seniors' then the model is just fine.

My opinion only and worth exactly the purchase price.


----------



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

runnah said:


> Ebrima
> EngraverGothic
> Euphemia
> Franklin Gothic Book
> ...



If you really want to, I did post it with her other images.  Caroline Pt. 2 is what I called it, I believe.




Patrice said:


> The magazine is called 'Seniors' so maybe your model could be slightly older. There are great looking women that are in their 50's and 60's. Unless the magazine is aimed at high school 'seniors' then the model is just fine.
> 
> My opinion only and worth exactly the purchase price.



Hahaha, high school seniors.

Am I correct in recalling that you guys up north don't do senior portraits?  I feel like one of my Canadian friends told me that once.


----------



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

(Although, I agree, there ARE fabulous looking women in their 50's and 60's.  )


----------



## ryanwaff (Jul 15, 2013)

e.rose said:


> ryanwaff said:
> 
> 
> > it will also  allow for bleed around your image with printing. The worst thing to have  happen is to get some letters or even just parts of them cut off the  side because they were too close to the edge. Although having said that, it is also not terrible where it is either.
> ...



Looking at the cover again, I think that the visual hierarchy of you subheadings needs to be established more. When clients look at the cover, there should be a logical flow of what they read from first to last. At the moment I find that my eye is jumping around reading the headings in an illogical order. 

To me, the text in the redblock and the "show off your style" are both competing for the same place. Perhaps, and this will kill two birds with one stone, if you reduced the font size of "show off your style" not only will you subordinate it a bit compared to the block, but you will also make it small enough that it should align with the heading.

Looking at the "show off your style" with the italics on 'your' I get what your going for, but I would rather have the entire "show off your style" as regular. No italics. To me, it comes off as more professional that way. 

With moving the what to wear, i didn't mean add another block, I meant add it into the exiting one. However, if you are wanting to make the red block your secondary heading after "seniors" then perhaps this wont work. 

Quick and dirty way to make fonts bolder when they don't have a bold option - just duplicate the font layer and move it over to the side slightly. If there are any gaps just use the brush tool to fill them in.


----------



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

ryanwaff said:


> Looking at the cover again, I think that the visual hierarchy of you subheadings needs to be established more.



Yeah a graphic designer friend at work said the same thing.



ryanwaff said:


> Quick and dirty way to make fonts bolder when they don't have a bold option - just duplicate the font layer and move it over to the side slightly. If there are any gaps just use the brush tool to fill them in.



Whew, that is way too much work.  I'd rather just use a different font.  :lmao:

ALSO... for some reason... I never read your user name... I just saw a bunny avatar and this whole time I was thinking you were Crusso.  :lmao:

I just got home.  I'm gonna take everything you and everyone else said, and the tips I got from the guys at work and play with it some more.


----------



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

How about now?

"What to wear" is still... irking me.  I dunno why.  I dunno what to do with it.

Suggestions welcome.

I changed the font of the headlines to something that had more typeface options... I played with making text in the block a little bigger and the others a little smaller... 

Am I getting closer or did I just kill it a horrible death?  :lmao:


----------



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

Now that I'm looking at it smaller, I think I need to drop the block itself, down a hair.

But what else?


----------



## texkam (Jul 15, 2013)

Much better.


> "What to wear" is still... irking me. I dunno why. I dunno what to do with it.


Bump it straight downward, away from her wrist, about at the upper arm area. Might bump the boxed type element downward just a tiny bit too. I really think this version works.


----------



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

texkam said:


> Much better.
> 
> 
> > "What to wear" is still... irking me. I dunno why. I dunno what to do with it.
> ...



Yeah, I already dropped the boxed text down a little bit.  When I saw a more "zoomed out" version here as soon as I posted it, I saw that it was too high.  

I'll try dropping the other text a bit. :sillysmi:

.
.
.
.

Any other thoughts?


----------



## tirediron (Jul 15, 2013)

e.rose said:


> ...Am I correct in recalling that you guys up north don't do senior portraits? I feel like one of my Canadian friends told me that once.


It's becoming somewhat more popular up here, at least in the bigger centres, but it's still nothing like as popular as it is in North Mexico.


----------



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

tirediron said:


> e.rose said:
> 
> 
> > ...Am I correct in recalling that you guys up north don't do senior portraits? I feel like one of my Canadian friends told me that once.
> ...



North Mexico?

Are we talking senior portraits or Quinceñeras?  Cause those are two separate things.


----------



## tirediron (Jul 15, 2013)

"North Mexico" - the country between Canada and Mexico!  :greenpbl:


----------



## vintagesnaps (Jul 15, 2013)

'What to Wear' seems a little lost in the sleeve. It's a great photo and a good magazine cover look - the sweater has a lot of texture and pattern to it in contrast to the solid brown hair and hat and the red zig zag across the bottom seems somewhat distracting.


----------



## texkam (Jul 15, 2013)

> Any other thoughts?


Nope. I think this will work well for you.


See the dark bg patch below "what to wear"? Slide it down there.


----------



## e.rose (Jul 15, 2013)

tirediron said:


> "North Mexico" - the country between Canada and Mexico!  :greenpbl:



::WOOOOOOOOSH::

(That was the sound of that going COMPLETELY over my head)

 :lmao:


----------



## molested_cow (Jul 16, 2013)

&#8220;Seniors" sounds too.... direct, predictable, unoriginal, old, serious (I expect to find AARP ads in it)..... and these are not the adjectives that you want to use to describe energetic high schoolers in their most exciting stage of life yet. If I were you I'd use a suitable adjective as the name of the magazine with a tag line like "High school senior's guide to your blah blah blah..." Once you set the tone, you will probably have a much better idea on the photo you need as well as what kind of information you want on the cover page.

Commercial magazines aren't about simplicity, and taking certain information off the cover page may not be a bad thing. Keep it simple, approachable and exciting.


----------



## e.rose (Jul 16, 2013)

molested_cow said:


> &#8220;Seniors" sounds too.... direct, predictable, unoriginal, old, serious (I expect to find AARP ads in it)..... and these are not the adjectives that you want to use to describe energetic high schoolers in their most exciting stage of life yet. If I were you I'd use a suitable adjective as the name of the magazine with a tag line like "High school senior's guide to your blah blah blah..." Once you set the tone, you will probably have a much better idea on the photo you need as well as what kind of information you want on the cover page.
> 
> Commercial magazines aren't about simplicity, and taking certain information off the cover page may not be a bad thing. Keep it simple, approachable and exciting.



That's the photo I want.  

I'm not quite sure what you meant by the last line... I'm not sure if you're telling me to take more off... or put more on?    It's also late and I've had some wine.  :lmao:

However, I agree with you about the name.  

Problem is I have client meetings coming up in 2 weeks here and I remain uninspired as to a name for the pricing guide... so for now it's just "Seniors", because everything else I could think of reeked of stale cheese and cliché, and I'm not all about cheesiness.  And they *are* seniors.  ::shrug::

Once I figure out what I REALLY want to call it, I'll change it.  But for the time being, it's going to have to do for the next two weeks, haha.

(And I'm apparently really picky about names, because I've been working on this since I started the ORIGINAL mockup in March.  And I still have nothing.  I'm terrible with inspiring names.   )


----------



## ryanwaff (Jul 16, 2013)

e.rose said:


> Now that I'm looking at it smaller, I think I need to drop the block itself, down a hair.
> 
> But what else?



I like the new version of 'show off your style' but I would move it up a tad, because the space between it and 'seniors' is a bit too much and unbalancing to me. But only move it up a fraction, like 3 or 4 clicks of the up arrow  

With the red block, I would compress the text height-wise to give it more breathing room above and below the text in the box. Right now its a bit too close to the edges.

Another layout idea; again not sure if it will work, what were to happen if you put 'what to wear' where the '2013 pricing list' is and then put '2013 pricing list' where 'what to wear' originally was in the bottom right. But with that, maybe make 'what to wear' all on one line, no line break.


----------



## kundalini (Jul 16, 2013)

e.rose said:


> Problem is I have client meetings coming up in 2 weeks here and I remain uninspired as to a name for the pricing guide... so for now it's just "Seniors", because everything else I could think of reeked of stale cheese and cliché, and I'm not all about cheesiness. And they *are* seniors. ::shrug::
> 
> Once I figure out what I REALLY want to call it, I'll change it. But for the time being, it's going to have to do for the next two weeks, haha.
> 
> (And I'm apparently really picky about names, because I've been working on this since I started the ORIGINAL mockup in March. And I still have nothing. I'm terrible with inspiring names.  )



Add 2013 or '13 to differentiate between the AARP crowd.  I think a font that is less blocky would work too, some curviness, some fun.

I know it's too late for this year, but something to consider for the next time.  If you were to have multiple images on the cover (I'm a fan of the number three), it would allow you to have space and place the text on the cover without overlaying it on the image for a bit more clarity.


----------



## e.rose (Jul 16, 2013)

ryanwaff said:


> e.rose said:
> 
> 
> > Now that I'm looking at it smaller, I think I need to drop the block itself, down a hair.
> ...



I didn't want to move the Pricing List up, because I want that to be the thing least emphasized, which is why I hid it in the bottom corner, haha.



kundalini said:


> e.rose said:
> 
> 
> > Problem is I have client meetings coming up in 2 weeks here and I remain uninspired as to a name for the pricing guide... so for now it's just "Seniors", because everything else I could think of reeked of stale cheese and cliché, and I'm not all about cheesiness. And they *are* seniors. ::shrug::
> ...



The reason I only have one photo is because I am trying to create a very fashion "Magazine" feel, and there's generally one cover photo.  At least of all the magazines I subscribe to, haha.  That's also the reason I opted for a straighter text.  The curvy ones I tried... I couldn't take seriously.  :lmao:


----------

