The Look

I ain’t liking this!...

After much research involving various brands of magazines it becomes very clear that there are some definite “Do’s” and “Do Not’s”. The target genera were Art/ Film/ Photography. Something vintage, rough yet professional and controlled.

“WIRED” combines three genres; art (fine), media (fine) and physics (where did that come from) this strange mix fails to appeal to any real niche audience, therefore making this a FAIL in the world of publications. Additionally the masthead may catch your eye but as soon as it does the massive colour contrast accompanied with the sharp edges hurts your eyes and makes it look nasty! More over the compact writing at the bottom of the page and in other places makes it look like a lot of disorganized writing making it look messy and armature.  Finally (although I could go on coz this cover just annoys me) the background is colorless and lifeless and makes me think what’s inside will be much like this. Not only wouldn’t I but this I would wonder why I wasted those 5 seconds in the shop looking at the cover.

Looking better

The “Digital Photographer” has a much better cover page in my opinion, as it’s masthead blends well with the background image, as does the information at the side refereeing to what is inside the magazine. Although the color schemes are very similar this one is put to better use, as they are not afraid to blend the colors in an attempt to make it easier on the eyes. They repeat the colors used so they are easily accepted by our visual perception. However some problems are that the smoke in the image (witch I like) makes me expect the rest of the magazine to be just as smooth as the smoke as does the soft lighting in the photograph.

Things to aim for

• ·       Flowing Masthead that is intresting and easy on the eye.
• ·       Use colors in the text that have already appeared in the photograph
• ·       If needed control the lighting
• ·       Keep text limited