Finalising my magazine

From discussion at my tutorial, I felt that I had too much writing on pages 4 & 5, which altered the tone of the magazine - they were 2 pages of full on writing which made the magazine seem quite factual rather than being a clothing catalogue.  The typeface which I used (Modern No20) is quite intense in such a large quantity & difficult to read.  I wanted to use this typeface as it matches what I used in the video & I like that it is in style of the era my work is portraying - it has a small influence of 'Art Deco' style.

This meant changing the layout of the first/last few pages of my magazine.  I still wanted to include a little information on the influence of my collection.  I removed these 2 pages, and inserted a page at the back of the magazine which was much less detailed & just gives a very slight overview to Dudley Zoo and Lubetkin.  I think the new layout gives the magazine a much more professional finish, it just about the photographs & the clothing.

I also changed the files for my magazine -I created the magazine in InDesign.  This was to give better results when printing the text.  It was slightly fuzzy when printed from photoshop as they are not vector format.  I did have difficulty printing the images from InDesign though - the pictures were no where near as sharp as when printed from photoshop.  In the end I had to line up the pages exactly in photoshop & InDesign...print the images from Photoshop & then re-feed the paper back through to print the text from InDesign.

Final Magazine Layout:

(With Screen-print '1930' plastic front cover)

I did encounter a few problems with the final printing of my magazine - the ink 'bleeding/running' onto the very edge of the paper.

I tried to trim this down, which could have worked as it would have made the pages with full pictures seem as though they had printed to the very edge.   In the process I damaged the screen print on the front cover & also shifted the pages slightly when stapling, so that when I trimmed the edges they became obviously wonky...

I reprinted the whole thing again - Including the front cover! (This time the ink did not bleed on the edges of the paper.)


Image of Final Magazine:

Preparing the Magazine

I selected the final photographs which I wanted to use in my magazine, and some screen shots from the video.

I wanted to incorporate information on Dudley Zoo & Lubetkin, in a similar way to the COS magazine as they were the influence behind the collection of clothing.

I prepared my magazine first the layout in draft to ensure I matched the pages up correctly, then I created the files in photoshop as I wanted more control over the printing of the photographs.

The paper I chose to print on was inkjet double sided matt 120gsm.  This meant I could only print a maximum of 720dpi, as 1440dpi printed too much ink on the paper and as a result went wrinkly.  The quality was perhaps not quite as good as it could have been, but the 170gsm paper was too thick & when folded left bad crease marks.

This is a copy of my first magazine layout:

I wanted to create a smart cover for my magazine to give it a high quality finish - not just for the magazine, but to reflect the 'haute couture' clothing displayed within it.  

I used a thin frosted plastic sheet (similar to acetate, and punch pockets but thicker) & screenprinted '1930' in white.  

Getting the consistency for the white paint was a little difficult, as the paint settles differently on the plastic material I used.  Standard thickness white paint left the print with small bubbles as I pulled the screen away from the surface, and if I added too much binder the paint became too thin & transparent when it dried.  I had to settle for a combination of paint/binder that left minimal bubbles without becoming too transparent.  I felt black paint was too harsh and too dominating in front of the image.

Unfortunately the paint is a little delicate on the plastic surface and scratches easily, so looking back it would have been better to do the screen- print inside the cover so it would protect itself.

I think the slightly transparent look leaves a very subtle ghosty finish, a nice compliment/parallel to what is left of the bear ravine & other Tecton structures at Dudley Zoo .