Composition

For this project we were each given a page out of a magazine at random. We then had to replicate that page as best as we could using Indesign. Overall I feel it came out well. The most trouble I had was getting the size right. With the photographs if the size or resolution is off the whole image will look distorted. Also the font if the size is too big or too small the whole layout is thrown off. The style of font is important too, some are easier or harder to read. The most important thing is you have to keep your audience in mind, thats whose buying the magazine after all. There are dozens of magazines out there some of my favorites are National Geographic or Digital Photography. I never realized how much work goes into a single page.

Just a little color

For our next assignment we were to take our black and white work and add color. I thought the easy part was that I did not have to change the originally work just add color to the shapes. This turned out to be harder than I expected. As I was adding bits of color to each piece I found myself wanting to move things around. It’s amazing how adding certain colors throws the whole composition of if it’s in the wrong place. The  difference in the color of the circles makes each piece unique. In the cool  one the big piece falls back and the free form shapes take over. With the warm tones the red really pops but the big circle in the upper left is still the main focus.It was interesting to me to see how the different shades work with or do not work with one another. A website I found helpful was 
http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html. When you look at the color wheel together you can see what works and what clashes.

Shapes of Shade

The first project for Visual Journalism had its challenges. The biggest was getting use to Indesign; anther adobe program was rather difficult. I consider myself well trained in both Photoshop and bridge but with anything new it just takes practice. After I got the hang of the initial tools in Indesign my black and white piece started to come together. I chose to use circles to be the dominating shape but I incorporated some free hand flowing shapes to break up the pattern. Anytime you use back and white I feel that everything becomes simplified and you really begin to focus on the layout or the shapes themselves. Overall I am satisfied with my first attempt at creating something with Indesign.