sorry here it is

Close your eyes and have fun. Set some random tabs,
mess with leading, rotate a text box or two a few
degrees and stay away from the fold. Sandpaper
could be good too. Oh, and don't forget to not clean
your scanner.

This job could be done with just 5 text boxes.

Is this for a particular magazine?

-sean michael

Just say no, Cheryl. Just say no.

Marc, do you think this kind of layout looks bad?

I am not trying to copy someone's work, it just inspired me to try something very different to what I would usually do (that is, very neat and minimal).

Sean, I have a project at uni for double page spreads, this is the 1st time I'm using grids (eek!). I chose to redesign an article from Glamour mag about breaking up a friendship, but we don't have to adhere to the style of Glamour at all. That's why I considered doing something like the above example because I want it to have edge and attitude. It's advice about how to dump a bad friend!

Thanks for replying I was about to ask if anyone was there!

Marc,

What do you mean Just say no? Do you
hate this?

Cheryl,

I would advise that if this your first time using
grids to choose a different style to emulate -
like one that actually uses grids. Try, even if
you think it is boring, a more traditional, structured
and formal layout. The pay back will be ten fold for
building upon a foundation of solid structure. After
you have studied strict layout you will find that you
will be able to create an ad like the one above with
more understanding of what it is you are doing.
Perhaps you can even insert visual jokes at that point.

I am sure you have heard it before, but the rules have
to learned before they can be broken. (This is a
generalization really. Instinct is also very important.)

But again, challenge yourself a bit more and
perhaps even try a design style that you hate.
I think what you learn will be worth your suffering.

This link would be worth checking out.
http://www.imon.org/mueller-brockmann/

-sean michael

Oh yea, whatever you choose to do, just use square
textboxes. Funky shaped ones will just be a whole
bunch of trouble with no real reason for having them.

Oops. I just reread that you usually do neat and minimal
work. Well, you should find that link all the more interesting.
Good luck.

-smc

Cheryl, I'm a magazine junkie (and design
them for a living), so I saw way too much of
this stuff back in the heyday of David Carson
and Raygun.

Not that I have anything against asymmetry
per se. In fact, a "neat and minimal" spin on
this style could be pretty interesting.

Oddly shaped text boxes are handy if you have
a specific shape in mind for a block of text.
That way you can change the size/leading of
the text without having to re-break lines or set
new tabs.

Oddly shaped text boxes are handy if you have
a specific shape in mind for a block of text.
That way you can change the size/leading of
the text without having to re-break lines or set
new tabs.

or, you could place an empty "oddly shaped"
box over your square text box that has a run
around applied to it. Just a diffrent way of
working - same effect. I like to keep my text
boxes square. It seems cleaner to me. Maybe
not however.

I used to magazines myself. I kind of miss it
except for the ads. I hate the ads.

Actually, most people around here would use
InDesign. Don't let them know we are talking
about Quark. Shhhhh...

-smc

I am going to try a more formal grid first before I try things as crazy as that. I did try to use a 3 column grid for a double page spread, but my tutors said it was too "neat" for the subject and it should look more emotional..I'm working on it!

I see that most of the people on this forum have years more experience than me, that is why I am finding your advice invaluable.

The link was very useful and similar to the work I have been doing this year.

Sean, since you are good at mags, maybe you could help me with Quark. I am designing 2 double page spreads where each page measures just under A3 size. But my printer only prints A4.. Do you know a way I can print two halves of my spread so that I can stick them together?

Why InDesign over Quark? Just wondering.

Sean, since you are good at mags...

Who said I was good? I mean...
[ with a raised eyebrow ]
you must have spotted some of my work, of course.

I have no idea how print from your printer Cheryl.
Use an X-acto and spray mount. Good luck.

<i> Why InDesign? </i>
It's all about the type.

-smc

Oh, the perils of being on Easter vacation. No tutors to harrass. ^_^

Thanks.

Cheryl, is that example one of David Carson's? As a student at art school (very recently!), I was quite excited and inspired by the work of David Carson. He managed to make typographic layouts into beautiful paintings. My views about typographic design might have changed since then, but I still appreciate his work from that period very much; it was a refreshing experiment that broke away from the minimal and grided layouts. He once said "don't mistake legibility for communication". But I think legibility is a requirement for the basic function of typography: type is a carrier of textual information. Type ceases to be type as soon as that linguistic function is lost. David Carson's deconstructive typography was painting. It communicates at a different level from what we think of as traditional typography.

Now, do layouts have to be 'deconstructive' in order to be 'emotional'? Not at all, I think. Emotion could be communicated in many different ways, through the use of space, sizes, colours, typefaces, weights.

It's interesting to see that deconstructive type is not actually that easy to make on the computer! Modern computer software were made to be grid-friendly! And we are conditioned to design accordingly. It's interesting...

Simply set to print with tiling in Quark on your A4 printer.

>> "don't mistake legibility for communication"

And don't mistake hooligan artistry for it either...

hhp

Well put, Keith. I hope she checks back.

-smc

Hi all,
I agree, very well put, Keith! :o)
The example was from an online magazine called BEAST. http://www.ths.nu/beast
I found it inspiring even though some of it looks quite crude at times..the content is random and bizarre, but interesting nonetheless. Tell us what you think of the site. Although it seems this kind of typography; a la David Carson etc, is dead in some of your eyes? *cries* ! 'Cause some of my friends are still trying this stuff out.

Where do you think magazine design is heading in terms of style, grids n all? Does anyone know any good examples online of grids and/or double page spreads?

Keith, the tiling worked! Cheeeers! And yes it is rather hard to create "deconstructive" type on computer.