Darren,
I did a search for ABC1 but didn’t come up with anything - is it tourist publication?
Aside from that I think that the use of one colour (brick red in this instance and tints thereof) and the consistent placement of the masthead could link all editions together. There is plenty of colour in the stock photos.
I wonder if a serif typeface might be more appropriate for the body copy? If the cover is advertised in the newspaper, the sanserif face should hold together better at a smaller size. The choice may also depend on the target market for this publication. For instance, a senior citizen’s version might need text to be set at a larger size and in a face with a low x-height. High-brow covers a fairly large group, IMHO.
I don’t like the reversed out pullquotes, they stand out a little bit too much compared to the other elements on the page. More emphasis could be given to the events in each state too. Sometimes, a tourist might base their trip around one event.
HTH

David

I don’t think that you need a separate face for the headlines; the heavier weights of Meta provide a tremendous amount of contrast with the text weight, resulting in a design that’s highly functional and harmonious. Meat also fits into the “highbrow” category because it has warm, humanist characteristics that most neo-grotesques lack.

The pullouts are creating tension that could be resolved by bringing the lines together into a single shape and providing a little more breathing room for ascenders and descenders at the top and bottom.

For your second color, try something with a hint of aqua that provides a relaxing alternative to the orange/red scheme, and will also allow you to mix the colors as complements now and then. It will also work with the outdoor shots you’ll be using.

Regarding your grid and advertisements, you’re already breaking pages down into more than two columns, so why not just bump up the number of columns for flexibility?

Thanks guys!

First off ABC1 is a British socio-economic grouping referring to the high-end of the market i.e. top earners, lots of disposable income, buy prestige brands etc.

Thanks sincerely for the feedback. I have introduced Minion as a extra face - I agree that Meta is pretty good however the publisher still sees serifs as more high-end than a sans.

Colour wise some of the states are blue so bringing in an aqua although great for the red and orange state colours won’t work with the blue ones. So I’m using a fairly ubquitous tan colour.

Heres a reworked version - I couldn’t post another pdf hence the jpg

Look forward to your comments

Sorry had to put a new post to show the rework have a look in the design forum under mag redesign