Creative Layout

As a creative magazine, I wanted to keep the layout fresh and current which meant avoiding generic magazine layouts such as standard content pages and being restricted to guided columns and margins.

A big source of inspiration for profile magazine layout was from Creative Review mag whose clever use of typography and page structure shows just how experimental you can be with a blank page.

Below is the "contents" page of my magazine set out in a "family-tree" style to deviate from the standard style used within many magazines. 

In terms of the page layouts, I really wanted to keep them as clean as possible. My aim was to avoid messy layering and unnecessary images. When I'm reading a magazine I am simply interested in the relevant images and the context of the writing and that they are visually cohesive. This is why I will not be using page numbers, master page layouts or recurring features; all of which tend to lead to generic page layouts. When I thought about it, how often do magazine readers actively use the page number/content reference? 

Whilst professional standard typography is essential in any magazine, particularly creative ones, I don't want to go to the extent of ensuring all lines of text are flush (see body text in the above layout, the staggered left-alignment of the text is intentional) or being restricted to such formal typographic rules. The main type features that I will be controlling throughout is the tracking (space between each individual letter) and leading (the vertical space between each line of type). 

As there are 3 very defined sections to my magazine which although linked by the common notion of "adornment" are quite paradoxical therefore I will need to explain my intentions for each section clearly through dividing articles which will lead from one section to the next. I will utilise my writing skills to lead the reader from one feature to the next through the use of dialogue (both body text and creative typography).