Intro to Editorial Design
Last week, our class started to experiment with typesettings. Using the same piece of text and information, we created 28 different designs using different variables. The different variables include font type, font size, leading, optical, tracking, and text alignment. We then made other designs with 2, 3, and 4 column grids with both texts that were left aligned and justified left-aligned.
We looked over all the designs printed out next to each other and saw how by just changing the leading, font size, and alignment, the difference, and feeling of the text was altered. Left alignment worked the best in comparison to the right or center alignment since English is often read left to right. The font size 10 and 12 was preferred over font size 14. Many classmates noted how font size 14 was a bit too much and harder to get to the next piece of text we were looking at. Leading around 12 was also preferred. The smaller the leading, the more cluster it felt and the more unreadable it gets. The larger the leading, the more space and time in between text it takes the viewer to read the next thing.
We then moved on to our next assignment, “Editorial Design”. We are to pick an article and design the text across 4 spread or 8 pages with photos and other designs. I am currently still debating on some articles, but some stood out to me. From beauty, there is an article called, “Mask and Veil: Why Beauty Matters”. The article goes in-depth about how throughout media, women and beauty are often utilized to “cover” and desensitize the audience from the real tragedy that occurred and how beauty is evaluated. From Homelessness, there is an article called “Homelessness” by Anne-Marie Willis, who discusses the idea of homelessness and how it’s defined, the economic gap between rich and poor, and the design of cities to prevent homelessness.
