Graphic Design Tutorial: Typography Design & Art Direction

Summary

In this video, Chris Doe provides insights on art direction, guiding designers while allowing them to grow. He collaborates with Min on a new newspaper design, critiquing layouts and typography. Chris emphasizes the importance of layout balance, readability, and visual hierarchy. He suggests modern design elements, such as type overlap and negative space, and stresses the need for content density and legibility. The session concludes with a focus on creating a cohesive magazine look from cover to spread, aiming for a balance between expressive and clean design.

Takeaways

• 🎨 **Empowerment in Art Direction**: The script emphasizes the importance of giving clear direction to designers while empowering them to make changes, fostering their growth.
• 🖥️ **Hands-Off Approach**: Chris discusses the need to avoid a hands-on approach, instead guiding designers to achieve the desired outcome without micromanaging.
• 📰 **Editorial Layout Focus**: The conversation centers around the design of an editorial spread for a new business initiative, highlighting the process of creating layouts.
• ✂️ **Typography and Layout Critique**: Detailed feedback on typography, including font choices, spacing, and alignment, is provided to improve the layout's overall aesthetic and readability.
• 🔍 **Iterative Design Process**: The script showcases an iterative design process, with multiple layouts being reviewed and refined based on feedback.
• 🚫 **Avoiding Overlapping Elements**: It's mentioned that overlapping elements can sometimes detract from the design, emphasizing the need for clarity and purpose in layout composition.
• 🔄 **Repeating Visual Elements**: The importance of repeating visual elements for harmony and cohesion in design is discussed, suggesting that design elements should tie together.
• 📈 **Modern vs. Traditional**: The script contrasts modern design elements with traditional ones, such as serif and sans-serif fonts, and their impact on the overall design feel.
• 📏 **Grid Systems and Layout Structure**: The use of grid systems and layout structure is highlighted as a key component in creating clean, organized, and visually appealing designs.
• ⏳ **Time Management in Design**: The script touches on the importance of managing time effectively in design projects, ensuring that deadlines are met without compromising quality.

Q & A

What is the main topic of discussion in the video script?

The main topic of discussion in the video script is about giving direction to designers in a way that empowers them, specifically focusing on the process of art direction for an editorial spread for a new business idea.

Who are the speakers in the video script?

The speakers in the video script are Chris Doe and Jose Car, who discuss the design process and provide feedback on layout designs.

What is the purpose of the editorial spread they are working on?

The purpose of the editorial spread is for a new business initiative that will be launched later, which is currently being designed with the working title 'thirst'.

What is the significance of the word 'thirst' in the context of the script?

In the context of the script, 'thirst' is the working title for the masthead of the new newspaper they are designing as part of their business initiative.

What design elements does Chris Doe critique in the layouts presented by Min?

Chris Doe critiques various design elements such as typography, use of white space, alignment, the balance between modern and old-fashioned styles, and the overall cohesion and harmony of the layout.

Why does Chris suggest avoiding centered type in modern layouts?

Chris suggests avoiding centered type in modern layouts because it can appear old-fashioned and is less preferred in contemporary design, where justified left type is often used to create a cleaner and more modern look.

What is the importance of repeating elements in a design according to Chris Doe?

Repeating elements in a design is important as it creates harmony and cohesion, tying different parts of the layout together and providing a sense of unity and consistency.

What advice does Chris give regarding the use of bold separators in a layout?

Chris advises against using bold separators like thick black lines as they can create a hard break and trap white space unnecessarily. Instead, he suggests using thinner lines or different colors to separate content areas more subtly.

How does Chris Doe approach giving feedback to designers in a way that promotes growth?

Chris Doe approaches giving feedback by focusing on specific design elements, providing constructive criticism, and suggesting improvements without micromanaging. He emphasizes understanding the overall layout and the details, allowing the designer to learn and grow from the feedback.

What is the deadline mentioned for the designer to show the updated layouts?

The deadline mentioned for the designer to show the updated layouts is the end of the day tomorrow, with a follow-up update scheduled for Thursday.

What is the final task given to the designer at the end of the script?

The final task given to the designer is to go back and look at the feedback provided, consider the covers and elements liked, and create spreads that reflect the amount of content needed for the magazine, ensuring the design is cohesive from cover to cover.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Design Direction and Empowerment

Chris begins by addressing the challenge of providing direction to designers in a way that empowers them to make desired changes without micromanaging. He emphasizes the importance of feedback for designers' growth. The episode's focus is on creating an editorial spread for a new business initiative. Chris and Jose, the designer, discuss the design process, with Chris providing feedback on various layouts, typography, and design elements. Chris suggests improvements like adjusting the angle of the masthead, improving table of contents, and modifying the legal copy placement for better readability and modern layout aesthetics.

05:00

🔍 Refining Layouts and Typography

This paragraph delves deeper into the critique and refinement of design layouts. Chris and Jose analyze different design layouts, discussing the use of bold headlines, subheads, and body copy. Chris points out issues like overlapping elements, the need for more modern typography, and the importance of not centering type in modern layouts. He also suggests removing unnecessary design elements and improving the use of white space to enhance the overall design. The conversation highlights the iterative process of design improvement and the attention to detail required in typography and layout.

10:00

🖋️ Typography and Layout Critique

The discussion continues with a focus on typography and layout. Chris critiques the use of certain typefaces, suggesting that some may feel outdated or not fit the modern aesthetic they are aiming for. He advises on the importance of figure-ground relationships, the use of color, and the activation of space within the layout. Chris provides specific examples of how to improve the design by adjusting type size, using color overlays, and creating a more cohesive look through the repetition of design elements.

15:06

📰 Editorial Layout and Design Strategy

Chris shifts the focus to the overall strategy for the editorial layout of a magazine or newspaper. He discusses the need for a high content density, the importance of not spreading content too thinly, and the desire for a variety of content from different writers. He emphasizes the need for a dynamic and engaging layout that can accommodate various types of content while maintaining a cohesive design language. The conversation also touches on the importance of creating a layout that can be easily navigated by the reader.

20:08

🗂️ Finalizing Design Elements and Feedback

In the final paragraph, Chris reviews the design elements and provides feedback on the overall composition of the layouts. He discusses the use of angles, the repetition of design motifs, and the importance of proportion and balance in the design. Chris also emphasizes the need for the designer to feel empowered to say no if the given timeline is not feasible, highlighting the importance of a healthy working relationship. The paragraph concludes with Chris setting a deadline for the next update and encouraging the designer to explore and finalize the design based on the feedback provided.

25:12

📆 Setting Deadlines and Encouraging Exploration

The last paragraph focuses on setting realistic deadlines and encouraging the designer to explore various design options. Chris provides a specific timeline for the next update and emphasizes the importance of not overwhelming the designer with too many explorations at this stage. Instead, he asks for a more concrete representation of the magazine from cover to cover. The conversation ends on a light note with Chris playfully threatening to scare Jose, adding a touch of humor to the otherwise serious design critique session.

Keywords

💡Art Direction

Art direction refers to the visual guidance provided by an art director to artists and designers to achieve a specific look or feel for a project. In the video, Chris Doe discusses the importance of giving direction to designers in a way that empowers them to make changes and grow, rather than micromanaging. This concept is central to the video's theme of empowering designers while maintaining the quality and vision of the project.

💡Typography

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible and appealing when displayed. The video script frequently mentions typography, emphasizing its importance in design. Chris critiques various layouts, discussing the use of fonts like 'Futura' and 'Univers', and how they contribute to the overall design and readability of the editorial spread.

💡Layout

A layout in design refers to the arrangement of visual elements on a page or screen. The video's narrative revolves around reviewing and critiquing different layouts for an editorial spread. Chris Doe provides feedback on the use of space, alignment, and the relationship between text and images, highlighting the critical role of layout in effective communication and aesthetic appeal.

💡Masthead

The masthead is the title area at the top of a newspaper or magazine page, often including the name and issue number. In the script, the discussion around the 'thirst' masthead and its design treatment exemplifies the attention to detail required in editorial design, where even the masthead's angle and typography are subject to critique to ensure it aligns with the publication's identity.

💡Figure-Ground Ambiguity

Figure-ground ambiguity is a design principle where it's not clear which elements are the focal point (figure) and which are the background (ground). Chris Doe mentions this concept when discussing how to create depth in a two-dimensional space by overlapping elements of different colors, which can enhance the visual interest and complexity of a layout.

💡Bleed

In printing, 'bleed' refers to when an image or color extends to the edge of the paper without any border. The script mentions the aesthetic and cost implications of using bleed in design, as it can create a more immersive visual experience but may be more expensive to produce. This term is relevant to the video's discussion on balancing design choices with practical considerations.

💡Grid System

A grid system in design is a framework that uses a series of intersecting horizontal and vertical lines to structure content. The video script references a 'modern layout and grid system,' indicating the use of grids to organize elements and ensure visual consistency across the editorial spread. Chris Doe's critique of the layouts shows how the grid system can be both a tool for秩序 and a constraint that designers must navigate.

💡Legibility

Legibility is the quality of being clear enough to read, which is crucial in typography and design. The video emphasizes the importance of legibility, as Chris Doe critiques layouts where text might be too small, obscured by images, or set in a font that's hard to read, reminding viewers that design should not compromise the readability of content.

💡Avant-Garde

Avant-garde refers to people or work that are innovative or experimental, particularly in the arts. In the context of the video, Chris Doe uses 'avant-garde' to describe layouts that push the boundaries of conventional design, such as those incorporating halftone patterns or unconventional typography. This term is used to discuss the balance between innovation and accessibility in design.

💡Swiss Modernism

Swiss Modernism is a design style characterized by clean lines, sans-serif typefaces, and a grid-based layout. Chris Doe contrasts 'Swiss modern' with 'avant-garde' in the video, suggesting that while the former is clean and straightforward, the latter is more experimental. This comparison illustrates the range of设计风格s available to designers and the need to choose a style that fits the project's goals.

Highlights

The importance of empowering designers through art direction without micromanaging.

Introduction to the editorial spread project for a new business initiative.

Feedback on the use of the 'thirst' masthead and its typography.

Praise for the modern layout and suggestion to avoid centering type for a more modern look.

Critique on the use of overlapping elements and the importance of readability.

Recommendation to remove unnecessary black lines to improve content segregation.

Appreciation for a clean and modern layout with effective use of Futura font.

Discussion on the potential printing costs associated with design elements that bleed off the edge.

Advice on avoiding old-fashioned design cues like double lines and drop caps in a modern layout.

Suggestion to adjust spacing to prevent an old-fashioned look and feel.

The concept of using figure-ground ambiguity to create depth in two-dimensional spaces.

Critique on the use of a red dot as a design element and its lack of connection to other elements.

Recommendation to use sans-serif typefaces to maintain a modern design aesthetic.

Discussion on the use of halftone patterns and the suggestion to free them from strict box constraints.

Advice on avoiding arbitrary design elements that don't tie into the overall layout.

The significance of using graphic elements to tie different parts of a layout together.

Critique on the use of a condensed and thin sans-serif typeface and its impact on layout readability.

The concept of treating a layout as a three-dimensional space to add depth and interest.

Discussion on the importance of proportion and repetition in design elements.

Advice on how to activate negative space in a layout to improve overall design.

Critique on the use of print registration marks and the need for consistency in their application.

Recommendation to refine a layout by repeating elements and adjusting typography for better cohesion.

The need for designers to explore various expressions and not get stuck with a single design idea.

Final thoughts on ensuring the magazine layout reflects the desired content density and style.

Transcripts

hey everybody Chris here a lot of people have been asking how do you give our

direction to designers how do you do it in a way that empowers them to make the

changes that you want how do you do in a way that doesn't mean that you're

sitting on the box moving the mouse around yourself because the important

part of art direction is to get people feedback so they can grow as designers

and you can get the work done and focus on other things and on this episode

we're going to work on an editorial spread for a new business idea that

we're going to be launching more about that later but you want to see how we do

it come with me let me try this again I

want you guys to listen to me yeah I designed sandwiches my name is Jose car

yet and I talk about the design of business news I talk about a lot of

stuff my name is Chris doe and I talk about the business of design at the

center of this operating system it's about understand was it could you tell

me what the show title is I hate you dude you are watching the process all

right let's check out your layouts so I want to just take a moment to explain to

people who are watching what's going on min is helping me out with designing a

new newspaper for one of our initiatives right now we're just playing around with

the title thirst and so that's the masthead and so we'll look at some of

the typography she's been working on this for some time so we got a lot of

layout to look at all right so let's take take a look through layout here

this is a very clean layout you're using feature right there

I like feature it's part of the identity we've been using it's really nice nice

clean layout good use of like a bold headline subhead and body copy and a

byline right there what I don't love right now is the way the thirst is in

there it's kind of about an angle and it's not quite working for me okay let's

take a look at your next one oh wow okay this one's really nice I love the

way that you cut off the t's on the lowercase future or typeset and I like

the I the way you cut that off and it matches nicely with the cap height the

thing I don't love is the way the S is chopped up at the bottom it look feels

like there's a flat spot there but things that are working really well are

we got nice table of contents set up here great kind of bold numeral

they're like that and when you're doing some modern layouts like this I don't

think you want to Center your type I much prefer justified left type and so

if you do that I think this is going to look a lot better I don't love this

little bit overlapping this because I think it's going to be hard to read but

it doesn't need to be overlapping there so I would just pull that down there and

lastly I see a couple things here there's something that looks like a

legal copy down at the bottom which is okay to be centered because you don't

want people to look at that but then you have this really bold separator between

the legal and the bottom which doesn't make sense to me

they could work much better if you took away this black line and maybe use the

black line to separate like this is the content of the magazine and this is

legal so that'll give you a little bit more room you can move this down but

it's also funny to have white space trapped underneath like that not

necessary okay let's check out the next layout oh okay

this one's really nice just simple clean this one has less information on it but

I like now how you have a much bigger point size of Futura overlapping on that

this is this is a really clean layout feels very modern to me it feels very

fresh so well done on this one I guess this is page three I like this one all

right ooh I like this a lot too now it's not

centered but it's cut off to the side and I really like things that bleed off

the edge now that may present itself to be a problem for us when we go to print

because it costs a little bit more to have things bleed but I like that a lot

that's good layout if we were just doing purely digital would be not an issue at

all I'm noticing that you have a double line here when you have a thick line and

a thin line it tends to read a little bit more old-fashioned okay so if you

wanted to make a look old-fashioned that's fine I think there's an issue

with spacing maybe it's a little too tight together so if it's a little

farther apart bounce it like five points down it might feel a little different

and less old-fashioned and there's other things that you can do like you can do

vertical separators to help tie it in and then it might make it look a little

less old-fashioned a little more modern here I don't love the way that you have

the headline bleeding into the photo I don't think that's a great usage of that

I think when you have just a big headline it's great to overlap some

it doesn't really add a lot so we would probably crop this photo a little higher

I noticed a drop cap here and that's like a really old-fashioned thing to do

so when you're doing a modern layout like this it feels really out of place

so I would bounce that okay let's keep going

ooh okay this is a page five I really like this layout a lot beautiful use of

type negative space colors and I like that you push the type to the edge there

that's really nice that's a modern thing to do some suggestions here perhaps

these two point sizes are way too big for this and you want to create that

kind of big type little type and then let everything else breathe we don't

want to compete with all that space so and it could solve another problem too

you have this little photo thing that's a placeholder for something and it

doesn't tie into anything in the layout and it's important for your eye to have

things to incur around so photo probably could tie together with this copy this

copy were a lot smaller like 50 60 % of the size and line up the left edge right

there and I think this will look really great this will be a problem but we'll

solve that but if you did that this layout would look much better one of the

idea here is to maybe take this yellow and do an over print so you see the

photograph underneath bleed into it like overlapping I think that could look

really smart and then leave this here I also noticed that using the strong kind

of process color language that we've established for the TV or YouTube show

and it's nice to have here but I don't think it's necessary like you can easily

get rid of that and it would be just as strong okay one of my more favorite

layouts very well done next one this one's a little awkward to me you're

using up all the space in the shapes there isn't a great rhythm in terms of

how you're using it and I think this would be much stronger if you didn't use

Center type Center type again is very old-fashioned it works if it's a strong

display and you have too much stuff going on which is probably why I think

you did this but it would be better if you just set it from left edge right

edge since you're already using a full bleed layout and just make it run in

there and then space the let the words the way you want okay just like leave it

in a text box and then let it flow the boxes themselves need to be worked out

a bit better and I think this is one of those cases where you need to really

understand figure-ground ambiguity and let things kind of move forward or

backwards in space right now very clearly there's a hierarchy of the

stacking order of blue black pink and then the yellows on top of that and then

the whites on top of that what would be nice is if some of this type were blue

so the blue is overlapping the pink the pink was overlapping the yellow the

yellow and the white and that's how you create figure-ground ambiguity so even a

very flat two-dimensional space you can create a lot of dimension that way so

you haven't shown me any of these layouts

how come okay we'll move on that thank you for that answer that was a wonderful

answer okay because you were still working it out and you didn't want to

show me stuff in progress right totally understand it's a designer's

dilemma people don't want to show you stuff unless they feel like they've

totally resolved it which is totally okay all right now Minnie is using a

very modern layout and grid system very beautiful design but she's using a very

kind of old-fashioned serif typeface this is some kind of thing that looks

like but don't need to me but very condensed do you remember what the

typeface is no no okay it's fine so this is one of those things where it's quite

unexpected right where you're doing a very modern layout and you pushing

things around but you're using a classic Sarah face so I have similar problems

with it I won't repeat myself too much here but the overlapping is kind of

important maybe this one is okay because the font is quite big but here's where I

think there's an opportunity that you missed where you have this little red

thing now it's important to tie your elements together to repeat elements and

it shows harmony and cohesion so this red dot here ties this but there's

nothing important happening on this axis right so it's better to take this red

dot and probably tie it right here strong vertical alignment with the photo

credit with this line so it snaps to the grid and you did a little red dot here I

think it would really anchor these elements together but otherwise a nice

layout okay this one's a little kind of avant-garde you're kind of using

halftone patterns boxes on top so I assume this gray area would be a photo

but maybe this is just white some very modern things working here I believe if

you just use maybe a sans their typeface for the rest of this save

this serif typeface for the Masset I think it would look a lot better okay

and maybe have these patterns not be stuck in a box I think it wants to be a

little bit more free-floating and and kind of have an organic shape to

it I think that'd look a lot better the one thing that sticks out to me there's

two things actually that aren't working for you is this little red line which

doesn't seem to tie into anything on here okay so it's a little arbitrary we

want to use those graphic elements to tie things together the second thing is

the thinness of this font also matches the stroke weight of this box so look in

here it almost looks like this red is right next to the eye but then it's

underneath so there's a lot of weird tangency is happening here it's a font

we're a bolder sans-serif typeface instead of a serif typeface I think you

would have a little bit more forgive a wiggle room or forgiveness in the layout

okay let's take a look at your next one so there now you've changed it to a sans

serif typeface but it's also very condensed and thin and so we have these

kind of weird repeating things look at the weird space you look inside the C

there so there's a little white space kind of trapped in there and you want to

avoid that okay so typography is really about

understanding overall layout making information read but getting all the

details right so I'm gonna use my pen here to point this up little white

triangle trapped in there you see that right there

little things like that that's what you kind of have to keep pushing and pulling

until you get to all those things to work in harmony let's look at the next

one okay that's an unusual typeface that's

kind of interesting probably not right for us it feels like it's going to get

old really fast okay but I like that you tried that again using the drop cap now

you've added the yellow box around it I do like the idea of using yellow because

it looks like it's highlighting something and so you can use that in

elsewhere to use them as a design motif okay let's keep going all right now this

one's really funky we're using serif sans serif italicize lower case a lot of

like things going on in here and I think because of that we got to keep this

layout a lot simpler okay and

maybe or you go really crazy with this it's kind of stuck in the middle with a

lot of design you don't want to be stuck in the middle you want to be on the

extreme on like the avant-garde postmodern expressive typography or on

the other side which is like really Swiss modern we're very clean this is

somewhere in the middle and I like the exploration here but perhaps this font

isn't helping you right now I think you're using is that universe so univer

I think I like universe it's very flexible

it's almost but it has almost like no personality to it and I like something

that's got a little bit more personality using a font like accidents grotesque

Helvetica or something else even Victoria would look better and so one

thing I want to talk to you a little bit about is maybe activating this space

here so I'm going to show you so I'm going to sketch and you want to get in

the camera here alright so the way I'm going to sketches is look at this 0:01

the way that I would do this is to do something like this okay we have that

box what I would do is lower the baseline of the zero one so that parts

of it get cut off and I'm going to deliberately draw this so that it's a

little rounder and a little bit more square in proportion so it's we're not

going to use univer okay and what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna let it bleed off

the bottom here and then I'm going to do the slash a slash will look like this so

now imagine all of this as a yellow color right here this is all yellow and

the where we see the white we can see the photograph underneath which will add

some dimensionality to the layout I'm not calling the rest but you get the

idea so this would be the photo here you see so it's going to activate the space

underneath it and then we can use this serif typeface

as a contrast to the sand sheriff over here I like to let it bleed through I'm

not doing a great job of drawing this letter form but hopefully you guys that

are watching on YouTube get the idea

the other thing that you want to do is treat the layout as a three-dimensional

thing had this band of color wrap around the other side and I think you look

really smart somewhere over here so we want to repeat the dimension something

over here so it will feel like it's a ribbon next circuit going around the

backside of the page and coming back on this side and then you have all your

other typography wherever it may exist

and letting it bleed through or overlap so that could be one of your layouts

okay make sense all right let's look at the next one

okay I'm not in love with this layout and you think there's a lot of issues

going on with it whenever we're designing a layout we don't want to cut

off the whole page we don't want to use things that fill up the whole space

because it just makes the page smaller and smaller and so what winds up doing

is it creates three separate things like this space this space and this

typography on top so we want to get away from that okay so something like this

it's much better if you were to break up this black box and maybe inset it so let

me let me do a quick sketch about what that might look like alright so here's

the page what you don't want to do is just cut it off like that so what I'm

gonna do is I'm inset the box so let's say something like that okay and instead

of running it all the way up and down because then it trap excuse me it traps

this space and this space which isn't necessary a great thing to do let's cut

it off here I like to do it a little bit more than halfway and we like to repeat

elements okay so this element repeats up here so that dimension is being repeated

then we can put the business of design journal something like that

then where you have the zero zero one summer 2016 I would look at doing the

same thing there zero zero one summer slash 2016 and add that little graphic

in there and then the rest of your copy which looks good

you okay and then you could leave this space open so you can see now this

activates the whole page I'm not cutting anything off and now I put in some

really big type in here it's going to look good you can even try doing

something where you you put the baseline and the cap height and you bite them

together so you tighten the letting I'm going to try that and see how it looks

keeping what's it here in here and we have three lines of copy so I'll divide

the space into thirds one two I'm just line across just so I have some guides

here and the way you design it maybe it's like this so there's my tea maybe

it is my age now I'm going to bump like as if we ran into space there and just

continue a line over here I and our

okay and I don't like leaving just one letter at the bottom feels very lonely

so I'm going to drop the s down to here okay and s could happen here it could

happen here and we just think about this I like the layouts to flow from right to

left or right to left so putting it here will make it feel like that's a little

separate so I think I want to do this right around let's say right on here now

I have some issues with this little space and if I were doing this computer

I would just move this back a little bit so let's compare now that layout next to

that layout so one has a symmetrical balance but it allows the layout to

breathe a little bit more so you don't feel like you have separate pieces to

look at and that's the trick that's all it is

okay all right let's go on to the next one oh this is quite nice I'm not sure I

love the justified right rag left with the justified left rag right here

I like the colors a lot I like that you have big dark area and orange in a pink

area I think there's some issues here where this looks a little bit taller

than this orange space and they should just be the same or they should be

different like I said before if you're in no-man's land with the space it's not

a good thing and you want to draw contrast contrast is king so this is a

big space this is a lot smaller that's okay

so I would make this pink line up here even in smaller I shouldn't say pink

it's like magenta right yes okay so let's just keep going okay I see like

these are variations of the same layout and you can see now when you when you

have more of the space activated this is a much better layout it allows the thing

to breathe however you've taken up this whole space again so I bet you if you

took just type off played around with this photo like maybe it's not as tall

and maybe it doesn't go all the way to the edge your lay it's going to look a

lot better already and then you can work back in this topography so one when

you're stuck with design you know quite sure why the layout doesn't work start

stripping them away things as a little trick here let me hold up this piece of

paper like if I was to cut off a little bit of

that image it would allow the white to kind of move around it it'll look a lot

better okay all right let's look at the next one I like the color treatment here

I like this do its own thing you got going on there's some nice things

working on working out here but I don't love that there's this negative space

and there's these bars seem very heavy for what they are but I do like that

they're calling emphasis to those two things the name of the or the subtitle

and the the number what I don't love is having one word using two different

point sizes I think this is the interesting it would be much more

interesting if this word 300-point and that were the same point size I know

that you're trying to fill the space but I don't think that's necessary or making

the same point size and just scale them in here okay let's go on oh this is cool

I like this a lot I like that you've cut off what is essentially a very straight

typeset and treating the mass head in this way it's almost not legible but

it's it's it just needs a little help and that's it in a layout like this okay

I noticed this thing here you're using the print registration marks you'd have

to use that pretty heavily throughout so it doesn't feel random right now it

feels quite random in there if we just take that off it would be a nice nicer

layout and lastly I think we want to repeat elements so you have this strong

angle and I think if you were to repeat that as a graphic element like a line if

you repeat that same angle a little line right here and then use the logo right

there I think the I would make that connection and draw even on subconscious

level it would work it's a similar one I don't I don't love this one I think this

is too washed out let's keep going okay there's some things that are working

really well in this layout using a different font now I think it's din I

loved in beautiful font and I like here that you're introducing this kind of

over print effect were you taking two photos and you're letting them print

right on top of each other I think the thing that's killing you here is this

large masthead on the side I think if you take that out imagine that without

it and line it up here and did it kind of big but here I think you're

we'll look much much better you did a nice job with this I'm not a fan of

center but I think you did a good job here so if somebody likes center layout

this would be it I think the way you take this a little bit to refine it is

to repeat some element here so that it's not just on the left side okay this

looks quite nice I like the breaking of the word thirst I like that that's

really bold and up there and large headline copy and this is quite nice

this treatment here I'm not sure I love this circular element that's printed on

top I like the effect of it but maybe this could be a symbol a font or a word

or letter or a numeral so that has some meaning that's all I want it to do

otherwise you have to repeat this so another thing you can do is take the

circle take another circle do it here and a little circle here and it would

look really good so let me show you about proportion there you want to

create small medium and large right so here's the layout that you have it's

something like this okay right now you have the circle kind of

right here and I like that maybe you have something like here like that and

then something like this large medium small small medium large it'll help to

tie it all together but it's strange to just have one element there and you

could do also sort of effects it doesn't have to be a solid color it could be

whatever you want I think that could look really nice okay let's keep going

so you got an angle so we talked about this before having an angle randomly

thrown in you need to repeat it somewhere so the way you do that is you

cut off parts of the tee or you cut up part of the photograph which could look

really good same angle so that it repeats it's important for you to use

elements that repeat it's like in music and composition you have to have like a

beat and it repeats or a course that repeats so it doesn't sound like noise

okay let's keep going one more okay same thing same layout essentially right just

different treatment in it okay cool I think you have one more set but we're

going to take a break right now and you can look at it in a little bit cool

thanks so much okay this tells me a lot about who she

is in terms of our desire to kind of figure out

kind of almost every exploration that she can she's not gonna get stuck with

one expression or one idea and that's a really good sign for a designer think I

think is it den that's horrible it looks like euro style yeah yeah I don't like

it okay

things like this is good things like this are good but I need to see a little

bit more so I could read it simplistic and what interesting approach

interactive so you just need to give me enough so I can read it okay that's

that's beyond the level of legibility okay let's keep looking so you're you're

applying shapes and it's dynamic grid it's fine I like this this could be a

nice layout for something the typography here is not great I think you're much

better taking the type off that I'm just

leaving a red triangle and breaking the grid a little bit okay when I look at

this page if this were the page looks really good

the only thing not looking good is this and the font that you're using

better than that it looks good to me let me see the last page okay so it's

that alright so the number one takeaway on this is for you to make sure first go

back and look at the things I've already pinned about newspapers that I like that

there's enough content and density because I'm not gonna print that many

pages oh I'd rather have it to be full of stuff than to spread it out I'm not

trying to do that we're going to get submissions from different writers

they're going to talk about their perspective on business or creative

entrepreneurship and I want to I want that in here so we want to get a lot of

content in here okay there may be one or two spreads where we can be more

expressive but it can't be the bulk of it when you look at a newspaper I don't

have one here but it's going to have lots and lots of things in it it's

trying to get you a lot of information okay let me look at your other font now

and that's the last thing that we're going to do you got to you got to put

this together in a way that I can see it I know it's convenient for you to design

like that but then I need to see it spreads yeah I think you didn't make

this view a spread but I don't want to deal with that right now okay so here's

what I want you to do I want you to go back and look at what we looked at in

terms of newspaper and things that we like and to make sure you design this

content to reflect amount of content we need to have I also don't want you to

explore so much anymore we've done this exploration thing that I need to get

into really showing me what this magazines that look like from cover to

cover does that make sense so look at the covers I liked take into

consideration all the things we've talked

today and then go back and do some spreads match it up with a cover do

whatever things you need to fix and I'm going to give you end of day tomorrow

what's the day and update Thursday you show me something again all right

so cool does that give you enough time it does are you sure because you can

tell me no this is what we call allowing the person the designer to say no in

case because they feel intimidating and they're going to say yes and then come

back tomorrow at the same time and she's not there and she's panicked and

stressed out so you got to give them permission to say no to you so I'm

giving you permission to say no to me right now do you have enough time to do

what we talked about perfect thank you very much man and I'll sneak up behind

you one more time to scare you just for fun all right guys if you like

this kind of video and you want to see more about what it is that we're doing

here in terms of design and typography this is a very specific case in terms of

designing editorial layout now you like doing editorial layout right now like my

other friend editorial is not your weakness so you like doing this stuff

you have practice at doing it and if you want to see more content like this let

us know in the comments below talk to you guys next time