Oscar Hunter Dudley









Seek 
Magazine
















– Project name

Seek magazine

– Role

Art director
Editorial designer
Illustrator

– Date

Spring 2023

– Specs

Abobe InDesign
Adobe PhotoShop

When undertaking my Higher National Certificate (HNC) Molaes, a comany focused on popularising the teaching of Mandarin in the West endowed the opportunity of re-designing their corporate identity and a magazine to go alongside it.

I wanted the magazine to highlight Chinese culture and encourage people, primarily based in the U.K, to learn Mandarin and visit China.


Design

Panda illustration 01




This is my first panda design. I created this panda using Adobe Photoshop and my Wacom digital tablet. This panda is influenced by my research of Tom and Jerry as I have incorporated light colours that are appealing to children. For instance, instead of using black, I chose to use a light grey. These design decisions contributed to the character appearing more friendly and less severe. I designed this panda with the intention of it being bold and simplistic to stick in the memory of viewers. Pieces of clothing could be added to the design of this panda if needed to add the colour orange into the design.  

Panda illustration 02



This is my second panda design. I wanted this design to be very playful and cause the viewer to smile upon first glance. This panda is influenced by my research of Top Cat and his Gang, as my panda in this design is standing on both feet, similarly to the posture of the characters in Top Cat. I incorporated the colour orange into this panda design by adding a hat to the top of the panda's head. The expression on this panda is very happy and enthusiastic to further engage the young viewer.  


Panda illustration 03







Here is one of my initial panda designs. I spoke with my tutor to get feedback. My tutor advised that I do not go further with this design because it is not as effective in comparison to my other design concepts. This is due to the facial expression and posture of the panda not having the conventional characteristics of a panda in real life. For example, pandas are not characteristically on all fours, and their eyes don't appear as severe. My tutor also mentioned that the body of the panda isn't accurate as it appears stripy. I am going to take all of this feedback into consideration when creating my final panda designs.  

Panda illustration 04






This is my third panda design. I wanted this panda design to have a smirk expression and appear slightly more mature in comparison to my other designs. I added an orange tie to this character to convey the sophisticated-nature of this panda design. This design is inspired by my research of animation 'We Bare Bears' as the shape of this panda is very rounded, creating a memorable impact upon the viewer.  


Masthead creation




This is the creation of my magazine's masthead using Adobe Photoshop. I started by selecting a typeface that appealed to me and appropriately fit the theme of my magazine. As my magazine is focused on travelling and discovering different cultures and languages, I wanted to use a typeface that would suit these activities by being engaging. I adjusted the kerning on the typeface to make the letters closer together to give the masthead a more rectangular silhouette. My research of Alexy Brodovitch caused me to think more deeply about the silhouettes of my designs.

 I placed the first rendition of my masthead into InDesign and realised that it didn’t pop out of the screen enough at the viewer. I also wanted the masthead to have more contrast and depth, so I added a thick drop shadow behind the lettering to make it stand out more. This also added more tone and balance to the masthead as it no longer looked unfinished and two dimensional. I chose a bright shade of pink as I wanted to avoid my masthead looking flat and forgettable. The colour pink seemed to fit the theme of my magazine the most as it is associated with happy feelings of playfulness.


Front cover creation








Contents page creation




This is the process of me creating my contents page. I first started on the right page by adding the type at the top of the page stating 'Contents'. I chose to use this typeface as it's bold enough to catch the reader's eye when flicking through the magazine. I then started adding the page numbers and the content correspondence to show the structure of my magazine.. To balance out the design, I added lorem ipsum at the bottom half to balance out the page. I then, inspired by my research of Alexy Brodovitch, added a photograph on the left page. I chose to use a photograph of Chinese tower blocks as I felt that the type on the right page creates a similar silhouette as the type is very bold and set vertically. The photograph also makes the spread look more balanced.  



Pages 4 and 5 creation



The purpose of this spread is to showcase QinQin in a playful and engaging manner. The type at the top of the spread is inspired by my research of David Carson through the multiple vibrant colours and multiplied words set at different angles. I wanted this spread to be very unique, so I decided to set my illustrations in different positions and at different sizes to cover both pages. The middle of the spread runs through the middle of the face of the second panda illustration. This creates more balance.



Pages 6 and 7 creation



I wanted this spread to convey life and culture in China. This spread is heavily influenced by Alexy Brodovitch due to me setting one large letter on the left page. On the right page the word 'China' finishes. I decided to shift the letters more to the left so that the letter 'H' is split in half by the spine of the magazine. This makes the spread appear more balanced. I chose to use white type as I found it contrasts very well against the night skies of China. The photographs show the famous skyline of China. I brightened them up and made them more contrasting using Adobe Lightroom, adjusting settings such as saturation.


Pages 8 and 9 creation



I wanted this spread to show the hiking culture in China as well as motivating the reader to learn Mandarin. This spread is intended to feel motivational and show the reader the benefits of learning another language, having the ability to get outside, travel and explore, discovering different cultures. To add balance to the spread, I added the strip down the left page which states 'Learn Mandarin'. This strip matches the shades of green in the photograph on the right page. The photograph on the left is of the Great Wall of China and on the right, the photograph is of the Chinese mountains. I purposefully chose to use black type on the right page as I felt it contrasted and was still legible, blending in with the photograph. The white type adds to the contrast as seen on both pages.

Back cover creation



This is the back cover of my magazine. The purpose of this back cover is to show an advertisement. This advertisement was created by Sony showing their new earphones with a motif of Elvis. My sketches show that I experimented with how I could present the advertisement. I decided to go with the simplistic layout and have it cover the entire page. I edited the image using Adobe Lightroom to make it darker and less washed out, creating more contrast.  



 
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