Critique: Heartbreak to Hope

This story to me was something really challenging, seeing as I really wanted to do something amazing for my first design of the year. However, I wasn't thoroughly impressed when I turned it in. 

As the first critique of my design, I'm going to start with my cover. As we discussed in class, I realized that I forgot the dek and in this photo it looks like just any normal family. The dek really would have explained this story and let readers know right off the bat, this isn't a normal family. Also, I had been leaning towards a script font and I just don't feel that the typography I chose really enhances and fits the story. It was really interesting to see the 18 different styles and it really sparked some thoughts. For example, seeing all of the script fonts on the covers and on the main spreads, really looked professional and perfect for this story.

My feature could have definitely been better in telling the story. I like what I did on the opening spread, in the sense of how it was designed, with the white space, but the rest of my feature I think is just really crowded. I want to revise the feature and cover, for my portfolio, and I think I'm going to start by choosing new photos and toning them differently. I was overall pleased; however, with my first design because I think it does look professional, just not as good as it could look. 

I have started my Spring Preview design and I'm really excited to see how it will come out. I have already done a lot of revisions on it, but I'm hoping I can pull off a really fun look. 

Coming up this weekend for me is my iPad and department page design, wish me luck!

-AMA