Magazine cover design

[dwellenstein]

I am looking for critique on a redesign of a food and restaurant magazine cover. I came up with 3 "logos" and put them on magazine mockups and included business cards with each (not to scale here, of course)

Red is their color of choice, though the color of the "logo" (masthead--not sure what it is called) will change to match the cover photograph of each issue.

The old logo was very 80s-style, so they need something that will help reach out to a younger/hip audience as well as maintain their loyal followers. The publication is very image/photography heavy. I am attempting to create something that will stand the test of time and not need changing in a couple of years.

Of the finished "logo", I will provide the following file formats (let me know if I am forgetting anything):
lo-rez .jpg for web and email
hi-res .jpg
CMYK .tiff
.eps
.ai

[J_Frye]

hmmm, don't know if it's just me but can't see the image...just the generic red X icon...IE8

[eugenetyson]

I can see them on Firefox.

And I like "B"

[dwellenstein]

How's this?



http://www.denisewellenstein.com/untitled-1.jpg

[J_Frye]

gee, I still don't see it

[PanToshi]

Magazine:
Your logo/masthead is much too close to the edges of the page. You will encounter problems when the magazine is trimmed to size. I would keep graphics a minimum of 1/4 inch from the edge.

I think that on the whole the logo is a bit bland for my liking. There is not much personality to it. It's just a typeface in a color. It isn't very memorable; sorry. It doesn't say food, Atlanta culture or dining. The fork graphic on the card is a nice touch, have you considered incorporating that into the masthead design for the magazine?

The slight transparency behind the masthead is a bit distracting. It is so subtle that I am not sure if it is intentional or if it is purely to provide so kind of transition between the photo and the background color you have put behind the masthead.

Will the pale blue band behind the masthead also change with each edition/photo? What was the rationale for putting the background color behind the masthead? Was it just to create a stage for the logo? It looks a little like you had difficulty incorporating the masthead into a magazine cover and therefore chose to separate it with a band from the photo. Most mastheads are designed to work on the image regardless of what the image may be. Look at magazine covers out in the world, and you will see that mastheads read over photos without the need for a background.

Maybe it is just me, but the cover is not coming across as a magazine cover. Where is the edition information? Where are the call-outs for articles within the magazine? It just looks like a logo placed on top of a photo at the moment. Take a look at magazine covers and you will find that they all have type on the cover featuring the content inside as well as edition/issue information.

Business cards:
The url on the bottom of the business cards will most likely be cut off. Keep things a minimum of 1/8 inch from the bottom trim. 1/4 inch would be a safer option. Another thing to bear in mind is that sometimes the stack of cards in the trimmer will not cut "straight" and the band may be uneven or skewed when the card is trimmed.

Also the card looks like it is an odd size. Is it 3.5" x 2"? That is the standard size for business cards in the US.

I would recommend you do a little research and look at a variety of magazines. That may help give you a better idea of what your magazine will need to compete with visually on the rack as well as what information should be included on the cover.

Hope this helps.

[urstwile]

The image you've uploaded is in CMYK, which will cause problems for people trying to view it in browsers incompatible with that color mode. I suggest you reupload the image in RGB so everyone can see it.

[dwellenstein]

Here's a RGB version:



http://www.denisewellenstein.com/untitled2.jpg

Thanks, urstwile, for the tip.

And thanks for the suggestions so far.

Almost all the magazines I look to for inspiration, such as "Saveur", "Food and Wine", "Living", "Gourmet", "Town and Country" and other national food and lifestyle publications use mastheads made almost purely of a typeface. These kind of mastheads seems to stand the test of time. But, I would love to see some good examples of a more 'logo' kind of masthead for a magazine. I guess "Oprah" and "Wired" have done this semi-satisfactorily? Or some ideas of how I could make that happen with "FLAVORS"

This particular publication very rarely (since 2003) uses callouts on the front of the magazine and has always put the edition info on the spine and right near the barcode as I have done. It is partly owned by the photographer and they like to keep the photography clutter-free on the front. I don't think I will change this.

My reasoning for the transparent white as a background for the masthead is because when I check out magazine stands, this style really stands out to me. I really like the look of "Architectural Digest" and "Cook's Illustrated". I did not think a solid white background would look as good as a faded background for this mag, and it looked a little "blocky". I would like to hear more comments on why this does or doesn't work.

I guess, until I can figure out how to make this a more pictorial logo, I would like reasoning as to why or why not to use A, B, or C, any problems with kerning, suggestions for another typeface, etc.

[CMYK girl]

Hi. I agree that the word Flavor is way too close to the outside of the paper. Give yourself a little more room around the word.
For 'B' the space between R and S is too much negative space and doesn't read right. Nothing you can do about it it's just the way that typeface is designed.
Keep trying some other fonts.

That's great that they don't clutter up the front of the mag. I guess I would move up the photo to miss the bar in the red sauce if there is anymore room on the bottom of the photo.

Work on the Forum sentence too, it's looks clusmsy. May need to make it bigger to make it kern better. It too needs more air around it. Nice photo of the Key Lime.

[PanToshi]

Originally Posted by dwellenstein

Here's a RGB version:


http://www.denisewellenstein.com/untitled2.jpg

Thanks, urstwile, for the tip.

And thanks for the suggestions so far.

Almost all the magazines I look to for inspiration, such as "Saveur", "Food and Wine", "Living", "Gourmet", "Town and Country" and other national food and lifestyle publications use mastheads made almost purely of a typeface. These kind of mastheads seems to stand the test of time. But, I would love to see some good examples of a more 'logo' kind of masthead for a magazine. I guess "Oprah" and "Wired" have done this semi-satisfactorily? Or some ideas of how I could make that happen with "FLAVORS"

This particular publication very rarely (since 2003) uses callouts on the front of the magazine and has always put the edition info on the spine and right near the barcode as I have done. It is partly owned by the photographer and they like to keep the photography clutter-free on the front. I don't think I will change this.

My reasoning for the transparent white as a background for the masthead is because when I check out magazine stands, this style really stands out to me. I really like the look of "Architectural Digest" and "Cook's Illustrated". I did not think a solid white background would look as good as a faded background for this mag, and it looked a little "blocky". I would like to hear more comments on why this does or doesn't work.

I guess, until I can figure out how to make this a more pictorial logo, I would like reasoning as to why or why not to use A, B, or C, any problems with kerning, suggestions for another typeface, etc.

I wasn't necessarily suggesting a "pictorial" logo. Many magazines do use type as the masthead. Perhaps a font that is a little more suggestive of the content, i.e. Atlanta, food, culture etc.

Just my suggestion; you don't have to change your design based on one persons opinion.

Since your magazine doesn't clutter the cover with callouts, that is good enough reason to keep it the way it is.

Architectural Digest and Cooks Illustrated don't have a band beneath the masthead, their designs have a complete frame around the photo. I also wasn't suggesting you make the band solid, only commenting that it did look a little blocky despite the transparency. Perhaps increasing the transparency will reduce the blocky look to it.

It's your design. I was merely giving you a critique as you requested. It's up to you to decide if my comments are valid for your design, or not.