Hi all! I am in my first design class and need some feedback on a project as part of the assignment. This is a 4-page magazine article that I redesigned. The article focuses on sustainable travel. It would be mainly for print. I picture the audience being individuals who enjoy traveling, ages 18-65.
Much thanks to those who are able to spare a couple of minutes to help me out!
Amy
I’m assuming that you’re showing us two 2-page spreads each consisting of a left page and a right page.
Based on that assumption, the headline is going to be right justified on the inside of the page (right side of a left hand page). I’d suggest you have the lead-in be left justified on the outside of the page. This will be much better for readability while flipping thorough the magazine. You’ll want to flip the photo horizontally so that the type isn’t right on top of the monument and then look to see if there is anything in the photo that will be a dead giveaway the photo has been flipped and correct as needed.
Right hand pages are odd.
Your two pull quotes (or subhead and pull quote) on the second page are competing against each other visually.
Captions should be below the images for all of the photos. It seems odd having some below the photo and some above the photo.
The typesetting is pretty pedestrian, but I’ll cut you some slack on that since this is your first design class.
Left-hand pages are always even-numbered with right-hand pages always being odd-numbered. This is one of the few rules of thumb that is almost never broken. Also keep in mind that justified type in narrow columns tends to create uneven lines of type with big spaces between the words.
Thank you for all of the feedback; I appreciate it. All helpful and most I wouldn’t have thought about without you pointing them out. I’ll get working on making changes right now!
Thanks for taking time to give me feedback. Great point! I will work on addressing them now.
Go to any book store and grab a handful of current magazines (of the travelling nature, preferrably). That will be your starting reference point. There’s a lot to be studied, dos and don’ts.
So much detail that I was never aware of! But so fascinating. I’ll never look at a magazine the same. 
Quite honestly y’all shoulda been studying and critiquing actual magazines for a week or two before starting this project.
in addition to the points others have made, the layout is a bit dull. Rectangular photos, 3 columns of text, a few pull quotes… try pushing yourself creatively. You want people to stop at this page and read it… nothing here has grabbed my attention. Even the colors are blah.
A few things to perhaps start with:
~Highlight the “6 ways” even more than they are?
~Change/recrop the photos so they relate to the 6 ways better?
~Spread out/add more pull quotes to draw the reader to the content
~Don’t be afraid of white space-- give the layout breathing room
~you also have the luxury of two 2-page spreads here… use that to your advantage!
Thanks. I used your feedback to help make some improvements.
post the improved version-- lets see what you did!
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