Often, for a new publication this will take me as long as the layouts themselves take. If I have got the grid and styles right then the pages will almost (almost!!) take care of themselves.
Everything will have a place, each item of copy will have an associated style and other than jiggling it all around to fit in, it should get to a first draft fairly quickly.
One thing that I have tried however is a five column grid. I mocked up a page using some of last years listings - it's the one on the bottom here - and I have moved the date to the centre top of the page. Largely I kept the styles of text the same. They worked last year, so they will work again.
This year it'll all be a bit more formal. There's whimsical images to add that match in with the front cover that will add some texture and contrast to the pages. I'm keen however to avoid the blobby look from last year, so they will be kept sharp.
I have to invent some appropriate icons for the free events, the special events and anything else the client wants to highlight. And once I've done that there's the trivial job of turning around 40 pages in 16 hours or less.
Which is why I've gone through this process throughly - so that I can hammer through the remaining pages fairly quickly.
In this publication there's three main layouts plus a couple of minor ones. There's the listing pages that are four columns - like the one here from last year.
Then there's the feature pages, these are signified by being three column pages - wider to let the text breath a bit. Also I've been a lot more casual about the positioning of pictures on this page. Even so, the underlying structure is still there, but the "random" placing of images makes for a more interesting page.
Finally there's some six column pages for indexes and small listings. The type is also smaller here as well.
This year's changes
To be honest more evolution here than revolution. Generally the styles and the four column grid worked well. Getting the right sizes and weights of type took a lot of work last year and while I've tinkered with it, I don't think I need to make whole scale changes.
This year it'll all be a bit more formal. There's whimsical images to add that match in with the front cover that will add some texture and contrast to the pages. I'm keen however to avoid the blobby look from last year, so they will be kept sharp.
I have to invent some appropriate icons for the free events, the special events and anything else the client wants to highlight. And once I've done that there's the trivial job of turning around 40 pages in 16 hours or less.
FAB (Fringe Arts Bath) Pages.
These are almost a magazine within a magazine. The client said "Make them very different from the rest of the guide". I think there's a feeling that last year they were not sufficiently differentiated from the guide as a whole.
The blue page here is a FAB page from last year. You can see if you compare it to the four col. grid at the top there's a lot in common. That was partially deliberate and partly accidental. Accidental because basically I ran out of time to work on them and they had to be artwork very quickly.
This year I'm trying to make amends. I have opted for a six column grid, although the major pieces occupy two or there columns. I have also use a large number of round frames and run the show titles along the outside.
Finally I have used the device of laboratory equipment to link things together on a textured background.
The design you can see here is a rough. there's bigger image you can see by clicking the separate picture below. In the final - if it's approved (hopefully you and I will know later today) the lab equipment will be 'proper' drawing and the layout will be better. Incidentally this is last year's pictures and copy. I did that so there's some basis for comparison.
Reflecting on the design, I have issues about the background texture; is it too busy? Is there something else I could use? How experimental could I go? I don't like the lab equipment drawing - but I think that's because it's a quick lash-up in Illustrator rather than being a duff idea.
And the grid. Is six columns too symmetrical? Should I try with seven or five? Right now it's three AM and perhaps I should give up thinking for a few hours...
The blue page here is a FAB page from last year. You can see if you compare it to the four col. grid at the top there's a lot in common. That was partially deliberate and partly accidental. Accidental because basically I ran out of time to work on them and they had to be artwork very quickly.
This year I'm trying to make amends. I have opted for a six column grid, although the major pieces occupy two or there columns. I have also use a large number of round frames and run the show titles along the outside.
Finally I have used the device of laboratory equipment to link things together on a textured background.
The design you can see here is a rough. there's bigger image you can see by clicking the separate picture below. In the final - if it's approved (hopefully you and I will know later today) the lab equipment will be 'proper' drawing and the layout will be better. Incidentally this is last year's pictures and copy. I did that so there's some basis for comparison.
Reflecting on the design, I have issues about the background texture; is it too busy? Is there something else I could use? How experimental could I go? I don't like the lab equipment drawing - but I think that's because it's a quick lash-up in Illustrator rather than being a duff idea.
And the grid. Is six columns too symmetrical? Should I try with seven or five? Right now it's three AM and perhaps I should give up thinking for a few hours...
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