Objective: Following set style guidelines, create an editorial spread for Expressions 2024.
Timeline: March 2024 as a part of my Communication Design IV Class
Expressions is an annual 46 year old magazine that features poetry, art, photography and short fiction from students representing each of DMACC's campuses. This year I was assigned to format and design for the short story, "Ain't Nothin' to Be Scared Of".
The story follows a twelve-year-old protagonist who attends a sleepover for her friend June Bug's birthday. The protagonist describes the journey to June Bug's house, which includes navigating a muddy road and encountering intimidating horses. Once at the house, they watch a movie, eat cupcakes, and then decide to hold a seance despite the protagonist's initial reservations.
During the seance, the protagonist says, "I remember seeing bushy grey eyebrows with intense eyes—stark blue, bloodshot, almost angry—but I could see nothing else". This is something that really caught my attention and I wanted to include a visual element to help elevate that moment.
One of the style guides that I had to follow were the color choices. I was allowed to use two pantone colors - one minty green and a deeper blue. I decided that for my story I was not going to use any green, as it detracted from the eerie nature of the story.
I also decided to make my design heavily image based. After reading the story, I was excited because I knew how the use of images can add even more to the already eerie story.
