I undertook a short internship at Empire Magazine in London recently, working mainly with the design team.
Working with one of the designers I designed the layout for the Carrie Fisher Tribute section of the March 2017 digital magazine in tablet format. Working from the print layout of the Carrie Fisher Tribute section I rearranged the elements so that it worked on a tablet format, working to a grid and the Empire brand guidelines. I also had to take into consideration how it would look on both regular tablet size and also on the iPad mini, where elements would be scaled down to fit. This meant that the text had to be large enough to still be readable and look effective when scaled down. After each article in the section had been designed, I presented it to the designer who then gave me feedback on minor changes to be made so that it fit with the rest of the magazine, and was consistent in appearance and layout.
This was a really beneficial thing to undertake, as it taught me about designing for digital and tablet, and considerations you need to make on sizing and other things, which aren't necessarily relevant when designing for print. It has also taught me how finickity you have to be when designing professionally, as everything has to be perfectly aligned and consistent throughout, which isn't something that is necessarily as crucial when designing for yourself or at uni.
Another task I undertook was creating initial imagery and typographical ideas and also mood boarding for a Ghost in the Shell section in a future print edition. To gain understanding on the film, I watched several trailers for it, and also trailers for the original anime film as well, to see the kind of imagery that is used and the general style of the two films, from the original to the adaptations. I took screenshots from the trailers of key imagery that would translate well to the print layout aesthetics. I also used sites such as Behance, Pinterest and Designspiration to gain inspiration for ideas based on what I saw in the trailers and the images that have been selected to feature in the article.
Compiling the screenshots and inspirational images I created mood boards of ideas for the imagery of the article layout, and also ideas for text as well, as special features such as this one have their own specific personal typeface for the main title. Using these mood boards, I think started experimenting with typeface ideas, using Empire's specific title typeface as a base (which you typically have to do), and adjusting it to fit the film and the ideas that I had. I tried slashing it in half, changing it's opacity, cutting it up in weird ways, and even making it blurred. These were then placed against the photograph they would sit on in the article, to see how they worked with the background colours from the photograph. Experimentations were also done into how the text boxes would appear, and how they would link to the type design as well, to create a cohesive aesthetic.
Another task I undertook was for the Photography Director, where I watched the original animated Beauty and the Beast film and went to specific key moments and writing down the exact times of key shots, which will later be 'grabbed' and used for an article on the upcoming live action Beauty and the Beast film. This was something I really enjoyed as it meant I got to watch a film, but also taught me to think about the aesthetics and composition of a shot more so, and what makes a good shot, which is something I hadn't thought about much before.
These were three very different tasks I undertook, all of which were design related, and it surprised me how different they were. Before going into this placement I was interested in designing for digital, so it was great to experience designing for a tablet format, and thinking about how it will look to scale on the tablet itself. It was reassuring for me to enjoy this part of the internship the most, as this is something I have previously enjoyed doing whilst at university, so it was great to realise I still enjoy it when it is for a professional purpose, as it was in this case. What I enjoyed most about the tablet layout task was that the content was already there for me, it was simply a matter of arranging it in a pleasing and legible manner. It surprised me how challenging I found coming up with creative ideas for the Ghost in the Shell task compared to the digital layout task, and made me think that maybe I prefer arranging information and design elements rather than creating one. However I also thought perhaps I prefer the layout of a tablet compared to a print magazine.
This short internship has ben so beneficial to me, as it has shown me what it would be like to work in a magazine environment, one which I thoroughly enjoyed (I liked how everyone had their own job and it all came together to make one final product). It also taught me the different elements of a magazine in respect to design, as it hadn't occurred to me to think beyond the print magazine, and I didn't even think that it had to be designed for the different digital formats it will be available on, so this was a real eye opener. It has also shown me what a career living in London would be like, the daily commute on the underground, which was something that I really didn't enjoy (claustrophobic), so perhaps the London life isn't for me? Who knows! Either way, a really beneficial experience, and one which has resulted in my name being listed in the Contributions masthead at the front of the March 2017 tablet magazine edition for my work on the Carrie Fisher Tribute section.
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