Magazine layouts in the style of 1950s Harper's Bazaar, specifically the work of famous art director Alexey Brodovitch.
To art direct a magazine layout, using clean typography, effective visual "hotspots" and other design elements, and original photography.
Aesthetically, I wanted to follow Brodovitch's use of contrasts. Thematically, I went with a male subject and modern storyline to separate my work from the usual 50's "classy woman" approach.
Art Director — I developed the concept, shot the photos, and designed the layouts.
1) Studied Brodovitch's work
2) Developed concept
3) Storyboarded photos and layouts
4) Took photographs
5) Finalized layouts
Some pretty sexy layouts.
Pages 1-2 — The first photo brings the reader into the article, and directs their focus to the title and content.
Pages 3-4 — The lines in the first photo guide the reader's eyes towards the content, which line up with the visual "hotspot" (the eyes) of the next photo.
Pages 5-6 — There is a visual link between the first photo and the previous photo (headphones), which helps guide the reader along. The content in this layout then line up with the hotspots in the next two photos (the wording in the t-shirt).
Pages 7-8 — The subject's eyes looking left link it to the previous photos (where the subject is looking right), while guiding the reader down towards the content through the lighting. The final photo then takes the reader out of the article.
Alexey Brodovitch — Art director of Harper's Bazaar from the 1930s-1950s, Brodovitch was known for his use of contrasts (big/small, black/white), clean typography, and plenty of white space. We studied his process, his range of work, and then went about creating our concepts. (Images: AIGA)
Contrasts — I made sure to capture my subject at different distances, to play on contrasting sizes.
Angles — During the first day of shoots, I mostly shot straight-forward photos of my subject (left); on the second day, I capitalized on more dynamic angles to increase visual interest and guide the reader's direction (right).
Typography — One of the bigger challenges was to utilize the different sizes and weights of the Bodoni typeface to create visual interest. Here, I make use of italics and caps to exaggerate and distinguish the words "rich" and "die."
