Magazine Cover Layouts
Brief
My goal was to examine how adapting or modifying design elements can change a brand’s message to an intended audience. Using the same image, I created two fictional magazine covers serving different demographics.
I decided to have fun with this project and made my target audience cats, not their humans. My human target audience will have a sense of humor and understand cats, especially their disdain for humans and knowledge that they are the superior being. I chose to create magazine covers that appeal to people/cats who read trendy gossip magazines like People and a magazine that appeals to cannabis news and culture. My biggest challenge was to use typography, color, and layout to appeal to each audience.
![2magcovers-cats Cat Magazine Cover](https://laurenecraig.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2magcovers-cats.jpg)
Description
Cat Life
I made the first cover, Cat Life, based on People’s magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” covers. I chose a very smug-looking picture of a cat, his expression showing pure confidence for the sexiest cat alive award. His colorings are beautiful, and I decided to play off his orange and yellow tones for the typography. I added a small blurb box to add to the gossip angle of the magazine. I used a slightly colored background to give it some pop without distracting from the main image. The typography used is clean and straightforward sans-serif fonts. I did not want the font to detract from the image and the message of the magazine.
CatNip Times
For the second cover, I chose to draw upon a cat’s second love, catnip. I instantly thought of High Times magazine because catnip makes kitties a bit crazy and high. The expression on the cat’s face fits the look my cats have when they are enjoying some nip. I stayed with a color version of the cat image to play off the orange and yellow hues in his fur. I chose yellow and white for the text because they are analogous colors and match well, creating a comfortable look and feel. The typography is a clean sans serif but with a whimsy touch in the rounded shoulders and terminals. The round aspects of the type make it more laid back.
Tools
![InDesign Adobe indesign icon](https://laurenecraig.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/InDesign.png)
![Photoshop Adobe Photoshop Icon](https://laurenecraig.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Photoshop.png)
Typography
Balboa
What’s new, pussycat? Woah, woah
What’s new, pussycat? Woah, woah, woah
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1234567890!@#$%^&*:”
PiePie
Pussycat, pussycat, I’ve got flowers
And lots of hours to spend with you
So go and powder your cute little pussycat nose
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1234567890!@#$%^&*:”
Fieldwork
Pussycat, pussycat, I love you, yes, I do
You and your pussycat nose
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1234567890!@#$%^&*:”
Jubilat
Pussycat, pussycat, I love you, yes, I do
You and your pussycat eyes
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1234567890!@#$%^&*:”