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Diana
Diana Zelaya
Mr.White
CP English 12
11/15/15

Senior Project Research Paper


Magazines are something you pick up while you're in line at the grocery store or in the
waiting room, but what compels you to pick it up? Is it the color , design or is it the Kardashians
latest scandal. Whatever it is without all those important element such as ,color , text placement,
and design the magazine wouldn't grab readers attention and wouldn't sell. So for my senior
project I will be teaming up with two other senior students in order to create a small magazine
for our schools academies .It will display all four academies our school has to offer.The School
Of Academics ,Technical Arts,Visual and Performing Arts . The magazine is intended for
Ms.Mayea our principal to use to show parents of incoming freshman and transfer student. Who
are interested in attending Santa Susana High School. We will be working with our Principal
Miss Mayea. She has already told us in detail ,what she's looking for in the magazine. Its our job
to create a cover and page layout and designs . We may also have to take our own pictures of the
students in the academies, if the picture she provided us are too outdated or don't go with the
layout . Which won't be too much of a problem because we also took a photography class last
year. The following topic Balance,Color, and Design is what I have research in order to help me
with problems I might face ,and tips that are going to help me create my magazine.

Importances of Balance

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Designing a magazine is much more than throwing some pictures ,and articles together it's much
more complicated than that. It requires countless hours of preparation and thought. A good
professional designer must create a sense of rhythm with pictures and text.Designers also spend
lots of time moving,and rearranging elements ,but in the end sometimes end up going back to the
original version, because that's the one you like best (Larry James). Personally when that
happens it can be frustrating ,but it means you looked at all the different angles of your concept,
and that's what make a good designer.The most important part, when designing a magazine is the
page layout. A Page layout consists of rearrangement and placement of elements (Sam
Hampton).A good page layout should capture the reader's attention but should also display clear
understanding of the main concept for the intended audience (creative bloq). One of the
important ways to kept all of your content balanced.Is to use the grid system . Grids are a
network of lines that cross each other to form a series of squares of rectangles (google
definitions).This displays a sense of order and balance to the layout . By doing so you're
providing your reader with a clear and organized reference to look back on (sam hampton). Is the
easiest way to create balance because without balance the reader would be confused and lost.

Impact Of Color
Once you have all your content balanced and organized . The second most important part of the
research is the importance of color. Personally when it comes to picking out colors it's not just
about picking your favorite color . It's about picking color that complement each other .Which is
actually called complementary colors .Complementary colors are pairs of colors that, when they
are combined,they cancel each other out.When they are placed next to each other, they create a
strong contrast ( google definitions).Which is a good way of atracting a readers eye.Color is also
what ties all of the pages in a magazine together.Color can be very influential in any art design.It

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can bring out a reaction from one person but may bring out a different reaction from another.
(Cameron Chapman).When taking in all the various aspects that leads someone to purchase one
product over another, color is more crucial compared to other elements (J Wesley Judd).

Design
The last part of the research is Design .There are many different kinds of designs.This projects
main focus is graphic design.Graphic design is the art of incorporating words and photos in any
sort advertisements or magazines etc.(google definitions).Graphic design can be seen
everywhere from a movie poster, to your favorite brand of cereal.Graphic design is made up of
all the topics discussed earlier in the paper.Graphic designs main purpose is to create an
attractive look to a product or in this case a magazine. Magazines are portable and convenient.
So it's crucial that the final product is done well (journalism now).Next part that was researched
was the importances of graphic design in a magazine cover. which will be the most important
part of the magazine.When Designing a magazine cover, it's important to pick a concept that
illustrate the whole point of the magazine (Berry newman). It will also be the element that takes
the most time to create (Larry James). Typography is a form of graphic design. Its another very
important part of designing a magazine.Typography is the appearance of type and
letters.modifying a word or phrase can make the word or phrase stand out (art of print). You can
do so by changing the color or size of the type. There are thousands of fonts to choose from
.you can even create your own by hand and have it scanned on the computer. There are many
different types of designs, you just have a open mind and be creative.

Conclusion
In the end the countless hours of research was actully really helpful.It expaneded my
knowledge for graphic design and made me like graphic design more. I learn a lot of new aspects

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to designs ,and these new skills I have learned will definitely help me. In creating my senior
project by using the technique of balance with using grids.Will help me organize my content and
pictures . The impact of color will help me pick the right complementary colors that will make
the magazine pop with colors. The over all the research helped me understand the main purpose
of all aspects of design and will help me rethink each step of the magazine more carefully.

Works Cited
1. Citron, Scott. "Designing a Magazine in Adobe InDesign." Graphics.com.
Pearson Education, Inc. and Adobe Press., 2008. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
<http://www.graphics.com/article-old/designing-magazine-adobe-indesign>.
2. Hampton, Sam. "Create Balanced Page Layouts." Create Balanced Page
Layouts. Future Publishing Limited, Quay House, The Ambury, 4 Dec. 2014.
Web. 18 Sept. 2015. <http://www.creativebloq.com/netmag/create-balancedpage-layouts-7-pro-tips-121310009>.
3. "Typography Perfect Fonts for Magazines." InDesign Skills. IDS, 29 Dec.
2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://www.indesignskills.com/tutorials/bestmagazine-fonts/>.
4. Hassell, Lisa. "2 Tips for Creating Geometric Vector Graphics and
Art."Digital Arts Online. Digital Arts Online, n.d. Web.
http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/graphic-design/12-tips-for-creatingvector-geometric-graphics-art/
5. White, Terry. "Share & Enjoy." Layers Magazine RSS. Layers Magazine.
Kelby Media Group, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.
<http://layersmagazine.com/magazine-cover-design-in-indesign.html>.

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