Draft Magazine

Overall, I'm fairly happy with my draft work and I would like my actual magazine to look like this. However, I think that one major improvement that could be made is the image I used for the front cover. For some reason, that I can't put my finger on, it just doesn't look like it follows the same design principles as the other images that are present on my draft. The model's skin would also need to be improved with airbrushing or make-up for the real cover. For my real magazine I also need to take my own photos for the contents page as the ones used in my draft are just placeholders. However, they are similar to photos I plan to take. 

The Japanese typography utilised within my draft serves both a practical and a stylistic purpose. Practically, the Japanese typography serves the role of translating major headings and info into Japanese for Japanese readers. This is necessary as I intend for my magazine to be an international magazine, which is to be published in London and Tokyo. However the Japanese also serves a stylistic function as it makes my magazine look professional, cultured and stylish. The synergy of English and Japanese within my draft takes inspiration from Anglo-Japanese magazines such as Popeye which are published in Japanese and English. 

When it came to the design of my draft I took inspiration from magazines like Vice, Surface 

and i-D. All these magazines follow a minimalistic and bold approach when it comes to designing their products which I really like. However the biggest influence on my work was probably American Apparel adverts. They follow a really professional/neat looking design philosophy which I tried my best to emulate within my own work. American Apparel adverts also implement the font 'Ariel Bold' throughout their products, which inspired me to do the same as I think Ariel Bold is the best looking font out there.

Other improvements that I need to make are the sizes of the pages as they're not uniform. I also need to write my article for the double page spread as the one currently used by my draft is just a placeholder that consists of gibberish. It also looks a tad plain in just b&w, so I might experiment with colour in future versions.