Creative Risks

To give my magazine an edge over the compitition I had to take creative risks that would make my magazine stand out.

I took a creative risk with the design of the cover. The G on the cover is not immediately obvious but the ambiguity is part of the design. You have to be in the know to get that the shape on the front is the G in question, once you know you see it every time. This technique invites the buyers into a kind of club who know what the shape on the front is. Obscure advertising that doesn't patronise customers and requires some thought is popular with the public. It might take you a couple of observations to see it, but once you know it is there it jumps out at you.

On the front cover I decided to make the main figure monochrome. This could backfire because people wouldn't be able to recognize the star and usually magazines have a vibrant colourful image to sell the magazine. However the black and white allows the rapper to blend in with the G.

Another creative risk is the use of large scale images, such as on the contents page. Traditionally the contents would be printed over the image, however I have chosen to respect the image and give it most of the page, the contents are important but the reader will appreciate the image’s dominance as this is an important rapper they are interested in. 

Another risk with a magazine like this is to focus too much on the style and forget the content. The content should be as important and well balanced with the imagery.