5. Magazine Article

Resource Links:

Page Layout

The video below is a combination of several previous class zoom recordings that cover Pull Quotes, Character and Paragraph Styles, Folio, Margins, Fibonacci Number series, Roman Hanging Punctuation, Ligatures, Dingbats, Master Page elements and more.

Typography

Even though they do share some similar tools, and in some cases can perform similar design tasks, the three main software programs; Illustrator, Photoshop and inDesign, were created with specific purposes in mind. It is very important that you understand how those tools are meant to interact with one another as a design suite and therefore what to do in which program for maximum design efficiency and creativity.

In a nutshell, you should do the following tasks in each of these respective programs for the majority of ALL projects you might be doing:

MS Word

  • text writing and editing only, no formatting or design layout
  • spell and grammar check
  • find and replace words

Photoshop

  • bitmap image editing (camera photos, cell phone selfies, internet JPEGS, etc.)
  • set image resolution (72 ppi. for screen only, 150 ppi. minimum for print)
  • image cropping
  • final image sizing
  • apply any special effects
  • digital “paintings”
  • special effect typography, not paragraphs or stories

Illustrator

  • vector graphics editing and creation (logos, graphics)
  • digital “drawing”
  • single-page layout
  • single-page typography
  • converting text to vector graphics (outlines)

InDesign (this is where you normally bring it all together for final output or publication)

  • multi-page layout (booklets, books, magazines, multipage PDF, etc.)
  • assemble images, text and graphics in a multi-page layout document
  • Multi-page typography
  • applying style sheets and master page elements

Assignment:

This assignment is divided into THREE parts. Version 1 (V1) requires you to copy as exactly as possible a three page article from a magazine of your choice. Version 2 (V2) UPGRADE requires you to IMPROVE on that copied version by applying, adding, or modifying specific elements within the  V1 design. (see below). Version 3 (V3) requires you to use specific content and images (assets) related to the Chinese New Year and create a new article for the same magazine you used in V1 and V2. You must use all the same improvements that were required in V2.

You must first determine your chosen magazine’s brand layout or house style, (what is their choice of typography, page size, use of space, image treatment, folio and master page elements, style, etc. that defines their visual look.) We might substitute the word(s) “brand” or “visual identity” in place of “house style”. In this case, all of these mean the same thing. It is the “look”. It is the things that identify Sports Illustrated vs. House and Garden, etc. This is not the same as the content. The content is the individual stories that might vary from issue to issue or even the various articles that might appear within the same issue. Even though this content or story can change, each one is normally given a common stylistic treatment, the “house style”.

Of prime importance is your attention to the details of your source magazine’s house style and your ability to copy it as closely as possible.

V1

Step 1—Document Set Up

Refer to the resources covering Typographic Variables, Choosing typefaces, Letterform.

  1. Your main goal with version one (V1) of the assignment is to essentially copy exactly the House Style layout from the magazine.
  2. Scan (do not photograph) a page from the magazine you are using. It is recommended that you use the app Adobe Scan on your phone to do this. Pick a page that includes an article so that it will contain main body text as well as headings, sub headings, folio, captions and any other category or grouping of text that is a part of the “House Style”. Make sure your page scans are not distorted.
  3. Pay close attention to where new articles begin in your magazine, on the right hand side or on the left, or occasionally either one. The traditional design approach is for all new articles or stories to always begin on a right-hand page but more recently many magazines are not following this tradition and instead starting new articles on the left. InDesign sets up new multi-page documents according to tradition, meaning that the first page is a single one and on the right. So, if your magazine house style is to begin on the left, your first page in inDesign will be blank, and you will instead begin your layout on InDesign page 2 and 3 with page 4 being a single page. (As an option, or extension of the assignment, you may choose to also create an advertisement design for page 4).
  4. Create an InDesign document
    • Containing at least 3 pages
    • Check the Facing Pages and Portrait orientation options in the set up window.
    • Custom Size the same size as your chosen magazine
    • Insert the same number of columns that your magazine shows.
    • Screen Shot 2022-03-15 at 11.56.53 AM

Step 2—Parent (Master) Pages, Styles, Margin and Column layout

  1. Open the Pages window and double-click the Parent Pages spread and create the following:
    1. Appropriate columns and margins according to your magazine’s house style
      1. adjust the size of margins as well as the number of columns on the page
        1. Top Menu>>Layout>>Margins and Columns
      2. Add the folio information in the house style
        1. first use the text tool to make a small text box where you want the folio info to appear
        2. Top Menu>>Type>>Insert Special Character>>Markers>>Current Page Number 
  2. Parent Pages—This is where you place all elements that you want to appear on all pages of the book. Number and size of Columns and Margins, Folio information, and any branding or house style elements should be created on Parent Pages.
          1. A-Parent (literary)– create the page layout here to follow when importing literary work
          2. B-Parent (artwork)– create the page layout here to follow when importing artwork
            1. All pages in the layout template are initially set to the A-Parent by default.
          3. To Create a new Parent or Edit an existing Parent page, from the options of the Pages Window
          4. Screen Shot 2022-03-14 at 1.58.27 PM
          5. To apply/switch Parent pages:
            1. Mac—Select the parent page and drag and drop it on the book page you wish to change.
            2. PC—Select the page(s) you want to override and right-click. 
            3. Select Apply Parent to Pages, select the book page you want, and click
            4. Screen Shot 2022-03-14 at 2.08.32 PM
  3. Place your scanned pages in a background or template layer of inDesign
    1. Top Menu>>Window>>Layers
      1. Your goal is to exactly reproduce/copy these scanned page layouts
      2. lock the template layers
      3. TIP: Some magazines have a section, usually in the front, called “Production Notes”. In it you will find the names of the typefaces used in the magazine. (All magazines do not necessarily provide this section.) Production notes, if available may help you figure out the typeface, etc. that was used originally.
    2. Double click the page icon for page 1
      1. Create a new layer above the template layer 
      2. Using the text tool, drag a text box for the first column
        1. First flow placeholder text into the text boxes. You are simply imitating all the details of the typographic look but not typing in the actual words of the article. (you will place an actual story/article later)
        2. With the text curser blinking in the text box>>Top Menu>>Type>>Fill With Placeholder Text
        3. To connect one text box to another so the story flows continuously, click the larger box located on the lower right hand side of the first text box you made. (the box will have a small blue arrow in it.) This will “load up” the cursor. Then simply drag a second text box and the words from the first will flow to the second. They are now linked.

Screen Shot 2022-03-15 at 12.39.35 PM

      • When the box located on the lower right-hand side of the text box is not a blue arrow but instead red + box, it indicates that there are more words that you are not able to see yet in the first text box. Simply make that text box larger or again, click the red + box to Load Up the curser and click and drag a second linked text box to reveal all of the words.

Screen Shot 2022-03-15 at 12.47.14 PM

      • Try to match the template story text typography exactly (typeface, leading, size, tracking, etc.) with your changes to the placeholder text. You are using this placeholder text to simply capture the house style of typography or typographic look that your magazine uses.
      • Now that you have a rough idea of the house style and have matched as close as possible the typeface, size, leading, spacing and any other characteristics of  the article then you need to make a Style that uses those settings to define how all articles in the magazine would be treated—a house style. Repeat this same procedure for all of the various categories or groups of text that your magazine uses in its House Style.
        • Using the Paragraph Styles Window create the “look” for a new style called “text”. This will control the look for the main body or story text with the settings you make there. Make this paragraph style look as close as possible to that of the magazine.
        • Repeat this process of making a paragraph style for the other main groupings of text such as a Pull Quote, picture caption, folio info, etc.
      • Using the Character Styles Window create the look of individual letters or small groups of words
        • Do this in a similar manner as you did for Paragraph Styles but now only to control the look for similar single letters or small groups of words 
        • Do this for the title, for any subtitle, drop cap letter or any other special single character.

Note: You could do this assignment without applying paragraph or character styles and achieve the same visual results. However, you would not have learned the correct process that is necessary for you to succeed at higher end layout design needed on future projects.

V2—Upgrade

Unfortunately, everything that is in print publication is not necessarily done correctly or in some case very well—in terms of design. This is especially true of many magazines. For example, the magazine that you picked may not have used the Fibonacci number system to determine margin spacing, so in V1 of this assignment you were simply referring to that sample magazine as a reference and you were simply copying it as closely as possible. Your upgrade design (V2) will potentially be an improvement because of the application of the grid and Fibonacci number sequence creating greater harmony between elements along with several other design improvements (see below). Maintain the same Paragraph and Character styles but edit those styles accordingly to accommodate new design changes.

V2: Step 2—Minimum Requirements

For this revised version (V2) and also V3 you Must Have a minimum of the following:

    1. Choose your body copy typeface first. Pick this from a family that has several different font variations (bold, light, italics, etc.)
    2. Then Adjust/Increase Leading to be whole even number (at least the next larger from the default. For example if the default is 14.4 then the MINIMUM increase would be to 16. You could increase it even more.)
    3. Open the Tracking by +5 
    4. Make these two changes on the Parent Pages
      1. Apply Margin Adjustment according to the Fibonocci Number system/ Golden Mean Proportion (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc
      2. Baseline and Document Grids are created according to the leading.
      3. Add folio branding graphic elements or words (chapter names, lines, bars, glyphs, icons) inaddition to page numbering
    5. Create a version of Diminuindo, as a part of overall visual hierarchy
    6. Add some kind of symbol at the end of the article to signal that “this is the end”. (dingbat, glyph, or ruled line)
    7. Line Length adjustment that falls between 40–60 characters per average line  (this may require you to readjust the column width, typeface size, tracking, margins or some combination of all.
    8. Using the Find and Replace feature, replace all words using the letter combination of f and i with the fi ligature (Screenshot 2024-04-04 at 1.39.10 PM)
    9. Include a Text Wrap
    10. Include a Pull Quote
    11. Caption images
    12. Create Character and Paragraph Styles

V2: Step 3—Minimum Requirements How To Do:

  • Begin with the your final version of Version 1
  • Make the Baseline Grid and document grid increments the same as your new leading setting. (top menu>>InDesign>>Preferences>>Grids)
    remember 12 points = 1 pica, so 16 pts = 1 pica 4 points or 1p4)Pts_picas_inScreen Shot 2022-03-14 at 12.00.39 PM
  • Adjust the margins and gutter spaces to be a version of the Golden Section by applying the Fibonacci Number system (1,1,2,3,5,8,etc.)
  • The image below shows both the document and baseline grids of 16 points (matching the story text leading of 16 points) as well as the adjusted margin spacing according to proportions from the Fibonacci number series.

Screen Shot 2019-03-27 at 5.30.27 PM

Make typographic changes by editing the appropriate Paragraph Styles and Character Styles that you created in V1. Do not make these changes through the Character or Paragraph windows.

Avoid all default text settings.
The reason for doing this is because default settings are simply a starting point decided on by the program. Those settings are not necessarily decided on because they create good design. Instead they will create average looking design. Instead, make design decisions about text and layout more unique and customized to your subject/topic/audience by changing default settings.

  1. Increase the default Tracking by adding 5 points to the default setting.
    1. Increase the default leading to the next highest whole number.
      (ex. 14.4pts  changes to 16pts or higher—this number will also be the number you use for your baseline and document grid increments)
    2. If necessary, Kern the letters in the title to achieve visual evenness between the letters.
    3. Use correct Dashes (Hyphen, EN and EM dashes)
    4. Enable Dynamic Spelling—Top Menu>>InDesign>>Preferences>>Spelling
    5. Fix Typographic Orphans and Widows
    6. Create Character and Paragraph Styles to repeat styles of typographic elements (Headings, Paragraph Diminuindo, Image Captions, Proper Names, Names of Organizations, etc.)
    1.  

V3: New Article—Chinese New Year

          1. Choose your body copy typeface first. Pick this from a family that has several different font variations (bold, light, italics, etc.)
          2. Then Adjust/Increase Leading to be whole even number (at least the next larger from the default. For example if the default is 14.4 then the MINIMUM increase would be to 16. You could increase it even more.)
          3. Open the Tracking by +5 
          4. Make these two changes on the Parent Pages
            1. Apply Margin Adjustment according to the Fibonocci Number system/ Golden Mean Proportion (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc
            2. Baseline and Document Grids are created according to the leading.
            3. Add folio branding graphic elements or words (chapter names, lines, bars, glyphs, icons) inaddition to page numbering
          5. Create a version of Diminuindo, as a part of overall visual hierarchy
          6. Add some kind of symbol at the end of the article to signal that “this is the end”. (dingbat, glyph, or ruled line)
          7. Line Length adjustment that falls between 40–60 characters per average line  (this may require you to readjust the column width, typeface size, tracking, margins or some combination of all.
          8. Using the Find and Replace feature, replace all words using the letter combination of f and i with the fi ligature (Screenshot 2024-04-04 at 1.39.10 PM)
          9. Include a Text Wrap
          10. Include a Pull Quote
          11. Caption images
          12. Create Character and Paragraph Styles

            For V3 you Must Have a minimum of the following:

You have now established all the characteristics of a magazines’ house style/brand and improved on that style with the application of better typographic treatments and unified the page layout creating a more harmonious design. Using the same page size as in V2, it is now time to flow in a new, real article and images (assets) to support that article. Once you have done that you will need to apply the character and paragraph styles you have already created from V2 or create new Paragraph and Character styles for this version.

  1. Using the text tool, click in anywhere in the story
    1. Press the Command or Control key plus the A key to select all of the story
    2. Press delete (do not delete your text boxes, only delete the words)
  2. Use the Place command to insert the article into your layout.
    1. Use the text supplied below for your article (Copy and Paste)
      1. You may add additional text to that which is supplied below.
    2. Align the text to your baseline grid
    3. Read the article
      1. title it
      2. correct misspellings, incorrect spacing, incorrect use of dashes, etc.
      3. break it into paragraphs
      4. find an important passage and create a pull quote from it.
    4. Apply Paragraph and Character styles
    5. Apply all typographic improvements that are not already a part of the character and paragraph styles
  3. Make an image box (the X box)
    1. Screen shot (command shift 5) to pick from the images below or find your own (you do not need to use all of the images) 
    2. Use the Place Command to insert your screen shot images into the image box
    3. Size and Align to the document grid

USE THIS TEXT FOR V3 NEW ARTICLE:

The colorful and exciting celebrations for the Chinese New Year last for several days and end with the lantern (Yuanxiao) festival. Chinese New Year Masks display the feelings and emotions of merriment associated with the festival. Chinese people all over the world usher in the New Year by cooking special food, cleaning their homes, purchasing new clothes and buying presents for friends and family. In the midst of all these activities, various artworks like Chinese New Year Masks in rich colors display the essence of the festivity. Chinese New Year Masks are made of varied materials including cloth, paper, grass, leather, metal, shell, and carved of stone or wood. They are painted with Chinese symbolic designs and vivid colors. Some masks have realistic human or animal features like lion or dragon, while others provide a grotesque appearance. Red is considered as a lucky color for Chinese people, therefore there are lots of red masks worn during the celebrations of New Year. Chinese New Year Masks are amongst the best creations in the art world and are highly sought after by art collectors. Many of the masks or some of its replica can be viewed in museums and art galleries in many parts of the world. Chinese New Year is swathed in beliefs of gods, spirits of ancestors, legendary beings, good and or evil, the dead, animal spirits, and other beings believed to have supreme power over humanity. Masks featuring such supreme powers are honored and are worn during the rituals surrounding the Chinese New Year like lion dance or dragon dance. Chinese New Year Masks are also hung around the homes as decorative. Festivities celebrating Chinese New Year 2006 in SF begin on January 21. The festivities include the Miss Chinatown U.S.A. Pagent, New Year Flower Fair (Jan. 21), Carnival (Jan.27 – Feb 2) and Chinatown Community Street Fair (Feb. 11) with the famous parade being the culmination of the celebrations. The parade — officially known as the Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade — will begin on Saturday, February 11th at 5:30 pm.Chinese New Year is celebrated on the first day of the First Moon of the lunar calendar—based on the cycles of the moon. Lunar Year 4704 (2006) is the Year of the Dog. Sunday January 29 is the actual Chinese New Year Day. Probably the most important traditional Chinese celebration, also known as Spring Festival, the New Year was a time to say “Good by” to the Kitchen God, settle outstanding debts and celebrate everyone’s birthday. Individual birthdays were not considered as important as the New Year’s date, so everyone added a year to his age on the Seventh Day of the New Year. The 15th day of the first month of the Lunar year was reserved for the Lantern Festival. Multicolored paper lanterns were made in the likeness of butterflies, dragons, birds, dragonflies, and many other animals, along with the more common red, spherical lanterns. Entire streets were blocked off, with lanterns mounted above and to the sides, creating a hallway of lamps. Brilliantly-lit floats and mechanically driven light displays combined with dragon and lion dances, parades, and other festivities. Flowers and fruit, particularly Tangerines, oranges and pomelos (large pear-shaped grapefruits), were traditionally used for decorating homes. Children and young adults were given money in Lai-See Envelopes at New Year’s time, similar to the way western children receive Christmas presents. The pictures on this page are from the 2002 Chinese New Year celebration and parade the beginning of the Year of the Horse, according to the traditional Chinese folk method of using twelve animal signs for naming years. Repeating every twelve years, the animal signs follow one another in an established order. The festivities in 2003 celebrated the beginning of the year of the sheep and 2004 was the year of the monkey. If you were born in the year of the dog — 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, or 2006 you share your Chinese Zodiac sign with Winston Churchill, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Mother Theresa and Jennifer Lopez. Although Chinese New Year celebrations in San Francisco’s Chinatown last a month or more with street fairs, parades and dragon dancers, events are planned for evenings and weekends unlike the traditional Chinese celebration where stores would close for a week and everyone would take time off work. The San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade—started in 1853 by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce—is the oldest of its kind and largest outside Asia. For the first 100+ years, the parade was held in Chinatown, mainly along Grant. By the 1970s, it was moved to Market and Stockton streets so that there would be room for the crowds of people who come to see the parade. San Francisco’s Chinatown parade is a blend of typical American marching parades and the traditional Lantern Festival. The dragon dance is adopted from the Chinese celebration, but the beauty pageant, floats, and marching bands are not.

PICK FROM THESE IMAGES (assets) FOR V3 NEW ARTICLE:

FINAL FILES

  1. Package the PDF of your layout, which will also include:
    1. the inDesign file report (you will need to fill out this report)
    2. Photographs or scanned image from the magazine you used showing the house style
    3. Fonts used
  2. After generating the packaged file, compress or zip the package folder. Upload this zip file to the Canvas assignment page. Do this separately for both V1 and V2. (If you do not know how to compress or “zip” please refer to the resource link at the top of the page).
  3. Insert the printed pages of V2 into your real magazine. Photograph them in the magazine. (This should look as if your article/layout was printed in the magazine itself.) 

Please title your files with a title that includes your name.

Plan your time wisely, utilize keyboard shortcuts/hotkeys, use styles and master pages, match the correct program to the given design task.

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