Erin Stephenson experimented with designing magazine covers and double page spreads for a gardening magazine. For the cover, they focused on keeping it simple with minimal text and a central image as the main focal point. They explored different text effects and framing. For the double page spread, they worked on framing and aligning text, which was difficult at first but improved with practice. In their reflections, they noted elements they would include in the final product, such as considering the relationship between text and images, layout, and readability of fonts.

1. Experiments
Erin Stephenson

2. Quick Research
Before I started to
experiment, I
quickly looked at
other gardening
magazines to try
and get an idea of
what features are
common between
multiple
magazines, as well
as that what makes
it clear to the
reader that the
magazine is
gardening related,
apart from just the
title and image.
A lot of them tend to use the
colour green in their text

3. Front Cover Process

4. Front Cover Process
• For the front cover of this gardening magazine, I wanted to keep it
simple with not too much text and the main focus for the reader
being the central image and biggest focal point.
• The idea behind this specific experimentation is that it is a magazine
showing how gardening has evolved online, an example being how
photographers use nature in their photos to create more interesting
shots.
• Something that I could have added to this experiment was some
more coverlines. I could have also tried out more text effects and
messed about with framing more.

5. Reflection
• What elements of your experiments will you include in your final
product?
• One thing from my experiments that I will be including in my final
product will be taking into consideration the front image and working
my text around it. This means making sure that the text not only
works well with the photo(s) but also stands out and is aesthetically
pleasing for the reader.
• I will also be making sure to check my composition and layout
regarding the positioning masthead, coverlines, images, buzz words
etc.

6. Double Page Process

7. Double Page Process
• One thing I had to focus on when creating this double page spread
was the framing and alignment of text.
• Getting used to the framing and how it used proved to be difficult at
the start however after trying a few times, I was able to eventually
grasp how to do it.
• Something that I had forgotten however to include in this experiment
was a coverline, meaning that the audience were not aware of what
would be in the article
• The double page was my first experiment so it was generally me
trying out all the different tools and how it compares to photoshop.

8. Reflection
• What elements of your experiments will you include in your final
product?
• When making my double page spread(s) I will be trying to keep a
minimalist approach similar to my experiments with my inspiration
coming from magazines previously researched.
• I will also be taking into consideration my use of fonts and the sizing
of text so that it is easily readable for the audience.
• One thing that I liked in this experiment was having a page that was
just filled with an image. When creating my final product, I would like
to incorporate this in some form.