The content of this spread is very distinctly split down the middle into two sections, with text on the left and an image on the right. In terms of text structure, the designer has kept to a very simple yet effective layout. It begins with the main title at the top, moving to a short blurb or synopsis beneath, followed by the credits of the writer, photographer, and stylist beneath. Moving further down is the body text split into two columns. There is also a small caption for the image written over top in the bottom right-hand corner of the spread. 

The designer here has cleverly implemented visual hierarchy whilst simultaneously keeping little to no variation in typefaces. More specifically, the entire design is created using only two typefaces from the same serif family (one for the body text which is slightly more condensed and one for the other elements). This is very indicative of a fashion magazine, in which this spread is from, as serif type evokes a clean and elegant aesthetic. Similarly, there is a distinct lack of colour, with the entire spread presented in black and white. While the monochromatic palette references the black and white photography, this paired with simple text allows the visual impact to come from that same image. However, due to this lack of variation in type and colour, the designer has had to experiment with position, scale and weight in order to create an appropriate hierarchy.

 Firstly, the different content has clearly been positioned with the structure in mind. For example, the title or headline is closest to the top which screams out for attention. From there, scale and position work hand in hand as each text decreases in size the further down the page it gets. This combination of scale and position allows for an easy read, with the viewers eye naturally moving from the top elements down to the body text. Another intentional decision by the designer was the use of weight in combination with her choice of typefaces. This design very clearly evidences the ideas of Ina Saltz when she explains “size and weight often go hand in hand” with the thickness of the text, for the most part, decided by its size throughout. For instance, the title uses the heaviest weight, with the body text being the thinnest. This title text is further referenced in size and weight by the drop cap at the start of the body text. Through this visual reference, the traditional hierarchy is disrupted, as viewers now perceive the title, then down to the drop cap, before working their way back up to the other elements. Be that as it may, the rest of the text combines weight and scale to highlight their position. The blurb beneath the title is both smaller and thinner, while the credits are smaller again, yet slightly bolder. As the credits and body text are at a very similar scale, the designer had to thicken the former in order to distinguish it. The final factor in creating this visual hierarchy was the use of alignment. The top three textual elements are centrally aligned, further establishing visual dominance when paired with their higher position and close proximity to one another. Contrastingly, the body text is justified with the last line left aligned, creating a rigid design. These intentional yet subtle choices all amalgamate to create this clean and elegant aesthetic in which allows the stunning photography to shine. 

I think the overall design of this spread is super successful in many aspects. I love the simplicity of the typographic elements and how they allow the beautiful photo to shine. This is only further enhanced by the positioning and alignment, particularly when paired with the consistent typefaces. From a personal perspective, this design really speaks to my love for minimal design and clean typography. I love how the back and white text interacts with the black and white photography, and the amount of white space to give the eye some rest. I also love, while there are variations, the overall thin weight of the text when freshens up the spread. Due to its simplicity and quality execution, I’m not sure there is too much that doesn’t work in this design - which is not surprising considering it was created by Vogue. Personally, if I were to recreate this (which I am about to), I would like to explore different combinations of typefaces, perhaps even from different families. While adding different or more exciting typographic elements could elevate the overall design, I don’t think it needed it in this context. This spread was a great example of how subtle design decisions – even with just one colour and type family - can create a successful composition.

For this task, I recreated the magazine spread in InDesign while maintaining the same format, images and colours. This was an exciting, yet difficult, challenge as the original design had very few flaws. As such, I did not aim to make my design better in any way, just an alternative style and layout to the former one. First and foremost, I wanted to move away from the typical serif format commonly associated with these types of documents. Instead, I wanted to use other type families, but still pay homage to the clean and elegant aesthetic. As such, I experimented with different sans serif options. This design would require a sans serif in which it’s scale and weight could be easily manipulated to create visual hierarchy. This typeface would also have to blend the more modern vibe associated with this type family with simplicity and elegance. As such, I chose Monserrat as the main typeface, which included a range of weights and had a fresh minimal form. I used this throughout the entire design from titles to body text. After deciding upon this typeface, however, I felt the design needed something a little extra to break up the modern lines. With that in mind, I decided to incorporate two typefaces into the heading – one that was an elegant and organic script, and the other the previous sans serif. The script type gave a really soft femininity to the design which paired well with both the sans serif and photograph to the right. From there, it was a matter of positioning and deciding on scale and weight. 

As I liked the successful positioning and layout of the original spread, I didn’t want to mess around with it too much. So I began by centring the heading at a similar scale which was big enough to assert dominance, while also leaving white space for the eye to rest. I ensured with “Woman” was the heaviest weight so it immediately captures the attention of viewers. The blurb was then the next heaviest, this time in uppercase and slightly italicised to further set it apart from the other elements. I experimented with several layout options for this component before finally landing on this one. I love how it draws your eye down after seeing the heading (due to its weight and scale), before viewers move back up to the credits and body text. Additionally, I liked how the blurb broke up the body text, but was still distinguishable amongst it. Finally, I made the body text the smallest and thinnest of the textual elements. The dainty thin lines, although in a sans serif form, pays respect to the elegance of fashion and the story. This weight also adds a fresh clean touch to the overall design. After playing around with different typographic options, my final step was to step up styles in InDesign for the different sections in the structure (titles, body text, etc.). This would allow for a quick and smooth way to streamline any other pages in the future which required the same aesthetic features and formatting. I previously had no idea about styles in InDesign – it is a highly effective and time saving tool which I will definitely be using in my future design documents and other projects!