PROCESS
To create NONSENSE magazine, I began by first researching and curating 13 articles about creative processes from the perspective of artists, musicians, dancers, and writers. I then divided the articles into three sections: front-of-book, features, and back-of-book based on their content and length. Next, I created moodboards to determine the tone, colors, typography, and graphic elements of the magazine, as well as illustration, photography, and layout styles. I then collected photography and created illustrations to accompany and match the tone of each article. Finally, I created a flat-plan to lay out the structure for my entire magazine and then composed layouts for each article until the magazine was complete.
AUDIENCE
NONSENSE magazine is for a variety of readers–from creative professionals to those seeking weekend inspiration, to dedicated fans curious to learn more about how their favorite work was made. The following three personas showcase the spectrum of the magazine’s audience, along with their interests and objectives in magazine literature.
MOODBOARDS
NONSENSE shares the stories of artists in a bold, cheeky, playful, and modern tone. Starting with the typography, the headlines use a thick, bold, all-caps typeface to showcase the compelling headlines of the articles. This is complemented by an easy-to-read, lightweight, sans-serif body copy to contrast with the strong headlines. The colors of NONSENSE are used as large fields to complement the photography and provide a bold, bright tone for the magazine. The photography styles capture a playfulness to reference the experience of creativity and are desaturated to pair with the bold color fields. The illustrations throughout the magazine reference the messy process of creating drafts of work, displayed by sketched scribbles on top of the type and photography.
WORDMARK
The wordmark for NONSENSE displays the playfulness and nonlinear experience of the creative process by placing the word backwards. The boldness of its color is used to stand out against the photography for clear legibility and can be used with different brand colors for future issues. The “O” in NONSENSE is sketched as a quick, messy cross-out, as a reference to the experience of making and editing creative work.
WORDMARK IN BLACK AND WHITE
WORDMARK IN COLOR
WORDMARK EVOLUTION
REFLECTION
The process of making NONSENSE allowed me to take a deep dive into layout, typography, color, and art direction. I thoroughly enjoyed curating the articles and envisioning how best to express the tone and creative message behind each story. Being an artist and musician myself, I am always inspired by learning about other artist’s creative processes, and telling those stories visually in this magazine was an experience and direction I want to explore further.