I've spent a lot of time working on social smoking covers this week, and frankly I'm far more excited about them than my spring preview designs. One of the challenges for the story is that it's not the most developed story at this point. The version of the story I read was looking for more human sources, scenes and the reason that kids smoke socially.
I think my favorite is the dice cover. I googled social smoking and scrolled down far enough to find a dice game for smoking. So, I recreated the dice and put on words that went with the story. However, it's missing the human element that Rhonda kept talking about last week.
When I was googling, I also found an old Marlboro ad that was a baby telling his parents to smoke before chastising him. I liked the idea of the ad, found a stock art image of a baby, cut the baby out and put different words about the child. It has the human element, but I'm not sure that it matches the story.
One of the suggested headlines was "The new social (smoking) network." I took that idea and cut-out some cigarettes to pair with that headline to illustrate that idea.
You did a good job on your social smoking covers! I think the baby one has the most impact, but I'm not sure how well it goes with the story without having read it. They are all great though, and I think you could move forward with any of them. I'm excited to see more of your designing this semester!
ReplyDeleteSounds like it should be an interesting story! I like the way you are playing with one dominant visual element juxtaposed with the headline.
ReplyDeleteI think the baby cover is funny, but it does come across more as an ad. Unless there is something in the story about babies smoking, which would be kind of scary! The third cover doesn't really say anything; maybe you could play with using cigarettes to form some kind of network image?
I agree that the dice cover seems to relate mostly to the story. Are you trying to say that teens/young adults are almost "gambling" with where and when they're going to smoke next? Like there's no reason why? That's kind of what I'm getting out of it.
One thing I would hope this story answers is WHY younger kids are smoking socially. From what I know it seems to be more something people do when drinking as well, but maybe the writer has anecdotes that prove that wrong. It's not like they don't know it's unhealthy, addicting and almost a guarantee that you'll get some type of cancer. Why are youth so quick to bargain with their health? I think that would be an interesting idea to get at with your cover design, only if it is somehow revealed in the story.
Another thing to think about is there are usually two sides: people who smoke and people who hate being around smokers. How does that play out in social smoking? That could also be something you abstract and work with visually.
Excited to see what you come up with for your finals options!!
I can see where Rhonda is coming from with the human element, but if that cover is the one they choose for you to improve upon with the second round of designing the cover I think you should try a different tool via illustrator to make the dice look more real. There is a tool specifically for making 2D objects 3D that would be perfect. And their is also a tool within the free transform tool that would allow you to move the text around so that they appear more a part of the dice they way it looks as though you were trying for!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cover is the baby one; it really grabs my attention. It seems from other comments that the story fits well with the dice cover, and I agree with Haleigh that the dice should look more realistic. Maybe add a dek that would explain them, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to see the end results!
I'm glad to see three such different options for this cover, especially since you didn't have photos in yet when you designed.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I'd definitely consider is trying out different typefaces when you design features and covers. I noticed you used Ziggurat on two of your cover headline options and on your baby beauty pageant design. I think trying out something different might help you in pinning down a specific style and concept.
I love your baby cover. I think it is very clever and definitely a different take on the story. I like that all of your covers cut straight to the point. You don't mess with having too many elements competing for attention on the cover and I think that's what makes them successful.
ReplyDeleteI would also recommend putting some sort of dek on the cover, especially in order to clarify what direction the smoking story is going in and what it focuses on.
While I think that Ziggurat looks good on the covers and that it is always a safe font choice, I would agree that choosing a different font would give the headline more impact since Ziggurat is used lots of places elsewhere in Vox.
Overall, I think you did really well in executing your ideas for the covers.
I can't remember which one they told you to run with, but I like the baby cover. I think it's intriguing and obviously funny. It's over the top in emphasizing that younger people are smoking, but that's what gives it its humor, kind of like the e-trade commercials. I think maybe you could make the thought bubble and text more of a secondary element and then add a headline that gets more to the heart of the story.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite of your ideas is the baby one. I agree with you, though, that it might not be getting the point of the story across. Social networking as it relates to smoking doesn't sound like the same kind of idea you would be achieving with the baby. I thought the story must be about how people are smoking at younger and younger ages, or that smoking is more acceptable? I'm assuming that neither were points you wanted to make. It's a great start, but it needs to be developed a little more so it is easily associated with the text.
ReplyDelete