This is the magazine layout I recreated in Indesign. The first page used a three column grid and because the second page had a variety of column sizes, I used eleven columns to accommodate both. Using an odd number of columns to make the grid system within a layout helps create an asymmetrical design and easily allows the use of negative space, which are both good components of a good design. This layout has a good balance of variety and unity. Variety is created by the different sized fonts, various sizes of columns of text and the use of different fonts themselves. The large font at the beginning of the article invites the reader in and the smaller columns on the right create a side panel with the image that help balance out the headline on the left. Unity is created through the use of color - the same red color is repeated throughout the article.
Before doing this project, one of the things I found hard to incorporate within my designs was negative space. I felt the need to fill every available space with text or a graphic of some sort. Then when I realized how the negative space creates air within a layout and can actually be part of the design itself, I wanted to incorporate negative space but didn't know how. And after I set up the grid structure for this layout, it started to make sense. It's all about the grid!
As far as following all the typesetting rules, I was surprised to find so many hyphenated words in the original article, but it was probably because the main body of the text was justified, and that's a decision the original designer decided to make.
The original layout is below:
