Building the Grid / Creating the Spread

 

To start creating my spread in InDesign I set about building the grid first before dropping in any images or text. However for this design I was basing a lot of the layout around the postion of the cut-outs in the center. I decided to start off by getting the position of these images right before I put anything else in. I also tried to leave enough space between them so that not much information would be lost in the fold, but keeping them relatively close.

 

I created the columns and image boxes next. I experimented with lots of different column grids but I settled on an 8 column grid as this allowed me to create 4 medium sized article columns that would text wrap nicely around the images whilst leaving equal space on either side because of the equal number of columns. This helps maintain the centralized design of the layout. This column size also best fitted the length of the article I was using.

 

Next stage was importing the actual article and creating the header. The article title I chose was "Blast from the past" - I didn't want to use the title of the game because that would have been more boring. Article looking at existing magazines they often have an interesting title that graps the readers' interest.

 For the header style I found a typeface called Ozda hosted on dafont.com. I wanted something that had a distinct science-fiction feel to it and also quite retro as this would tie-in with the style of the film. Additionally I chose this typeface because it was very bold similar to the logo of the film. In this way I hoped to bring some character into the article using type and not just images.

The reason I didn't just go for the Back to the Future logo typeface was because I wanted something that reminded readers' of the film but wasn't just a straight rip from it. In this way the magazine can be more creative and create it's own style whilst clearly showing inspirations from it's subject matter. I also found this typeface to be much more versatile and easier to use with a grid. The name and postioning of the words was inspired by the Back to the Future title.

 

I then imported all the other images I wanted for the spread and created the pull quote and final verdict. I specifically chose images that would best fit the shape of the image boxes I had. For example the image of young Doc on the far right was a portrait image so it best fitted that particular image box. I also chose to use close-up shots as the image space I had was quite small and this would best balance the larger images of the characters in the center.