Retro Car Magazine

This a feature from Retro Cars Magazine. A Group Test featuring four 80s supercars. I included this in my research because the layouts struck me as being really well designed and having great examples of car photography. This feature also shows examples of different ways to set imagery and type:

The first spread feature one large image that covers both pages with an introduction placed in a translucent box on one page. Firstly I really love the image they've used for the first page. It's really dynamic and eye-catching. I think it would definitely entice the reader in to reading on. The box with the introduction in it has been set in a way that doesn't conflict with the focus point of the imagery which is good. I'm not such a big fan of the style of drop-cap they've used to start the article. It's actually a light typeface instead of bold and overlaps with the rest of the article. I don't think doesn't do anything to aid legibility and personally I think it looks out of place.

This is the next page where the designers have chosen to set the type against a white background separate from the imagery. I like the way the silver of the BMW is balanced with the red of the road surface, it looks well composed.

This magazine features fact files like Autocar but the design is much cleaner and discrete in comparison. The fact files don't distract from the images they're placed on as they're semi-transparent and the point size is no bigger than that of the main article. I think this matches the general style of the magazine well. The designer has also aligned them to the same gutter as the article above which keeps the layout consistent, allows the design elements space to breathe and generally improves the overall design of the page.

This spread features a main image that cover one page and bleeds onto the other page. I've seen this style in magazines before. It makes for quite eye-catching pieces and doesn't look as rigid as having an image restricted to one page. I like the typeface they've used to write the pull quotes in. It's quite a bold, slightly condensed sans-serif typeface. San-serif looks good because it sits well on-top of photography and it very legible. The boldness of the typeface draws the readers eye to the pull quote, which is then supposed to entice the audience in to reading the full article. This typeface is also used for subheadings and in the fact files. I like the way they've set the pull quote in the corner, with a nice amount of spacing between the edge of the page like the fact files. It doesn't clash with the image and stays consistent with the article on the opposite page as it sits aligned to the same gutters.

I've just noticed that all images don't show the driver. Either the driver isn't present or they've framed the car in such a way that the driver is nothing more than a faint silhouette or blocked by the bodywork. This is interesting as I hadn't initially considered the presence of the driver when taking photos of cars. In comparison Autocar Weekly does show quite clearly people driving the cars when testing them. Showing the driver could suggest that the article is about the person's experience driving the car which would make sense for Autocar as road tests are about the reviewer's personal experience driving it. Whilst a car enthusiast magazine like Retro Car wouldn't use images of the driver because the article isn't about who's driving it, it's about the car itself. This is another thing to consider when shooting pictures of my car for the spread as the type of article I choose to create will affect this.