Further Development

  

Once happy with the overall design I imported it from Illustrator into Indesign to start working with the article and page layout. To create the columns that appear at an angle I first had to draw text boxes based on the 5 column grid structure I had laid out. I then grouped the text boxes together and rotated them at a 25 degree angle so that they both aligned with each other and the rest of the design.

I chose to set the design at a 25 degree angle, as apposed to other angles, because I found out that the stem of the A in Futura (and other letters) sits at a 25 degree angle. I wanted to emphasize this by rotating the design so that the A on the right hand page sits at a 90 degree angle with the page, showing a relationship between the orientation of the design and the typeface.

This is an experiment I did using the existing design. I wanted to see how the spread would look if I filled the space at the top with another geometric form (this time the O) and I also added "Geometric Typeface" as a piece of extra information and a way for the user to see more aspects of the typeface.

I don't think the O is an improvement on the design. It's hard to place in black or red without making either colour seem overpowering. And setting it in a lighter colour breaks the established colour scheme. It also doesn't really align to anything and generally looks out of place. I think the design is better with the white space, which allows the design each page to breath (since they are quite busy in their own right but seperated by white space).

However I do think the "Geometric Typeface" I added works with the design and has more functionality. It also sits well with the lines and squares that surround it on the right hand page.

As a finishing touch I added some information in the footer. A title for the magazine / feature and a page number on the opposite page. I wanted the footer to correlate with the overall design (that's why I used the same colour scheme and typeface) and not impose on it. I tried to keep the information in the footer to a minimum (only using one page number for example) in order to keep the look of the spread as clean and as free of unnecessary objects as possible, thus reflecting the design and ideas behind Futura.