Mountain Magazine

Danielle Gorski

Magazine Project

November 19, 2009

Magazine Identity and Readership:

Mountain Magazine is a magazine dedicated to skiers and snowboarders who are serious about their respective sports.  The magazine includes information on the best mountains, resorts, and dining, as well as tips on training and reviews of the latest gear.  This magazine is not for day-trippers, it offers a glimpse and review of many luxurious retreats, and as winter gear is often expensive, it does not cater to amateurs. 

Magazine Visual Identity:

This is a visually stunning magazine that utilizes brilliantly colored images to capture the true meaning of serious winter sports.  Many graphics are needed to not only tell the reader, but to show them, where they should go for the latest winter sports.  This is sort of a trendy magazine for skiers and snowboarders, and uses bright, well-matched colors throughout, especially in headings.  The cover I designed adheres to this, as bright colors and action pictures are present on the cover and throughout the rest of the magazine.

Article Visual Identity:

In the cover article, I used an action picture of a skier on the slopes of Colorado to illustrate the deck, which describes that danger that Crested Butte’s steep slopes are in of being groomed over.  I used a picture of these steep slopes to inspire emotion, and bright graphics and colors to match the rest of the magazine.  The yellow stands out against the blue and white of the snow and ski, and matches perfectly with the skier’s jacket as well. 

Article Design Strategy:

The feature page ties the visual and text together with the application of the color in the picture to the text.  This provides contrast to the blue and white in the rest of the picture.  This feeling is carried onto the jump spread, as I did the same thing except with red.  I also used the red in the sidebar and thick lines, as well as blue in the lines and the pull quotes.  The text is bold and colorful and easily readable, with little flair.  It is clean, bold, and sporty.  I use the contrast of bold and medium text throughout the article to create hierarchy, to increase readability, and to maintain a pattern.  I used white space to focus on the images, as they are truly telling the story and adding to text.  I used black, white, red, and blue for the text because those are the colors in the dominant image on the jump spread, and also utilized colored lines to add cleanliness and order. 

Style Sheet:

COVER

Cover Headline: Helvetica Rounded LT Std Black, 110/132, optical kerning, tracking -70

Second Headline: Helvetica Rounded LT Std Black, 33/40, optical kerning, tracking -40

Cover Teasers (Top 3): Tw Cen MT Bold, 29/22, metrics kerning, tracking -20

You’ll Never Guess: Tw Cen MT Regular, 19/21, metrics kerning, tracking -30

Keeping Crested Butte: Tw Cen MT Regular, 18/14, metrics kerning, tracking -50

5 Steps: Tw Cen MT Bold, 44/31, metrics kerning, tracking -30

We Promise: Tw Cen MT Regular, 29/22, metrics kerning, tracking -30

Free Gear: Tw Cen MT Bold, 54/31, metrics kerning, tracking -60

Turn to Page 46: Tw Cen MT Bold 15/14, metrics kerning, tracking -50

Issue Date: Helvetica Rounded LT Std Black, 11/40, metrics kerning, tracking -20

FEATURE SPREAD

The: Baskerville Regular, 34/41, metrics kerning, tracking 0

One: Apple Chancery, 66/80, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Last, Standing: Big Carlson Medium, 70/84, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Deck: ITC Legacy Sans Std Medium, 14/15, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Tens of Millions: ITC Legacy Sans Std Medium, 19/15, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Article Credit: ITC Legacy Sans Std Bold, 13/15, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Photo Credit: ITC Legacy Sans Std Medium, 12/15, metrics kerning, tracking 0

JUMP SPREAD

O: Apple Chancery, 81/98, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Body Copy: Janson Text LT Std 55 Roman, 10/13, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Pull Quotes: ITC Legacy Sans Std Medium, 17/18, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Photo Caption: ITC Legacy Sans Std Book, 10/10, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Sidebar Headline: Bank Gothic Medium, 16/19, metrics kerning, tracking -15

Sidebar Topics: ITC Legacy Sans Std Bold, 16/19, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Sidebar Numbers: ITC Legacy Sans Std Book, 16/19, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Folio Numbers and Month: ITC Legacy Sans Std Book, 9/11, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Folio Mountain Magazine: Arial Rounded MT Bold, 10/12, metrics kerning, tracking 0

Photo Credit: Janson Text LT Std 56 Italic, 9/13, metrics kerning, tracking 60

Document Grid:

I used a very clean grid, with relative uniformity on both sides of the page, and the pictures snap to the grid and the text has no trouble fitting around it.  I chose 3 columns of medium thickness because it matched well with the images, which are the true focus throughout the magazine.  Two columns simply looked too blocky, and four was far too many and looked too busy.  I set the top margin at 2p0, the bottom at 2p2, the inside at 3p0, and the outside at 2p0.  While I used white space to bring greater attention to my images, I wanted to fit as much content as possible on the pages without making it seem too busy or overlap the page, so these dimensions were perfect for me.  I kept the gutter at 1p0 as well because I used an image across the two pages and wanted to maintain its integrity. 

Sources:

Cover Image: http://business.transworld.net/news/st-pattys-day-sick-twisted-event-march-16th-at-diamond-peak/

Feature Spread Pictures: http://www.mensjournal.com/ski-cheap

Main Jump Spread Picture: http://www.snowclub.gr/forums/index.php?s=ed2299325dba1ef18d80aed5c7e0d06d&showtopic=7169&pid=178875&st=120&#entry178875

Small Jump Spread Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kpmst7/663474284/

Barcode: http://www.badgerbooks.com/books/barcode.shtml

Mountain Graphics: my own design

Extras:

I used bright colors throughout the magazine to set off the white of the snow and the blue of the ski that is in most winter photographs.  I made sure to utilize accent colors from the picture itself, such as the orange of the snowboarder’s board on the cover, the yellow of the skier’s jacket on the feature page, and the red of the skier’s jacket on the jump spread.  Bright colors are visually appealing, and I used them to tie the pictures and text together.