All of the Briefs

Thought it would be a good idea to post all of these up.

Open publication - Free publishing

Product shots from boards

Didnt wait to spam a load of images I didnt use form the camera as I took well over 100 shots. Here are the selected few...

Open publication - Free publishing

Submission Boards

Open publication - Free publishing

Open publication - Free publishing

Open publication - Free publishing

Open publication - Free publishing

Open publication - Free publishing

Rough Boards

Open publication - Free publishing

Open publication - Free publishing

Open publication - Free publishing

Open publication - Free publishing

Open publication - Free publishing

The Quest for issue one is complete.

Just sent this off to print on a new site just to test the water and see if the service is any good through issuu/peecho. Just got an email through that it may be up to 3 working days til it is dispatched and an additional 8 working days until the document arrives. BUGGER. On the plus side I will have a lovely copy to leaf through for the final show and whatnot.
ANYWAY. Here is the final final draft final of cOde: Quest. If it catches on and I can find suitable time/someone else to work on it with me I will make more and make it even more accessible. Until then it will stay in the bowels of my production den until then.

Open publication - Free publishing - More design

Development PDF:

Open publication - Free publishing

CODE MAG: Cover Progress

Open publication - Free publishing

Getting much closer to finalised cover designs, really thinking they work perfectly as a set/series, will just have to test out the tracing paper idea to see how that works. I think I will probably be going with the closer kerned text, as I want people to be able to see the image behind the text without getting too distracted/obstructed by the type.

CODE Cover Issues

I think I'm getting much closer in terms of resolved covers for the magazine, the use of vivid colours is to draw the reader to the magazine as well as contributing to the aesthetic impact/underlying concept. Bringing the content to life with the palette and writing style goes hand in hand, I believe.

Code Mag: Progress

So I decided to run with my earlier idea to give each issue its own theme, so far the order is:

1. Quest (RPG, adventures)
2. Space
3. Ethics (games that offer a choice that effects alignment)
4. Desert
5. Future
6. Fright
7. Noire
8. Indie
9. Shoot
10. Epic (J-pop games, not the same as quest)
11.Drive
12. Jump (platformers)

I had to go with relatively short words since there is not that much space on the front cover ans I wanted to be able to sum up an issue in as short a way as possible.
I like the way that you can find out about all the content by the sort of type collage at the bottom of the cover. The logo was derived from tall dark and handsome webfont; Alegre sans for the top right informations bar. The cover designs are meant to be a nod to a game's Heads Up Display which normally gives relevant information concerning your statistics, health bar and inventory. But in this context it serves as a purely referential basis.

I dropped the Random Loot feature as I dont think it fully exploits the magazines concept and sort of detracts away from the overall intentions of the brief. So I replaced that feature with a cult gaming journalist, Ben Yahtzee Croshaw, better known for his Zero Punctuation series and articles on the webzine site, The Escapist Magazine. Yahtzee's unique critique on the genre makes him a perfect addition to the content. Renown for his sharp tongue, wit, pulling no punches and often downright anal approach to gaming makes him  a great read and his writing style compliments how one of my own friends, Toby writes his reviews for bands and albums. Just need to root out a few more issues concerning the content and the fluidity of how it is interpreted by the viewer,

CODE START

 Ok so here are my first drafts of how the magazine will flow and where things will go in general. I made some notes on how the publication's content would read and how to maintain the viewers interest throughout.

CODE NEW

Ok so here are the designs I have changed since I did not like the initial idea i went with. Direct context came from my post on the book I looked at. Amazing how one tiny part of a project can inspire your entire brief. Anyway I much prefer the way the magazine looks as a whole, especially since the information has been contained and presented without taking up vast amounts of space and creating visual diarrhea when looking at contemporary gaming publications currently out there.
The images from VG are a mixed bunch and range from being high res to quite lo res, so I will have to find a way round this problem and try to make the imagery stronger and able to scale up if need be.

COVERS

Some initial ideas concerning the front cover of the publication. They seemed a good idea at the time but I am not sure if they have the sort of look I want. I have used VG content as the front cover as I feel it sums up and represents the concept of the magazine very well and makes for a good conversation piece.
The format is as discussed and previewed on the insight magazine post, as I think it is small and versatile enough to carry whilst being capable of fitting enough content on the pages to be deemed content heavy enough.

Planet Illustration

Open publication - Free publishing

Dan Hipp

HIPP

The man I worship with every fibre of my being. If I could be anyone, it would be Hipp. I love his simple drawings and his cult status amongst the art, design and comic sphere. Producing a shedload of fantastic work freelance whilst teaching water polo. Weirdest yet coolest combination of living for anyone I believe! Think the most relevant thing I can gain from his work would be for the bottom of the bottle brief, concerning the illustrative type which he has made his own sort of signature amongst using vibrant colours.