MOODBOARDS / COLLAGE – SPARE RIB MAGAZINE

SPARE RIB

In a contrast to my previous collages, I felt that in order to experiment properly when doing collages, I needed to utilise different types of media to trial out what elements work for me, especially as I enjoy working both tactile and digitally, using one to influence the other, scanning in handmade collages and digitally altering them etc. therefore felt it was appropriate to make some digital collages.

These collages contain imagery found from Spare Rib magazine, a point of research I discovered quite early that influenced my decision to research further into the different types of complex representations and attitudes towards feminism. My aim for these collages was to create imagery from a visually older source, and contrast more current digital designs and imagery to not only juxtapose them together, but allow them to compliment each other to create a cohesive design. This approach also slightly reminds me of the beginnings of my sketchbook; using Pinterest as a source to collect visually stimulating imagery, and discovering that a big key influence for me was the third moodboard I made, a cross between vintage aesthetics and ideas of nostalgia contrasted with bold prints and colour blocking to create a hybrid of the two styles, as it’s quite unique it almost creates a futuristic aesthetic. I felt it was wise to gain imagery from a source that is relevant to my research and create appropriate visuals from the pictures.

For the first image I used Canva to create the simple photograph collage in the background with the four images in film filters. The use of the film filters was to bring back the old aesthetic to show the magazine’s age and therefore influence, as it is still being referenced today, while having a more contemporary overall graphic style. The illustration was found from one of the magazines, expanded in size and placed in a corner to highlight some white space so the images had space to be perceived correctly while also interacting with the other elements on the pages as well. The text comes from the magazine as was repeated to distort the image in a more subtle way. Overall, I feel like the image works cohesively with all the a variety of elements; text, filters, imagery and illustrations, everything is balanced our fairly. In terms of improvement, each image is the same size (the block of text is the size size as the illustration which is not much smaller than the images put together) and therefore I could have played around with sizing more, a smaller more repetitive text could have emphasised the distorted nature i wanted to bring into the image and larger pictures could have allowed someone to have viewed this image and place extra focus on the pictures, which are quite detailed in themselves and could be enhanced slightly as they could be lost to the image as a whole.

This second image is my favourite one, due to the fact that the images are all boarded together and therefore interact with each other more, it feels like they’re showing different clips in a movie as all the images are candid as well, this has taught me to focus more on the actual images I select to collage with and how they can interact with each other and influence each other’s narratives once placed within a collage. I enjoy using the filters on Photoshop to create effects like the swirl in the bottom right image; the fact that the swirl is only in that place and not the whole image allows the other people to not become distorted or lost in the background but creates a surreal and sinister tone to the picture as a whole. The text was placed to the side, so that the viewer see’s it first as the yellow would stand out against the white background but also interacts with the image as it’s placed on top and the filter adds a sense of motion, especially where the bottom right image mirrors the distortion of the bottom right part of the text. The very contemporary graphic style paired with the vintage effect of using a colour halftone enhances my original goals to tie the two styles together.

The last image is my last favourite image, this is because i feel as if the combination between the images used and the text makes it seem like either something for a pre teen magazine or a series advert that would be shown in a doctors room. I believe this because the text is reminiscent of advertising texts; similar to helvetica which is one of the most used fonts currently), when paired as a quote, could seem like its referencing something that relates to advert or review. Also due to the fact that the older style text was the most effective part of the second collage and this text used here is very modern and doesn’t work with the imagery. The pictures used were all close up of women which I thought would look nice stylistically however once all paired together looks overly serious and dark when it was meant to be more lighthearted, reminiscent of the first two styles. However, I do feel like the typography in the background is a successful design overall, but perhaps not in relation to the overall image. Also the layout in this collage is quite static compared to the other two, as the focus is more narrowed into straighter lines horizontally at the top and bottom which makes the imagery focused more into one block rather than using white space around the page. The movement of the typography on its own is effective since I used the shear tool, which allows the image to bend and leave the page and carry on as if it’s a large cut ouff repeat pattern that could be distorted.