MagCulture’s allocation of copies of the first issue were quickly taken. It’s in people’s hands; this is good.
Having begun to narrow down the details of my system with regards to typefaces and column structure, I began considering how I would expand upon the publication’s format to accommodate longer-form content. In particular, I have an article accompanied by a photo essay which has strong visuals that I do not want to sacrifice for the sake of the format. There is some argument to be made that the content should dictate the form itself, but as I expect articles of this length to be more sporadic, compared to the frequent short and sharp interviews, I felt it would be appropriate to experiment with making some concessions to the format without totally overhauling it.
I started by doubling the page size, moving to A3. I began to devise a folding format that would make sure the closed publication would still conform to the same dimensions as the A4 issues. The story itself is then contained on one side of the paper and can be read a column at a time, whereas the reverse features a poster.
I received some useful feedback regarding hierarchy at this point and began to examine the way I was dividing up content. Namely I set out to try running the text in a continuous manner across columns to as to better guide the reader through the zine, as opposed to the current style of headings dividing individual interview questions etc. Further to this, I was prompted to examine the role typography played in the hierarchy. I have chosen to abandon using the repeating pixellated typeface, reserving it solely for the logo on the cover. Subsequent experiments will trial various weights, typefaces, sizes etc to try and land on a hierarchy that works.
RIGHT: A revised hierarchy based on feedback that I will be using going forward