Backcountry Magazine 135
The Fourth Wall is Coming Down
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Bigger is Better
Sometimes, the photography for a piece allows more creative freedom than usual, and short of giving a photographer a shot list before a story comes in, the design is often driven by whatever photos we get. Some photographers make it very easy to get more experimental with layouts by sending very creative angles and compositions, and it allows us as designers to flex our creative muscles to the fullest.
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Capitalize On Detail
In a magazine that’s so heavily reliant on snow, readers can appreciate the texture of it regardless of whether they’ll ever venture to the site of a story. Showing it in such close detail adds an element of immersion in the same way that the author describes an experience, or a designer creates the vibe of the story visually. Balancing the size of an image with the detail of its content can be just as important as the way what’s in the image is described verbally. As a designer, it’s my job to use the supplied photos to tell all of the thousand words each one of them is worth.
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A Splash of Color
Regardless of the vibrance of the other images on a spread, color hits from design elements, redundant drop caps and backgrounds can create consistency between spreads that keep the reader engaged in a story from start to finish. This is especially important when photos vary in subject matter, age and tone.
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Backcountry 135 - The Onward Issue
The Fourth Wall is Coming Down appeared in the October issue of Backcountry Magazine’s 2020 volume. It was written by Megan Michelson.