Design Analysis

Cover 

Cook’s Illustrated

• I like the green/yellow color combo on the cover page due to them being complementary. The masthead is the first thing to catch my attention because of the font size. The elements are positioned away from the image, so it does not obscure it. The photo is taken in natural lighting. The masthead is the largest font on the page, the cover lines are smaller. It has all the genre conventions. I plan to use all of them.

Cooking with Paula Deen

• I like the blue/orange color combination on the cover page due to the contrast.  The masthead caught my attention first because it is the largest thing on the cover. The elements are positioned away from the dish to avoid blocking it. The photo is taken in harsh and artificial lighting because of the harsh shadows. The masthead has the largest font with part of it being black while the rest is orange, the rest of the text is smaller. I plan to use all of them.

 

Table of Contents

Cook’s Illustrated

• I like they are straight to the point. The pictures catch my eye due to being the biggest thing on the page. The page is divided into three columns; the text and pictures sit perfectly on them. There are pictures of the dishes featured taken in artificial lighting. The fonts are small with the largest one being the section headers. All the conventions are present. I will use all of them.

Cooking with Paula Deen

• I like they are straight to the point. The picture of the turkey catches my eye because it is the biggest thing on the screen. The page is divided into four columns, the text is aligned with them. There are pictures of the dishes taken in shallow depth of field. The text is small except for the word “CONTENTS”. All conventions are present. I will use all of them.

The Two-Page Spread

Cook’s Illustrated

• I like that it mostly contains images. The headline caught my attention first. The page is divided into four columns, the text and pictures align to them. There are no traditional photos, all of them are sketched images. The fonts are small minus the headline. The pages lack traditional photos. I plan to use all the conventions.

Cooking with Paula Deen

• I like that it mostly contains images. The headline caught my attention first. The pages are divided into four columns, the text aligns itself to them. The photos are taken using shallow depth of field. The fonts are small minus the headline. All conventions are present. I plan to use all of them.

Target Audience & Representation

Cook’s Illustrated

• The magazine is targeted to people interested in cooking culturally based dishes. Representation will be done by representing dishes from cultures all over the world.

Cooking with Paula Deen

• The magazine is targeted to people interested in cooking holiday dishes. Representation will be done by showing the demographic and background the cook is from, which affects the type of food they cook over the holidays.