First Assignment

Your first assignment is to decide on a topic for your magazine, a GQ department page mark-up and 24 page swipe book.

Topic:
1) Pick a subject that you find interesting and feel like working on for 12 weeks. Make it as
narrow as possible. Write a paragraph describing it. (Research other students' works if you like.)

2) Identify the target audience.
• age group (make it a narrow one)
• income level
• education level (some school/high school graduate/some college/2 yrs college/4yrs college/postgraduate)
• geographic locale (urban/suburban/rural)
• gender (male/ female/ gender neutral)
(think what the target audience want, what they aspire to...)

3) Make the list of stories that go in the magazine including the departments.

Swipe book:
1) Find sample images, a color palette, layout ideas and typography related to the topic.
• Use your own imagery (illustration, photography) or check out flickr.com for
a free download, scan an image you already have, use the public library or art direct
your own photo shoot, etc... (Please, don't use a famous photographer's work or don't swipe from a magazine.)
2) Print out and bind a 24 pgs swipe book.
• Keep it low-brow.

GQ Magazine Mark-up:
1) Get a GQ magazine and pick up a department page (eg. manual) where there is lots
of little details and scan and mark it up.
• Try to describe the sections you see on the page. Caption, credit line, rubric, folio line, body copy, etc. Be as specific as possible.
• Mark the grid as well.
See David's New York Times mark-up for guidance.

Create a blog
Please e-mail me your blog address so that I can add it to our class hub, or contact
me if you have any questions/trouble creating a blog.

Post all your work to your blog.
Bring everything to class.
Ayca