My back cover for the magazine.  This page was tough even though it's just one photo.  Choosing the right photo that links to the front cover but doesn't overshadow it or compete with it was hard, I also thought white would be nice to have on the outside seeing as though there is so much on the inside.  Overall I think it will look great as long as it's printed straight.

My 3 regular articles, a recipe page, and a truffle page, I either used a very similar grid to the feature article or I used the second one I came up with, the one with 3 photos on the right.  In retrospect It could have been nice to have one page have the 3 photos on the left but It works.  This breaks up the large scale of the full page photos with smaller ones and gives me the opportunity to use more of them.

Trying out different compositions for the regular articles.

My two other spreads of my feature article, used the same grid as the feature cover with full page full bleed photos.

Exploring cropping and enlarging the cover for a different feel and emphasis on the chocolate vs. the face/smile.

Cleaning up the feature cover  (the middle one is the finished spread)  The two small columns would be what I duplicate through the magazine.

After I got the cover generally blocked in I started with the table of contents page.  It was the page I was second most exited about and I find If I start tackling the aspects of a project i'm exited about I will work faster and happier and more successfully.  This pims photo was also one of my favorites and I put it in compositionally how I thought worked and started putting in page numbers.  I realized I wouldn't have room so I had to extend the tan negative space using photoshop, then I started playing with where the type would go in relation to the flower.  

After blocking in that page I wanted to start tackling the articles.  I had never done columns of copy before so I started by choosing pictures I liked and just threw everything on a page and started messing with it.

I knew i wanted big quotes, I like the way it looks but I realized I had too much going on on one page and I looked for inspirational references online.

The first thing I did was come up with a name for my magazine.  I wanted a desserty kind of feel but sophisticated so nothing like "sweet treats."  And how better to class something up than to say it in french so after translating a few words I liked the flow and look of Delicieux the best.  I was debating between two of my favorite photos for the front cover.  I wanted to do the front cover first because as a reader it's the first thing you notice that draws you in and compels you to read.  I have a bank of about 400 photos from the photo shoot of all the chocolate I bought (too many to put on this blog so i figure we can see them as they're in the spreads) and I liked these two the best for a cover.  The one with my friend Annie's face I thought was really fun and personable while the chocolate tower was more serious and sophisticated.  I chose to go with the face because I didn't want this to be just a food magazine but more personable and interactive, less still-life and more people.  Chocolate is to be handled and eaten, not to sit on a table.