My cover design changed from a totally different image and colour palette i.e., the pink hijab to now the blue and black colour palette.
At first, I knew where I wanted the title, but I experimented with the placement of the issue title as well as my name. I liked the fact that the title follows the movement of my hijab in the image.
In the end I chose to keep it very simple and not incorporate any Arabic in the front cover as I still wanted to uphold that minimalistic and elegant aesthetic.
In comparison to all my other pages this is the page that went through a lot of iteration.
In the beginning I went for a very minimal design which is beautiful and I still like it however it did not represent the fact that this is an Islamic magazine. I felt that the magazine should give that feel to the reader straight away.
I thought experimenting with more fonts would give that feel to the magazine. Through experimenting and trying different fonts it confirmed that my original font was a better fit.
After carefully thinking about how to give that Islamic feel to the magazine I decided to use a geometric design that I drew out which I got inspiration from my local mosque. I went to the mosque one evening whilst still having the contents page in the back of my head and the geometric design that goes throughout the carpet just gave me inspiration to add that. Once I drew it out and added that to the page it gave that feel straightaway as well as still maintaining the aesthetic I was going for.
I decided to have the heading as an italic and have arabic running through the middle and the arabic meaning “contents” so having that cross-cultural aspect gave the magazine a more Islamic feel.
After the contents page I wanted to have that instant link to the hijab. I decided to have the word hijab written in arabic using the “Arslan Wessam B” font which is a beautiful font that goes with my heading for my magazine cover. I loved the arabic piece but wanted to add the English word hijab right under so that those who don’t understand or read arabic can also understand as my magazine isn’t targeted towards Arabs or Muslims only.
As for layout I wanted to only have one image and mainly focus on the information however I decided to make it more visual because I wanted people to have some visual references when reading instead of just having a lot of information. I also considered visual learners and people with ADHD who might find it very boring and also overwhelming as its a lot of text on the page.
I matched the layout of the images and text to fit the grid better and it looked visually more appealing as well.
I did experiment with the borders as I felt it was too modern and did not give the Islamic feel I wanted. I tried to have a floral design around the page number but I did not like it so I drew out more shapes and designs and decided that I really liked the geometric border and how it looks around the page number whilst also running across the page and having that consistency throughout the magazine.
This was a very straightforward page in terms of layout and design. I stuck to the grid and I loved the use of white space with a lot of information whilst having that minimal look. It isn’t overwhelming or boring and it sticks to the grid very beautifully. I really liked working on this page.
I did also experiment on this page with the page number border aspect because I felt like it was too modern and didn’t give the feel I wanted. I came to the conclusion that I wanted the geometric border in the end as it matched the feel and aesthetic of my magazine.
This page was very well planned and I already knew what image I wanted to use whilst I was doing the initial layout designs.
“the forgotten women” being the title but the image conveys the message that although they are forgotten by society they still have each other and support each other in that sense.
I did change the placement of the text on this page because I felt like it was taking away from the image so I used some of the white space and relocated the header and body text.
Originally I wanted to stick to that minimal look however I thought I should incorporate a shape into the page. The crescent moon was used because it is often symbolises Islam which gives my magazine that Islamic feel that I wanted.
Although I did experiment with how to put the text and shape together I did decide in the end to have the geometric shape with the same colour theme as the same dress as the image on the left inside the moon. I also decided that I wanted the text to follow the shape of the moon In order to give that visual of the moon crescent being there.
This page focused on the western world and I wanted to go a collage of pictures taken whilst abroad in other countries. I wanted there to still be elements of arabic so I decided to have the word “hijab” in arabic in the middle of the collage.
I tried one solid colour so two shades of blue used within the magazine however I decided the layered effect that I also used on my contents page looked the best.
This was the easiest page to design as I already knew the image , font and everything I was going to use whilst doing the layout design sketches.
I wanted to keep it very simple and not take away from the rest of the magazine.
As I said before I envisioned the back cover having the same image but just further away from the camera so I found this beautiful image of me taken in the same series as the front cover and I knew I wanted to use it.
I experimented with the colour of the border however I decided to stick with white as it went with my theme and aesthetic better.
The layout is very simple and mimics the front cover with the addition of a barcode. I love the simplicity of the front and back cover whilst still giving that Islamic feel.
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