WEEK 28 - Coming to a newsstand near you
Last week, I taught a free workshop outlining my framework for coming up with (and filtering down) ideas for creative passion projects.
Attendees ranged from illustrators to designers to photographers, and everyone had one thing in common: TONS of different interests.
The question that kept coming up was, "How do I choose which of my many interests to incorporate into my creative work right now?"
While I shared many different strategies in the workshop, I wanted to share a fun, visual one with this week’s assignment:
One way to help you curate your interests is to think of your creative business as a magazine.
Now, before you go saying “print is dead”, there’s a lot we can learn from these publications, specifically the way they structure their content.
Think of a health magazine. The overarching theme is health but under that umbrella, there might be more specific sections: exercise, mental health, diet, etc.
This week, I want you to try thinking of your creative business as a magazine (what is your main focus/theme) then choose 5 categories that fit under that umbrella (your sections). If you're more of a TV person, think of your business like the Food Network and the categories as the types of shows (recipes, restaurant tours, cooking competitions, etc).
Tip: When you're deciding on your categories, try to choose topics that you personally can't get enough of. Things you could go on and on and on about.
Your assignment: Imagine you or your business as a print magazine and design it’s August 2021 cover!
Fun fact: we did this assignment in February 2019, and I wanted to revisit it because most of us have experienced significant change and/or growth since then. This also highlights the beauty of this assignment: we’re constantly evolving, which means our businesses will likely do the same. Change is natural, good, and welcome, and we can always adjust accordingly.
Consider everything a magazine cover needs to convey to the viewer from the broad genre to the specific think pieces. What would your magazine’s sections be? What types of articles would be inside, and what would the catchy cover lines be (aka old-school clickbait)? Then illustrate or letter the cover in your style!
Caption idea: Write the brand statement for your magazine. Just a few sentences that convey to your audience what you're all about, touching on the genre and 5 sections within that!
If you need some editorial inspiration follow @coverjunkie and check out The Society for Publication Designers for some historical reference. Here are some examples of covers I've done too: Baltimore Magazine, Time Out New York, and Washingtonian.
Don’t forget to tag me @homsweethom and use the #HOMwork & #HOMwork2021 hashtag when you post on Instagram. I love looking through your excellent creations and sharing a few of my favs every week in my IG Stories before the next assignment is posted.
x Lauren
P.S. My best-selling passion project class, Passion to Paid, is enrolling new students until July 30th! Click here to learn more if you've been curious about starting one of your own.
