ASTRIDIA
EDITORIAL DESIGN/VISUAL IDENTITY
ASTRIDIA is a science and technology publication that cultivates excitement with its biodiverse platform. The magazine spotlights beneficial plant growth technology, both modern and traditional methods. It breaks down the benefits of various technology and how it's helping the environment globally.
Who is ASTRIDIA?
What defines ASTRIDIA'S character? What does ASTRIDIA not want
to emulate? This list showcases the goal of ASTRIDIA's personality
and underscores what she isn't.
to emulate? This list showcases the goal of ASTRIDIA's personality
and underscores what she isn't.
Preliminary Sketches
Keeping these keywords in mind, I began to sketch and research various typefaces that fit ASTRIDIA's personality. How could rounded ascenders and descenders invite the reader? How could angled arms
and legs showcase the "technical" aspect? How can the typeface truly combine and showcase the duality
of the natural aspects of plant growth and its technology?
and legs showcase the "technical" aspect? How can the typeface truly combine and showcase the duality
of the natural aspects of plant growth and its technology?
Final Wordmark
After fighting to create a balance between nature and technology, I decided to start with a more angular typeface. Source Sans Variable was the base in question. Subsequently, I decided to emulate the more natural aspect of the magazine by adding rounded strokes to the insides of the counters and the bowls. This is the final wordmark.
Typography
Now, when researching typeface pairings for the text of the magazine, the goal was to continue to balance that duality between nature and technology. I went with a humanist typeface, Optima, and a monospace typeface, Dico Mono.
Hierarchy
Through the iterative process, I landed on having Optima being most of the headers and Dico Mono as most of the body copy. Below is the hierarchy of my typefaces, their purpose, weight, size, letter spacing, and tracking.
Color Analysis
Likewise, to continue that theme of duality, the color palette needed to reflect that idea. The background color was chosen as a light tan color, as to give nuance to a soil-like color. The type palette is simple to allude to the technology aspect. The goal of the image palette was to have vibrant, warm colors to showcase the true life of nature at its peak.
A "Landscape" spread
The size of the magazine reflects a physical landscape, so the type can grow across the page. It is approximately 13.8 by 9.8 inches, a little smaller than the B4 paper standard. It has 8 columns and 4 rows. The margins are calculated on quarters. The top and bottom margins are 0.75 inches. The outside margin is 0.50 inches and the inside margin is 1.25. The column gutter space is 0.125 inches and the row gutter is 0.25 inches.
India's Ancient Fruit Trees
In this interview, Kamala Thiagarajan gathers information on the traditional method of grafting to cultivate new plant life. The type and image grow, overlap, and interact to emulate the process of plant growth on the page. Text and image are cut and repeated as to mimic the action of grafting.
Plant Diversity and Grassland Bison
In this feature, Kansas State University presents information on the introduction of bison to grasslands and how it's promoting plant diversity. The type and image play with variable sizes and continue to overlap to emulate plant growth. The images are of bison and local common wildflowers in the grasslands.
Final Magazine
