Horse Racing Publications

The problem with most horse racing magazines at the moment, is the fact the target audience is of the older generation. This is very much evident in the design and layout of the magazine covers and the features that lie within them. There is no consideration of the font or the composition, other than a generic tabloid layout which doesn't really stand out.
This is why I am intending on creating a horse racing magazine with more emphasis on younger audiences. The focus on layout, composition, and type within the magazine can make a great amount of difference to the appeal to the audience. It would still probably appeal to the older audiences that already read them, but just make them a little more exciting than the format they currently stand in.

 Racing ahead is a monthly racing magazine.
It uses the same grid layout every month for the cover and insides alike. The fonts on the cover are overused throughout the magazine, and look dated.

An inner page feature from racing ahead.
Standardised tabloid layout. Nothing which really involves you within the magazine. Text flowed throughout columns. Layout is still in the past.
The images throughout are generally constrained to the same placement throughout. The images are also confined to square or rectangular frames.

The Racing Post is one of the more popular racing publications. It follows the frameworks of a newspaper for horse racing. The design of the racing post is better than Racing ahead, but still does not market the sport as it should be portrayed.
The fact that it is in newspaper format could be half the trouble. It faces similar layouts throughout due to the constrictions of the format.

Typographic & Grid Systems

I found a book that has come in quite useful called typographic systems written by Kimberley Elam.
This book covers different rules for use with typography as well as how to interpret within grids that have been put together.
This book covers radial, axis, and random typography amongst other things.

I have attached some images that I feel will help inspire and develop my magazine in terms of the design.

The Grid is a system  of divisions on a page that help to create relationships between elements within the page. They are intended to create visual order.

They guide information through the page and keep a consistent layout throughout publications, websites etc.

This is a radial system that is examplified through a poster for the truman brewery. It shows the grid layout over the top of the design to show you the thought process in the design of the poster.

Truman Brewery Poster without the layout overlay.

Another example of radial typography that uses hierarchy to navigate the audience to the most important part of text. The way the white text bleeds into the white space adds visual interest, as well as the red highlighted text. In the design on the bottom right this hierarchy is created in a tonal overlay to bring your attention to the part of text which is the most important. The lower left deign is left a little bit confusing due to the signifiers of the hierarchy not being as clear.

This is a classic grid layout used by Massimo Vignelli.

It is a grid made up of 3 columns which are sub divided into 8 different visual fields.

This layout allows for flexibility in every issue as well as creating an orderly design with clear hierarchy throughout the grid layout.

 This is another good example in how you can create a consistent design throughout a publication.

This is for a website called Vibrato and is set out as a 5 column grid. The logo is always a constant that is in the same place, as well as the navigation which is in a bright colour and always a constant. Using these layouts the rest of the page navigates around this important information in an orderly fashion using different colour schemes.