Behind-the-Scenes
06.18.12
Sketch Pad: Popular Mechanics
Our peek into the process of creating brilliant magazine and newspaper design from around the world.
Popular Mechanics, July 2012
Design Director: Michael Lawton
Senior Art Director: Peter Herbert
Associate Art Directors: Mike Ley, R. Scott Wells
Director of Photography: Allyson Torrisi
The wonderfully rich and layered print pages of Popular Mechanics sure don't come together by accident. Design Director Michael Lawton's process is hugely detail oriented, organized and collaborative. Here he explains how the opener of his July DIY "weekend" section evolved from notes on a page to final
1: Take Note:
This is the starting point for any design at PopMech. These are notes (and others) for our new single page "Reboot" section opener titled "Weekend". This page now opens our back of book core DIY content.
3: Tightening up the sketch
4: The Markup
Building the comp and first markups. After sketching the page a few times I realized that it might be a good idea to not lock into a set position for the "Weekend" title box design. The design can now shift positions each issue to keep the design fresh for the reader and of course accommodate different image formats and content.
5: The Final Page
Final page. This is one of the four designs that a I start with and adjust each month
