Client:

class project

About this project

It is a student-driven class project whose final goal is to create a magazine for students at the UNC campus.

The whole class cooperated to combine two magazines, one named Megabyte, one named Adventurus. Each student is assigned to stories in both magazines. We followed the style guide compiled by ourselves, used Adobe Illustrator, Indesign, and After Effect, and accomplished the task before the deadline. The two magazines were sent to print and would be distributed around campus in spring.

Adventurus is a guidebook for UNC student to explore North Carolina. It recommends activities, sites, food and offers tips to college students and faculties. I contributed to the style guide, helped my teammates with watercolor effects and drew several watercolor backgrounds. I also wrote and designed for the story ‘An International Student’s Guide to Exploring North Carolina’.

Challenge

The story I was assigned to was designed specifically for international students. In order to reach the target audience, I need to speak in their language, think from their perspectives and meet their aesthetic taste. Although I’m also an international student, it is not a simple task.

Many students whose mother language is not English will just refuse to read an English magazine. My task is to drive those audiences and motivate them to read Adventurus. A lot of research (mainly surveys and interviews) were conducted. I translated Chinese and Japanese conversations to English paragraphs. I found out empathy was important. I need to think of how to bridge the gap between cultures.

Solutions

In order to get real experience before I start writing, I visited several sites. I made a list according to my own experience and the information I collected from my international friends. I suggested the team to use watercolor as major design element because watercolor meets both eastern and western taste. I helped my teammates to create watercolor effects in Photoshop and suggested the primary colors.