Project: Blu Magazine
Role: Graphic Design, Illustration
Tools: Pencil & Paper, Photoshop, Affinity Designer

For this month's issue of Blu, the theme was our mysterious ocean depths.

I wanted to create a sense of mystery and discovery by emphasizing the difference in scale between the foreground figure and the mysterious creature hidden in the dark. I used a soft yellow gradient in the center and a dark vignette around the edges of the composition to create the illusion of light. A gradient effect applied to the surrounding article headlines reinforces this illusion. The shape of the diver was done in vectors to use as a mask for a closeup photo of a jellyfish.

The photography used here was chosen to relate to the scene I created for the cover, featuring the iconic image of an old school diver associated with underwater exploration. I introduced an organic shape into the composition with the coral to help break up the uniformity of the text columns. The diver image is primarily orange, so I chose blue images to accompany it and establish a harmonious complementary color scheme for the spread.

I wanted to emphasize the scope and severity of the problem discussed in the article by incorporating a large image of plastic waste polluting the shore that spans across the entire two-page spread. Explore the other issues below to see more!

Click on a cover above to see its expanded case study.