Hormonal Regulation
Use-Case: editorial journal cover
Target Audience: general public, women’s health
1. Research/Planning
Every project begins with research.
The living Word document is always the first part of my process, where I start by including scholarly reference(s) depending on the project. The idea for this editorial journal cover was based off one article titled “Anything but Endo: Diagnostic Buck‐Passing in Endometriosis Diagnosis.” I then placed the important information including goals, audience, overall summary, and design ideas.
When brainstorming ideas for editorials, I prefer to type out descriptions to just ensure I get them on paper as they pop into my head. I liked the symbolism of oil repelling from water to resemble avoidance of underlying causes. I also knew this would most likely be too abstract an idea, so I had to find a way to incorporate women’s health for viewer topic recognition, which is why I later added the birth control pills.
Lastly, I sorted through reference stock photos to use for rendering. It’s also important to note, this was not an official client project for The Lancet.
2. Design Ideation
Sketching, sketching, and more sketching.
Once I settled with a handful of editorial ideas, I sketched a ton of compositions for each. Eventually, after speaking with peers, I narrowed down my three favorite sketches pictured here. I try to include color, text, and graphic placement in my sketches, as those elements are foundational to a successful piece.
I ended up choosing the oil sketch because it was more symbolic than the others while still referencing women’s health through birth control pills, and it had a visually dynamic design. It kept pulling my interest, so from the perspective of the general public I believed it would be the most compelling.
3. Finalize
Once I decided upon a final sketch, I made sure to focus most of the time on rendering since this specific project called for a realistic look to increase viewer engagement. I was consistently asking for and implementing feedback from other professionals to ensure the lighting looked accurate and layout was clear for my audience.