Offbeat
Magazine
A DIY Guide to Seattle's Hidden Gems
Role
Illustration
Writing
Layout Design
Duration
12 Weeks
Tools
InDesign
Illustrator
Photoshop
Adobe Fresco
Team
Sid Hauser
Virtual Flipbook
Illustrations
Overview
Offbeat magazine serves as a DIY guide to Seattle's off-the-beaten-path restaurants and venues
The Problem
Despite Seattle becoming an ever popular destination, there is not enough money being funneled into smaller businesses.
The Solution
Our goal with Offbeat is to provide insider info on what makes our beloved city truly unique and to give back some of the love to local establishments that serve as the backbone of Emerald City.
Audience
Our readers very from the PNW native looking to expand their horizons, to the transplant seeking familiarity in a new place. What all our readers have in common is a yearning to go outside of their comfort zone and explore the local establishments that make Seattle so unique.
Tobias
Tobias is a Seattle native who loves to go out after his 9 - 5. Considering himself a “night owl,” he often attends shows, frequents his favorite dive bars and visits nearby semi-casual dinner spots with his partner. Although he loves his usual haunts, he feels isolated in West Seattle and wants to further explore his city.
He’s interested in getting to know more venues in Colombia City, Beacon Hill, South Seattle, and North Seattle.
Allie
Allie is a Seattle transplant who manages a team of graphic designers at a major tech company. Finding herself in a new city with a comfortable income, Allie is looking to make new friends and explore the city.
Growing up, Allie stuck to her favorite foods, but since being introduced to the finer things she wants to expand her pallet. She has an interest in exploring diverse food and drink as well as Seattle’s exciting music scene.
Moodboards
We thought it crucial to brainstorm different styles and layouts to ensure our designs were cohesive across series I and II. We picked apart designs from various magazines such as Bon Appetite before coming together to make a mood board that we felt defined our brand.
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Bold
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Clean
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Illustrative
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Cheeky
The Story
My teammate Philip and I both have experience with drawing and illustration as well as a passion for exploring local Seattle venues. As a musician who plays in the Seattle music scene, I love to explore and discover new music venues and bands. As a food lover, Philip enjoys exploring local cuisine. The merging of these two passions was how we created Offbeat Magazine.
To make this goal a reality we reached out to friends and family who were familiar with the Seattle scene and asked them to write about their favorite hidden gems - no filter. Not only did this make the tone of each article down-to-earth and personable, it showcased real Seattle locals sharing never-before published insight on where to go in the Emerald City.
Philip and I wanted our magazine content to parallel the hand-touched quality of the venues we highlight in Offbeat, so all of the article illustrations we made ourselves.
Unique Factors - We had to write and source articles as well as individually illustrate each article for our magazine in a span of 12 weeks. We wanted to be able to work together as a team, but then be able to break away and work independently. This is why we made Offbeat a two part magazine, with Philip working on Series I and I on Series II.
The Process
Our readers very from the PNW native looking to expand their horizons, to the transplant seeking familiarity in a new place. What all our readers have in common is a yearning to go outside of their comfort zone and explore the not-so-perfect parts of Seattle.
Our Style ranges from...
Simple
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Clean
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Large scale headlines
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One or two images
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Segregating line elements
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One main color
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Forced justified body copy
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One to two columns
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Clear grid structure
To Expressive
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Dynamic and exciting
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Illustrations that interact with type
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Use of multiple colors
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Different orientations of body copy
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Two or more columns
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Out of frame text
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Use of pattern elements and lines
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Texture
Color
Because we would eventually go off on our own to create an individual series within a parent brand, it was important that we develop a clear color palette and type rules so our designs looked consistent across both series of the magazine. We chose primary colors red and yellow to inspire hunger, and a splash of cool blue and neutralized green to provide visual interest and serve as a nod to Emerald City.
Wordmark
The semi-transparent displacement of "off" represents a deviation from the mainstream, and the vertical alignment of "beat" parallels the idea of treading off the beaten path.
Key Takeaways
Work smarter, not harder.
Although we both have a beautiful finished project, we were overly ambitious with what we set out to do and could have achieved a similar result with a little less work. With that said, this project shows that we can see an idea through to its completion and meet the high standards we set for ourselves.
Take more risks
Because we put so much time and energy into sourcing articles, writing, designing and illustrating - we heavily relied on our preset design system to do the heavy lifting once we put everything in place. Going back, I would love to find more opportunities to be playful and introduce more dynamacism with the layout.
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