Need constructive criticism on magazine-layout. - General

Ok, so this is for a school-project. Obviously still a work in progress. I have interviewed Gamereactor's editor-in-chief, and I've asked him various questions about piracy, new ways to play, advertisement in video-games and things like that. The magazine is aimed towards norwegian youth, so I guess I have to obtain a certain level of "freshness". [IMG]http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/1595/layoutdv.jpg[/IMG] I showed it to the teacher and pupils yesterday. The teacher thought my white-blue-grey color-scheme was too boring. While most of the pupils thought it looked great. The teacher is probably in his 50's, while the pupils are in the target-audience. But in the end, the teacher is giving the grades. I personally think the color-scheme looks great. What do you think? Should I change the color-scheme into more vibrant colors or should I argue with the teacher, and convince him the current scheme is good enough? I'm open to all kind of critic, but please keep it constructive so I can improve my layout. New version, this time with black background and less cramped fact-box Better? Worse? [IMG]http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/7612/layoutlk.jpg[/IMG]

It looks how I would expect the slandered "This is about games and a short article" layout. Generally I like it, the picture of the PS2 controller is nice too.

The sides and bottom feel empty to me.

The pupils obviously have no design sense and your teacher is right. The color scheme feels really dead and heavy, especially with the dark grey background. Either make it black or make it WAY lighter, at least behind the main text. Also the typography is pretty gross, but that could be partially due to the small image size. Your vertical rhythm is pretty fucked though. Box with the picture and text over the controller is WAY too cramped too.

Change the font and make the background more interesting perhaps.

[QUOTE=Moreto;17350460]It looks how I would expect the slandered "This is about games and a short article" layout. Generally I like it, the picture of the PS2 controller is nice too.[/QUOTE] Thanks. (PS1 controller btw) [QUOTE=onox37;17350520]The sides and bottom feel empty to me.[/QUOTE] I have to follow a certain margin, because the reader should be able to hold the magazine with a firm grip without covering the text with his thumb. [QUOTE=KmartSqrl;17350587]The pupils obviously have no design sense and your teacher is right. The color scheme feels really dead and heavy, especially with the dark grey background. Either make it black or make it WAY lighter, at least behind the main text. Also the typography is pretty gross, but that could be partially due to the small image size. Your vertical rhythm is pretty fucked though. Box with the picture and text over the controller is WAY too cramped too.[/QUOTE] I'll look into that. I'm already looking into the gray/black-background thing as you can see, but my teacher wants a color in the background, because the darkish background doesn't relate to the "joy of gaming", thing is, my article is not about how fun games are. But yes, I shall look into a completely black background and experiment with some lighter shades of gray, maybe even white. The typing got pretty distorted when I downsized the image. I'm still looking into the main-text stuff. You're right, it's very cramped, indeed. Going to fix that as well. Thanks for great CC. [QUOTE=Taishu;17350711]Change the font and make the background more interesting perhaps.[/QUOTE] If you are talking about the main-text, I have to use the Times font, since it is common for the entire magazine. Or are you talking about the headline-font? Because I thought the retro/8-bit font fit the theme pretty good. Most readers will relate it to video-games when they see it, and both teachers and pupils thought it looked great. I don't know how to spice up the background really. I think it looks to gimmicky if I add a picture in the background. I'm thinking of a single color in the background. Black, gray or white. Flashy colors doesn't really contribute to the subject, I think. Unless you have any suggestions that is. [editline]11:26AM[/editline] New version, this time with black background and less cramped fact-box Better? Worse? [IMG]http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/7612/layoutlk.jpg[/IMG]