In continuing with my postmodern design presentation I had discussed April Greiman and this specific image but I didn't include it in my presentation so I wanted to put it up here. This is a common theme with her work, pictures with random shapes and images.

Tess Wizniak

Layers Magazine Review

Professor Jones

December 4, 2012

Layers Magazine

In todays society the design world is consistently growing and changing, and also becoming more competitive. Design as well as many other fields in the arts are becoming more and more popular amongst students as a desired area of study. Certain mediums of communications, in this case magazines, are just one of the many ways we as students can learn and keep current with all the different trends and areas of graphic design. Layers Magazine is just one of the many design magazines influencing present day designers and students. Upon researching and looking at the magazine, one can review and understand the basis of this editorial. 

Layers Magazine was created to assist designers in using certain programs to create their work. The magazine is led by Scott Kelby, the worlds number one selling computer book author. They only release six magazines a year. In their magazine they release up to date information on how to use different creative programs and tools for design. The articles provide detailed tutorials and complex how-to’s  of Adobe products. This includes tutorials on Illustrator, Indesign, Photoshop, GoLive, Acrobat, After Affects, Premiere Pro, Dreamweaver, and Flash. They pride themselves on releasing the “secrets” of these programs to create professional work efficiently and timely. The magazine itself seems to be a pleasant blend of design art and tutorials and instructions for how to do the art they display. The advertisements in the magazine are generally all design related or art related as well. This must mean that design businesses trust and pay the extra money to be involved with this magazine. (layersmagazine)

As a current design student, it is interesting to see what this magazine offers. It’s also easy to see how some magazines about design may not be very helpful to students. Some may just feature many pictures of art and designs. This can definitely be helpful to inspire students and show them the current works, but that isn’t always enough. I actually believe Layers is a spectacular outlet for students. It is a step by step how to guide basically. Not only does it show current works, it shows how to create them. This whole magazine is educational. It’s like an encyclopedia of graphic design. After seeing it, I personally would recommend it to any student or designer who may need help with one of the many Adobe programs. It also seems to be highly professional and in reviews it’s also recommended by professional designers as well. That being said, with the multitude of different design programs offered, it’s important to specialize and have good knowledge in all of them. To make oneself as a designer more competitive and have a step above some other designers, it’s good to know how to use all the programs. This means a magazine like  Layers could only be a positive entity for students. 

In comparison to some of the other design magazines offered, I do have a bit of criticism for Layers Magazine. Though it’s hard to say any art based magazine is not colorful enough or there’s not enough art in it, that’s my only complaint. There is many great art pieces displayed in this magazine, but it seems some of the other magazines may be more vibrant to the readers eye. They could add a bit more art to attract the readers eye. If someone was more interested in just appreciating and viewing art and design more so than learning about it, this magazine may not be for them. In some ways a problem can be it’s only relative for students and designers and not just to the general art lover. Also, the website as well seems a bit monotone for a design magazine. I only discovered this after looking and my classmates magazines websites. Maybe the background color of gray could be changed to something more appealing to the viewer. With this being my only critiques, I would still recommend subscription to students.

In conclusion, Layers Magazine seems to be a well credited, critically acclaimed, educational editorial. I would recommend specifically a graphic design student to subscribe to it. Also a professional designer as well obviously. However, I would not recommend it to anyone else. In todays world it’s important and good for students to have as many study outlets as possible for their are of study. Design magazines like Layers is just one of the many opportunities for us to further ourselves as students and future designers.