Nature Untethered was a prompt to create a magazine cover for a nature magazine. The layout was supposed to be image based and it had to use Maxi Typography. As a novice designer, I had to pay attention to everything from colors to typography to layout in order to achieve what I wanted. 

Being a photographer myself, my love for black and white photography bled into my design. I wanted this to be a dedicated black and white magazine for photographers and nature lovers. Other experiments were done with layout, splitting the heading, playing with different images, effects and icons. Upon consideration, however, it was decided that perhaps a black and white photography magazine dedicated to nature is too little of a niche, and the idea was scrapped. 

After a change in direction, this drone shot of the seashore was selected. It's colors were pleasing to the eye and I felt like Maxi typography could be used really well for the image. Also, it had a kind of lifestyle vibe that I liked. The layout, however, was not working. It didn't look like a magazine cover. 

After all the corrections, this was the final layout of the cover. By understanding the purpose of the design, I went from a dedicated photography magazine that was purely technical to a more easy going nature-lifestyle magazine that educates its readers about the environment, and perhaps documents eco-friendly ways of travelling and living.

During the process, I had come to realize that no matter how many modifications I make to the aesthetics of a design, I must always consider its functionality above everything else. Asking these questions shaped the way I picked my colors, the image, and the layout itself.