Designing the magazine

For design, we were told to design a ten page magazine for our documentary. For this we would be using Adobe Indesign which would allow us to make our template for the magazine. Other than the writing in english, we would have to take original photos along with graphic design elements(GDE) created in Adobe Illustrator.

My topic was about sustainable architecture, so I had to research examples of sustainable architecture here in the Bay Area. My photos consisted of the home of one of my interviewee’s, Bridget McIver. Her house is a beautiful modern design with an emphasis on landscaping at the natural world. For my cover photo, I took photos of the Lucile Packard headquarters in downtown Los Altos. The building is LEED Platinum which is the highest honor for sustainability. Focusing on clean energy, the building’s design allows it to create more energy than it uses and is a true representation of sustainable architecture. For my graphic design elements, I would draw them in Adobe Illustrator. Using the versatile pen tool, I was able to design two modern houses, one with a one point perspective and one with a flat design. The sky of each GDE is an actual photo of the sky that I had taken previously that I imported on top of my drawing.

After taking my photos and drawing my GDE’s, I had to import them into Indesign to create my magazine. On the left side of the spread, I would have the headshot of my interviewees and a pull quote from the interview transcript. On the right hand side, I would put my text, photos, and drawings. Discovering how to lay out my magazine would prove to be difficult, but using the elements and principles of design I was able to overcome that. Overall, I am very pleased with my final product.

Intierviewee’s

Christopher Kurrle is one of the partners at the award winning architectural firm, Feldman Architecture. Feldman Architecture makes it a company goal to keep sustainability in the forefront when designing beautiful homes. From day one, designers work with a landscape architect to tap into the surrounding landscape. Many of their projects are “site responsive,” meaning that they take specific characteristics of the building site such as hills, trees, and the sun into their design to make the most of the landscape. Continuing to work with the given landscape, architects create the schematic design of the house and start to define what will be the structure. With California having a temperate climate throughout the year, the architect is able to blend the indoor and outdoor spaces beautifully. 

Sue Chan is the Principal at Huettl landscape architecture. Getting her degree in Landscape Architecture from University of California, Berkely, she devoted herself to sustainable designs for a healthier planet. When Huettl starts a project, they have their client answer a questionnaire to truly fulfill their client’s needs. Their team then looks at the land that they’re working with to understand elevation, grade, and drainage. If the home is already built, they design using the house, looking at where windowsills are and where entryways and exits are. Using these key details, they can design the landscape to perfectly blend with the home.

Bridget McIver is a designer who saw her Menlo Park community change as a result of contemporary architecture. Ten years ago Ms. Mciver began a project to design a new home for her family. She helped design her house around the growing modern movement of sustainability in the 21 century. Working directly with her architect, Bridget’s house was introducing something that wasn’t very prevalent in her town — utilizing Menlo Park’s natural surroundings directly in her home plans. During the design process, Ms McIver and her architect examined and  critiqued how the McIver family lived in order to design a house that accommodated their needs.