Title: OCFAMILY.com Masthead

Client: Churm Media, in association with OCFAMILY

Program(s) Used: Illustrator CS2

Time Span: 3 Hours

About: Churm Media requested a way to show it’s readers and advertisers the success it’d had at this year’s annual PPA (Parenting Publications of America) Awards Convention.

Designer Notes: I really wanted to explore trying to make the banner really appear as if it was intertwining throughout the Masthead. Piggybacking upon the great success of OCFAMILY’s website at this years Parenting Publications of America’s Annual awards contest & ceremony. Here are what some of the judges had to say about the website itself.

Gold: OC Family; Kimberly Porrazzo; Kristen Schott; Jeff Kitchen
OC Family’s web site provided rich multimedia content for its users. The highlight of this content is the ability for OC Family’s community to contribute photos of children. The photos are tastefully incorporated into the Web site’s design and provide an engaging entry-point into the site’s additional content. The directory of community businesses provides detail with both contact information and a description of services.

Title: OCFAMILY TV Logo Design

Client: Churm Media, in association with OC Family Magazine

Program(s) Used: Illustrator CS2

Time Span: 2 hours Conceptual. 2 hours design.

About: ocfamily.com needed a logo design for their new video feature in which anyone can upload videos of their children. The idea was to make them a TV star, on the web.

Designer Notes: I really wanted to add an element of freshness to this logo. In the end the company decided to take a darker direction and make everything black based.

Title: 2-08 OC Family Cover

Client: Churm Media, in association with OC Family Magazine

Program(s) Used: Photoshop & Quark

Time Span: 5 Hours (Including the photo shoot)

About: Cover for the February 2008 OC Family Magazine. The feature was “What is Love?”. Students from 4 different grades were asked the question and the best/cutest/most heart-warming answered were published as the cover story.

Designer Notes: This cover and January’s cover were for a photo shoot all rolled into one day, my first. Needless to say i was a bit nervous, not 100% sure what i was doing, but had some great guidance from Sonia Chung (Art Director for OC METRO BUSINESS magazine) to help me along my way.

Title: 2-08 Feature Story (Full)

Client: Churm Media, in association with OC Family Magazine & Inland Empire Family Magazine

Program(s) Used: Quark, Photoshop and Illustrator

Time Span: 4-8 hours

About: Feature story layout for the OC Family’s annual travel issue (February). The full story can be read here, on ocfamily.com.

Designer Notes: The challenge with this feature story was to really break the boundaries of Churm Media’s regular layouts for OC Family & Inland Empire Family magazines. I tried to look at it from the point of view of being tired of the same old thing. Using a mix of stock photography and some great photographs taken by the writer, and then Executive Editor, Craig Reem, i was able to really step out on my own and land a great layout design. The push of deadline nipping at my heels was always a reminder as well of how it IS possible to churn out great product when deadlines are creeping up around the corner

Full story layout after the jump

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Title: 12-07 Cover Story Layout Spread

Client: Churm Media, in association with OC Family Magazine & Inland Empire Family Magazine

Program(s) Used: Quark, Photoshop

Time Span: 4-5 Hours to completion (entire layout (8 pages))

About: Every year Churm Media puts out it’s annual issue in OC Family & Inland Empire Family Magazines. This year was the “20 Best Totally Terrific Toys”. Yes, I know, that’s two too many adjectives, but what are you going to do? What client wants, client gets.

Designer Notes: This entire layout was quite the piece of work for photoshop clipping masks! Boy do i love still having to be lulled down by the back and forth of Quark to photoshop… when will they learn that InDesign is the bridge between that gap! But, what doesn’t kill us as designers, will make us always remember the golden rules…. never, EVER, EVER use Papyrus in your designs. You have (or should have) and entire library of fonts, GET CREATIVE! And also, learn from our clients blunders. By the time i finished this layout i knew the intimate ins and outs of the photoshop pen tool. I even “took it out for a romantic seafood dinner… and never called it again!”

Champ Kind: I will take Dorothy Manstooth out to a nice seafood dinner and NEVER call her again!
Wes Mantooth: Dorothy Mantooth is a Saint!
Ron Burgundy: Hey, let’s leave the mothers out of this.

Title: 12-07 Feature Story Spread

Client: Churm Media, in association with OC Family Magazine & Inland Empire Family Magazine

Program(s) Used: Quark, Photoshop

Time Span: 2-4 Hours

About: OC Family & Inland Empire Family Magazine’s ran a special “Fire Feature Story” after the huge fires in Southern California this past year (2007). One of Churm Media’s writers (Pictures in the spread) was directly affected by the fire and was one of the families that had to evacuate their home. Luckily everyone was safe and she still writes for the magazine today.

Designer Notes: The text overlaid over a full truck spread was something new for OC Family Magazine, at least in my time at Churm Media. I wanted to really capture a readers eye as they were thumbing through the pages of the magazine. Great photography and subject matter really helped to pull this whole spread together.

Title: November 2007 OC Family Magazine Feature Story Spread

Client: Churm Media, in association with OC Family Magazine

Program(s) Used: Quark, Photoshop

Time Span: Working on deadline, this entire layout took around 2-3 hours.

About: 4 page layout done for a story written about moms who’ve started their own businesses, successfully.

Designer Notes: I had a lot of fun with this design. It was one of my earlier layouts that I was able to have a lot of freedom with. I wanted to bring a new look to the magazine as the newly appointed Art Director of OC Family Magazine & Inland Empire Family Magazine. The idea was to get a good amount of type to imagery balance.

Title: January Cover Story

Client: Churm Media, in association with OC Family Magazine & Inland Empire Family Magazine

Program(s) Used: Quark, Photoshop

Time Span: (Cover) 1-3 hours, (layout) 3-4 hours

About: Cover Story spread and Magazine cover for Inland Empire family 1-08 Issue. The cover story was the “heroes” issue.

Cover Photography: Uncredited due to legalities

Designer Notes: The “Heroes Issue” is a very important issue for the Churm Media family of magazines. It signified the launch into the new year and another great place for me to show off my sea legs ar OC Family & Inland empire Family magazine’s Art Director.

Title: PAHR & The Riv, Golf Advertisement

Client: Churm Media, in association with Southland Golf Magazine

Program(s) Used: Quark, Photoshop, Illustrator

Time Span: 2-3 hours to completion

About: Wanted a fresh new look to compete with other clothing ads in their chosen advertising magazine (southland golf magazine). Direction was for something modern, cutting edge, with supplied logos and photography.

Designer Notes: Finally, an ad that has that “National” feel to it. This was the diamond in the rough of design assignments at Churm Media.