Response: Judge not lest ye be judged

So if I'm going to make a cliche (I can't find the accented e...aka I just pressed a bunch of buttons on the keyboard and nothing worked) pop culture reference, I suppose I was a Randy Jackson during the City and Regional Magazine design judging yesterday. No, I didn't say "yo. yo. yo. yo dawg. yo." Looking back, I kind of wish I did though. I was just pretty neutral without being a vodka-soaked "I love everything" Paula Abdul. In short, I kept it real. Dawg.


I'm not sure what kind of qualifications Jan thinks I have to be judging magazines like Texas Monthly and Los Angeles, but I tried my hardest to remember all I could about what makes good design. I know what I like and don't like, but that doesn't necessarily mean I have an eye for design just yet. Everyone looked like they were having fun, but honestly I felt just a tad guilty. I know it was a preliminary judging and all, but still. I've taken one class on magazine design and while I'm confident in my abilities, I don't think the creative director of Texas Monthly is sold. Or maybe he is? Call me, T.J. We'll talk.

I think the most interesting part was how Jan told us at the end how subjective and arbitrary judging magazines can be. I hadn't noticed until she said anything, but I was quite crabby and tired. And I'm trying to quit caffeine/pop so I was more crabby and tired than usual. This probably, actually it definitely, affected my choices and opinions in general.

However, through my disgruntled haze of my new caffeine-free lifestyle, I was inspired by the designs of almost every magazine. Los Angeles was my pick for 1st place because I liked their layout and consistency the best. They also had some awesome graphics about breakfast food and I hate breakfast food, so the fact that they got my mouth watering for an egg sandwich was telling. It also "felt" the most like the city it was catering to; it screamed L.A. to me. Boston had some amazing illustrations and typographic work as well. I'm a sucker for good typography over some fancy photoshopped thing any day. Texas Monthly, aka my future place of employment, was, as always, excellent. Although, I wasn't impressed with their covers as much as I usually am. They were pretty plain and predictable compared to the great illustration and photo work that I've grown to love them for. And their ability to visually communicate wit and humor. If you haven't noticed, I'm a huge fan of wit and humor. Or maybe you haven't because you don't think I'm funny.

All hail Mack Brown.