Mystery Scene Magazine
Rebrand - Process Book
Project Type: Print Publication | 44 pages
Deliverables: Cover-to-Cover Magazine, Brand Identity
Overview: Founded in 1985, Mystery Scene Magazine is published four times in year. They are a subscription based magazine that allows purchasing back issues and are sold in selected stores. Mystery Scene’s articles cover a wide-range of all things mysterious, including new novels, vintage mysteries, new and old films, television, podcast, audio books, and short stories. The magazine also includes crosswords, jokes, quotes, and anecdotes. The headquarters is currently in New York City with Kate Stine as the editor-in-chief.
Solution: The big idea for Mystery Scene's rebrand is to create a quarterly magazine that showcases the ins' and outs' of the mystery/crime genre in books, film and television. Which will make it the top source of inspiration and entertainment for its audience. The magazine will present the information in a way that is engaging and exciting, keeping the reader curious to read more about the mystery, the detective, the crime or even the criminal.
The Research Process
The Problem: Currently, there are not that many magazines under the category of mystery and crime. The few magazines that do cover this category mainly focus on mystery and crime fiction in literature like novels, short stories and authors who specifically write in this genre. There has yet to be a magazine to also include film and TV in this genre. Mystery Scene attempts to do this, but focuses more on authors and their new books. The copy and writing are good, but is accompanied by lackluster photos, which fail to catch the readers' eyes. Almost each spread is filled with copy and images with little room for the eye to relax and breath.
Design Considerations:
• Redesign logo to match the tone and mood of genre
• Elevated overall brand personality
• Keep content engaging
• Keep imagery engaging
• Keep negative space in mind
• Experiment with type and layout
• Have a balance between books, film and TV under genre
• Create contrast between moody imagery and pops of color
• Have imagery relate more to the magazine type
Purpose: Only printing four times a year their main purpose is to be the ultimate guide to the best in crime and mystery fiction. Each issue offers in-depth articles, author interviews, provocative essays, and information for collectors. They review books, TV and streaming shows, films, reference works, podcast, audiobooks, short stories, and more.
Competitors: Today, there are very few mystery, crime magazines going strong. Because there are very few, this is the perfect opportunity for a rebrand in order to get ahead of the pack. Three of the main competitors include: Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and The Strand Magazine
Unique Selling Points:
• Provide a balance between literature, film and TV in genre
• With the inclusion of film and TV, offer more information to the readers
• Provide engaging photography and/or illustration
• Introduce the genre's non-fiction side in the form of documentaries and podcast.
Rationale: While maintaining cohesion within the rebrand and creating a specific atmosphere of solving a mystery at the start of the cover, the magazine will be able to draw in readers, leaving them wanting to know more. This will result in the gaining of continuous subscriptions and new visuals, giving the magazine an edge over its competitors.
The Rebrand Process
Moodboards: Imagery shown in the first moodboard will convey the overall feel of the magazine. Integrating obscure, mystifying and moody imagery will enhance the feel of a suspenseful crime solving mystery. This imagery and layout inspiration will also spark curiosity in the reader, keeping them interested. A mix of photography, illustration and color will be a big part in the overall atmosphere of solving a crime. The second moodboard showcases how type throughout the magazine will run a bit experimental from spread to spread to capture the overall tone of the magazine. Some of the type will also indent to be playful and engaging with the manipulated images. The redesign logo will intent to show playful-sophistication, representing a lead detective on the case. The images in the third moodboard show a mix of colors giving inspiration to the suggested color palette at the bottom of the page.
Logo Sketches: The initial 30 thumbnail sketches of the logo where to explore the different ways to represent a gripping mystery. Being able to invoke all the chilling and thrilling actions a great mystery entails was one of the goals for the logo that was to be used as the masthead for the magazine. At the same time the logo needed to be bold and legible in order to stand out in a crowd of other magazines.
Refine Logo Sketches: After narrowing it down to four potential logos, refine sketches were completed to further understand the makeup and construction of each logo. In edition a submark/icon for the brand depicting a fingerprint was taken into consideration to further add to the overall narrative of solving a mystery or crime.
Logo Digitization: The digitization process of the logo began in Adobe Illustrator by taking a modern bold san-serif typeface and manipulating it to create the following iterations of the logotype you see below. By manipulating and combining different letter forms the logo was able to give off the sense of curiosity and maintain a strong presence. The logotype was also created to resemble the typography seen in serial killer letters and in ransom notes. Referencing this aspect of a crime/mystery at the start of the magazine gives the audience a notion of wonder, leading to their initiative to flip through the pages and solve the mystery.
Brand Identity: People appreciate a story with well-developed characters, plots, storylines and twists that engulf them in the narrative. This is what Mystery Scene strives to create, to create that feeling the audience gets when they're at the edge of their seats, grinding their teeth, wondering what will be uncovered next. With a new logo, color palette and typography the brand will be able to tell a story the audience will be thrilled to read.
Brand Color Palette: By providing pops of color to the obscure, mystifying and moody imagery will give the layouts of each spread a strong deal of contrast. This will also enhance the readers' points of interest from page to page.
Brand Typography: Aktiv Grotesk is a flexible typeface with a large font family and matching italics. This diversity will allow for a variety in the overall layout and give great contrast between header, subhead and chosen body copy. Aktiv Grotesk will be able to grab the reader's attention and get the magazine's tone across. Mrs. Eaves being a serif typeface with a large x-height, short ascenders and descenders, wide proportions and generous spacing making the typeface stand out and easy to read for print. This typeface comes with matching italics, along with a narrow addition as well and compliment the chosen header typeface.
The Layout Process
Flatplan: By creating a flatplan of all intended pages, guided the digitalization and iteration process. Throughout the process some stories were cut for the inclusion of other elements and pages. In the end the final printed magazine was comprised of 44 pages, cover to cover.
Type Experiments: Experiments with the chosen typefaces were conducted to figure out the type-setting to be used for the entire magazine. After multiple print-outs and debate the following type-setting choices were made to be applied too Adobe Indesign's paragraph and character styles.
Header - Aktiv Grotesk Ex - Bold
• Size - 25pt
• Leading - 27pt
• Tracking - 30
• Alignment - Left
Subhead - Aktiv Grotesk Ex - Medium
• Size - 11pt
• Leading - 14pt
• Tracking - 25
• Alignment - Left
Body Copy - Mrs. Eaves XL - Regular
• Size - 8.25pt
• Leading - 11pt
• Tracking - 12
• Alignment - Left Justify
Skeleton Spread: A skeleton spread was created to showcase the use of typography choices and page elements. The used of the skeleton spread set up a blue print for the layout from page to page. The spread includes the placement of photos, the use of type-setting choices and the inclusion of pull quotes to be placed in between two columns on body copy. The skeleton spread also showcases the implementation of the brand's submark used as a folio on the right side of the spread with the folio on the left side indicating the section of the magazine.
The Cover Process
Cover Sketches: The intention for the front cover was to showcase the development of the main character from the popular television series, Law & Order: SVU. Corresponding to the feature story the goal of the cover was to not only reveal what the TV show is about, but to show the different sides and growth of the show's main protagonist Captain Olivia Benson. After much debate and discussion sketch number eight was chosen to best achieve the cover's goal.
Cover Digitization: The start of the cover's digitization begins with a massive photo hunt. After choosing the right photos for the job. The creation process began in Adobe Photoshop, with the a heavy used of layer masking and layer adjustments. Piece by piece the cover was put together and was finished off with magazine furniture elements in Adobe Indesign in order to stay true to the type-setting choices. The cover progression gif below shows a quick snapshot of the editing process from adding photos, maskings, adding adjustments and placement of masthead.
The Feature Story Process
Opening Spread Sketches: The intention for the opening spread of the feature story was to showcase the ambiguity in the beginning in every episode of Law & Order: SVU. This ambiguity being; What's this? Who's that? What's happening? and Who committed the crime? The main goal was to quickly grab the reader’s attention, spark their curiosity leaving them wanting to know much about what they are reading. After much debate and discussion sketch number three was chosen to best achieve the goal of the feature story's opening spread.
Final Feature Story: The finalize feature story includes an opening spread, followed by four pages of content and closing with a timeline infographic related to Olivia Benson's time, character developed, milestones in her life and career. The treatment of black and white photography and type symbolizes the main goal of the almost every episode of the long-running crime-drama TV show, which to catch, arrest and imprison the criminal committing these especially heinous sexually based offenses.
The Sections
Introduction Section: The front section of the magazine is comprised of four pages. This includes a spread with a letter from the editor introduction the magazine and the new issue, then the next spread is on the team behind the makings of the mystery magazine. Each of the section spreads along with this one, was an opportunity to show off the brand and keep the audience engaged and entertained.
Body Sections: The main sections of the magazine are separated into chapters representing a book. By doing this the Mystery Scene brand is keeping true to its roots of being a literary magazine the focuses on mystery and crime genre. The body of the magazine is divided into three chapters: Fiction, Non-Fiction and Reviews.
Closing Section: In order to keep the audience engaged as they reach the end of the magazine a spread of puzzles was included to test the skills of the reader. The first puzzle the reader gets to solve is a "Spot The Difference" game between two similar photos. The second puzzle the reader gets to try is a crossword game titled "A Case of Identity." The inclusion of a crossword puzzle stays true to the roots of the magazine. Followed by that the magazine ends with a spread on subscriptions, contact and credit information.
The Final Solution
Evaluation: In conclusion, Mystery Scene Magazine is now able to become a hub for all things in the mystery and crime genre. This rebrand will allow for greater focus on the storyline of a book, film or show, which will also give insight on the development of creative writing in relation to the genre. Having a storyline full of suspense, excitement and twist will attract the target audience leading them to become subscribers of Mystery Scene Magazine. This rebrand was able to sees the opportunities that were being missed, which resulted in a stronger brand persona and visualization of the magazine's interior. Ultimately, this rebrand will give the magazine an edge over its competitors and will act as a jumping off point to building brand awareness and brand equity.
