What Being Part Of 'Storehouse' Has Taught Me About Design For Publishing

Image Credit: Bethany Hutchison

Thumbnail Credit: Bethany Hutchison

Before joining Norwich University Of The Arts, I already knew what society I wanted to join. That was the student ran publication Storehouse. At this point in my creative learning journey, I had just started to experiment with graphic design and making magazine style content in my A-Level photography class and I knew that graphic design was an avenue which I wanted to continue to pursue. Therefore, at the start of the academic year, I attended the Storehouse societies induction session.

Typography Credit: Bethany Hutchison

Before I had even been accepted into the Storehouse team, I was learning new skills which I believe will be invaluable in my future creative endeavours. In order to become a member of the Storehouse editorial team I was tasked with submitting a portfolio which showcased my editorial, layout and graphic design work alongside evidence of typography skills. At this point I had not yet explored typography to its full extent. However, desperate to become a member of the Storehouse team, I worked around the clock on Illustrator (an Adobe software which I had never used before) In order to learn the key principles of typography. Through creating this portfolio, I learnt how to create an inflated effect whilst also learning about the ways in which I can use the pencil tool in order to physically manipulate and add elements (such as swirls) onto standard type. Although I, at first, found this process incredibly challenging I am grateful for my continued perseverance as I was accepted into the Storehouse as a part of the editorial team!

Typography Credit: Bethany Hutchison

In addition to learning about typography, Storehouse has also enabled me to refine my collaborative skills. Initially I found attending Storehouse meetings difficult and was experiencing anxiety around these meetings. I believe this was partly due to the fact that within the editorial team (a team of ten people) I was one of the only first year students. By realising that I was working with a team of students from second and third year I battled with imposter syndrome and felt as if I had to take a back seat within the group as I was not ‘experienced enough’ to make informed choices. I remember one session in particular where we were tasked with editing another member of our teams spread. Whilst editing this individual’s spread, I didn’t want to cause offense so only made minor changes. However, when we reviewed each other’s alterations, I realised that the other student had heavily changed my original design!

Although I am able to appreciate now that my spread was not successfully executed this situation slightly exasperated the feelings of imposter syndrome I was already battling with. However, I believe that this interaction was, in fact, incredibly beneficial to me. The fashion industry can be at times, ruthless and it is therefore incredibly important that I start to see constructive criticism as a helpful practise instead of a harmful one.  

Through working for Storehouse, I have also been able to refine my InDesign skills. Upon joining Storehouse I already believed that I was incredibly proficient in the software. However, I was soon proven wrong! Throughout secondary school and college, I used InDesign in photography classes to lay out my digital sketchbook. However, my teacher taught us to create all of our sketchbook pages on Photoshop and then drag the files into InDesign. Through Storehouse and my course (Fashion Communication and Promotion) I have learnt that this form of displaying content can affect the quality of your work. I have learnt whilst at university that instead of creating content on Photoshop it is better to create content (from scratch) directly on an InDesign document. Although I initially found this difficult, I quickly got the hang of the InDesign software by watching YouTube tutorials. Another way in which I was able to learn more about the software was by talking directly to Storehouse’s head of editorial (Zara) and the design director (David). David was instrumental in building my self-confidence within the Storehouse team. His continual encouragement and constructive criticism has taught me that there should be no shame/ anxiety in regards to asking people for a second opinion. Something which I hope I continue to do within future endeavours.

Editorial Design Credit: Bethany Hutchison

Being part of the Storehouse team has also taught me about the fundamental principles of design for publishing. By being part of the Storehouse team, I have been educated on the importance of balancing rags and have also learnt about the different types of text which goes into a publication (such as body copy, footer and folio). In addition, as part of the Storehouse team I was also exposed to baseline grids. Although I initially found them overwhelming and confusing I am now able to acknowledge the importance of them in ensuring that an element of consistency and continuity is created from page to page. I have already been able to implement these skills which I have learnt outside of my society in my BA1b fashion publications project and hope that I can exemplify this knowledge in future job interviews and career portfolios.  

As semester two draws to a close Storehouse has released their first edition for this year titled Spectrum with one of my spreads featured on the first content page! I feel incredibly proud of how far I have come as a member of Storehouse and the skills which I have learnt along the way. There were moments of self-doubt however, I now feel incredibly confident in my editorial design skills. Seeing my editorial design in print was an incredibly rewarding and exciting experience and a feeling which I hope will never go away. Being part of Storehouse has cemented my desire to work within the publications industry and I believe I have learnt invaluable insight to help me achieve this goal in the future! I hope to continue to be a member of the Storehouse team during the remaining two years of my university education and that I, in the next year or so, I may find myself in the head of editorial position!