Jessica Marie Ingold
A concept Astrology magazine/publication that presents every zodiac sign in bright visuals inspired by alchemical iconography.
Brief
Astral Signature is a concept publication that follows the theme of Sign/Nature. This Theme had the possibility of many different interpretations, both literal and philosophical, however I decided to follow a more literal direction by dividing the theme into the two words (Sign and Nature) and investigate the effect one's Zodiac (Sign) has on one's personality traits (Nature).
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To fit in with my personal interpretation of Astrology, I was inspired by the visual aesthetic of the vintage astrology charts and icons associated with Alchemy such as Planet Symbols and Zodiac Signs.
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The main purpose for this concept publication was to
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Enhance skills using ADOBE Illustrator (particularity the Pathfinder Tool and Pen Tool)
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Enhance skills in ADOBE InDesign (particularity Layout and Paragraph Styles).
Role
Project Manager, Designer.
Tools
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign.
Ideate
Astral Signature is a concept publication that follows the theme of Sign/Nature. This Theme had the possibility of many different interpretations, both literal and philosophical, however I decided to follow a more literal direction by dividing the theme into the two words (Sign and Nature) and investigate the effect one's Zodiac (Sign) has on one's personality traits (Nature).
​
To fit in with my personal interpretation of Astrology, I was inspired by the visual aesthetic of the vintage astrology charts and icons associated with Alchemy such as Planet Symbols and Zodiac Signs.
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The main purpose for this concept publication was to represent my skills using ADOBE Illustrator (particularity the Pathfinder Tool and Pen Tool) and skills in ADOBE InDesign (particularity Layout and Paragraph Styles).
Design Process
Icon Design
Elemental Signs
The four elements were created in Adobe Illustrator using a combination of the Pen Tool and Pathfinder tool. These initial icons would influence all the other icons. Each represents my interpretation of Air, Fire, Earth and Water. The stroke weight is 1pt.
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Zodiac Signs
The traditional Zodiac symbols were also created in Adobe Illustrator. Like the Element signs, the Zodiac signs have a stroke weight of 1pt and a uniform shape width for consistency.
Constellations
Similarly to the other icons, the constellation icons were created in Adobe Illustrator and have a stroke weight of 1pt.
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Planet Icons
Lastly, the traditional symbols for the planets were created in Adobe Illustrator. Once again, the stroke weight is 1pt and the shape width is uniform.
Background Design
Background Geometric Design
After I created the Icons and Symbols to a satisfactory standard, I designed a simple geometric design to use as the background.
Taking inspiration from the Icons/Symbols for visual uniformity, the Final Design uses various shapes to create an Alchemy like aesthetic. The circles to the North, East and West of the design indicate were the Constellation, Planet and Element icons will be placed respectively.
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Overall Layout
​Once I finalised the background design, I placed each Icon/Symbol in the allocated three circles.
The Zodiac Symbol is placed in the middle of the design as a focal point.
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The colours used for the background and Icon/Symbols is the primary colour scheme of Astral Signature.
Colour Scheme
Main Colour Scheme
Before I created the Icons and Symbols, and the overall design to the geometric background, I created a Primary Colour Scheme that would represent the Astral Signature Brand and the subject of Astrology.
Because the cosmos has a profound effect on a Astrology, I wanted to use the colours of Gold and Silver to represent the stars of the night sky.
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Element Colour Scheme
Once I finalised the Main Colour Scheme for the overall line work of the Astral Signature designs, I created a secondary colour scheme to represent each of the four element signs. This allowed me to create a visual difference to each Zodiac sign design.
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Red represents the Fire element which applies to Ares, Leo and Sagittarius.
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Green represents the Earth Element which applies to Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn.
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Purple represents the Air Element which applies to Gemini, Libra and Aquarius.
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Blue represents the Water Element which applies to Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.
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Typography
Astral Signature uses two fonts from the same Font Family, Proxima Nova.
I chose Proxima Nova for the clean Sans Serif structure that reflected the line work of the Zodiac designs.
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In order to keep a similar visual identity, I used both fonts throughout the Publication.
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Proxima Nova Medium
I used Proxima Nova Medium for Headings and Titles throughout the Publication, both in the Zodiac design and in the body copy.
The Title of Astral Signature is a combination of both Fonts so to keep the identity cohesive.
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Proxima Nova Thin
For body copy content, I used Proxima Nova Thin. This font resembled the line stroke weight of the Icons/Symbols and Geometric Design.
Reflection
I created Astral Signature with a layout inspired by a Magic Grimoire, a Book of Spells. This aesthetic pairs well with the mysticism of Astrology.
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By using Adobe Indesign to create the 24 pages representing the 12 Zodiac Signs, all with a dedicated illustration page and content page that discusses common personality traits associated with each Sign, I was able to increase my skills in layout design, and character/paragraph styles. ​​
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This project was a great way for me to experiment and enhance tools and skills in Illustrator. It was particularly helpful to learn how the Pen, Shape, and Pathfinder Tools can be utilised together to create delicate line work and icons.
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This project also increased my skills regarding to layout in InDesign due to needing a clean and easy to read layout for large bodies of text. Considerations of Line spacing, paragraph styles and indents were also very interesting to learn.
