Print Magazine Cover

So graduation weekend was great. I got to spend the entire time with friends and family, had a TON of great food, and it was surprisingly nice outside! I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

Now that I've got my excitement out, here is a cover design I did for Print Magazine's 2010 Student Cover Competition. This was the proposed theme;

What is the future of print design? How will tangible, ink-on-paper pieces that designers love coexist with design on digital platforms in years to come?

After quite a few different ideas, I decided to design a cover that would make the statement that's made every time something new comes out -- Print is Dead -- and do it ironically by letting printed media state it. When computers first came out they declared Print is Dead, when PDF's debuted they declared Print is Dead, and now that eBook readers and iPads are out everyone's making the same assumptions. Well I'm hear to tell you that printed media will not die off. As a designer, creating for printed material is just too exciting to let go of. These digital magazines that are coming out from places like WIRED and VIV are incredible, but they're not going to be the death of ink-on-paper.

I designed a simple, yet eye catching poster and made a few slight variations of it to get the effect of weathering occurring. After that, I went on the hunt for my location. This was more fun than I had anticipated. Just driving around town looking at unique walls was actually really exciting! I eventually came across this amazing wall below street level near the train tracks (and had to be a bit sneaky). I got some amazing shots of it bare that would actually make great desktop wallpapers too (I'll make 'em if people want 'em).

I eventually ended up with the image at the top of this post for my final submission. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with me for my photo shoot, so although the deadline isn't up yet, it was for my school because each school can only enter five. It's fine though, because all that means is I get to share this design with you early! I hope you enjoy! I'll be working on some freelance projects in the coming weeks, and the career hunt is still on, so Columbus design firms, ad agencies, and retail design companies look out, because Eric Alessandrini is up for hire!