Magazine Design | GODS (Group of Delhi Superbikers)

•

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The journey of this project is the output of intense research and development of a single project over the time span of 6 months. It all started with brainstorming / mind-mapping that one had to select certain topic to work on for 6 months. Through the process of listing out likes/dislikes, certain options were chosen to be researched upon. Two topics were taken forward.
1. To change the identity of an existing enterprise
2. To produce a publication

Finally, publication was taken forward. Through publication it is meant to produce a magazine as a final outcome. The magazine was based on a biker group in named GODS (Group of Delhi Superbikers).
GODS is a group of bikers who meet-up on Sunday morning every week for riding on their heavy machines. The group is founded by Dr. Arun Thareja in the year 1998. With more than a decade of existence, the total strength of the group is 70+ members. As one of the members was in touch, permission to design a magazine was granted by the founder himself. The permission included photo-shoots, interviews, etc.
The next step taken forward was to research. As research builds a backbone of a project, information related to GODS was hunted through Internet, interviews, questionnaires, etc. In the making of the magazine, weekly photo-shoots were held. The entire project includes 8 weeks of photography. In terms of communication with the group, Facebook ( a social networking website) played a major role. A group of members was created to send out information in less time to large number of people.
As the shape of the magazine was taking place, certain steps towards layout research, fonts or typography were taking place. The content of the magazine was decided with 6 topics to be highlighted. As per the contents of the magazine, it was required to interview number of people for data. There were two kinds of interview held. The first one was personal interview with the founder and the second one was interview with multiple owners of a same bike. The second interview was conducted through online questionnaires. The reason for conducting through online medium was to save time and increase utility.
After 8 weeks of photography shoot, a stage occurred where one has to segregate the best photos with the unusable ones. As the picture for the final magazine became clearer, spreads were sketched out and designed on a digital format. The digital format was done through software called Adobe InDesign. The first stage of digital format was to make random spreads with dummy text. The second stage comprised of typography to be included. The third stage comprised of collaboration of the first two stages. As one is familiarized with the scenario, final content topics came through. The chief work began at this stage. One had to play with the layouts, grids, photographs and typography. Some of books and magazine were taken as inspiration.
After completion of the magazine with dummy text, gathering of original research and data came through. The data was acquired through personal interview and surveys. Final text to be placed in the magazine was authored carefully. The magazine at this stage was put of dummy text and replaced with original text.
This stage is called the post-production stage. One of most important steps towards building a magazine is to deal with the paper, printer. The paper used in the magazine is called ‘Supershine’ of 115 gsm (inside) and 250 gsm (cover). The paper was hunt down in one of the most famous markets of Delhi, named Chawri Bazaar. It is located in Old Delhi. The paper bought had to be cut for useful purpose in the size of 12’’x18’’ which occurred in Naraina (West Delhi). As the paper was all set to print, the prints were performed in Kotla (South Delhi) with the binding and lamination at the same place.

Few technical details about the magazine are listed below:-
1. Magazine size: 400mm x 270mm (spread)
2. Paper used: Sunshine (115gsm and 250gsm)
3. Matt lamination
4. Centre stich binding
5. 114 fonts used
6. 56 pages (28 spreads)
7. 4 colour magazine

The experience of designing an entire publication from scratch to finish was remarkable. Some of the skills acquired are photography, typography, author, publication, print management. Therefore, the magazine is the final output.

The short video clip is a small token of appreciation for GODS (Group of Delhi Superbikers).
Cameraman - Vishakh Ranotra, Anshul Bachani and Jaspreet Mohindra
Post production - Ankit Vasisht, Akansha Khanna and Anand mohan Puri.