Real Simple: An Analysis

Online?

See how it compares to Real Simple in print.

Grids & Guides Taking a Look at Real Simple’s Skeleton

Photography Alongside Real Simple’s other visual motifs

REALSIMPLE ANALYSIS

LOGOTYPE

SHAPES AND SYMBOLS Circles and rectangles containing text are layered over images, tool lines are often used underneath small headers as a faux underline; section headers are underlined

HEADER Sofia 36px SUBHEAD Sofia 18px BODY Lora 18px

PHOTOGRAPHY Most photos are cropped to be vertical rectangles. Product photos are cut out and collaged, often in center of page with captions on either side. Those not cut out have bright and colorful backgrounds, some of which play into the spread’s grid. The colorful backgrounds always add to the design of the spread. Images (especially bleeds) occur in the same spot on different pages.

Interstate Bold, 50pt

FRONT OF BOOK

Cover Logo + headers, shapes + overlays Table of Contents Department > title of article > summary of article > page number. Use of sans for header + serif for descriptions.

RECURRING SECTIONS Each section has an opening page with a photo and a bold, underlined title overprint in the top right corner. These pages have folios as well.

What We Love This section explores home goods, technology accessories, makeup, books, kitchen staples, clothing, and miscellaneous other items selected by the editors.

The Realist This section explores uncommon solutions to everyday problems, including kitchen and home problems, home decor, fashion, and skincare.

Relating This section explores how to make meaningful connections in a modern world, including with pets, family members, etiquette, and with oneself.

Balance This section is focused on work, money, and health advice for busy people.

Food This section contains recipes for 5 easy dinners. It occurs at the end of the book, after the feature well.

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PRE CONTENT

HEADER SERIF SANS

Thoughts Simple open page, one photo and a quote. Welcome to the publication.

Editor’s Note 2 columns, one photo. Drop cap and lead in. Personal anecdote from the editor. Serif body copy.

Real Simple 24/7 More complex breaking of the grid. Colorful with overlapping photos. Includes RS’ social media, encouraging 24/7 connection.

Your Words Features responses from many readers, remains mostly within the grid. Header breaks the grid. Airy and open with lots of white space. Sans body.

My Simple Realization Feature blurb from an outside author. Last quick bit before the thicker parts of the book.

Very short copy. Serif body.

GRID The grid itself is a 5 row by 5 column grid that is broken mostly by the movement of text boxes.

Purposeful use of white space, riff off of very open and light typographic choices. Consistent folio and running head, even on pages with partial ads (but not on pages with full ads, this helps to differentiate between ad content and magazine content). Grid is visible, but also visibly broken; plays into the light and carefree mood of the whole publication.

FEATURE WELL Each edition of Real Simple contains on average 3 feature articles.

These articles follow the visual motifs of the publication, but separate themselves from the recurring sections mainly by length and intensity, and they generally will have their own opening pages or spreads with slightly different typographic motifs. Here is a breakdown of August 2020’s feature well: 28 Fresh Ways to Relax This feature article’s opening spread is 2 photographs of nature.

The typography is very light and thin, and the artivle itself is comprised of chunks of text and photographs that dance around the 5x5 grid, changing alignment and width.

Play it Cool This article contains recipes and photographs of chilled, easy to make desserts. There is a graphic motif of asterisk-like stars throughout the article, and each recipe title is a different color.

Annotations are made with curved tool lines.

Make Scents of Self-Care This article is mostly the same body of text, so the text boxes are kept close together. There are many illustrations, each of which uses a calm color palette. The typography is quiet and easy to read.

The body copy is the serif typeface. Some side captions are in pull colors from the illustration on the opposite page.

BACK OF BOOK The last page before the back covor of the magazine is generally a set of fun facts about a flower—a set of fast facts to help readers understand and make the most of every bloom.

Who Knew?

This page is focused mainly on the photograph of the flower in question. The information about the flower follows the grid on their side of the photograph in the sans serif typeface. The August edition also used a circle overprint on the image to include additional fun facts.

E M M A + K AT H RY N

An Examination

REALSIMPLE Real Simple is a lifestyle magazine that provides tips about fashion, travel, food, and the home.

1. TYPE

Taxonomy Here’s a visualization of Real Simple’s structural rulesets.

LOGOTYPE

SHAPES AND SYMBOLS Circles and rectangles containing text are layered over images, tool lines are often used underneath small headers as a faux underline; section headers are underlined

HEADER Sofia 36px SUBHEAD Sofia 18px BODY Lora 18px

PHOTOGRAPHY Most photos are cropped to be vertical rectangles. Product photos are cut out and collaged, often in center of page with captions on either side. Those not cut out have bright and colorful backgrounds, some of which play into the spread’s grid. The colorful backgrounds always add to the design of the spread. Images (especially bleeds) occur in the same spot on different pages.

Interstate Bold, 50pt

FRONT OF BOOK

Cover Logo + headers, shapes + overlays Table of Contents Department > title of article > summary of article > page number. Use of sans for header + serif for descriptions.

RECURRING SECTIONS Each section has an opening page with a photo and a bold, underlined title overprint in the top right corner. These pages have folios as well.

What We Love This section explores home goods, technology accessories, makeup, books, kitchen staples, clothing, and miscellaneous other items selected by the editors.

The Realist This section explores uncommon solutions to everyday problems, including kitchen and home problems, home decor, fashion, and skincare.

Relating This section explores how to make meaningful connections in a modern world, including with pets, family members, etiquette, and with oneself.

Balance This section is focused on work, money, and health advice for busy people.

Food This section contains recipes for 5 easy dinners. It occurs at the end of the book, after the feature well.

PRE CONTENT

HEADER SERIF SANS

Thoughts Simple open page, one photo and a quote. Welcome to the publication.

Editor’s Note 2 columns, one photo. Drop cap and lead in. Personal anecdote from the editor. Serif body copy.

Real Simple 24/7 More complex breaking of the grid. Colorful with overlapping photos. Includes RS’ social media, encouraging 24/7 connection.

Your Words Features responses from many readers, remains mostly within the grid. Header breaks the grid. Airy and open with lots of white space. Sans body.

My Simple Realization Feature blurb from an outside author. Last quick bit before the thicker parts of the book.

Very short copy. Serif body.

GRID The grid itself is a 5 row by 5 column grid that is broken mostly by the movement of text boxes.

Purposeful use of white space, riff off of very open and light typographic choices. Consistent folio and running head, even on pages with partial ads (but not on pages with full ads, this helps to differentiate between ad content and magazine content). Grid is visible, but also visibly broken; plays into the light and carefree mood of the whole publication.

The web version of the magazine uses Sofia for the sans serif and Lora for the serif.

2. PHOTOS

FEATURE WELL Each edition of Real Simple contains on average 3 feature articles.

These articles follow the visual motifs of the publication, but separate themselves from the recurring sections mainly by length and intensity, and they generally will have their own opening pages or spreads with slightly different typographic motifs. Here is a breakdown of August 2020’s feature well: 28 Fresh Ways to Relax This feature article’s opening spread is 2 photographs of nature.

The typography is very light and thin, and the artivle itself is comprised of chunks of text and photographs that dance around the 5x5 grid, changing alignment and width.

Play it Cool This article contains recipes and photographs of chilled, easy to make desserts. There is a graphic motif of asterisk-like stars throughout the article, and each recipe title is a different color.

Annotations are made with curved tool lines.

Make Scents of Self-Care This article is mostly the same body of text, so the text boxes are kept close together. There are many illustrations, each of which uses a calm color palette. The typography is quiet and easy to read.

The body copy is the serif typeface. Some side captions are in pull colors from the illustration on the opposite page.

The masthead for the print and web versions of Real Simple is Interstate Bold. The primary sans serif for print is Sharp Grotesk and the secondary sans serif for print is similar to Sofia Pro. The former is used in the front sections of the magazine and for most headings, seen in the bold weight. The subheadings are in the regular weight and all caps. The secondary sans serif is used in the section titled “Play it Cool”, a special section. It is paired alongside the serif, a typeface similar to Lora, which is only used for body copy.

BACK OF BOOK The last page before the back covor of the magazine is generally a set of fun facts about a flower—a set of fast facts to help readers understand and make the most of every bloom.

Who Knew?

This page is focused mainly on the photograph of the flower in question. The information about the flower follows the grid on their side of the photograph in the sans serif typeface. The August edition also used a circle overprint on the image to include additional fun facts.

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Real Simple has a consistent on-brand in-house photography that appears throughout the magazine, usually cropped to vertical rectangles. Color is used generously in photos and tends to be bright, lending to the color story of each spread. While section dividers each feature a photo that takes up almost the entire page, typical pages center around a photo that uses about a quarter of the page.

These rectangular images are broken up by layers of cutout photos and colorful shapes containing text, as well as small illustrations. The collage effect of layered photos tends to be used for pages showcasing multiple product photos, such as clothes and home decor.

3. COLOR

Color is used sparingly in the type. Only subheadings and numbers receive a color other than white or black. The color used for subheadings match the large field of color of the imagery with which it shares the page. The only place in which this rule is broken is within the feature well, where each article gets its own typographic and color ruleset.

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REALSIMPLE ANALYSIS

Analysis

The Grid System REAL SIMPLE UTILIZES A FIVE COLUMN BY FIVE ROW GRID WITH A ONE INCH MARGIN ON ALL FOUR SIDES OF EACH PAGE.

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E M M A + K AT H RY N

Breaking the Grid’s Rules While the 5x5 grid is consistent throughout the publication, those rules are allowed a little bit of play.

From page to page, the grid itself has varying levels of visibility. On some pages, it’s easy to see, but on others (like the one on the left) it’s a little more hidden.

Consistencies in the grid being broken are generally with regard to the variety of text placement—oftentimes a text box will span a column and a half, while another text box will span 2 whole columns or perhaps just one. The variety in text placement throughout the publication keeps each spread fresh and distinctive without sacrificing any diagonal movement­— it’s clear on each spread that text placement is crafted very carefully in order to both keep each spread coherent with all the others and still create movement that pushes a reader through the contents of the publication.

Seeing Order There are other pages within the book where the grid is easy to see, like the page on the right. Each column of text takes up about a column and a half on the grid. The overlap among the text boxes on the vertical axes of the page assists with horizontal movement, and points to the versatility of the grid. Its tightness is easy to break, and helps the contents of the page to create a full feeling by engaging with the white space in a way that is purposeful.

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REALSIMPLE ANALYSIS

An Analysis Flexible Layouts The main 5x5 grid can be further separated into a serious of narrow columns, about 0.15 inches in width.

This allows for more variability within each page. Real Simple utilizes the columns to stagger blocks of text, creating hierarchy and groupings within a page or spread.

Margins In general, the margins are 0.75 inches from the sides and top to the folio, though some layouts use a 1 inch margin. There is also a 1.75 inch margin on the top, often used for main headlines. There is a 0.5 inch margin from the folio on the bottom.

The folios break the grid by coming in at just 0.25 inches from the sides of the pages.

The Grid

Variability Within COLUMNS OFFER FLEXIBILITY FOR MODULAR LAYOUTS IN REAL SIMPLE.

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Real Simple uses columns and margins accross multiple sections throughout the magazine.

E M M A + K AT H RY N

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REALSIMPLE ANALYSIS

There is not as much flexibility in layout with the web version of Real Simple compared to the print version and a few things must be changed to accommodate a different reading and viewing experience. The viewer of the website is greeted by the title and a navigation bar.

The landing page features a large photo with the heading of the featured article overlapping in a textbox, similar to the overlapping shapes in the print version. Though there is a light pink hughed background, the site lacks the overwhelming color that is present in the print version.

Images are confined to horizontal rectangles, but the collage effect is still achieved through cutout images on top of fields of color, though it is more constrained. Aside from the masthead, the web version of the magazine uses different typefaces. Rather than underline the words, the web version uses a band of color behind the heading, splitting it in half, similar to the section dividers in the print version.

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E M M A + K AT H RY N

Compare + Contrast

The main differences between web and print Real Simple lie in the affordances of each.

Stylistically, the two mediums appear very similarly.

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REALSIMPLE ANALYSIS

Analysis

Unity Through Style NO MATTER THE PLATFORM, REAL SIMPLE IS RECOGNIZABLE IN A SECOND.

The web version of Real Simple lacks some of the flexibility in formating compared to the print version and a few things must be changed to accommodate a different reading and viewing experience. The viewer of the website is greeted by the title and a navigation bar. The landing page features a large photo with the heading of the featured article overlapping in a textbox, similar to the overlapping shapes in the print version. Though there are still colorful photos, the site lacks the overwhelming color that is present in the print version. Images are confined to horizontal rectangles, but the collage effect is still achieved through cutout images on top of fields of color, though it is more constrained.

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E M M A + K AT H RY N

1. TYPE Aside from the masthead, the web version of the magazine uses different typefaces. Body copy is all serif except for the intro for featured articles, which are sans serif.

Unlike the variations in weight and font used throughout the printed publication, the web version is pretty standardized. Numeral digits are also used in subheadings.

2. TREATMENT Rather than underline the words, the web version uses a band of color behind headings- splitting the words in half- similar to how the photos in the section dividers split the headings in the print version.

Within articles, the web version uses underlines to indicate a link. On the home page, thin, black bands separate the sections, a possible visual reference to the underlines in the print headings.

Lines are an essential ingredient in the style of Real Simple.

3. PHOTOS Always colorful, the photos are an important part of selling products or delivering a cheerful message within the publication. This is achieved with shapes and overlapping images.

SECTIONS The web version of Real Simple is divided into different sections.

The navigation menu allows for readers to search by specific topic, such as food or beauty, so there are not the same recurring section headings as the print version. The “Today’s MustReads� section is a regular occurrence located at the top of the page under the main featured article. Each section has a feature article with a larger picture and larger font, with a list of other articles to the right (underneath on the mobile version), all with a smaller image on the left and smaller subhead on the right.

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Fall 2020