Okay, so I'm reading a magazine (Reader's Digest, Large Print because it's my Dad's magazine). In it are beautiful layouts and good photography and then it hits me I find an advertisement that selling an "italian" chain necklace. Now the necklace isn't bad looking and clearly, they put some work into the photo/illustration. But, what stood out was an AWFUL (God awful) design. While I saw LOTS of room for improvement in the layout, I was mostly looking for signs that maybe the manufacturer/dealer might have stuck their nose in too far into the design process. But, the more I looked the more I realized that it was mostly the designer's fault. YIKES! Pretty much no white space and EVERY element on the layout was approximately the same size as every other element (no contrast at all?). It was freaky. It was as if the designer was a beginner at designing stuff (I must admit, I've been there too). But this was "Reader's Digest", a serious magazine (for the most part). However, I was just shocked at the way this ad leaped out at me and screamed, "HELP me Obie Wan Kanobie, you're my only hope."

It was just surprising to see such poor work in a major magazine. (rant over)

Mark