Finally! I am Content with my Table of Contents!

So I went back to my table of contents to figure out how I could make some of that white space disappear. I really liked the design of the text, so I knew I didn't want to take anything away. But maybe I could add something to give it a little more life and personality.

The first thing that came to mind was to add some photos to complement the text. A little visual stimulus is usually the perfect fix; however, I didn't have a whole lot of space to work with. Rather than free space next to my different article blurbs where I could have potentially added a picture to go along with the article, most of my empty space was lumped together in a general mass in the middle of the spread.

As you can see above, I have a little rectangle of space next to my "12" article, but there's not a whole lot of potential for a photo there without it looking cramped and out of place. The real empty space is right under where it says 'Table of Contents' in the middle of the spread. 

After panicking for just a second, I realized that this was perhaps the most ideal place for me to have space to work with. I thought back to the second example in my table of contents research and remembered that they placed a photo of their model straight in the middle of their table of contents. This photo was split between the two pages, which works when you have a double page spread like me because they are meant to be read together anyways. So, I started considering the prospect of adding a picture from my photo shoot onto the table of contents. Given the space provided, it would have to be a horizontal picture that is not as extravagant as the cover photo but still fits the theme of the issue.

I added the same place-holder picture I used for the cover to the spread just to see what it would look like since I'm not conducting my photo shoot until later this week. Here's how it looks:

In the final copy, the actual picture would not be sideways. Instead, it would just be a regular landscape picture. In order to make this work without it looking stretched and odd, it would probably best if I took a couple long shots that would look good horizontal rather than vertical. If I could get both the model and their surroundings in a long shot, I think it would look nice in the middle of the spread. 

Furthermore, I decided to change the background of this spread to better fit the photo. I picked the blue to go with the blue of my jeans in the picture, which I think fits quite nicely. Thus, when I actually pick the picture that will go in the center, I will probably change the background of the spread to correlate with the colors of the picture. I think this effortlessly pulls in all the aspects of the spread and makes it all flow more cohesively. Furthermore, even the color I have right now, blue, works nicely with the brand of Lük. I was scared to go with too much of a bold color because of the boldness of my font, which is why I opted for the safer pink. However, since I chose to change the background to the color of my center picture, I unintentionally took a bolder route and I think it works really well. The blue makes more of a statement than the pink and makes the publication seem to wilder and out there, which I am all for. Of course, I don't yet know the color scheme of my final shots that I will use, but after seeing how the blue works, I am less scared to experiment with louder colors.

Overall, I have to admit that the inclusion of the picture in the center of my spread came out nicely. It definitely solves my problem of having too much empty space while maintaining the minimalistic look.  Because it is only one picture, the spread doesn't look like there's too much going on, which I am also thankful for. The use of the center photo was the perfect strategy for adding a visual touch without going overboard.