Big, Bold, and a Disaster

Usually when you're designing a layout or putting together a graphic the rule is to stay away from chunky, thick, bold black -unless a title. In the following two  pieces these designers didn't hold back from presenting a giant music note looking "S" to a one way street "I".

The Siren Call
The format is clean and crisp with a three column grid. The margins show good white pace to fit with the black and grey style. The top header is displays the catch to get the audience to read the article with an italicized font style.
The big "S" needs to be called out for being a large design flaw and looking like a giant music note. Extra point for the creativity in having the top loop dot the "I" in "siren", otherwise we'd have no idea what we were reading. If the font of the "s" wasn't the same as the rest of the letters it wouldn't be so clear as to what someone would be reading. The only thing that does help with the big "S" is that its an eye sore or catcher. When flipping through the pages of a magazine this is something that would make me stop and look. A giant bold letter "S".
The rest of the text and the page is minimalistic with a standard article about Emma Watson. The design tactic used with the text-wrap along the giant "S" was a cleaver point to sway text along as the article is read.

Christ|na Jones 
A unique resume that makes you stop while flipping through a handful of other resumes. A bold line down -almost-the center of the page is the catcher. The giant "I" actually leads as a guide to read the resume. Text on both the left and right helps to read how we read right to left. As you read this resume you will notice yourself turning your head to the right to successfully complete.
A design layout of two column grid in black and grey style, no color is the formatting.
The subheads of her resume "skills" and "work experience" need kerning as well as could her last name as the header. There looks to be extra spacing in between "work" and "experience.
With this resume it could've been a more centered design if she had used the 'T" in Christina instead of the "I". The "T" would have given a bold statement along with the bolded line down the page. The top of the "T' could have been a bold banner for her contact information to sit on top of.

Both of these designs show class and can be easily read. The Emma Watson article can be tougher to read than the resume just do to not really being able to read what the title is without staring at it for ten seconds. Christina Jones resume isn't terrible with the drawn out "I" but there is a feeling of there could be more.

The Mermaid Resume
The resume for Genna Munoz conducts an underwater-beachy feel to it. The graphic in the top right corner of bubbles is smart for someone flipping through resumes. It's not typical to see that on a standard resume. The pop of color of the water and mermaid tale in the bottom right flows the readers eyes from one side of the page to the other. This makes for an easy read from left to right. The font is a little odd and doesn't give as a relaxed feel as what the graphics depict. Some sections have a bit more details than others and it throws the balance of a little bit. The 2 column grid style helps to organize the text for readers.