Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 3

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Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

Final Drafts - The Finished Product

These are the finished pages for my magazine. The planning and production has taken months, and there has been a lot of changes, especially from the initial flat-plans, and the feed-back I've received helped me to make changes immensely.

Time Management - 16.02.16

I managed to finish my second front cover this week, and have received feedback on it and my contents page, so I can begin working on the final drafts of both of them as I am happy to continue. Next week, I'd like to create the final drafts of everything so that I can finish my evaluation questions as soon as possible.

Front Cover - Progression of second draft

After making the decision to re-design my front cover, I chose an entirely different style altogether and decided to go for a red and black house style throughout. I chose a mid-shot of my model, which had her holding up a flag and a guitar, with a chocolate box pose. I chose this image as I thought it looked incredibly powerful and gave a lasting effect that would entice my audience. Once I had selected my image, I placed it on a gradient background, and then used the polygonal lasso tool and magic wand tool to cut out my model. I duplicated this layer, and filled it entirely with black before using the Gaussian blur effect and turning down the opacity to create a shadow outline.

To create my heading, I decided on something more simple than last time, with plain red, fixed width text with a single divide. I placed this all the way along the top of my magazine by adjusting the tracking, size and height of the letters. Under this, and under the layer of my model, I placed my slogan/tag-line, allowing the tiniest bit of the 'T' to go behind my model's flag and create a layered effect.

I experimented with other titles, particularly the one shown below, using different fonts but a similar theme. I found the black one did not work as well as the red one, and the drop shadow behind it looked unusual, so I decided not to use it for my final design.

For my banner, I decided to create something diagonal and striped, with an image and a few lines of text. I used an image of a concert I attended, as it bore reference to the story of the Brit Awards, which I focused on here. I used the rectangle tool to create black and white boxes, on which I put contrasting colours of text, in fixed width fonts. I made these, along with the image, diagonal. With the "exclusive" text, I added a line under the E which came down and acted as a base for the rectangles, helping make sure it looked as tidy as possible. My banner also had a drop shadow on it, so it stood out from the model.

Next, I created the main sell-line. I wanted to go with something similar to last time, however keep with the theme of rectangles I had used in the banner, so I used a white rectangle with a solid drop shadow, to hold the first three words of the article title, and had the name of the artist and the most eye-catching part in a different, more exciting font and in red. I used two different shades of red by using the gradient tool and had the text on a slight diagonal, adding a drop shadow.

The last thing I had to do was add sell-lines and cover-lines. I decided to position these to the right of my article, and placed them stylistically around my model. I again, stuck with red and black rectangles and text, creating an easy to follow effect. I made sure the text fit perfectly inside the rectangles, so it looked as neat as possible. I also added a bar-code, but decided to use a QR code instead of a traditional bar-code, as the younger generation and my target audience are more accustomed to seeing this. It gives a suggestion of a new generation of magazine, one that is more modern and somewhat digital, so would attract my target audience.

I like this design more than the first, however there are still things I might change so I am planning on receiving feedback from my target audience before I continue.

Time Management - 07.02.15

This week, I created my first draft of my contents page, and re-drafted my double-page spread so I have my second draft. I received further feedback, and my next draft will be my final. I will draft my contents page once more, and next week I plan to re-design my front cover. I would still like to finish my production before the end of February so I can start work on my evaluation questions, however I am beginning to struggle to cope with the work-load at this point as the deadline draws closer.

Contents Page - Progression of first draft

I decided to keep the house-style of my magazine as red and black, so I used this color scheme for my contents page. I created a white background, and used lighting effects to create a gradient. I added colour curves and a gradient map to alter the colours until I had something subtle enough.

Next, I created a guide out of the line tool, and split the page using it. I created three rectangles, using the pattern overlay tool, the colour fill tool, stroke tool, inner shadow tool and drop shadow tool to add the effects seen below.

I copied my mast-head from the front-cover and placed it at the top of the page, then added a photograph of a microphone that I took and used the magic wand tool to mask it, placing it at the right of the page under the bottom banner. I used the rectangle tool and the font Dream Orphans to create a features heading, and then used Dream Orphans Italic to create the "episode 17" text.

Next, I used two lines as guides and created six white rectangles. On these, I added the page numbers of major articles using the font Dream Orphans, and kept this consistent with the article titles. Under this, I used the font Eras Light to create short  descriptions of the articles to give my readers an insight into what they could expect without giving anything away.

I then created polaroid-type vectors using shape tools, as I thought it was a nice effect and polaroid cameras are becoming increasingly popular within my target audience, as I found while I was doing a reader profile and audience research. I chose three photos to put in the boxes that I'd taken during the photography session or previously, and initially decided to put a "?" and a "!" on the images, putting the text layers on overlay, however I decided after this that I didn't like how it looked so I eventually took them off.

I used a different, more decorative font to add captions to the polaroids and added page numbers using the Dream Orphans font. I kept this font consistent when I added a pull-quote to the bottom right, using a range of different colours - shades of red and white. Finally, I added a black rectangle with text on, with the page number, name of magazine and name of the page.

For feedback, I was told that it would be good to replace the pull quote at the bottom left with a subscription offer or editors note. I also realised I should add a website, and links to social media, so I will fix this in my final draft.

Time Management - 25.01.16

I managed to create the first draft of my front cover this week, however I decided to re-design it as I'm unhappy with the final result. My initial plan was to finish my contents page next week, and then re-draft everything the week after, however my schedule will now be one week behind which puts pressure on me, however I should be able to manage everything fine.

Front Cover - Progression of first draft

This was the first draft of my front cover, however after receiving feedback I came to the conclusion to re-design this completely. I wanted to make a post documenting what I did and how this would not work, explaining my choices to re-design. 

To make my mast-head, I used a paint-style text in all-caps. I used gradient overlay to create two different shades of grey, and pasted this text layer underneath but used a pattern overlay to create a striped shadow. After this, as I wanted to use a blue color scheme, I created a clipping mask to the original text layers and set the layer mode to screen, adding fading blue circles. I changed the tracking of the text so that it filled the page vertically, before adding a banner to the background. I had a pattern overlay added to three rectangles that I made grey and placed them behind the text.

The problem with this, I found after receiving feedback, was that it didn't stand out like a mast-head should, and the colors clashed quite a lot. In the next design of my front-cover, I will make sure the mast-head is more noticeable. 

I chose a close-up shot of my model and placed it to the left of my page. I chose to have this image above the mast-head, but below the grey and blue banner which I placed at the bottom, which I created using the polygonal lasso tool and the fill tool. I used the magic wand tool to cut out the image and the polygonal lasso tool to smoothen out some of the edges, but because of my models hair it was difficult to get a smooth cut-out. The image also has some lighting issues, with one side of my models face being much darker than the other so any adjustments caused the differences to be even bolder. In my next draft, I would like to use a different image as I don't think the image is as effective as it could be for its purpose.

To stick with the blue theme of my magazine, I decided that the clothes my model was wearing did not effectively compliment the colors so I created a clipping mask to the image and used the magic wand and polygonal lasso tool to select the red plaid shirt my model was wearing. After I had it selected, I chose a deep blue color and filled the selection with the color before setting the layer to the color mode. This changed the color of my models shirt from red to blue which complimented the theme better. Further than this, I changed the color of my models eyes to a deep blue from green to further suit the style. I added the levels adjustment after this to try to alter the lighting but after receiving feedback I realize that the image is now too dark. This is further reason to change my image to something more powerful.

To create my main sell-line, I used a fixed height font, which was originally black but as it was difficult to see I added a white glow to it so that it stood out from the image, however it is still quite hard to read. I then used a hand-written style font and used gradient overlay to add two shades of blue and then a drop shadow. The sell-line does not stand out enough from the image and so it would not draw in an audience's attention, next time I will make sure my sell-line is easier to read.

I wanted to create a plug for my article, so I used the ellipse tool to create three circles to create a shape that resembled a record. I then used a fixed width and height font to add a message to the plug, however some of the text is too dark and does not stand out. Because of this, I created a clipping mask and used the same technique as I did with the masthead to create blue tints so it fit with the color scheme. I struggled, however, to find a good place for it on my magazine and I don't quite like where I placed it.

I added my sell-lines next, using two different fonts in blue and black colors.  I think the sell-lines are messy, however, and don't add much to the magazine. Some of them are cut off by the image and vary in size so I would definitely avoid this style in my final front cover.

As a whole, I have decided the color scheme of blue and grey doesn't work very well and created too dark of an effect. After receiving feedback, I decided to keep one common house style of black and red for my magazine so I will be using this for the next draft of my front cover. I need to make my mast-head and main sell-line more noticeable and the other sell-lines more visually appealing.

Time Management - 10.01.16

This week, I created the first draft of my double page spread. I wanted to start my front cover too, however I decided that I should leave it until next week so I don't get overwhelmed by the workload. I will be updating my double page spread next week, too, but as of now I'm still on the schedule I hoped to follow.

Double Page Spread - Progression of first draft

I begun to put together my double-page spread using Photoshop, after creating a blank A3 canvas. I initially filled the canvas with white, then used "lighting effects" to create an effective but subtle gradient for the background.

I placed the main light source behind where I wanted to position my model, so that the light would start behind her and fade out to a light grey colour nearer the corners of the page. I then created a simple flower blossom pattern, to add some detail to the page. I put the petals on a low opacity and changed them to be a blend of red and black, as this was the colour scheme I had chosen.  I put more petals around the outside edges of the pages, so that they did not cluster together. After this, I begun to create my article title. I used two fonts, using New Facebook for "The Legacy Of",  and filling it with a pure black colour.  I then used Bakery to write Lennox, however I used gradient overlay to fill the word with different shades of red, brighter in the center and fading out to a darker colour on the top and bottom of letters. I did this to add some depth to the title and ensure it was not just simple fills. After this, I merged the three text layers together so it was easier to work with, and added an inner shadow to allow more depth. Finally, I duplicated the layer and used pattern overlay to create a striped pattern, moving this layer slightly to the right and adding a drop shadow before setting the layer mode to linear light. The effect this had created a soft yet bright looking striped shadow effect to the initial text, causing it to look like more of an article title than a piece of text.

I added a line to the middle of the page so I could see the divide between the two pages and work around it more easily, then began to cut out the photo of my model I had decided to use. After doing so, I found that the image was too large and the tip of the guitar was cut off in the photo, and as it took up too much room on the second page, where I intended to put my text, I decided against using the image.

The image I finally decided on was the one seen below, after masking the image I added a slight drop shadow, and cut part of the guitar so it would fit around my drop cap and not take up too much room on the page I had allocated for text. I decided to place a divider where the image ended as I could not move it any further down the page, but it was not long enough. I then created a black and white preset and placed it above the layer, creating a clipping mask so the effects were only applied to the image of my model. I changed the layer mode to overlay and set the opacity to 52%, causing the image to become slightly more heavy and contrasted and stand out more on the page. The effect emphasized the lighting and added a glow to the image. I had to re-arrange some of the petals around the model so they did not cluster around her, which took a while and created some problems but was eventually okay. Some of the masking, especially around my models hair is not as neat as it could be, though.

After this, I begun adding smaller details. I created small black rectangles with white text, including the date of publication and the page numbers. I ensured my article started on an even page number and ended on an odd, so it is accurate of a real magazine. I then created a red rectangle to use as a drop cap to guide my reader and placed it in the fold I had created by masking the guitar, and placed my kicker beside it. I used black text and the font Dillenia UPC for my kicker, making the text bold and quite large, with leading and tracking at around 20 to further spread it out and make it clearer to read. I placed my strap-line above this paragraph, using the font Dream Orphans and the same shade of red used in my article title and drop cap. I thought the different fonts went well together and liked the overall effect. After looking at my flat-plans, I realized I'd need to place an image on this page central to the columns of text I wanted to use. I created a square and centered it on the right page landscape, positioning it manually where I thought looked an equal distance from the kicker to the bottom of the page. I then placed a photograph of my model, creating a clipping mask to the square I had initially made. Finally, I added the same black and white effect that I had put on my other image so they looked equal. To finish, I decided to add the divider. I used a small red rectangle, and used a pattern overlay to created a red paper effect, before adding a faded drop shadow to it. 

I then had to add the rest of my text. I created text boxes and aligned all the text to the left, putting in the main body of my article. I added a faded black rectangle under my article and image, adding white text including the date, article title, and by-line. This filled the gap at the bottom of the page which previously looked too blank. I used Dillenia UPC again for my article, with around 20 in the way of leading and tracking. I changed all quotes in my article to be red and italics, and the beginning of every paragraph was changed to include a few bold and red words, indicating where the reader was to go next and structurally guiding them through  the article. I wanted to add my pull quote under my red divider and experimented with many different fonts and texts, going from initially wanted to use New Facebook and Bakery again (I found these fonts looked too bold for the pull quote and took emphasis from the article title), to using dream orphans (I found this font could not line up properly whilst trying to create an effective-looking pull quote) to finally settling with using a capitalized, bold version of my primary font, Dillenia UPC. I changed the text to red and black, and added a drop shadow. I added dots beside the text to fill in gaps as I'd decided to go for a more stylistic approach. After this, I created two speech marks, using the Bakery font again, placing them at either end of my pull quote. I turned them red, however decided that they were too bold and stood out, so I set the layer mode to overlay and turned the opacity to 33%. I finally removed the page divider, and finished the first draft of my article.

Finished draft of Double Page Spread

There are still things I'd like to change on my double page spread. After receiving feedback, I have decided to put the pull quote into italics so it stands out more as a quote instead of something said by the journalist/writer. I would also like to include links to social media, such as YouTube, and Twitter, as they are frequently referenced within the main body of my article so should be linked somewhere on the page. There is a grey box on the left of my drop cap where I think they would work well. I need to go over the masking of my main image, as it is very rough in some places, especially around her hair, there is a bold white outline. I will go over this and neaten it up so it looks more professional. Finally, I will change the image on the right page of my article, as it looks to similar to the other and I think it would look better with more of a variation of images. I also think this image is too bright, with one side of the models face being lit up too much whilst the opposite is true for the other.