Original Photos

These are all of my original photos that I used in my magazine.

Diary Entry - 11th April

This week we we're given the rest of the week to complete the coursework and to begin the evaluation. My targets for this week was to perfect the photographs by eliminating any imperfections that are noticeable on the models, for example, I used the spot healing brush on any blemishes that were on their skins like spots. Another target I had was to complete all outstanding diary entries I had on my blog and ensure everything I needed to upload onto the blog was completed to a high standard. During the holidays I will begin to compose how I will present my evaluation and begin to create it.

Diary entry 4th April

This week I was given a chance to retake some of my photos that did not work as well as they could have. I made a few attempts to create the style I was going for but managed to complete it. I spent most of the week editing the photos and rearranging how I could fit the new images on the layout and if the colours would match with the images. I also fixed some of the less important aspects of the magazine that I had not already edited last week. This included things such as the amount of texts on the contents page. I found that the text was too big on the page and there was too much information where it was not needed. So I changed it by simplifying what I wrote and making the texts from 10 to 8. I also changed the font on the front of my magazine which introduced my main article and made the edges rougher, which fits my style model a bit better than it did originally. It also stands out a lot more and I also changed the background colour from black to white, which made most of the text stand out on the page.

Feedback from my rough cut of magazines

After completing my rough cut for my magazine, I received peer feedback as well as teacher feedback so I could examine where I went wrong.

On my front cover, there was numerous things I could improve on. One major aspect that was put across was the picture. It was too spaced out, which made it look too unnatural and gapped. Also, the angle and lighting that the picture was taken created no depth, making it look 2D and flat. To fix this, I will have to retake the pictures, ensuring that the lighting and mise en scene is to my desire. Another thing that was pointed out was that the bar-code was incomplete, it did not contain the codes and conventions that are found in this particular area. In order to complete this, I shall add to the bar-code, adding a price, issue number and the date of which the magazine was released. There was also too much text on the cover, making it look too cluttered and uneven, so I will take some of the text away to make it look neat and tidy. Also, people pointed out that the title of the main article was unclear and looked stuck on, so I will have to change the layout in which I have the text on the page.

The contents page had less to alter, however there was still some changes to be made. The text was too bottom heavy. Even though I followed my style model, the text was too big and there was too much in such a little space. To change this, I decided to move some of the next around and remove unnecessary data that clogged up the page. I also moved some of the text so it was on the top half of the page as well. There was a suggestion that I could add more colour, however, I am sticking to the rule of only using three consistent colours throughout the magazine. The pictures that are used on the page have little variety, so to change this, I shall take some more images in different angles including a close up to give the page more variety. The text was also too close to the edge of each column, so I either must make the text smaller or the columns bigger. Another thing was the fonts were all the same, making it look too boring, so I will need to experiment with different font styles and see which ones would compliment each other. Also, branding needs to be added.

The double page spread had a lot of issues that I needed to address. One part would be the gap between the first column and the double page spread centre line, it is huge and unnecessary. To fix this, I decided to take some images of the 'artists' in different surrounding and styles, then place them in the gap in a 'polaroid' style frame to make them look slightly scattered but natural. I may also add safety pins to keep the theme going. I also had to alter the colours used to show the difference between Corey and Gustav, because it made it look untidy and inconsistent, so I changed it to the same colour and put a sub-title to distinguish between the two different artists. I also forgot to include the codes on conventions that you find on a double page spread, which includes having the page number, issue number and logo on the top or bottom of the page. The columns were also uneven, so I went back and measured them all against each other. The columns that are moulded around the picture still look slightly uneven, however, that is how it is found on the style model I have followed in order to create this. Another thing that needed to be altered was to ensure the text is all the same size and to proof-read the article better because at some points, it did not make such sense.   

Diary Entry 8 - 28th March

On monday, we had a rough cut deadline set. This meant by 5pm on Monday, all our work had to be added to the hard drive to be marked and analysed. After this was completed, we were asked to give peer feedback in one of the lessons for the class' work, so we could see people close to our target audience what they think of it and how i can change them. Then, I studied what advice I was given and wrote it all up and worked out which parts I would do for each section. I needed to retake some of my photos and some of the way it was organised didnt have the effect I wanted it to. So I planned how I would handle all of this and begin to complete it over the next two weeks.

Diary Entry 7 - 21st March

This week I began to take my photos and create my magazine. Because I finished creating a template the week before, I spent this week editing my photos. Most of the editing was spent on the double page spread, where I cut them out and put them onto a white background, where I roughly cut them out again and placed pins around to make it look like I pinned them to the magazine, which has been used on a few of the style models I had been looking out. I overcame the problems of taking the pictures on a green screen when I had my models wearing white. However, I changed this by asking them to wear dark colours to match my style model. The week was intense and several changes had to be made, however, the deadline is on monday so I will spend the weekend to complete any outstanding work ready for the deadline on monday.

Diary Entry 6 - 14th March

After returning from the week in work experience, I began to plan the proper magazine on paper and use that template for how my magazine will look like onto the computer. I started out by creating a photo planning table on the computer, which helped me plan how, when, who and where I would take the pictures I would use. But I could not fill this out until I completed the drawings. I drew out my designs for the front page, contents page and the double page spread, but this took a lot of time as I tried different ideas from a variety of styles used from older issues of Kerrang! and occasionally asked people from my target audience if certain aspects I tested would appeal to them.  Once this was completed, I created the template of the contents, front page and double page spread, ready for the pictures I was to add in the next week.  Then, when the designs were completed, I moved onto the photo planning table, which helped me organise how I would take the pictures and when I would be able to do it. So by the end of this week, I managed to have everything on my magazine completed apart from the photos, article and the other mentioned artists I would include on my contents page.