Research And Planning - Shot Type Research

Research And Planning - Collage For Magazine

Annotation - 

- Colours are mostly dark.
- Black is often used.
- Fonts are bold.
- The fonts are often 'jagged.'
- Dark make up is worn.
- Clothing is all dark.
- Colours on top of the black are 'plain.' eg, white.
- Hair colours seem to be bright (obviously dyed) or very dark.



This is my collage for my college magazine. It is for the genre of alternate rock/soft rock, and so the images I used were from magazines and websites of this genre. The collage contains colours, texts, clothing and images which will help me to put my magazine cover and contents page together, whilst keeping it all appropriate. 

Research And Planning - My College Magazine Evaluation

College Magazine - Evaluation

Cover-

The cover of my magazine sticks to three colours- yellow, green and purple. And so, my magazine follows the three colour rule. However, I used a publishing line, and I wrote this in white, and although the white is not used throughout, it may make the magazine to appear less professional as I am using more colours than the norm, but not repeatedly. All of the font sizes I used are appropriate. The masthead is in the biggest, boldest font as this is the thing that needs to stand out the most, and therefore does so. All of my coverlines are the same font, and so this makes my magazine look professional as he layout is clear and easy to follow.  The photograph used on my cover is appropriate, as it is a picture of a college student, and so the image is fit for purpose. However, the photo was taken at an inappropriate time, as the person was laughing, and so, this therefore makes the image unattractive and slightly inappropriate as the image lacks seriousness. The stories on the cover are all appropriate, as I did research and found what kind of things people would want in the magazine, and used the popular ones as coverlines.

Contents Page-

 My contents page sticks to three colours, yellow, green and purple, which is the same as the cover, which means not only have I stuck to the three colour rule, but you can also tell that the contents page and cover are both from the same magazine. The font sizes used on my contents page are appropriate, as they are all clear to see, and the stories are all written in the same way, which, similar to the cover, makes the contents page easy to read, and makes it very clear. The image used on the contents page is well taken and appropriate. I wanted the image on the contents page to not appear too staged, and to show a true representation of the college. And so I asked some of the college students to have their picture taken, and did so. The image is clear, and shows them being themselves, which shows the reader who the magazine is aimed at (normal college students.) I do however now think that I should've included more images, as I believe that the contents page looks a bit 'plain.' There are enough stories on the contents page, as there are not only the cover lines but also a few more. They are laid out clearly and there aren't too many, as college students are likely to find this boring.

Research And Planning - My College Magazine

 

Research And Planning - Magazine Images

Above are some pictures that I took in preparation for my magazine, I only however used two of them, as one of them was a little blurry and so I took another.

Research And Planning - Semiotics/Fonts Activity

Today we began looking at mastheads for magazines. We have been looking at what we find appropriate and what is suited best. To begin with I went on to dafont.com, and I looked at the different fonts available. I started to decide what I should have for each text. I decided popcorn should have a small, snappy text, where as the other two should have larger texts. I decided the death metal text should be bold, where as the popworld one is more spread out and clear, as this reflects the magazines contents. The colour however would be fit for purpose. If it was to be on a real magazine I would make the 'popcorn' magazine have pasty colours, where as the popworld one would have bright colours. On the other hand, the death metal magazine would have darker colours, as this fits better.

Research And Planning - My Questions Answered

I showed three different people my magazine draft, and asked them some questions (listed below) that will help me to improve the design.  

Analysis of target audience response- 

Those who answered my questions mostly thought that the colours were appropriate, however one person did mention that they may not be, and so I decided they could be a little brighter (as our college's signature colours are) and so, I will consider this when making my magazine.  
One person also said that I should come up with a more accurate, neater design, and so I shall use a ruler tool when actually creating my magazine cover and contents page. 
The three people who I asked said they would read my magazine, however all said that more detail as to what the magazine actually contained was needed on the cover. Because of this I am going to make better coverlines, as this will make my magazine seem more engaging. 
On asking what people would like to be included in the magazine, two said job vacancies, and so I will ensure that this is listed as one of the cover lines. Another person said they would like information about the college included, and so I will consider adding this on my contents page. 

And so, with these questions now answered, I can begin working on my college magazine cover and contents page.  

Research And Planning - Questions about my magazine

I have made a draft of my magazine, and I am planning to ask them these five questions- 


- Would you buy this magazine, if so why?

- Are the colours appropriate, (if yes) how so? 

- Would you read this magazine? If so, why?

- What could I do to improve the magazine? 

- What would you like to be included in the magazine? 

Research And Planning - College Magazine Drafts

Research and planning - Medium Close Up Examples

 

For my magazine I have to use a medium close up shot. I have researched them and got some examples (shown above) in order to expand my understanding on what I need to produce.  

Research And Planning - Magazine Analysis

This is an example of a college magazine. You can tell it is a college magazine as it has subtle, mature colours for the text. The image its self has a picture of a globe, which shows us it is clearly based on education. The masthead is in a different font to the rest of the text and is also large, which makes the name stand out, so the reader can be sure of the type of magazine that this is. All of the cover lines are suited to those who attend college; the articles the magazine contains are very mature, but are still fitting for an average college attendant. The main picture shows a young woman who attends the college who is clearly very happy, but also looks quite well educated. This is a representation of people who are at the college,showing what type of magazine it is. There is no barcode or pricing on the magazine, this shows that it is very likely to be a college magazine, as these are usually free and only sold in the college its self, so neither of these things are necessary. This magazine also doesn't have a publication line, just the date it was released. This again, shows us the magazine lacks professionalism, and it is a 'laid back' type of text.

Research And Planning - InDesign Tutorial

This is my first attempt at using Adobe InDesign. Firstly I opened a new document, and I went up to layout, then ruler guides, and I added vertical lines. I then opened firefox and found a review and picture of the film Mean Girls, I saved them both to my desktop. I then reopened my InDesign and I went to file, and used 'place' to insert both the text and image into my double page spread. I moved the text and image around so that both fitted well. I had to selet my image and then select object, then fitting, then finally fit frame to content- this made the whole image viewable.  I then went to the 'text' tool and inserted a title- I edited the colour and then used stroke to add a background to my title. Lastly  I added a box, and then used the colour tool to fill it in pink. I then stretched the box to the size of my whole spread, and then I used the send to back tool so that my text, image and title are still seen. Finally, I removed the ruler guides, and now my first InDesign document is completed.

Research and planning - Film poster

This is an image of my friend Rachel, with her face on Thimbletack's body. Firstly, I saved an image of Thimbletack to my desktop and then dragged it into photoshop. I then got Rachel to have her picture taken with a similar emotion to the one that Thimbletack had. I used iPhoto to import the image I had taken. I then used the lasso photo to get Rachel's face, I then dragged it in to the tab that had Thimbletack on it. I then placed Rachel's face on to his body. Lastly, I used to paintbrush tool to colour Rachel's face green.

Research and plannning - Photoshop Challenge

This is my attempt at The Photoshop Challenge. Firstly I opened up photoshop, and opened a plain, A4 sheet. I then selected the text tool, and typed the title. I used the colour tool to change the text red. I then used the paint bucket tool to turn the background blue. I highlighted the text and then went to layer, I then selected layer style and added a drop shadow effect. I then got a picture of Gerard Way off the internet, and dragged it into the document. I used the brush tool to change his hair from blonde to red. I then inserted a boarder, and used the colour tool to change the boarder red, so that it went well with the rest of the document.

Research and planning - Skin Tutorial

This is what I produced for my Photoshop tutorial. To begin with I removed her blemishes, I did so by changing the diameter of the fix spot tool and applying it. I then changed her hair colour using the brush tool. I zoomed in, and then extended her eye lashes by changing the diameter of the brush tool, and applying small black lines. I then changed her eye colour and lipstick by again, changing the diameter of the brush so it was fit for purpose and then applying it. I then softened the brush and changed the colour to pink- I then applied blusher, I changed the colour once again, this time to brown and enhanced her eyebrows.

Some of the enhancements look a tad 'fake' however this is so the enhancements stand out- and I will get used to making the enhancements appear less noticeable as time goes on and my knowledge of Photoshop expands.

Research and Planning- Photoshop Tutorial

This is the first time I have ever used Photoshop,  and I have created a CD cover. To begin with I opened the different images, I used the magic wand tool to select the horn and the eclipse marquee tool to cut out the CD, and then I dragged them all into one document together. I changed the colour of the horn and CD, and then I added my name to the bottom using the text tool. I used the layer tool to insert the musical notes, and then finally used the distort filter to add a wave effect.