Friday, 22 January 2016

Progress update 3




This is my front cover, contents page and double page spread. I recieved some feedback on them and I need to make some adjustments such as
  • Fill the front cover up with more text to ensure it doesn't look too plain
  • Add a price to the cover
  • Make the main coverline stand out more to distinguish between the main cover story and other features
  • Add a neon glow similar to the masthead on the cover to the masthead on the contents page to fit in with the theme of the magazine and look more recongisable
  • Add captions to the images on the contents page
  • Change the double page spread interview font so that it is easier to see and ensure the answers are not in capital letters as some people can find this difficult to read
  • Move the interview more to the right side of the page
  • Make the pull quote stand out more - use a different colour

Tuesday, 19 January 2016

Looking At Previous Student's Work


Analysing Previous Student Work
Name of Magazine
Strengths
Weaknesses
Grade I awarded and reason
 
Unsigned
·         Stuck to a consistent colour scheme of red and, black and white
·         Good ratio of images and text to keep the reader engaged
·         Photographs are good quality and fit in with the genre of the magazine well
·         Grammatical/spelling errors throughout – makes the magazine appear unprofessional
·         Too many fonts used throughout which does not look aesthetically pleasing
C – followed magazine conventions however more effort could have been put in to make the magazine more informative and appear more professional
Behind Closed Doors

·         Consistent colour scheme which link well to the genre of the magazine
·         Used a variety of live gig photos and artists
·         Followed typical magazine conventions on the front cover and contents page.
·         Far too many fonts used throughout the magazine in a variety of places and colours, makes the magazine look very unorganised and unprofessional
·         Too many images used in the double page spread and not enough text to make a good balance
·         Lighting is very poor on a lot of the images again making the magazine appear unprofessional
D – Overall this magazine appeared too messy and unprofessional due to there being too many fonts/images, images constantly repeated throughout and didn’t follow magazine conventions well on the double page spread
Strobe
·         Bright, eye catching main image which contrasts well with the background and masthead
·         Consistent colour scheme of white, blue and black
·         Professional looking contents page
·         Grammatical errors throughout interview – looks unprofessional
·         Text is a bit hard to read on the main cover, could have used a different font/colour to ensure it stands out more
·         Not enough variety – There are only 2 people in the whole magazine
·         Shadow not edited out on contents page image
C -  More effort could have been put in to the double page spread to ensure it looked like a proper magazine for example changing the font and proof reading the interview to correct any errors. Text should be moved around to look more organised
What have I learned from looking at last year’s student work?
I have learnt that it is important to ensure that every aspect of the magazine looks good to make the overall magazine look as good as possible. When there is too much text on a page it can make it look boring and potentially make the reader bored, however when there are too many images on the page it can make the magazine appear unprofessional and messy. It is important that there is a good balance of text and images. I have also learnt that even if the content of the magazine is not that impressive, keeping to a good consistent colour scheme and nice fonts can still improve the overall look of the magazine drastically. I have also learnt that good images are one of the key aspects to make the magazine look as good as possible.
How will I apply this to my own work?
I have learnt that to ensure that my magazine looks as professional and aesthetically pleasing as possible I have to stick to a consistent colour scheme, keep the fonts to a minimum, ensure that there is a good ratio of text and images, always proof read to ensure that the magazine is grammatically correct and that there are no spelling mistakes that may mark me down and be space efficient to make sure that everything is set out nicely.

Sunday, 17 January 2016

Progress update


I made several changes to my magazine cover including

  • Photoshopped a picture of my model and placed it on the cover in place of the temporary image of Ellie Goulding
  • Changed the font to make the magazine look more modern
  • Created a gradient background to look more aesthetically pleasing than a block colour
  • Created a coverline and subheading
  • Added essential information next to the masthead
  • Ensured that the magazine looks well organised and not too cluttered with text
  • Kept fonts to a minimum