One thing I feel went particularly well during my magazine creation were the photographs that I took; the good, clear, sharp quality gave me a nice image to work with on Photoshop when I came to construct my front cover. Although many people experienced difficulty achieving focused shots, I was happy with the result of my photos as I focused them manually. Looking for a plain background to take my photo, I decided to use a blue wall as this would still be plain enough to make the magazine writing visible, but less boring than white. Next time, I would also take some photos outdoors as this would provide me with a warm, natural light. Ultimately, I think I had a nice variety of photos that I could choose from which really helped me when I came to create the magazine front cover; I could choose the most appropriate photograph.
I took this photograph which I really liked however I did not use it as my front cover image; the background was too busy and as a result, any text used would not stand out against this intricate backdrop. However, I still liked the image and thought that it looked aesthetically pleasing to the eye, therefore I could use it on my contents page.
Clearly I learnt a lot about the software I used; I have very little experience with Photoshop therefore I am glad that this project furthered my knowledge in this important program that I will be using often throughout the course. There were a few bumps along the way however I feel that the best way to learn is to practise and try out the different tools in order to understand what they do as well as how to use them. Firstly, I edited my chosen image on Photoshop so that it looked the best it could. For instance, I increased the contrast so that the image stood out more against its background. I also added a slight yellow tint to the image in order to make it look warmer and more natural as the artificial light I shot the photo in wasn't nice. One thing which I noticed looked good on this edited photograph was that on the top of my model's head, there was a bright light which actually appeared to be a sun ray. This worked well in my attempts to enhance the photo by making it look more natural. After editing the image, my first mistake was 'opening' my image in Photoshop as opposed to 'placing' it which caused difficulty when applying each effect. On the other hand, when I placed my photo things ran very smoothly and I got used to adding different layers to my work so as to avoid making a mistake on one area and consequently having to scrap the whole thing. Next time, I would try to edit the photograph a bit more; one thing that I really like on professional magazines is when the person depicted in the image covers part of the title, adding depth to the cover. However, I could not do this as I chose to have my title in a thought bubble as this would look more interesting to college students. I am happy with this decision so would only try to have the image overlapping the text to try something a little bit different and further my editing skills.
Overall, I think that my finished product looked good and professional; it would not look out of place among other magazines of sorts.One thing which was really important to me about my product was that the font was clearly visible on my background therefore I think that the yellow font worked very well. it contrasted greatly with my blue background. Furthermore, I edited my font, adding a 'Bevel & Emboss' and 'Stroke' which I think contributed to it being eye-catching. The black outline surrounding my text also did this as the text looked clear and bold. My main reason for choosing a blue background to take my photograph on was that already, my magazine would stand out against others. I knew my background needed to be plain so that the text stood out easily however if the plain background was white, I think that it would look more boring and sparse. The blue is more upbeat and consequently more appropriate for a college magazine. On the other hand, one weakness of my magazine-which perhaps did not display the effect I was looking for-was the thought bubble. I struggled to insert a regular bubble shape onto my document as I could not 'Copy' and 'Paste' my desired shape from Microsoft Word or the Paint program. Next, I tried to add an image of a thought bubble which I created and saved as a JPEG however it had a white background which would not look right against my blue. In the end, I drew my bubble on and while this did not detract from the professionalism in my magazine, it is not as regular as I would have liked. Although, one could argue that a college magazine is not supposed to be "regular" but fun and upbeat therefore the fact that I drew my own thought bubble could connect with the artistic article in my piece. I do think that my magazine looks convincing, particularly with the barcode which I added as this really goes a long way to make the product look real and professional-like it is really on sale. On the other hand, one thing which is present on my style models would perhaps be a price on the front although I thought that this looked rather tacky on some magazines and gave the impression of a gossip magazine as opposed to my professional-looking product. For this reason, I chose not to incorporate it onto my finished piece. I think that my text and colour scheme are appropriate; I have achieved a good balance between upbeat and too "in-your-face". The size of my title is great as it can be read from a long distance away. Also, I added effects to my font in order to make it look 3D and eye-catching. I added a black outline to my text so that it was clear and stood out more. Moreover, I transformed the shape of my title into an arch template so that the word "TERM" was the biggest. This also helped to make the title look like an actual thought coming out of my thought bubble.
One thing which I would have done if I had more knowledge on the software is that on one of my images..........
.......I would have made the image black and white apart from my model's bright red hair, which I would have left in colour. This would have looked eye-catching and interesting therefore the magazine article about art and photography would have looked as creative as the actual piece.
One of my influences was obviously my style models as these really gave me an insight into how my product SHOULD look in the end. For example, my inspiration to place a barcode on my work came from an example which I had seen previously as I admired how professional this made the magazine look. Additionally, I researched the Student Magazine which is a professional example. Whilst I liked aspects of this, I thought that their product actually looked quite amateur in some areas. For example, their text boxes were just plain+white where as it would have looked more professional to add transparency to some so that readers could see the image behind the text as well, although that is simply my opinion. Ultimately, I chose to create my magazine to look upbeat as I think that this would be more popular among the target audience. For instance, at first I was planning on creating a very formal magazine with articles such as "Interview with the principal" although it dawned on me that the majority of students would be looking for scandal and gossip. Due to this, I changed the outlook on my magazine to be more informal, switching this article to "Principal to resign?!" as this looks and sounds much more interesting, attracting a larger readership.
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