Update of Creating my Magazine and Images being used

Update of creating my Magazine

So far from following the production schedule and meeting the strict deadlines, I have completed all research undertaken which included Primary research to the target audience of a questionnaire to gain information on what the target audience would like to read about, also Secondary research which is all of the deconstructing and analysing of existing products which has helped within the development of my work, also secondary research into trends within graphic designs, to identify trends used for images, fonts, layouts which has helped within choosing features and designing my magazine. I also completed a detailed report into graphic file formats on Photoshop and Illustrato and Research into magazine conventions and Typography, with experimentations of fonts using different effects such as 3D, Shadow effects, Rotating etc. I have also produced a target audience profile which states their usage, what they want which has helped when choosing specific aspects of my magazine such as imagery, font, topic information etc, also putting together a research dossier on budget, legal and ethical considerations and health and safety issues and how to overcome them, with the contiguency plan highlighting problems and how to deal with them. From completing all of the research for pre-production and post production, I then completed the initial ideas with the help of sketches, moodboard, mind map, which highlighted the colour scheme, images, layout, font, title name what i'm going to use for my Front Cover, Double Page spread and Contents Page. Through completing all of the research stage of; research dossier, intial ideas, mood board, sketches, etc I could then go on to generating my images.

Images

I have photographed some images for my magazine with my Nikon D500. As the brief stated the target audience will include both sexes, and of different socio economic backgrounds, I therefore took the approach to include this audience within the magazine to interest and appeal to the target audience. I therefore planned to shoot images of both sexes, of different styles and ethnicity to portray everyones inidividuality and to show every is equal within the college, therefore the friendly atmosphere is shown and students considering joining this college will have a fresh, friendly look  to the college. As the brief stated to produce a front cover, double page spreadsheet and contents page, through research within these 3 products, I found that images were found within these documents, therefore I recognised I will be taking a wide variety of images based and related to different topics. For the front cover, my plan was to emphasise the equality between students withint this college by portraying a large image of different students of different sexes, style, ethnicity looking happy therefore I originally took a number of images of different students to layer together as one image, however the final ouput didn't appear professional, therefore I have planned to take an image of students together, also for featured images of the cover, I have photographed a male using a camera to advertise the camera competition, also photographed a female to show the interview found within the magazine. Images I have taken include; a footballer, a number of students with work, group photographs.

Pitch Completed

I have now completed my pitch and presented it to 2 Lecturers Andy and Simon and an Assistant Callum, and a combination of group a and b of who were here, and a camera filming my presentation. My presentation was 19 pages including introduction and questions pages, where I stated my initial ideas of; title name, colour scheme, images, fonts etc, backed up with primary research of a questionnaire to the target audience. I stated explanations for my reasons and developing ideas, and portrayed what I will produce for a magazine Front Cover, Double Page Spreadsheet and Contents Page, with deconstructions of similar/existing products, and my mood board showing the theme/mood of my magazine, sketches of the layout of my pages. My initial thought of presenting infront of a possible 2 classes, teachers and a camera, was nerve wracking and I was slightly worried I would just loose my words, however after viewing a couple of my peers presentations I felt confident and understood we were all in the same position, when I presented my presentation I felt confident and explained all my ideas in detail and spoke directly to the audience, I felt my pitch presentation went really well and the audience were engaged and understood were I will be trying to achieve.

Initial Idea for my magazine; Colour Sheme, Font, Sketches, Images, Title

Through preparing for my pitch I have created ideas for my colour scheme, fonts, images and title name through research into existing/similar products, into trends within graphic design for 2011, creating a mood board to set the mood of my magazine and creating sketches to visually process what my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spreadsheet will appear like.

Title Name

Through research into title names, I generetated some possible title names for my student magazines which included; Inspire, Achieve, Fresh, Soul and Unique which I felt were all inspiring, clean, bold titles. Through the questionnaire results I found the title 'Inspire' gained most results with 55% of the target audience favouring this title with comments such as; it reflects that the college inspires the students, therefore from the questionnaire results from the target audience the title of my student magazine will be 'Inspire'.

Colour Scheme and Why?

The colour scheme I will be using is blue as through research into the target audience by producing a questionnaire, I found the target audience favoured the colour blue, therefore as the brief states this magazine is for the target audience of 16-21 of both sexes, different economic-backgrounds, and the questionnaire asked these students, the results are reliable and by using the colour blue, the target audience will be attracted to the magazine by the use of colour scheme as they chose it. Also through researching into different trends of graphic designs for 2011, I looked into colour trends for magazines and I found the popular colours used include the colour blue (Peapod, Curacao and Regatto), therefore by using this colour scheme it is guaranteed to be attracted by the audience and graphic designers as it is a fact that it is a trend at the moment. Another reason I considered the colour scheme blue was because the college for my student magazine will be Chichester college which uses the colour scheme blue with their title. This is a print out of my colour scheme and why page on my pitch for the PowerPoint presentation which uses the colour scheme, and also shows the chart of results gathered by the target audience stating they preferred the colour blue.

Images

Images I will be using throughout my magazine include the images for my double page spreadsheet of activities which is an opportunity for students within the college, as there is an article of an interview of a past student to inspire other students there will be an image of the student which is being inteviewed. Throughout the contents page there will be accompanied images with the contents titles to show features within the magazine. For the main image on the front cover it will be different images of all different international students together to emphasise the college work together and support eachother, and to show the atmosphere that everyone is equal and friendly.

Fonts



                Through research into different fonts and Typography styles, I decided to use a more traditional font style for the title ‘Inspire’ and throughout all other fonts within the magazine to use model, bold fonts. I looked at different fonts on the website dafonts.com which had a wide range of different styles, modern and traditional, fonts I found included; Accents Romance Fatal Serif and Epitazzio.  For the masthead, I’m going to use a serif style font of more traditional styles, to show elegance and fancy style to the title ‘Inspire’.   I also looked at font styles within Microsoft Word such as; Bickham script pro which was within one of the most popular used fonts for graphic designers which are mainly used for formal occasions.   The font highlighted within the red box is the font I will be using for the masthead title, which is called; Monotype Corsiva, which is made within the style of the early Italian cursivies, which exemplifys by the work of the writing master Ludovico degli Arrighi in the sixteenth century. The capitals are of swash design, with characteristic flourishes, designed primarily for use as initial letters. Corsiva can be used for short text passages in advertising but can be  used to add sparkle to invitations, greeting cards and menus, and to give a sense of occasion, I felt using this one for the occasion of a new student magazine was relevant.   For the font throughout the rest of the magazine front cover to show headlines and features within in the magazine, I will be using the font Garamond as through research I found this font is popular and used by graphic designers, this font realeased in 1989 is through research seen as a great font for magazines, books, websites and was recently named the second best font after (Helvetica) by a German publication.



Research into Graphic Design Trends and Colour Schemes

Through keeping up with the production schedule I have completed the tasks of; skills profile where I stated existing knowledge skills and skills I'd like to learn through this project, Mood board of the theme of my magazine and Typography, Market Research of a questionnaire to the target audience to gain information of what they like and dislike within a magazine and their hobbies and interests. I have also started creating my sketches of the front cover, double page spreadsheet and contents page with annotations and explanations. This is my mood board of my theme and Typography:

Mood board of colour scheme, images and fonts

Mood board of Typography styles for 2011

Through secondary research into magazines and deconstructions to see they styles, techniques and generic conventions used, I have also researched into trends into graphic designs for 2011 which include trends within; layouts of mobile devices, websites etc, colour schemes which are popular used by graphic designers for websites and magazines etc, typography trends and their meaning, imagery trends within graphic designs, which can help when generating initial ideas and developing on ideas to use popular trends to attract the audience furthermore.

Image trends within graphic design 2011 : Manipulation and Vintage

Photo Manipulation

Through research into trends for 2011 of graphic designs, I researched into trends for imagery and it is clear photo manipulation by using effects, filters, editing still remains highly popular because the talent to do it which not many people can achieve effectively such as editing the image so detailed that the image is as a surreal imaginative. I found through research photo manipulation is highly used for mobile advertisements to emphasise the quality of the technology within the phone.

Vintage

Gerdarntz Memory game

‘The game contains 250 from the more than 4,000 pictograms Gerd Arntz drew between 1928 and 1965, and were scanned from the original prints in the Arntz archive of the Municipal Museum The Hague’.

“As a politically engaged graphic artist and designer Gerd Arntz (1900-1988) portrayed the world in wood and linoleum cuts. During the 1920s, he conveyed his vision on social wrongs and the rise of Nazism in Germany in his prints. He did this in such a simple, direct style that anyone - regardless of their education and nationality - was able to understand his images.”




Colour Trends

I have researched into Popular trends of colour schemes for 2011 to find the best appealing colour schemes to use throughout my magazine. From research into trends of magazines I found popular colours used in magazines which is a trend for 2011 include Blue colours of; Peapod, Blue Curacao and Regatto, then through further research into colour palette trends I found the colours dark blue, light blue and green which is seen in this website, which stands out and is eye catching. Other colours which are within the colour trends for graphic designers in 2011 include, honeysuckle, coral rose, russet etc.

Layouts: Influenced by related media; website design  

Massive Images as backgrounds

With the internet speeds becoming faster, websites are pushing to the limits with animations, HD Videos and huge beautiful images. This websites use larger photographs to portray their message, the web content and functions lay over the top of the photograph which shows good contrast. The use of using huge images on a layout with accompanied font is the message is clear to the point, also it creates a very impressive visual impact towards the readers. Web designers play with different design variables which include being used by photographers such as; depth of field or focus. Within website design, there are other possible ways to portray the message clear and big, such as large videos or illustrations, typography. There are different large background styles which include;

·         High quality photographs as backgrounds

·         Graphics and illustrations as backgrounds

·         Animations as backgrounds

However, the use of photographs and illustrations are more commonly used as the bandwidth is becoming cheaper with the internet connection speeds increasing, websites can afford to use this more and more. This style of using large images for the background is what I’m going to use for my magazine front cover and double page spreadsheet, as it is striking and the subject of the magazine will be clear and stand out. I will also accompany images and font surrounding the main image such as the website layout of champney’s website.

Analysing and Deconstructing Magazines

Before creating my Front cover, Double page spreadsheet and Contents page for the target audience of 16-21 as a new student magazine. I have analysed and deconstructed Front covers, Double page spreadsheets and Contents Pages of different magazines of student magazines and community magazines to gain an insight into techniques, styles, colour schemes, layouts, images and fonts used to portray a feel to the audience. This is a deconstruction of a real student magazine for Lewisham College; the front cover, double page spread sheet and contents page, where I have identified, the speific colour schemes used, fonts used, imagery used, through analysing a real student magazine, I have understood the features, information,the layout used, and imagery to include to relate to student life. I have also deconstructed community magazines for a broader audience, to compare and to see the different styles, colours, images, layout used to attract the target audience. From analysing and deconstructing different genre of magazines, I have compared different features, layouts, colour schemes to create a feeling etc, which I can apply to my work when I begin the creation of my front cover, double page spread and contents page. From deconstructing magazines, I have found the generic conventions of magazines which consist of; image, logo, masthead, colour scheme, layout, features etc, which through research into these specific aspects I have found some general ways and trends to use these, which I am researching more in depth at the moment.

Communtiy Magazine

Student Magazine Front Cover

Initial Ideas for Student Magazine

I have generated and brain stormed some initial ideas through researching into colour schemes, images, fonts and layouts. Ideas for my colour scheme is using the background white as this is commonly used in both existing student magazines and I feel makes fonts, images stand out and appear bold. This mind map includes ideas on the colour scheme i'd like to use, the title name of my student magazine, features within my magazine such as; competitions, events which were chosen from gathering primary research into the target audience, image ideas for the front cover, double page spreadsheet and the contents pages, the article within the double page spread and topics involved within the student magazine. The title name for my student magazine will be 'Inspire' as the majority of the target audience favoured this title and felt it is used to emphasise the college inspires students, also the imagery I will be using is the front cover of a number of different individual students standing together, then featured images to show features within the magazine such as; sports as on the front cover it will show the event of a sports day. I furthered onto this mind map and developed on from it within the pitch which includes more information and ideas developed, this is a page from my pitch of the established concept which includes layout styles of trends which I will include within my magazine. I also looked into ideas of the colours, topics, images and different name options.

Questionnaire Anaylsis Complete

I have also produced a questionnaire to ask the target audience suitable questions related to student magazines such as; what topics they'd like to read about, what is the most important aspect which appeals to them on the initial attraction, what colour scheme they feel would work and a choice of title names, therefore I can develop on establish concepts, which I know the target audience will enjoy to read as from gathering information on what they like/dislike. I gained feedback on what the target audience preferred and disliked, I found that out of 4 males and 6 females I asked that the most popular topic to write about within a student magazine was Entertainment and Events, therefore from gaining this information I know if I were to add topics based around these two topics, that the target audience will be intrigued in the new magazine. From the questionnaire results I also found that the most imporant aspect to make it appeal interesting is the layout, therefore I know to focus on the layout thoroughly to enhance the quality and percieve to create the best, clear layout possible. Through asking about colours, I found the favoured colours included; white, blue, black and Green, and through research into colour trends for graphic productions I also found Light blues and Greens are the trend for this year, which can also back it up if I choose the colours Light Blue and Light Green for the colour scheme for my magazine. Through asking what title they found was most appealing, I gave them the options of; Inspire, Achieve, Fresh, Soul and Unique and they chose the title Inspire for the Magazine title which was my initial idea and approach to creating a student magazine as I felt the word Inspire could be used to show the college can inspire students. I am now continueing with Researching into similar/existing products and work on the pitch which will be conveyed to the rest of my class and teachers Andy and Simon, accompanied with a camera to film.

Intoduction to Typography

In today's lesson we have carried out the exercise for Typography, what Typography is and how the different types and styles of font convey a meaning within a magazine article and the different ways to use effects within Adobe Illustrator. We analysed the generic conventions of a magazine article in groups of 2's, where we identified the Columns, Gutters, Grids and the Header, also to identify which fonts were such as the modern font used which is sans serif or the more traditional typography which is serif. We also discussed the different types of fonts and their meanings. whereby I now understand that every font has it's purpose and meaning, for example, the font cooper black was originally used for mother care, where as the font Tekton was designed for fashion, therefore this font should only be applied to texts about fashion, through this I learnt how fonts are used specifically for a specific meaning. Also I now understand how to identify the generic conventions of a magazine therefore I can now apply this to my own assignment, I can identify the different types of font's which can help when deciding which different fonts I will be using throughout my magazine.

Then we furthered on to doing an exercise within the programme Adobe Illustrator whereby we learnt about different effects on a wide variety of different styles of font to see how the effects were displayed. Firstly I chose the font Niagra Solid and typed this into a text box, as our first exercise within the class whereby I altered the font by using the 3D Bevel effect to create dimension on the font which makes it look bolder and as if there is a shadow on the font, I feel if I applied this to my magazine, it would stand out and the target audience may be attracted initially to this clear, bold font. Then I went on to creating my next effective font, again creating a text box and using the font Trajan Pro where I clicked on the effects bar and chose the effect Distort Transform, then choosing the 'roughen' distortation effect and applied this onto the font, this creating a sharp jazzy effect, which again stood out, however using the 'roughen' effect too much, can diminshe the ability to read the font, therefore I felt I won't apply this effect onto a font within my magazine as it's not clear as a mathead .

New Assignment Brief


 We have now been given the brief after annotating 4 existing briefs. The brief states to produce a Magazine Front Cover, Double Page Spreadsheet and a Contents Page for Ash Publishing of a college/university for the targeted audience of 16-21 students of all socio-economic backgrounds and of both sexes, Seconadary audience of Parents, members of the local community and potential advertisers. I have responded to briefs before in GCSE Media and Sixth Form Media whereby I created Magazine front cover, double page spreadsheet and a contents page and also created a CD Cover and booklet to promote an upcoming music artist, therefore I have the knowledge to thoroughly read through briefs and summarise them to fully understand what is being asked from the client. I feel confident with this new Assignment as I have many knowledge and skills within planning and the production of print based work, I have also thoroughly understood the brief also. I have now begun deconstructing existing student/university magazines of a front cover, double page spread sheet and a contents page,  to identify the codes and conventions of a magazine and to find the stlyes/techniques used.



Double Page Spread Sheet






Magazine Front Cover

 



Contents Page

 For this assignment we were given the task to create our production schedule with ideal deadlines to work by, this is a screen shot of my production schedule, with tasks, dates begining, if they have been completed and the length given to each task included with the pitch and overall deadline. I will be using the production schedule for this whole assignment to develop and work with, to see demanding work to be compeleted and the different stages within completing this assignment. On the computer, I have coloured in the task detail either red or green, green for it has been completed and red which that it hasn't been completed which I am following by continually checking on it, this helps me in visually seeing the progress in work completed and how much is needed to be completed. As it is clear to see, I have completed a number of tasks and proceeding onto the next stage. This blog however, will be red throughout always viewing the production schedule until the completion of this assignment as the blog is on going and states the stages and development of my progress throughout this assignment.







File format investigation

Within today's lesson, we have been introduced to a powerpoint about file formats which are used on the web and within print within media. I have learnt furthermore about the file formats JPEG, TIFF, GIF and EPS and there advantages and disadvantages, we also discussed about the use of different colours with web and print of CMYK and RGB and what format they're ideal for. I have also learnt about different channels of pixels for example, 8-bit of low resolution and 16-bit which is high resolution and is ideal for printing. I am now writing a report into the different file formats and there uses with there disadvantages and advantages, the use of colours for printing and the ideal colour for printing and for web design.

Introduction to Assignment 3

We have now been introduced to our 3rd assignment which is print based for a magazine. We were introduced to 4 briefs of; JVC, Tentley Tea, Ash Publishing and EntertainXYZ Website, in which I annotated on and through learning the structures of different briefs, identified the structures of these briefs and highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of different structures of briefs. The structures of briefs which I have learnt include: Contractual, Formal, Informal, Negotiated and Tender, and all structures hold different purposes and styles. Through learning the structures of the briefs, I can now identify what structure a brief uses. Different structures are used in different ways, Contractual is a contract between a client and responder whereby they're paid to respond to the brief in a certain amount of time. Formal is whereby a meeting could be arranged with the client where they outline their needs and requirements, informal whereby the client could call you and discuss the requirements over the telephone. Negotiated is where the client and the responder work collaboratively together to discuss and agree on aims and objectives, and lastly, Tender whereby some briefs are sent to several companies by either post or email and they're invited to respond with there own ideas for them to be considering in competition against other suppliers ideas. I am confident with briefs and feel i'm good with time management and can work to a brief successfully.

Completion of the Assignment: Create a 30 Second Television Advert

Our television advert is now complete and all burnt to disc, with a DVD Menu with a previous print advertisement from Kit Kat as the background. There are links to my version and my group memebrs Matt and Kathleen. Our group folder is also complete and organised with a contents page and numbered pages so it is clear what is inside our folder. My two individual folders are also now complete with all the demanded work inside. Overall, i'm really pleased with how our Television Advert appeared and was what I had imagined. In reflection to working in a group, we worked really well and were organised which resulted in really good time management, therefore we completed all demanding work within their deadlines.