THE VARIOUS APPLICATIONS THAT I USED...

Throughout the start of my project I began using the application Fireworks because I thought that it was to the best of my ability, and it would allow me to create really well designed logos, and it would allow me to manipulate my magazine according to what I would of wanted. While using the application at first I found it rather difficult to get used to, because everything was not well laid out or well explained. 

I can honestly say that I did not enjoy using the application, but that may also be because I did not know how to use it properly, and that I was just experimenting with the various tools on it. 

Also, at the start of the project I began to create my front cover, contents page and double page spread on Fireworks because I thought it would be better for me than any other application, however I found it extremely difficult to use therefore I used the application Pages which proved to be easier and better for quality. I started using the application Fireworks to edit some of my photo's, and to change the contrast and the gradient of the pictures, however I was hardly able to complete this due to me not understanding how to use the application; then after some research into the program I discoverered that Photoshop would be much better.

Although, i knew Photoshop was a good application to use and I assumed that it would have been better than Fireworks, therefore I began using Photoshop. However, like I did with Fireworks I didn't really know what I was doing properly and I found it quite hard to use at first, but then after I did some research into the various techniques you could use and how you can manipulate text and images according to what you desire, and after that I found it easier to use. Also, one of my peers was using the application Photoshop, and she taught me how to remove a background with using the Magic Eraser Tool, this allowed me to complete various tasks that needed to be manipulated, making the whole process much easier to use. 

One thing that I really wanted to use on Photoshop was changing colour to objects, and I wanted to learn how to do that from the very start of the course. I used the search engine Google to do some research into the initial stages of production, and henceforth allowed me to complete the task I wanted to.
I used the application Photoshop to allow me to remove backgrounds from pictures so I could use them in my magazine, I found this application particulary useful.

I created my front cover, contents page and double page spread on the application pages because I found it easier to use; everything is well laid out and it makes it much easier to use for such production as this. The only problem I found with Pages was when you insert an image and it goes behind the current view on Pages, this came as quite a shock because I had never used Pages to this extend, but I managed to get used to this, and I figured out how to stop this from happening. To do this you must select an option at the top bar of the application which states 'In Line' and 'Floating', the selection 'In Line' makes the image or text go from the initial image and it goes towards the bottom of the picture, but this selection also makes it difficult to move and manipulate to what you want, because when you move the image everything else on the page moves with it. However, I used the 'Floating' selection and it allowed me to move the image without the others moving, and the image also went to the front of the initial image, which allowed me to continue with production. 

Also at the start of the production I began to use the application Word for my front cover, contents page and double page spread because I have used Word before I thought this would be better for me because I would not have to learn how to use any of the tools or how to get used to the application to allow me to continue production of my rock magazine. However, I found it really difficult to get to grips with, because the images would not do what I wanted them to, and the application became really slow because of the high quality images I was using, how quickly I was using the application and because I was doing various other things at the same time. So, I gave up using this application which I am glad I did because at various times it really frustrated me and made production very difficult for me. 

To conclude, I am glad that I used the various applications because they ended up working very well for me and for the magazine. Although, a few applications did not work as well for me as I wanted them to, I managed to get used to the applications that I wanted to use and this allowed me to continue production, and led to me completing my rock magazine.

FINISHED DOUBLE SPREAD...

After finishing my double page spread I can now say that I believe I have improved in my technical skills in various different things, also my initial computer skills have improved by embedding various links which has allowed me to present my work properly and in various different ways. 

Comparing my finished product to my draft version I think that it has improved for the best and it looks much better than what it did before; I've used much more colour, bigger texts in different fonts, another picture and another couple of collomns. I think this has all together improved my double page spread, and I am so proud of the over all result.

I am proud of my result and I believe that after completing my front cover, contents page and double page spread I feel much more confident on the MAC side of the computer.  

FINISHED CONTENTS PAGE...

After completing my contents page I feel so much more confident on the computer and using the various applications that I have been using such as Fireworks and Photoshop for the details like the subheadings and the actual contents of the page where I've had to create them firstly as an image then use the Magic Eraser Tool to remove the background. Due to this I believe that my skills have improved greatly. This will be good for the career I wish to pursue once i get older. 

My contents page was relatively easy to complete and I really enjoyed making it according to my theme and colour scheme, because it allowed me to be creative and make it more original and use inspiration from various other magazines that I like and that I have looked up to many years such as Kerrang and Rock Sound; I think that this has allowed me to make the magazine much more personal by using music that I actrually listen to, and by putting pictures of people that I know, such as my little brother, the cover model, the band and my friends younger sister.

Comparing my finished contents page with my draft version, I think that I have improved it really well, and now looking back I can see that the 'goldy' yellow colour that I chose for the background really did  not work, and I am glad that I changed it according to my peer assessment.

Now that I have finished my detailed analysis on my contents page, I can compare the draft version to the finished version.

Draft version

Completed contents page

I think that the yellow colour that I chose for my draft doesn't look as good as the darker colours; I wanted to make the back ground darker because I wanted the whole magazine to link together instead of having a contents page that does not link. I noticed this through a comment that my teacher made towards my contents page, simply: "It doesn't look like its part of the same magazine" therefore I changed it accordingly and I am proud with the end result.
I wanted to include the logo from the front of the magazine and on my double page spread to further link the magazine components together, and I think that it worked really well.

Now that I am comparing the draft version to my finished contents page I can see clearly where I went wrong, such as the back ground colour, and the title of the whole page from 'contents' to 'contents page' I think that this highlights the reasoning for the page in the first place, and I am glad that I made the changes that I did, because I think it looks much more official.

FINISHED FRONT COVER

Today I have finished all three of the key aspects of my magazine; front page, contents page and double page spread, this will now allow me to focus on answering my evaluation questions. The front page has been created on the application Pages, and the main image has been photographed in the school that I attend, and it has been edited on Photoshop. 

To compare my draft with my finished front cover, I can now clearly see where I was going wrong, and I have made the changes to my front page according to my initial feed back from my teachers and peers. This has finally allowed me to complete my front cover according to my ability.

Now that I have finished my front cover, I can start picking various pieces apart and looking at them more closely, explaining why I chose to do certain things and how I came to that decision.

The name of the model/quotation

Heading/subheading/head

The bottom of the page/plus

Poster special/James Gilmore

The finer detail

Throughout the process of creating my front cover I have learnt a lot about the technical side of media, through trial and error process I have learnt how to bring together all the components I have needed to devise a rock music magazine. I think that this has been a successful process, and it has allowed me a lot of time to self reflect on this project.
At the start of the project I was not entirely sure what I was doing with my magazine front cover, because I wanted it to look so typically rock that I think I was running away with it a bit too much. I spend a stupid amount of time on the finest details such as the masthead, which as you will be able to see throughout my blog (towards the start) I spent so much time choosing the name, and researching into what it actually meant. However, I spend so much time on editing the pixels individually, which is what i thought would make it better and more classic because i devised everything myself. However, I soon came to realise that this was not the way forward, therefore my magazine went from this:

this was while i was editing the single pixels, before i devised the draft version of the current magazine. 

I believe that due to completing my front cover, my current one applies much better to the initial requirements and it fits the profile that I wanted to provide the audience with; I wanted to show the audience that my magazine was new and exciting, and that it also appeals to many different demographics, although it would strongly appeal to those that are interested in rock music and news about rock music, I believe that due to the choice of supporting bands on the front cover, it will hopefully appeal to a more varied audience. 

FINISHED CONTENTS PAGE

Now after completing my contents page I will continue to provide a detailed analysis explaining my
various actions that I have taken to get to this stage of production. However, now that I am looking at my magazine after a few days of not completing it I am starting to notice slight faults with it, such as:

• The lack of imaginative photos with my younger brother
• I do not like the positioning of the 'PAGES 40-46' 
• I also think that the actual contents do not match the required size
• I think the contents look too cramped, almost like they are trying to fit stuff in that they do not need.
• I just think that it looks too basic all together, therefore I am going to make some changes according to my faults that I have picked out
• One of my friends also said to me that the title of the entire page 'CONTENTS PAGE' that the 's' at the end of contents was too big and that it looked like the two words were all one word, defeating the purpose of my title. Therefore, that will also be a change I am going to make. 

MAKING CHANGES

1. I firstly want the contents to be moved and improved slightly, because it has been annoying me for a while, and I think it does not look like a conventional rock magazine, therefore I am going to remove some of the text that is contained in the contents to spread it all out more: 

I have also increased the size of the 'FEATURES' and the 'EVERY MONTH' so it looks like an actual subheading instead of just a bold piece of text.

2. I secondly want to put more interesting photos in my magazine, to make it look like it does not just feature music, but also some action shots of various things. A few months ago I had three photo shoots with my younger brother, one being the initial, one being the improved and one being an action shot. I wish to use what I called the 'money shot' in my magazine, to bring it together more, so it looks like it has more variation. I also may use some of the photos from the improved photo shoot, because I liked what he was wearing in those photos. Also, this shows that I have taken photos in different places and with different ideas. 

I am going to firstly make some of the images I already have smaller: 

and I have also deleted one photo of the cover model that I thought made this particular area of my contents page look more cramped. 

I will now insert the desired image to make it look compact and not to empty:

I think that this image has made the collage look improved but I think that I need to edit the photo more to make it 'fit in' with the rocky and bright theme that I have got going on, on my contents page. 

3. I am going to edit the photo using the application Fireworks:

Now that I have uploaded the photo I can begin the editing process, to make it more brighter and bring the contrast up slightly, however I do not know how to do this, therefore I am going to have to look up how I am going to change the contrast. 

I have tried to change the contrast on the application and I have Google searched the various different ways I can change contrast however I can not find a solution, therefore I am going to try on a different program, Photoshop.

On Photoshop it is much easier to use: 

To begin editing I select the tab filter so see the various different options I have for changing colour, I then start to scroll over the different options that I have, which will allow me to change the exposure and brightness of the picture. 

Once you click on one of the tabs, this comes up:

Now that I have selected the type of picture that I want, I can now scroll through the options and I can see what I am choosing along the right hand side and on the left I can see what it does to the picture. The effect you can see is the 'Film Grain' which I like but I want to have a look through a few more:

However, after looking at different effects on the pictures I have decided that I like the first effect best out of the three, this effect is called 'poster effect' and i think that it is the one that reflects my themes more than the others, therefore I am going to use it. 

This is my now finished contents page, with the various changes done to it. I am much prouder with this version of my contents page, and I think it looks much better and it reflects my themes properly and successfully. 

FINISHED DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD...

After receiving my feedback from my teacher and peers about my double page spread I have changed it according to the feedback, this has allowed me to reach my full potential with my double page spread. Now I think that it looks much better than what it did before. However, I think that it needs a little more to make it look even better, I am going to change certain aspects of it to make it look the best it can possibly be, such as:

• I am going to have some text towards the top of the double page spread to make it look a little bit fuller, so there is a little more light too. I also want to text to make it seem exclusive and like there won't be another chance to buy the magazine
• I also want to add some more images onto the double page spread to make it look fuller, but I think that I will need to perhaps do some more editing for that to be possible
• I want to add something underneath the logo that features at the top left hand corner to make it also look more fuller and more interesting to read

Hopefully if I go by these faults and make changes to it according to the faults i have picked up then it will reach its best potential.

Through a peer assessment lesson, I received this feedback from my teacher and my peers, which i think will be creative and help me to continue to develop my rock magazine to my best capability. 

After receiving my feedback from my peers and teacher, I will edit my front page, contents page and double page spread according to the feedback.

I will firstly change my front cover, and I will do this by making the main image bigger, this will hopefully make the magazine look fuller and more like an actual rock magazine. I will also change the colour of some of the text that is on the front cover, such as the quotation that the cover model says in her interview.

I will then change the contents page, by making the front cover and contents page flow together, so I will do this by changing the colours to be the same to make it look like it's been taken from an actual magazine. This will hopefully make my magazine look more official and professional. I will then put some more images of different people on my contents page, this will make it look like the magazine features more artists and that we have had more interviews instead of just the cover model.

I will then change the double page spread; I will do this by making the main focus of the double page spread, the image, central to an A4 piece of paper, so I need to distinguish the fold that would have been in the actual magazine. This will hopefully make my magazine look more focused and more like an actual rock magazine, instead of just a poster in a normal magazine. I will also add some more shapes, and these will be a particular colour coinciding with the clothes that the cover model is wearing, so purple.

SOON TO BE FINISHED DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD...

peer assessment...

Through being peer assessed by the actual cover model and another friend, I have come to realise that the blue object in the picture is distracting the attention, because it is a different colour from the look that I am trying to go for. Therefore, I am going to change the colour of the blue object and make it darker.

Before changing the colour - initial editing stage

After changing the colour - showing the blue object as now black

Thanks to this link that I found on the internet I have been able to achieve this.

This process has allowed my technical knowledge of Photoshop to be improved and now I feel more professional and confident using the application.
This process has allowed me to change the colour of an object that was distracting the attention of the audience, and I think that it has now improved the image; this will hopefully keep the audiences attention on the actual text at the right side of my double page spread. The text on the right hand side will be white, and this will attract the audiences attention, because the white will hopefully contrast with the black on the double page spread, making it stand out.

The double page spread so far...

This is my current double page spread, of which I am fairly proud of because it has taken me a lot of time and effort to get to this stage of the production, although I am still not totally happy with it. Now that I have taken a day or two off from the project I can now look at my product with a clear eye and I can see the faults more clearly:

• I think that there needs to be much more writing, because columns in rock magazines and in any magazine has more than one question and answers column
• The black back drop behind the question and answers is not all the way to the top of the page, and to me that does not look right
• The main picture is not focused on one side of the double page spread, it is directly in the middle of the picture, and it needs to be strictly to the left hand side
• There is not enough colour in the image, I think I need to bring in my main colour theme that I wanted to use which was purple, also the purple goes with the dress that the cover model is wearing, therefore it will be completely applicable 
• I want to change the positioning of the 'KATIE'S ALBUM' to nearer the picture, to make it associate with the image more
• I also want to change the text of the 'KATIE'S ALBUM' to an actual song that the cover model has written and preformed before
• The double page spread also needs page numbers, to indicate to the reader where they actually are

Now that I have identified the main problems with my double page spread I can change them accordingly to my own faults.

Finally finished the front cover draft...

Although this is my 'finished' product I am not particularly proud of the finished product, due to this I will continue to edit it and make it look more appropriate for a rock magazine. I personally do not think that the colour yellow goes well with the rest of the rock theme.    

Improving the front cover...

To improve the front cover, I'm going to change the image to make the features stand out more. I am going to blur the mise-en-scene: 

As you can see, I have blurred the props in the picture, and hopefully this will make the features stand out more. 

Evaluation front cover- through the feedback on my magazine front cover, I can not edit it to its full potential, making sure that there are no mistakes and that it flows throughout.

Evaluation contents - the contents page was fine, and there was no criticisms about it, making me feel really good about finishing the work on time, and hitting the deadline.

Finished contents page...

This is my completed contents page, of which I will leave the way it is until further peer assessment due to which I will edit and change accordingly. 

Contents...

This is a mock up of almost everything I have mentioned in the following Prezi, however this is going to be the contents page I will continue to edit to present as my final one.  

Front cover for rock magazine...

So far I am very proud of my front cover for my rock magazine, although I am going to leave it at this stage for further peer assessment, just to double check that I've done everything correctly and it looks professional. 

Background colour...

Before

After

Through using a gold colour on my back ground, I think that the magazine front cover looks more 'metal' and 'rocky', due to this improvement I will keep the background colour. I have also changed the colour banner at the very top of the magazine front cover from a bloody red to a electric blue; this enables the tagline to look more distinctive and it brings out the colour in the rest of the magazine, by pushing the darker colours out. 

Change of heart...

While making my front cover for my magazine, I have changed my mind about the masthead, and I wish to make it simpler which will be better quality. Also, I believe that it is taking too much time to get to the stage where I want to be, because I am actually editing the pixels one by one. 

Therefore, I am going to paste some of the fonts onto my blog.

I think that a much simpler font and colour will make the production stage much more easy and it will not be as time consuming.  

EDITING AND CHOOSING THE NEW IMAGE...

After further consideration and a peer assessment, I have decided to change my image that creates my front page to something that contains the entire model, because the first image sliced off the top of her head, which would prove as a problem. Therefore, I am going to start editing the following picture, which I have chosen to replace my previous image.

I have decided that I'd like the back ground to all be the same on the front cover, allowing the cover model to have the full attention from the audience, this is one of the key ideas of a rock magazine, because on the front cover the cover model has the entire attention of the audience. Allowing them to notice them, and mainly them.  

With using the 'Magic Eraser Tool' it allows me to delete the back ground carefully, I learnt how to do this through one of my peers who was having a similar problem, and now that I know how to use the Magic Eraser Tool properly, I intend to use it on this picture.

This is the picture after I have deleted the back ground, and I think it will be a great improvement and it will make the cover model stand out much more than before.