The InDesign Double Page Spread Project

In Design - Disability Project

I've developed and learnt a high number of skills whilst creating this double page spread.I developed the rule of three's by inputting three polaroid effect images together. They consist of a polaroid effect because of the white border around the image. I created the polaroid images by using new skills: placing the images in; squaring them off with the black arrow tool; creating a square that went around the images via the rectangle tool; using the arrow keys to position the square specifically; filling them in white; right clicking the images and clicking 'Arrange' and 'Bring to front'. The images and the white squares were them grouped together by dragging the black arrow around them and then going to 'Objects' and 'Group' (or Ctrl+G as a shortcut). I then used the rotation tool on the images by clicking and dragging a corner. The fx button was also used to add a 'drop shadow' by going to the tool bar and clicking 'effects'; the opacity was also turned down to 40%. These images created a staggered look which makes the magazine look more authentic.This use of polaroid effect images emphasises the images to the audience. The rule of three's was incorporated because I wanted the double page spread to look balanced. I then made a drop shadow on the title as well. These products give a 3D feel which appeals to the audience as it grabs their attention more. I also overlapped the images so that the magazine double page spread didn't look basic and unprofessional, this would also create audience interest.
I used eye-lines to point to the text in order for the reader to be drawn into the article. I used a drop cap to indicate where the text starts - I did this by highlighting the first paragraph and then going on the tool bar and clicking the drop cap option. I made the drop cap equivalent to 3 lines of the paragraph as I thought this worked well with the font size 10. This is the 10pt copy rule as it's a convention that is professional. If the font size is any bigger than font size 10, then the magazine would look like it has been made for children.
I applied the three colour rule (black, white and red) as this makes the magazine look more professional. I also used a subtle, scrunched paper-look background as this gives texture to the double page spread, without shifting the focus from the article. I did this by placing the image into Indesign (which is a new skill that I learnt) and then sending the image to the back via basic text wrap/arrangement. I also learnt how to use advanced text wrap skills. I wrapped the text around the image of Simon from Misfits by carrying out various skills. Firstly, I opened the image up onto Photoshop because I felt that I needed a white/transparent background for the advanced text wrap to work. This meant that I had to erase the background of the image and then save it as a PNG file. I then placed the image into Indesign. I positioned the image where I wanted it and used the pen tool to click around the edges of the image. I had to make sure I clicked onto the first starting point. I then selected the pen-tooled image of Simon and made sure that the text wrap tab was present (it wasnt so I had to go onto the 'Windows' tab and then select the text wrap option). I selected the text wrap option 'Wrap around object shape'. I then selected the background object and sent that to the back. The text was then wrapped around the image. I had to make sure the stroke was turned off. I viewed this in preview mode so that I could see what it would look like to the audience. I did this by clicking 'View', 'Screen Mode' and 'Preview'.
I used Photoshop to create graphic elements and I exported these (e.g. the title and the break out box) from Photoshop as PNG's to retain background transparency. To create the break out box, I copied and pasted a large image from the internet and used the eraser tool to cut out the image that I wanted. I used a rugged brush in order to create a torn paper effect. I selected the image and cropped it. This was then exported and placed into Indesign.
I had to keep reminding myself of what the black and white arrow key tools controlled as one controlled the image where as the other controlled the frame. To resize the image, I had to right click with the black arrow key, click 'Transform', 'Scale...' and then change the size percentage. If the images were pixilated, I had to make sure that I was in high quality display mode. Finally, I filled the frame proportionally with the image as well as fitting the frame to the content in order to gain the right sized image and frame proportion.

Introduction for Unit 3 Alcohol Addiction examples

Introduction for Unit 3 Alcohol Addiction examples:

Must include: Shock horror, written in 2^nd person narrative and is fast paced -

Are you an alcohol addict? Alcohol is a large contributor towards epidemics in today’s society. One of three sexual offences.  One in three burglaries. One of two street crimes. These are only a minimal sample of the high number of statistics linking to the unpleasant problems alcohol consumption  causes. You or a friend have been involved in any, both or all of these. Alcohol can even result in you dying! Long-term affects like liver disease are the deadly ones. You don’t want that do you? This raises the question in everyone's mind, including yours:  ‘What are the government doing about these problems?’ Even more to the point, what are you doing or can do about these issues yourself?

Effect on the reader:

I find the effect of the 2^nd person narration to be successful at drawing the audience’s attention as the language is directly aimed at them by using personal pronouns to include them in the article. However, I found it difficult to create a shock horror effect when using the 2^nd person narration as I found it difficult to include shocking statistics as well as the 2^nd person narration; resulting in asking questions. This gave the feel of a question introduction instead of a shock horror. I also found it difficult to create a fast pace to the introduction whilst keeping in mind that I had to give a shock horror effect of the statistics relating to alcohol consumption as most of the facts I had gained from research needed explaining. The 2^nd person narration makes the article more emotional as it gives an expressive persona and a more in-depth feel so that the audience can connect with the subject more. Due to this introduction being a shock horror introduction, it has the advantage of creating audience interest due to the facts/statistical figures that are present as this astonished the reader if they didn’t already know the information given to them. I felt that I successfully created audience interest in this introduction by mixing the facts with the questions as this made the audience think about the matter of alcohol in more depth and consideration.

Must include: Shock horror, written in 1^st person narrative and is fast paced -

I like drinking as much as the next person. But, I didn’t know that it takes the adult body an estimated 2 hours to break down one single alcoholic drink. That’s for an adult, not a teen like us. Our body would take longer. I for one drink much more than a single drink when on the binge. I didn’t know the tragic effects binge drinking has as well. Sure do regret my past-times now. I could be looking at mental health problems in the future if I carry on. Let alone have a fatal accident in the short-term. 29% of alcohol related deaths are a result of alcohol related accidents. He was one of the 21% of men that consumed more than double the daily guidelines in one day in the General Lifestyle Survey 2008. My friend that is. At least I didn’t get hurt like him. I was the lucky one. Will you be? I think before I drink now.

Effect on the reader:

The 1^st person narration ejects emotion into the article as personal experiences are mentioned and this makes the audience empathise, agree, think about their own experiences relating to alcohol and compare the experiences to the article’s introduction. The slight mention of the author’s friend could be expanded in the article more as a main subject as this creates audience interest because the audience know that it’s a real-life story/experience. I have successfully produced a shock horror introduction because there are many facts and statistics within this introduction that stand out to the audience which wouldn’t have been seen by them before. These give an element of surprise and an audience fascination to carry on reading the article. I found it fairly easy to write in the 1^st person narration as it was easier to create a structure to the introduction when writing in my own point of view. This narration makes the audience believe in the article more as they trust the personal information that the author is giving as they are exchanging emotions. The personal pronouns used draw the audience in and makes them read on. Finally, the fast paced introduction makes the audience read the whole introduction before judging the article as it is snappy and straight to the point, which would cause the audience to read on.

Must include: Summary introduction, written in 3^rd person narrative and uses quite a long pace –

Despite the fact that alcohol is a major contribution to the controversial issues in today’s society, it also affects health of one a dramatic amount. This article aims to give detailed information about the consumption of alcohol and which effects of alcohol are the worst, including long-term and short-term affects. The media, alcohol advertisements and social-networking sights can have massive affects on teenagers in modern society, which could be a cause of the increased alcohol usage rates in the modern world. Within the North East, research has shown that 118 of every 100,000 under-18s in the region needed treatment because of alcohol related incidents; resulting in figures that are double the national average. In this 12 month period (2010-2011), the recent study identified that more than 600 of the 9, 450 people receiving the treatment were under-age drinkers as they were under the age of 18. This raises the question, ‘Who is to blame?’ – the one that consumes the deadly drug, the media, social-networking sites, alcohol advertisers, influential characters of teenagers, parents or the adults that buy the alcohol for them?

Effect on the reader:

This introduction gives various affects on the audience. It is a summary introduction that gives a brief summary of what the articles features are and the content of the article. The information is given objectively from the very start of the article in a 3^rd person narration which gives the affect of a formal, yet trustworthy tone to the article. The objective sense that this introduction contains makes the introduction suit and aim towards a more intelligent, older audience than teenagers. This would make this introduction incompatible to the young audience that the alcohol magazine is aimed at as the introduction would not create audience interest for this age range. Due to the summary introduction being objective, the introduction lacks emotion that would appeal to the younger audience which is the main reason as to why this introduction isn’t aimed at the target audience. I found this article hard to write because of the 3^rd person narrative as I didn’t know how to aim it at the correct audience effectively which meant that the target audience wouldn’t be engaged by this introduction and won’t consequently read on. However for the older audience it is aimed at, the long paragraph makes it seem more serious and causes the audience to read on as it interests the reader more due to the introduction stating facts about the modern world/events. The style and tone of this magazine introduction contains a high degree of formality and gives a factual account that interests the audience.

Must include: Quotation introduction, written in 3^rd person narrative and uses a long pace –

“Alcohol is the most harmful drug because it’s so widely used,” Nutt notified the BBC after the publication of his findings. This is highly dangerous as alcohol is the ‘gateway’ drug to many other illicit drugs as findings have shown that many people consume illegal drugs when under the influence of alcohol – in a study completed in 2009, 67 percent of the subjects examined went on to smoke marijuana after they had consumed alcohol. Many young people within the UK have many pressures, such as peer pressure, that encourages the consumption of alcohol; little do they know the unsafe affects that the drug causes upon them in the short-term and even the long-term.

Effect on the reader:

Due to this introduction being a quotation introduction, the subject of the article (alcohol) is being pursued from the beginning. This makes it evident to the audience that the article is about alcohol, which may interest them to carry on reading. The quotation I have used isn’t particularly long-winded or lengthy which gives the start of the introduction a less-boring, snappier tone; to create audience interest. The pace as a whole is long and fluent which gives the initial thought to the audience that the information being portrayed is reliable and trustworthy. This impression is also given because the article introduction is written in the 3^rd person narration which gives a more objective analysis on the matter of alcohol. I found this introduction easy to write as it felt more natural, however due to the narration being in 3^rd person; the language used and the phrase, ‘Many young people...little do they know’ the introduction slightly belittles teenagers due to ‘pointing the finger’ at the age that tends to consume alcohol the most. If I were to aim this introduction at the younger target group more effectively, I think I would still use a fairly short quotation as this intrigues the reader. However, I would most likely switch the narration at the end of the introduction so that the target audience is specifically aimed at.

Photoshop Skill Development

Level and Curve Tool

Original Image

The process of altering the original image was adjusting the Level and Curve Tools on Photoshop. I firstly loaded the original image into Photoshop. I then created a new layer via 'Create new fill or adjustment layer' and by clicking 'Curves...' After creating the new adjustment layer, I altered the colour RGB settings individually. First, I selected the 'Red' channel and made the line into an 'S' shape. I found that adjusting the top of the line made the light areas in the image alter, also I found that adjusting the bottom of the line changed the darker areas in the image. After changing the 'Red' I changed the 'Green' by altering the line position - up and down. I then changed the 'Blue' to an S shape. After this, I added another adjustment layer and clicked on 'Solid Colour...' For the first edit I added a green solid colour and turned the opacity down to 12%. For the second, I added a dark grey solid colour and turned the opacity down to 12%. I then used previous skill development to carry out vingetting.
The cross processing affect was used in the 1980's for films and I think the second edit relates more to this and gives the image more of a retro look.

Second Edit

First Edit

Photoshop Skills

Before

Photoshop Skills Development

After

Vampire Effect: Within this skill development process, I used several tools to gain the vampire effect. Firstly, I copy and pasted the original image into Photoshop. I used the 'Burn tool' to create a darker area around her eyes. I then used the 'Sponge tool' on 'desaturate' to give her a grey skin effect; making sure that the eyes and mouth weren't touched.  The main new skill I learnt to carry out was making the vampire teeth. I used the 'Magnetic Lasso tool' when zoomed in around the mouth and drew around a tooth. After selected the area, I clicked 'Edit', 'Transform' and then 'Warp' to enable me to drag the tooth down and make it longer. To finish, I had to press enter and deselect the tooth via Ctrl + D. I used the 'Blur tool' to get rid of a white line that the warping process made. The 'Brush tool' was then used to colour in her pupils red on a new layer and I downloaded brushes that I thought made a good blood effect for around her mouth. The 'Darken' option was chosen and the opacity was changed. I finally copy and pasted an image from the internet that was of a blood drop and I cropped this image using the 'Elliptical Marquee tool'. I positioned it where I wanted it and then warped it to become bigger. I sampled the colour and added an extra brush mark around the same area to blend the image of the blood in more.

Before

After

The Healing Effect: I found this process very easy to carry out as it was quite simple. I copy and pasted the image into Photoshop. I then used the 'Healing Brush tool' to select a clear skin area around the spots by pressing the alt key and pressed this brush on top of the spots. This made her skin clearer and spot-free. I made sure that the brush size was the same as the spot size so that the blend was subtle.

Brush Development - Photoshop

 Producing CD Covers with Brushes
I firstly changed the dimentions of the new photoshop work by changing the height and width to 120mm X 120mm. The resolution was also changed to 300dpi (dot per inch) and the RGB was changed to 16 bit.

Th first version of the front cover I produced is very simplistic and only took a few minutes to make. Firstly, I used the 'Gradient Tool' to insert a background that was interesting rather than a flood fill using the 'Paint Bucket Tool'. I made sure the colours of the gradient were white and light blue by selecting the colours that I wanted. I dragged the gradient line from the top, left corner to the bottom, right corner of the page and this created a fading in affect. I then dowloaded a preformatic brush via brusheezy.com by dowloading the file, extracting the file and then loading it on photoshop. I loaded the font onto photoshop by accessing the drop down menu in the top, left hand corner and clicking 'Load Brushes...' The silhouette figures are the font brushes that I loaded and I changed the size of them via the square brackets on the keyboard. I chose the colour white for these silhouettes as I thought it linked with the gradiented background and cotnrasted with the blue. Finally, I inserted the text and changed the colour to green.

For the second version I downloaded several fonts from the same website and loaded them onto photoshop in the same way. I then pressed F5 on the keyboard to open 'Brush Presets.' To create the background of the CD cover I altered various brush settings including the: brush tip shape, shape dynamics, dual brush and texture. when changing the brush tip shape, I altered the angle so taht I could use the brush vertically as well as horrizontally.The evidence of this is the two purple paint marks on the bottom left of the CV cover image. I then chose various colours that the different brush marks could be and used the brush (b on the keyboard) to situate where I wanted the different brush marks. I also increased the 'spacing' option when altering the brush tip shape. I changed the opacity of the brushes to create the fainter paint marks around the light blue paint splats. The silhouette, pencil and the music notes were increased or decreased in size and positioned accurately. The text was then incorporated and edited by changing the layer styles. Bevel and emboss and different shadows were used to create the white outline to the font.

To develop skills further, I could have incorporated an image off of the internet and made the CD cover more professional.I could have also included more preloaded brushes and made the CD covers more interesting.

Skill Development - Shutter Speed Shots

Skill Development - Shutter Speed

A shutter within a camera lets light in. Its exposure time determines and controls the length of time that the light travels through the lens aperture to the film. The film is coated with silver nitrate to increase light sensitivity. Shutter speeds control the amount of movement and sharpness in an image as well as allowing the photographer to create effects like motion blur. The modes for shutter speeds are 'Bulb' and 'Time' - these are designed to take images for long exposures like long-distance images e.g. the moon. Bulb can determine how long the shutter is open for as it can be pressed manually and can be longer than the slowest shutter speed in the range. With Time, the shutter speed is pressed to start the camera's exposure to light and then another one ends it. I used the shutter speed priority mode 'TV' on the dial within the exercise.
I also used the shutter speed dial to set the shutter speed that I wanted for different images. The camera that I used ranged from 1/4000sec to 30secs. Turning the shutter speed dial altered the aperture setting so that an effective affect could be produced. The LCD panel tells the photographer which shutter speed the camera has been altered to when turning the dial. Generally, in daylight conditions shutter speed aims to be 1/125sec or 1/250 sec. In most cases, 1/400sec will usually be satisfactory. Also, short shutter speeds let less light in and are used to free-frame and catch quick shots. Opposing this, long shutter speeds lets in more light and can allow pictures to be taken in the dark. Long shutter speeds can also create motion blur. Shutter speeds are important for moving subjects because if a slow one is used then the image may become out-of-focus.
1/60sec is a vital shutter speed 'magic number' as this setting is the slowest a photographer can get the shutter speed without motion blur when performing hand-held shots. The photographer would need a tripod if they want to go under 1/60 sec.
Images that contain water needs very high shutter speeds and images containing fireworks or sparklers will need slow shutter speeds. Some cameras allow shutter speeds to be really high, reaching 1/8000sec. A high/fast shutter speed, like 1/4000sec, can capture water because it captures a specific moment in time when the water is moving as it freezes the motion. A  short/low shutter speed is used because it can create a motion-blurred background yet capture a specific, in-focus subject which makes the image have an affect of speed and draws the attention in on the subject.

When I was carrying out the skill development exercise, I used shutter speeds of 1/250sec to 1/125sec to capture my subject walking. Also, I used 1/250sec to 1/500sec to capture her running. I also used a short shutter speed to capture free-frame shots when the subject was jumping in the air. In addition to this, I used extremely long shutter speeds when in the dark, using a torch to capture the light movement. I made sure that the shutter speed was correct throughout this exercise and this meant that I didn't get any underexposed images that didn't contain the right lighting for the shutter speed's exposure. This meant that I didn't have to increase the ISO speed of the camera or that I had to retake images etc - This is a skill that I mastered.

Freeze-frame shot - 1/225

The first several free-frames that I shot contained the same problem - poor framing. Due to her leg being cut off, I learnt that I was too close to the subject. Also, I think this shot should have been portrait instead of landscape. However, this image is in-focus and is successfully freeze-framed despite the poor framing. To overcome the problems I need to gain a larger distance between myself and the subject or use a tripod to directly aim the camera. My targets for next time is to get closer to the subject, use continuous shot mode/take lots of shots and to review images whilst taking them. To improve of these images further, I could have chosen a more suitable background as this isn't really attractive, therefore features within the image has to be thought of as well as the action shots.
However, there were some images that I happened to capture correctly. This is the most successful freeze-frame shot that I captured. There is also motion blur featuring on her foot which gives a sense of the subjects speed and movement. To problem with this is that I would have liked the subject a little closer to the camera so I could have either zoomed in or moved closer to the subject when taking the shots - my targets for freeze-frames will be to accurately judging the distance needed between myself and the subject as well as trying to achieve good framing.

Running shot - 1/250sec to 1/500sec

The problems with the running shots are that they all seem to be out of focus as I feel like I haven't accurately used the focus lens to alter the focus within the images here. However, this may be a cause of too much motion blur in which case I need to alter shutter speed settings - making my target: to be careful and take time when selecting the shutter speed setting. The quality of these images aren't high-quality, although they do portray that the subject is moving fast as it reflects the fast-paced subject due to the motion blur. To overcome the focus issues, I should have put my camera into automatic focus mode instead of manually getting the images into focus. My target is to make sure I use this mode when taking images as well as taking my time when shooting the image so that I adjust the focal ring to the right setting.

Walking image - Ranged from 1/250sec to 1/125sec

Running shot - 1/250sec to 1/500sec

The walking image (to the left) is poor quality and I need to meet the targets I have met so that the focus of this image is adjusted so that it is correct. Focal blur in this image ruins it and denies the effect that motion blur gives as it is mixed with focal blur.

The slowest shutter speeds that I carried out were in a dark room, using a torch. The torch was the subject of this experiment and I have successfully achieved several images that are high-quality, like the one on the right. This image was made by the subject shining the torch in a dark room and making various patterns with the light. The light was then captured when the shutter speed was long and gave an excellent effect.

Slow shutter speed was used - around 1/30sec

As this was carried out in a dark room, it was hard to control the focus of the camera, therefore automatic focus mode can be carried out again to improve the quality of the image. However, I have experimented with the sensitivity of the light i.e. the ISO settings, which is demonstrated in this image because the light is effectively being shown on the image as it has captured and contains white and red light.
My overall targets for shutter speed skill development is that I need to take more fast shutter speed work as mainly all of the photographs I took consisted of shorter shutter speeds. Also, when taking the images I need to consider different factors. I need to: judge the distance between myself and the subject more efficiently (either get closer or move away), review my images when I take them to see possible errors I am making straight away and I need to make sure that automatic focus is on when carrying out running and walking shots; however manual focus can also be experimented with. Finally, I could experiment with different weather types, like rain instead of the weather being sunny, as the raindrops may be captured by fast shutter speed shots.

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Photoshop Techniques

Photoshop Techniques

Original Image 1

Original Image 2

These are the original images before I started to alter them within Adobe Photoshop CS4. I used many techniques within photoshop to edit these images which consisted of using: desaturate, vingetting, unsharp mask, auto colour, auto tone, auto contrast, varying the brightness and contrast of the iamge as well as using the burn and dodge tool.

Within these versions, I have edited the colour, tone and contrast of the image by using auto colour, auto tone and auto contrast. These are within the tab, 'Image'. These actions can also be carried out via shortcuts. For tone, it is Shift+Ctrl+L. For contrast, it is Alt+Shift+Ctrl+L and for auto colour it is Shift+Ctrl+B.These effects make the image more vibrant and I feel like the subject stands out more due to contrasting with the background. The images are bolder and in comparison with the originals, they are more attractive which would cause more audience appeal.The auto tone adds as matt finish to the image, making the subject look more fetishistic as her vunerability is increased.The auto colour individually dilutes a colour into the image to enhance the image's colours as a whole to make the subject look more unique. Finally, auto contrast on its own increases the darkness of the darker colours inm the image as well as highlights the lighter ones. This draws attention to the subjects face as this is a lighter colour, giving the affect of a more emphasised presence.

In these two versions, I have removed all of the colour to leave monotone images by desaturating them. This was done by a shortcut Shift+Ctrl+U, it could also be done by accessing: 'Image', 'Adjustments' and then clicking the 'Desaturate' button. The desaturation emphasised the lighting within the iamges - showing darker and lighter places. After I desaturated the image, I then changed the overall brightness of the images as well as adjusting the contrast to make the lighter and darker places more highlighted by accessing 'Brightness/Contrast'. This gives the effect of a contrasting image that highlights the main subject more as she has a lighter face, contrasting with the darker background. On the left image, brightness is changed more that contrast where as on the right image, contrast is shown more than brightness. Within the right image, the burn and dodge tool were also used. The burn tool is used on the top corners of the image to darken them more, which draws the audience's attention to the subject. However, the dodge tool was also used to highlight the face of the subject more - by making it lighter. I changed the brush size by using the square brackets on the keyboard as this is less time-consuming and more efficient. These tools gave the subject more emphasis and contrasting colours.

Finally within these versions, I have altered the images by using the unsharp mask tool as well as vingetting the image.The unsharp mask method is a very subtle way of making the image sharper, especially sharpening the eyes as much as possible. These images has an almost subconsious effect on the audience due to the sharpness of the images. Unsharp mask was used by clicking on the 'Filter' tab, 'Sharpen' and then clicking 'Unsharp Mask'. The pixels also need to be changed to around 2pt/2.2pt so that the method is subtle. Vingetting has also been used on these images by using the elliptical marquee tool, changing the feathering to 60 - 90 pixels and then drawing by dragging the gradient line around the subject. After this, 'Select' and 'Inverse' have to be clicked in order to select the area around the subject to change it. The contrast has been changed within the selected area by accessing 'Image', 'Adjustments' and then 'Brightness/Contrast'. To finish the process of vingetting, Ctrl+D have to be pressed to deselect the areas.Vingetting drags the attention of the audience into the centre of the photograph to emphasise the subject.

Induction Evaluation

Induction Evaluation

Image: 090 - Bad Photograph

Image: 026 - Bad Photograph

  

                                                                                                               

The raw images that are poor quality show my photography skills development as the better photographs are more advanced. Both bad images are out of focus and image 026 includes slight camera movement as motion blur is present. They don’t show good lighting because image 090 is too dark and shadowed where as image 026 has no indication as to where the source of light is coming from. I needed to work on my T-stance so that camera movement wasn’t present – this skill was mastered in my good photographs. I need to improve on positioning the subject’s eye-line to the top third of the image as it seems to fall below this point in many images.

Image: 019 - Good Photograph

Image: 057 - Good Photograph

Image: 059 - Good Photograph

The good images show my improvement in photography and the skills I have mastered. The lighting in these images is much better compared to the low-quality images as they are all to some extent side lit shots because the source of light is coming from the top, left of the images. I mastered the skill of getting the shot in focus by altering the focus ring/lense whilst in Manual Focus. Also, the zoom ring was altered to zoom in or out on the subject so that the size of the model was changed. I tried to place the model in the right side third more to leave room for text on the magazine front cover however, this needs improving. In addition to this, the head shot image should have been portrait as this would fit better on the magazine front cover however, this was not thought about at the time – this is an improvement I need to work on as well (think about whether the image should be portrait or landscape). 

 Magazine Front Cover Evaluation:

My Induction Magazine Front Cover

Image: 110 - Side-lit Shot

Strengths of product:

Within photography, the main image I incorporated onto the magazine front cover is in focus and doesn’t present camera movement or motion blur. The image 110 that is given is a very good example of when lighting worked in the shot. This is a side-lit shot and creates more form and depth to the image, conveying a darker outlook to the audience. The rule of thirds was used in some images and in some images it didn’t occur. Although, sometimes the eye-line was meant to be below the top third’s line as I was manipulating it to give a sense of insecurity and vulnerability of the subject. The background was thought about in the main image as I either wanted a plain background or one that linked with the style of my magazine. I tested different background in the images and chose a brick wall and a set of stairs that had fairly dark colours surrounding it to be the main backgrounds as these backgrounds were interesting yet not too detailed. The subject was handled well as she listened to my instructions and I achieved the looks, facial expressions and poses that I wanted within the image.

Within Photoshop, I chose the ‘Captain Swabby’ font and downloaded it from ‘www.dafont.com’ for the title of the magazine. I chose this font because it matched the genre of this music magazine (retro) and was interesting, yet easy-to-read. This a  strength because this was then edited in Photoshop and created a striking, edgy masthead that would appeal to the target audience. The front cover of that magazine had other strengths as well as the font for the masthead, which included: featuring eye-line manipulation to portray a stern, rebellious outlook; layered text over the main image to emphasise the text; a cell button that draws attention and promotes the band member in the image; a focused image and a colour scheme that links with each other throughout the front cover. For example, the shade of light blue in the cell button is coherent with the colour in the subjects collar and the background colour links with the subjects sampled eye colour. The limited palette of the three colours, black, white and blue, makes the magazine front cover stand out and grab the audience’s attention by creating audience interest. I also like where the masthead has been positioned as it is the text that the audience will read first as well as having an image of the alluring female that contrasts with the blue, black and white colours scheme due to her hair colour. Both of these features will appeal to the target audience as the image has slight sex appeal as the image shows to the audience that they can dominate her venerable character. Finally the induction magazine front cover includes sell lines that contain exclusivity, assonance, alliteration, a quote headline, exclamatives and rhyme. These sell lines will attract the audience’s attention and make them read on, ensuring that they buy the magazine. The main sell line is ‘SEX LIES & FLINT SKIES’ which is an enlarged font as this relates with the subject in the main image. This could be shown more by having the full band in the image so that it presents ‘Flint Skies’ properly although, the sell line still links with the image as I have over lapped the sell line with the image via layers to create recognition. This sell line is a strength because it features rhyme which allows the phrase to be catchy, therefore the audience will remember the sell line more. 

Weaknesses of product:

I did take images landscape when they should have been portrait when photographing my model. This caused problems because the images didn’t fit on the magazine front cover well and didn’t match my flat plan. As a result of this, I had to re-take the photographs and produce portrait images instead of landscape. At first, my photographs were also out-of-focus as auto-focus wasn’t used and manual focus was. I improved my skills of focusing images when I re-took images due to the mode settings and I acquired the skill. The lighting of the shots was difficult to control due to the weather conditions outside; however, if the images were taken in a studio then I could control this matter. This meant that some images that were taken contained poor lighting and reduced the affect the image had in creating a sense of mystery, happiness etc. I tried to incorporate the rule of thirds in my photography and achieved it in some images; however I found it difficult to attain this in many images and need to improve on this skill. I found that the eye-line on many of the photographs were too low as it was below the top third’s line. Furthermore, the background of the main image on the induction magazine front cover wasn’t the same as my flat plan image’s background as the camera shots that were taken were head and shoulder shots (this wasn’t the same as my flat plan). Due to this matter, I didn’t achieve the background I would have liked to link with other features of the magazine. When instructing the model, it was difficult to get her to carry out a ‘super-smiley’ pose as her teeth was showing and she is conscious of this.

Weaknesses also occurred in Photoshop. Firstly, the text wasn’t too controlled as I tried to limit the fonts to 3 fonts although, to improve I think I should have used 2 because it is hard to read and understand when using 3 fonts. The fonts also need to be limited to two or three sizes because this will make the front cover easier to read and the audience won’t give up on reading it because it is hard to understand. Another weakness of the front cover when edited in Photoshop is that I placed the institutional brand element of price in the wrong place (the bottom, left hand side) which is not a place the audience will read last as the UK audience read from left to right, top to bottom. I have also left some institutional information out and not included the issues number or the date. Finally, another weakness is that the background colour looked too much like a block colour, to improve on this it needs to be faded into the image more so that the front cove flows and looks more professional.

Skills I have gained:

Within my photography skills, I have gained the skill of altering the focus ring to produce an image that isn’t out-of-focus and I have learned by altering the zoom ring on the camera it can change the distance of how close/far away the subject is. I used manual focus as I needed to develop my skills in focusing images via the focus lens. I have learnt that in order to produce a good still image, the T-stance position has to be performed. This is the way a photographer has to stand to be able to bend, yet still maintain a solid body. I mastered this skill when I took photos that didn’t contain camera movement or motion blur. I learnt that a magazine image should mainly be portrait on the front cover as this allows room for text on the right hand side. I also learnt that wide shots are most suitable when the camera is in landscape mode as this ensures sharpness in the image; whereas the portrait mode ensures that the subject is manly the only subject in focus. Primarily, I used automatic mode as the camera judges which setting to use. I gained skills about lighting as I learnt that there are three types of lighting shots; back-lit, side-lit and front-lit. I also learnt that if it is a front-lit shot then the subject doesn’t cast a shadow on themselves and side-lit shots make the subject more mysterious and dark.

I have gained many skills in Photoshop as well as photography. Firstly, I learnt how to master the skill of downloading fonts by: choosing a font on a website that I thought would suit my target audience (14-20 year olds, 90% male and 10% female, social groups C1, C2 and D); creating a folder in My Documents called ‘Fonts’; click the download button on the website; save the font into my Fonts folder; right clicking on the folder and then clicking ‘extract all’; copying it into the local drive folder ‘Fonts’ and then deleting the zip folder in My Documents. This meant that the font would appear when I wanted to change the font face in the drop-down menu. Another skill I learnt was to add effects. I added effects onto the mast head to create the blue glow where the normal white outline should have been as this made the masthead more interesting and linked with the colour scheme more effectively. Did this by accessing layer styles and adding an outer glow within the space of the white outline and chosen a sampled colour from the sympathetic colour palette – different options like ‘Bevel and Emboss’ was also altered for the mast head and the cell button. I added affects on the cell button to make it look slightly more realistic and 3D. These skills I learnt helped me to accomplish a more professional look to the magazine front cover; however, more skills need to be gained to improve the front cover. In addition to these newly gained skills, I made a sympathetic colour palette by sampling colours (primarily sampling different shades of blue from the main image to be used in the cell button, background and texts). Colours were sampled by clicking the colour that I wanted on the main image instead of the custom colours within Photoshop. The colour scheme was black, white and blue. I used these three colours because I felt that they were quite edgy, simple and that they were masculine colours that could be used to suit the target audience. Sampling colours is another skill I gained when creating the magazine front cover within Photoshop as well as controlling colour choices by changing RGB codes. I used a lot of tools and learnt a high number of shortcuts that can be used on Photoshop. I learnt now to create a cell button by using the elliptical marquee tool in a new layer, selecting the size I wanted, choosing the colour I wanted it to be by sampling it and editing it with ‘bevel and emboss’ in the layer styles option. I also used the cropping tool on the tool bar when cropping the main image. The shortcuts are listed below:

·         Control + G – to duplicated a layer

·         Control + R – to get the rulers up at the top and side of the screen

·         Resize image – Control + T, hold shift key down whilst dragging (to maintain aspect ratio) and then press enter

·         Control D – to deselect

·         Shift, Control + D - to reselect

I also learnt two ways of how to open an image in Photoshop. Firstly, Control + A to select the image, copy (Control + C), go back to Photoshop and paste it in (Control + V) so that the image is on the cover. The other way to open an image is to cascade the image in. This means that I had to open he image in Photoshop and drag to the other Photoshop page so that the image is placed onto the cover. I thought the shortcuts were easy to use, although it was difficult to remember all of them. I also found the layers hard to use as I kept clicking on the wrong layers for the different pieces of text.  Moreover, I found that sampling colours was one of the easiest skills to gain and use as it was simple as well as finding that inserting images into Photoshop was easy when you know the methods behind it. To improve on the magazine front cover I need to gain the skill of cutting out the subject from the image and discarding the background as this may be seen as a weakness to the front cover.