Improvements to my Final Product

After receiving some feedback on my final products, I decided to make some last minute changes to improve the final outcome. Here's what I changed:

Front Cover

I added a strap line to the top of the page so my magazine would follow more conventions thus looking more professional. It informs the reader that there are free posters included in the issue and tells them what they are of to encourage them to buy the magazine if they’re fans of this band. The buzz word, 'free' would attract my target audience and make them believe they're getting more value for their money. I made the puff on the right more specific by including a band name to draw in the attention of their fans which appeals to my target audience. The band name is in red so it grasps the reader’s attention and isn't overlooked. The black strips beneath the main cover line looked harsh so I adjusted the opacity to allow it to blend into the page and look more aesthetically pleasing to read whilst still enabling the cover line to look bold in comparison to everything else on the page. I changed the text in the puff on the left to inform the reader about the awards hosted by the magazine to give Voltage more of an identity and advertise its success to make it appear more attractive and successful. I moved the puff down slightly to make space for an additional cover line to make the magazine seem fuller and contain lots of interesting information. I edited every other line of text in the section below 'articles with' to differentiate them and make them stand out without all going unnoticed together. By making some of these bold I think it would attract the eye of the reader more effectively and therefore appeal to the viewers. I also made the web address at the bottom of the page red and larger so it is more noticeable.

Contents Page

I added a stroke to the sub headings so they are more noticeable and eye catching. I also made the features section larger to fill up the white space and add everything else included in the magazine here so it is all together and easier to find. I aligned the page numbers and lines of text to make it appear neater and visually attractive as well as giving off a more professional impression. I then updated the subscription image to be consistent with the changes made with the front cover.

Double Page Spread

On my double page spread, I added another pull quote overlapping the smaller image in the bottom left corner of the spread to attract the viewer even more by encouraging them to engage with the article. I also made this photo slightly smaller so it is evenly set between each column of text and corrected and spelling mistakes I had made to avoid small errors. I aligned the text of the left regarding the tour dates to make it look structured and neater which I believe makes the page look more professional and attractive. Additionally, I included the year next to the tour dates title to inform the reader exactly when the gigs are happening and make my magazine more informative.

Question 7

Question 7 from KayleeH

Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Blogger

I decided to use blogger to keep track of my progress whilst creating my music magazine and collecting research for it. At first I found it confusing to use as I wasn’t used to the layout but as I posted more content I learnt more about how to use it effectively. I had a little practice using it with my preliminary task of the school magazine so when creating my music magazine I knew how to use it efficiently. I learnt how to add hyperlinks if I had used a presentation to display my work and how to add photos. It allowed me to digitally present my progress in the creation of my magazine and to present it easily like an online diary.

I learnt how to add labels to my posts to make my blog easier to navigate and keep each stage of it together. For example, I could group together my introduction, research, planning and evaluation to make my blog look more professional and more appealing to the people who view it.

I could also change the widths, backgrounds, themes and whole layout of how I wanted my blog to be presented. This allowed me to customise it to fit my personal preferences and allow me to make sure all my content would fit on the page well and look proficient.

Photoshop 

I used Adobe Photoshop to construct my magazine as I had some practice using it with my preliminary task so felt more comfortable using a software I had some experience with. I wanted to use this as it was easily accessible from school as well as at home. Photoshop is used by professionals who make magazines so I thought it would give me access to make mine look as realistic as possible compared to real products. I knew how to use the basic features such as changing colours, adding photos or text, however whilst making my magazine I learnt how to use the stroke tool, change the opacity of shapes and how to layer different features accurately. I asked people available to me to teach me how to use certain tools or how I could achieve something I had in mind, but on those rare occasions they couldn’t help me I used the internet to teach myself. The creation of my magazine required me to use tools such as transformation, colour, shape, text, stroke, crop and the eyedropper tool. Leaning how to use these tools allowed me to make my magazine look more realistic, professional and help me make it look as close to what I envisioned. 

Camera 

I used a high definition camera to take my photos for my magazine which meant I could achieve high quality images that would look good for my magazine without them looking blurry or pixelated. I used my sisters Canon 1100d camera so I was already familiar with how it works and how to use it effectively to produce the best looking photos possible. Here are a few examples of the high definition pictures i was able to take.

Slideshare

I used slideshare to present a few posts. It enabled me to make power-points and upload them onto my blog which I think looks neater and makes a change from looking at posts in the same style. In doing this I learnt how to change the styles of different presentations and create my own to make it look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. i could make a presentation on Microsoft PowerPoint and upload it onto this site to then publish the link to it on my blog

Prezi

 

Prezi gave me the accessibility to make presentations with interesting visuals and motion to make it look appealing and allow my blog to have various different methods to present my posts. I learnt how to make my own frames and customise them to get the shape, size and positioning I wanted to give my presentation the best look and layout i could

 

Padlet

 

Padlet enabled me to collect my ideas and brainstorm them to be displayed in a neat and ordered way. I learnt how to add photos and text onto the board and position them to be presented in the best way possible to be understood by the audience and looks eye-catching. Whilst using Padlet, I soon learnt how to change the display and layout of my information and to have the freedom of moving items around and resizing them how I like.

Question 5

Question 4

 https://padlet.com/kayheckford/xe8245wa07v

Question 3

Question 3 from KayleeH

Question 2

http://prezi.com/qtc_2pgsyi3o/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Question 1

Question 1 from Kaylee Heckford

 http://www.slideshare.net/secret/iGrQbU1cA7ib9c

Finished Magazine

Construction of the Magazine After Feedback

 Front Cover

After receiving feedback using social media, I moved the masthead to the centre of the page using the transformation tool, added another coverline to fill space using the horizontal type tool, included a web address below the barcode also using the horizontal type tool, and moved the ‘articles with’ text so it don’t overlap the model.

Contents Page

 

After feedback from asking the opinions of people over social media, I have changed the main image and added black borders around every image using the stroke tool and changed the sizes of the photos to fit nicely with the rest of the page.

I added small textboxes on each photo using the horizontal type tool and used the transformation tool to fit them to the sizes I wanted and overlapped them on the images. I also altered some of the text of the page by selecting the type tool and clicking on the text box I wanted.

  

First Draft Feedback

I asked people the opinions of the first draft of my magazine to see what could be improved and what people like about it. I made sure this audience was part of my target audience of people aged around 15-25 of both genders. Here are their responses:

In response to this feedback, I will change my magazine in the following ways. I'll make the masthead on the contents page centered and slightly larger and add more stroke to aspects of text that I want to look more noticeable. I'll change the main image on the contents page to something that has a background and stands out a bit more so doesn't blend in and add black borders to my images to refine them. I'll also make some text stand out a bit more to make it easier to read and draw the eye. On the front cover I'll add another cover line to fill in a gap and add a web address to add some more professional features to it.

New Double Page Spread Plan

After trying to construct my magazine double page spread, I decided to change the layout and images used as they didn't allow me to make my magazine look as professional and as easy to read as I had hoped. The text was difficult to read over the black and white background of my original photo so I've decided to change the main image and separate it to have it on only one side of the spread with the text on the other with a white background. My main image will stand out and not have any text over the model and my main cover line will be at the top of the page with a pull quote in the middle of the text to break up the amount of writing to make it more appealing to the reader. I believe that by keeping the main image and main article separate on the page will make it look more aesthetically pleasing and enable the audience to want to read it and be interested by its contents. By organising my page like this I am still being consistent with the conventions yet still adding unique aspects to the spread that'll attract my target audience who are looking for something different and new to read.

Constructing the Magazine

Front Cover

Firstly, I opened the image and selected the horizontal type tool to add the masthead and main cover lines. I placed a rectangle shape of a block colour underneath this text and used the transformation tool to make it the width of the page.

I added some cover lines to fit in with the outline of the model so they’d be easy to read and not cause much difficulty to read by the viewers. I did this by using the horizontal type tool.

I then added another coverline and changed the stroke of it to allow the letters to be easier to read. I did this by clicking on the layer and selected the layer style of stroke, then adjusted the size of the stroke to the appropriate amount. 

 Here I have added a puff by placing a circle shape on the cover and adjusting its opacity to give it a more transparent look so it blends in with the page. I then added a text box over the top of this shape and changed the stroke size to allow it to stand out.

Here I have added a barcode to the bottom corner as well as more text using the horizontal text tool, and another puff using the same method as previously.

 I applied the stroke tool to the main texts on the page to make them easier to read and stand out a little more to make it look appealing.

Contents Page

Here I have added the title using the horizontal type tool and added a shape underneath the text using the shape tool. I have also added two images using the transformation tool to get them to the sizes I like and position them into place.

I’ve placed all the photos and text I wanted for this page using the horizontal text tool, I changed the colours and sizes of words by highlighting them with the mouse and then altered them by selecting the colour and size features.

Here I decided to replace one of the images with a box with subscription information. I deleted the layer of the original photos and replaced the space with a black rectangle shape and added a red stroke to it by selecting the stroke tools. I then added a text box over the top of it showing the subscription information and changed the sizes and colours of them using the text size and colour features.

I then added an image of the front cover by copying and pasting an image of it onto the page then transforming it to the size and position I wanted. I opened a saved image of the Facebook logo and used the transformation tool again to adjust the size and positioning of it then added another text box next to it stating the Facebook link.

Double Page Spread

This is a screenshot from my original double page spread in the making. I decided to change the image and layout as it was difficult to read the text over the image as well as keeping it consistent with my colour scheme. It was also hard to make certain aspects stand out over others. I didn't think this method would produce the best outcome I could have achieved from this spread.

Here is a second attempt of my double page spread to try and see if a different main image would look better and allow the text to be read more clearly without blending into the background. I decided against this layout too and decided that it would look better to have the article of a page without a distracting background with more attention being focused on the main image separately.

I opened a document to landscape A3 size and placed by main image to A4 size on top. I changed the colour of the white background to a creamier colour to make it less harsh and blend in to the rest of the double page spread better.

Here I added the article and title using the horizontal type tool and copy and paste. I changed the font, sizes and colours of the questions and responses by highlighting the desired text and altered them using the option boxes.

I decided to keep all the main text on one page rather than overlap the title on the main image so I moved the text using the transformation tool. I added a photo at the bottom by opening it in a tab, then dragging the image onto the spread. 

I changed the colours of the title to make it stand out more and added a shape underneath the name of the artist by using the shape tool and transforming it to the size I wanted. I added a drop capital by making a new layer and moving into place and altering the positioning of the first three lines of the article so it would fit. I included a pull quote simply by adding space around the text in the text boxes and placing a new text box in the space with the letter in it.

I added a shadow to the title of the article by using the drop shadow option and choosing the size I wanted. I also added page numbers using new text boxes and adjusting the size and positioning of them to how I wanted.

 I typed tour dates around the main image and adjusted the stroke of them by selecting the stroke option and changing the size.