SKILLS DEVELOPMENT ESSAY

For my foundation portfolio I had to complete a main task, this included creating a front page, contents page, and double page spread of a new music magazine. All the images and text had to be original and we needed a minimum of 4 images. I had to research different magazines and the conventions of them. I also looked at the genres specific stereotypes and had to decide whether to stick with these or be un conventional – I went both ways to mix it up and create an original magazine whilst still allowing the audience to notice what genre my magazine was. I needed to make sure the colour scheme and conventions fit with my audience. This meant looking into Demo and Physiographics. To do all this we used CS5 Photoshop and Publisher.  Before creating our main task and preliminary task we create a perfume advert. Looking back I can see how much I have improved as the quality of my advert is poor and the conventions aren't in the right place. Before starting our task I knew how to use Adobe Photoshop CS5, but only briefly. I used my knowledge of Photoshop in my advert by cropping the original image on a white wall, and edited the wall to black and white to allow everything to stand out.

To further prepare ourselves for the main task we produced a preliminary task of creating a college magazine. I found it quite difficult at first as I kept confusing conventions which each other such as the mast head and the splash. I had to take my own images for the magazine and mock up a contents page and the image on the front cover had to be medium close up (head to waist). Looking back however, I noticed I used a high angle shot – which I now know means the student would look vulnerable. If I had realised this earlier I would have mentioned, that as the student is new she will be scared and feel vulnerable, however plug this in a positive way. We researched into other college magazines and looked at the colour schemes used. We looked at bright colours which lifts the mood and creates a positive atmosphere, encouraging the students to want to attend Wyke. We also did the same research but for our music magazine. We looked at conventions and colour schemes used, whilst also looking at the camera shots and mise en scene of the artists and how we could relate our magazines to this. I looked at magazines such as Rock Sound and NME and looked at the layouts they used on the front cover and contents page to have as inspiration.

I took many different images and tried each out on my magazine to see which looked best. To find out what people thought I showed them my magazine and asked there opinion on which they liked best/which gave the best effect. I also created questionnaires so I could see my audiences' feed back and change my magazine accordingly.

Before creating our music magazine we had a tutorial from a Media teacher on how to use Photoshop and how to manipulate images. He taught us how to use many different tools in which I have used in my music magazine. Here I have explained how I used some of the tools in Photoshop...

http://prezi.com/th9ij94n5ty4/photshop-before-and-after-evaluation/

I think I have improved my skills in Photoshop as I didn’t know how to use all the different tools and if I was to do it again I would find it much easier and straight forward.

In my magazine I used the lasso tool to cut the background off my image, I found this easier than a few other tools (magnetic tool) as I could click on each part individually. I then used the rubber and smudge tool to clean up the edges to create a smoother look on parts of my model - this was so my magazine had a professional touch to it and didn't look scruffy.

I also used the spot remover tool to create a flawless finish to my model and create the idea of 'perfect skin'. I did this as I had researched into previous magazines and the editors Photoshop out impurities to make the model look neat and more presentable to the audience, which is the look I wanted to create in my magazine.

I researched into a lot of different fonts using various websites and imported these into Photoshop so I could test them out on my magazine. I tried to use a bold large font for the front of my magazine as I think this represents something standing out to the audience and is seen as being quite ‘loud’ as rock music is.

I used quite a lot of editing on Photoshop on my contents page as I wanted to have each page number with a white background to allow it to stand out. This meant creating square and rectangle shapes and then cropping the red page number text into it. I overlapped all of this onto my image of a vinyl record as I thought this looked original and unconventional, however the vinyl record would attract a niche and Audiophiles as a niche audience is only a small amount who like certain things (such as vinyl music) whilst audiophiles also collect music components and they could feel like involving vinyl records into the magazine makes it look edgy and open to an old audience. This could also influence the audience to want to start looking at vinyl records again.

For my double page spread I took a picture of a blank brick wall and used the Gradient Tool to create a fade on this image. It took quite a while as sometimes the white was too far to the left/right. I then used to lasso tool once again to edict my model onto the wall.

I wanted to use a variety of fonts on my double page spread but not too overpowering to the actual article. As the article was about an actress becoming a rockstar, I wanted to use a delicate text for the word ‘Actress’ and a more powerful and loud font for the word ‘ROCKSTAR’ I also used a black rectangular shape behind the text to allow it to stand out. Through my front and contents page, and double page spread I have used a variety of shapes and fronts but kept my black, white and red colour scheme throughout so the magazine looks like it runs smoothly and all fits together.  I also used the layering tool on Photoshop so I could let everything stand out and feel more in your face and 3D to the audience.