Reflection & Main Task

For the last couple lessons I have been evaluating the different criteria which determines my overall mark for the task.
I feel that when I do illustrate work on blogger I need to go into more depth and detail when explaining what has been done.
Also I have realized that I have  had problems with time management. Most of the work that I have handed in was either incomplete or overdue. I can improve my time management by completing each task on the day that it was set. Another problem why this has happened is because I did not put any effort into each task that was set or using blogger.
I need to be updating my blogger more frequently so that I can use it as a guideline for when I will be creating my music magazine.

Development of Magazine

This is the first stage of using InDesign, the first stage of using InDesign is setting up the grid lines in the correct order to layout the text and image correctly.

As you can see from the images that I have provided I added the background and the title of the magazine that I am creating.

I have used a reddish colour for the heading that has been used, I have edited the background image using a image manipulation application called Photoshop.

By editing the image I was able to get a professional looking background from using the techniques that I learnt during the photography lesson.

I made the image have a lens flare and blurred the background which was effective. 

The model that was used is looking directly at the camera which connects with the reader persuading the audience to purchase this magazine.

This is now getting closer to the finished piece. 

I have added the main headings, the background images and other features.

I have used a  variety of fonts however the house colours that I have chosen to use are red, white, black and purple.

I am pleased with the progress that I made creating magazine covers, however to improve this front cover I need to plan the layout in more detail choose simple fonts which will make my magazine look more professional.

Content

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This is the start of the creation of my contents page

                                                I have included the text that I wanted

                   

As media lesson- front cover and contents page Layout

In this lesson I have been told to create three names for the magazine that I am going to be making for the preliminary task.These are the names that I have thought of so far;
School  Life - I chose this name for my magazine because quite a lot of students can relate what the title is representing.
Detention- I chose this name for the magazine that i am going to create because students like my self  has suffered the lost of break and lunch time from this.
AHS Sports- I chose this name because it sounds interesting.
 I was then given a task were I have to create three drafts with different names for my magazine.

For the first draft that I have created I have placed the title so it will be easy for the reader to identify what the brand the magazine is. I have positioned the cover story underneath the title making it easier for the reader identify what is the main attraction.I decided to place the barcode on the front of the magazine to make it easier for the buyer to scan it  when it is being purchased. I have placed the background image behind all of the text that is being used on the magazine. I have placed the contents heading all around the magazine to make it obvious to the reader what will be included in the magazine.

For the second draft  that I have created I have placed the title at the bottom of the magazine so that the title will not cover the models face. I have positioned the  cover story at the top of the of magazine to make it easier for the reader to identify what the main feature of the magazine will be. I placed the content heading below the cover story to make it easy to identify what will be included in the magazine. The background image will be behind all the text that will used. 

Photography lesson (media)

In today's lesson, three students from our class delivered a presentation to the class about photography that would help us take better images for my school magazine. 
They showed us different types of photographs that could be used.

OVEREXPOSED
Overexposed is when a image has too much light resulting in the image being unclear.
In the image that I have provided you can see that there is too much light in picture making there faces seem less detailed.
 I will not be using this technique because it will make the image that I am using look unclear.
This is also unsuitable for the type of magazine that I will making because it will look unrealistic.



    UNDEREXPOSED 
Underexposed is when a image has very little light.
 From the example of a underexposed image you can see that the woman's facial features are unclear. 
This image also looks dull which is not the type of image students would like to see on the front of a school magazine. 
This technique is unsuitable for the magazine that I will be creating.

          


DEPTH OF FIELD  
Depth of field is when the closest object towards the camera lens is in focus and the background is blurred. This technique is suitable for a school magazine because it will make the magazine look more modern and may appeal more to younger students. This is the type of image that I will looking to use but without the leaf. 
This image will make my magazine front cover look professional and eye catching.

UNFOCUSED

A unfocused image is something I would want to avoid because it makes the image unclear and looks unprofessional. 
As you can see from the image that I have used as an example it is very hard to see his facial features in detail making it very hard for the audiences to interact with image. 
This is the of image that I would not want to use in my front cover.
 It is unsuitable and very unclear.


FOCUS
 A focus image is when the image that is taken is clear allows the viewer to easily identify what is in the image. This is a suitable image to use because it  shows the woman's facial features in detail and it looks realistic. 
This is the ideal image to be used in my front cover for my magazine.

After learning most of the theory that is needed to take fantastic images I had to apply that to the images that I took during the lesson.

As you can see from the pictures that I have taken, I have used several techniques such as focus and unfocused I realized that taking the image at a higher height than he is standing creates a better effect than taking the image at the same height as him.

I have taken photos of one student in our class, from the information that I gained I was able to change the shutter speed. 
By changing the shutter speed I was able to allow more light into the picture.

School Magazine Analysis

Today, I was looking at magazines from King Edwards VI High School.  In each magazine there was similar content.
 I took notes on what was included with in the magazine to give me a rough idea of what could be included in my own magazine that will be made. 
A few things that was common is each magazine that was looked at was:
Notices and events
Competitions
Images
Contents page
Interactions

This is the 2006 front cover of the magazine that I analysed.

 My first thoughts of this magazine is that having pictures of students that attended this school in the background was a good idea however the colour that was chosen made the front cover quiet dull and made the magazine seem boring which gave a bad first impression of the front cover.

 The biggest mistake made on this front cover is that the name of the magazine is in the bottom half of the page which does not make it stand out or noticeable. 
 To begin with I thought that this was sub- heading because of the font size and the positioning of the text but I later realized that it was the actual heading and 'KEHS' was not the title. 
This was mostly because KEHS was at the top of the page of the font was bigger making it more noticeable.

 Also it is very hard to identify whether the heading  is apart of the image of the bird.
I also think that the image of the bird ruins the collage that has been placed in the background, this is mostly because too much has been put on one page which makes it look amateur.

 I have notice that this magazine does not have a lot of headlines or other stories to get the reader interested in what to forward to when reading this magazine. 
for example other magazines will include headlines to wow the reader but this magazine does not include any which is disappointing.

This is the contents page.

After analyzing the front cover of the magazine I started to analyze the contents that was created as well because I will be creating a contents page for my own magazine.

My first thoughts of this contents page is that it looks sophisticated because of the layout that has been used and the image of the bird stands out in front of the bright white background.

 The font size of Welcome has been increased to make it eye catching and intrigues the reader.

Underneath the image is a couple paragraphs that speaks about what happened in the year. 
on the right side of the page their is the contents of what is included in the magazine.

Creating the survey

Today I had to create a survey to get a rough idea of what people are interested in when reading different magazines.
 I struggled to think of  relevant questions for people answer.
To create the survey I used Survey Monkey which was a very useful website  because it had a variety of different ways to display my questions on such as drop down and multiple choice.

For my first question that I made: What is your gender? 

I used a multiple choice so the students ca easily click on the circle and select what gender they are rather than selecting the option from a drop down or writing it in themselves.

 for a couple questions where I wanted students to write there answer I used a comment box which allows them to write a detailed answer giving me more information. 

I have finished creating my survey which means that I can send it to students by email who are in 6th or in the lower years.

 I will send them the link for my survey which will give me more data for my market research.

Imitation of magazine

15th October

Today in media I  had to continue making the front cover on Indesign.
The purpose of this task was to understand how to use the program and get used to using it as we will be using it for our final piece. 
The magazine that I was using was COSMOPOLITAN. So far i have been able to make the magazine however I did find some stages difficult such as putting the grid lines in the correct positions, inputting text boxes and changing different fonts.

The first stage of using Indesign was to put the guide lines in the correct places in order to layout the images and texts correctly.
The next step was to include the main  heading and other feature by using the grid lines that I set up.
 This did take  quite along time to do because I did not know how to use Indesign properly. 
I included the main heading by inserting a text box with in the guidelines to help with the positioning.
The magazine that I have been creating is now looking like the finished piece. 
I have added the image that has been used in the actual magazine.
 I used another program called Photoshop to crop and edit the image giving it a professional look.

 I am happy with the work that I have completed and the progress that I have made. 
By doing this task it has given me more confidence using Adobe Indesign and also Adobe Photoshop.  
I can improve my front cover by using the guidelines better to position the text and images more accurately on the page making it look more the actual magazine.

start of Blogger

During the course of the year I will be creating this blog showing the work that I have completed and how I am finding the task.
 The task consist of a preliminary exercise and a main task. 
The preliminary task consist of using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/ college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close up plus some appropriately laid- out text and a masthead. Additionally candidates must produce a DTP mock-up of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of the program. The main task includes the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine.