Downloaded Fonts.

Here are three different example of text I have downloaded from dafont.com, and this helped a lot whilst completing my project. It was very easy to download them by pressing the download button, and extracting the file, then dragging it and putting it onto the computer. The only problem was that once the font was used, and you saved it, you had to go back to re download it as there is problems with the software.
On these three example of text I have used a drop shadow on the first one using the fx feature, as well as adding a stroke and also an inner shadow. I used the second example as a font for my article as I found it very feminine and went well with the genre of my magazine as well as the first font I used for my name of my magazine.

Own Photography.

 I used my average digital camera to take these photographs, but basically to try out a range of techniques that I have learnt to do during my media lessons and also techniques I have blogged on here. I love this photograph, because I like the fact there the grass in the foreground is very clear and so are the sunglasses, although the background is quite blurred. The image is quite bright and the whole photo is in good focus.

 On this photo I tried out the use of side lighting to create a shadow on one side of my models face. I like the background for this images and I think that it worked well. Obviously it was hard to get the correct shadow due to the natural light already being in a certain place. I think it is quite a nice, natural photograph but could do with a bit of editing to make it even brighter.

I like the way I have fitted her whole frame into the photo, and I think it is quite a nice image. Although I would have liked to have taken more care in making a border around her figure, as I have cut out half of my models knee. I like the brightness of the image, but I think the colours need to be made more vibrant including a bit of editing on photoshop as this would make the image look a lot better.

      

I love the fact this image is very clear in the foreground and out of focus in the background. It definitely makes the grass look clearer and important compared to the rest of the image. I like how the light it coming from one side leaving a shadow at one area of the grass. I think it is a really nice image.

Print Skills Audit.

29th post production. Magazine front cover and double page spread.

Last week I officially started to get my magazine front cover together and my double page spread designed. I have progressed a lot since the week before, as everything just needed putting into place and designing to a professional standard. I started off my correcting my images and putting them into place on the pages I had designed using Adobe photoshop and In design. I used different shapes to create background for images, and downloaded fonts to make my magazine look as skilled as possible. I tried and tested different fonts to make sure it went perfectly with my images and general genre of the magazine. Everything went to plan although I think I should have designed specifically what I wanted for my front cover, as I was a bit confused when it came down to my own ideas. Photoshop at points was very hard and confusing to get a grip of, although it definitely made my final project look more professional.

I did not really encounter any real big problems although I just thought at times that photoshop was stressing me out. When certain things wouldn’t let me place a drop shadow onto them, or wouldn’t fill with colour. Although I have learnt a lot from using it, and learnt new skills constantly.


I have now just got to arrange my design of the magazine front cover and the article page to exact precision to make it look the best it can. I need to proof read my article and every bit of text I have used, as well as adding extra imagery and wording to make it look more professional. I think I need to add more drop shadows to some of my images to make them look as though they are standing off the page, as well as the lipstick marks next to the name of my magazine. I think that everything looks goo but just needs tidying up. I need to make sure I stay calm with photoshop, and without time to experiment I just need to get on with it. Editing little things, will make a big difference, for instance adding quotes and drop caps to be able to make it look more skilled.


Some problems I may encounter might be general technology problems, for example with photoshop I may not understand how to do something I want to do. Everything is nearly finished although the finishing touches are all I need. If this goes wrong there are plenty of people I can ask to help and also I need to look at other magazines to help the designing stage run smoothly.

22nd - Production

Last week I started off with making sure all of my pre production documents were finished including my schedule and exactly what I wanted to achieve within my photo shoot. Later on in the week I did my photo shoot, capturing every shot I wanted. I took a lot of photographs during the session, in a variety of ways, for example close ups of my model kissing the globe. Some images were of my model laid in her duvet, and different ranges and also some were of the underwear surrounding the globe which is exactly what I wanted for my double page spread. I took plenty of photographs to make sure I could choose which ones I wanted and which ones fitted within the genre I was trying to portray in the magazine. Not everything went to plan as I think when I went into the studio to take my images, I didn’t think of every single idea I wanted and had planned, instead I experimented one the day, which made me rush my photo’s. I think that everything went smooth including my model and costumes, as well as the props I used. I had a slight problem with the lighting when I experimented with taking photos of the globe on its own and I had to get technical support to help me with that. Although everything else went very well, and once I had uploaded the images, I was very pleased with them.

This week I want to be able to have chosen and also edited each photograph that I am using within my magazine including front cover and double page spread. I know exactly what I would like them to look like and would just like to make it happen. I will go about achieving this by preparing each photo, and trying to find specific fonts for my magazine using different websites. I think once I have found these I can start to place everything around, including my article layout and my front cover design. I would like to have my article completely finished, so it is simple enough to drop into my layout and be able to work around. I would like to have most of the hard work done by next week, and only the designing finishing touches to be done. I think this is realistic to achieve and I will also be able to experiment with photoshop and use tools more such as cropping images, and the clone stamp to edit out certain imperfections on my images. I will have to use a lot of photoshop and also learn how to use InDesign to make my article, which I have never used before. So I will also have to experiment with this as well, and do the best I can.

Some problems I may encounter within the next week may be that I get very confused using InDesign and find it hard to achieve what I would like on my article page. I have used InDesign before to try and have a go before making my real article page although still found it very hard. I think that this could stop me from completing this page in time although I think I can use photoshop quite well as I use it a lot in other parts of my college work for example my graphics. If these things go wrong I can always ask for help off my subject teacher as well as others around me, and using my free time to have a go at experimenting with the software.  

15th March - pre -production.

Last week I decided to start designing my article layout and exactly what I was going to put where. Including where my photographs would go, including drawing flat plans and also where the text would go. I finished off my mock up ideas, to help me on my way to achieving the look I wanted for my magazine front cover, as well as searching for fonts on www.dafont.com. Everything ran smoothly apart from because I didn’t have my photographs taken, it was harder to decide exactly where I wanted to put things and how I would design it. I had to work around this problem and imagine where the images and text were going to go. I used photoshop to complete my mock up ideas, which was quite hard to complete seeing as though I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.


Scheduled for this week, I have my photo shoot on Friday and this will help all of my ideas come together, including being able to edit them on photoshop and arrange them on in design, into the order I want them. I will make sure I will have all models and props completely sorted, including back up models just in case it doesn’t go to plan, and that all my props are arranged a couple of days in advance to just get on and do the photo shoot. Apart from getting more used to photoshop and carrying on with in design, I have not learnt many new technical skills, although I am getting a lot better at working in these programmes that I am not used to.


Possible problems I may encounter might be that the first model I have chosen may not turn up, or that I forget some of my props. Worst comes to worst I can rearrange the look I wanted to achieve and still make it work, but by using a lot of editing on photoshop after the shoot. I am hoping everything goes to plan although I do still have my backups arranged.

 This is one of my first mock up ideas I tried to complete on photoshop. This would be for my front cover, and I like this idea a lot. I think it would work better if my model was laid on a bed and under a duvet, looking at the globe and seducing it a bit more. Although I tried to put this together to show the basic idea of what i wanted.

I like this idea as well, of a boy band, using things to do with recycling as their instruments. It would obviously be hard to find a boyband, but getting a group of males together and dressing them like an average boy band to show this would look really good. I know the photoshop version I done is a very rough estimate at what i wanted, but i just wanted to mess around to start collecting ideas.

8th March – Pre Production

Last week I started out creating my pre production work that will eventually help me to make my final front cover of my magazine and produce my article and double page spread. I progressed by carefully picking and choosing each idea and making a firm decision on exactly what I wanted. I used in design to plan out the way I would like my article to look, for example looking at a magazine that I know the audiences age range preferred looking at, and editing that idea. I used columns to make my article look more appealing and more professional as well as leaving space to add my final images which I have booked on the 17th March. I made two mock designs for my front cover including two completely different ideas that have helped me to develop my idea further, and decide on a final design. I also drew a flat plan of exactly where I wanted my text in my double page spread to go and exactly where I would insert my images, as well as a photo shoot plan to help me clarify exactly what I wanted from my photographs.


Everything went according to plan although my photo shop skills were not very good at making two mock up ideas. I think as I was unsure on my ideas myself, it was even harder to make a mock up. I think everything else ran quite smoothly although I could have defined an exact idea before I started to work on them, as this made it a lot harder. I had a back up model just in case something happened with my original model, as I thought already planning it would help just in case and cancel out drama later.


The only technical equipment or skills I used were on photoshop and in design. Although I am quickly learning how to use photoshop, I am still not the greatest at it, although I think my mock up idea looked quite good.


By this week I need to have completed all of my pre production work including my schedule, a mood board of my ideas, my production treatment, flat plans, and article ideas. I need all of this completing to follow on and eventually take my photographs. I need to make sure I set out my time well to complete this and develop my ideas whilst also trying out new things. This may include messing around with some more photoshop ideas or just drawing new flat plans.


Possible problems I may encounter are not having enough ideas to develop. I think I need to be more creative with my ideas so I can eventually decide later the exact layout, image or typography I am going to use in my magazine. I think that I will get around this problem by experimenting with the information I have collected but also keeping in time as to not rush around nearer the deadline time.

Aperture.

 These are the three images i have taken to show aperture within my photographs.The first image shows a completely clear bottle and a blurred out background, this would be used to focus in on something inparticular without the background being in focus. In the second image the bottle is still very much in focus although the background becomes more clearer as more light has been let in. In the last image, the whole of the image is extremely clear and you can see everything in great detail. Next time i would definitely change the background, as whilst taking the photo's i did not realise that there was someone in the background. Although this exaggerates the purpose of aperture even more as although he moves, it is definitely clearer to the eye. Aperture is shown in f.stops and the more light is let in the lower the number is. This also means that the shutter takes longer to close when you are trying to get a clearer shot.

Magazine Front Cover Photographs.

This is one of my favourite photographs that i have taken for my magazine    front cover. I learnt whilst taking these photo's to try and get as many portrait photographs as i could as this would be the way my magazine would go. I think this photo involves the right amount of body that i wanted to show on my front cover and also the effect i wanted. As my magazine would be a music magazine, i wanted to achieve more of a 'rock and roll' image, but if i had more notice, next time i would definitely change costume as i do not think it suits the message i was trying to portray. I have used photo shop to change this image as the original was too dark and needed brightening, using brightness and contrast. I also increased the contrast and edited out unwanted blemishes on the models face. I think this definitley improved the orignal and i am far more pleased with this image. A problem with this image would be that i would have prefered for the model to have been fully against the brick wall for more of an effect rather than the path and steps in the background. I could edit this out if needed on photoshop using the clone tool to copy the brick wall, or even use the quick selection tool to drop cut out the model and drop onto a new background. If i had to do this again, i would use a tripod so that the image was completely straight and centered and also change the costume and be more prepared. I like the posing in this as it definitely suits the image i was going for although, I would have liked to try out a few more including more close up versions or more full bodied images. I think i would have preferred to have a full stood up version of this photograph as i have learnt since this photo that you need to either have from the shoulders upwards, the arms and whole of the top of the body in, or the whole figure. I didn't really listen to this rule, although would definitely do that if i tried this out again.

This is a simple mock up idea of what I would have done if I have time to make an actual magazine. I took my ideas from an already well known band, and I think this works well. I used the magnetic lasso tool on photoshop to cut out my models and then placed them onto a plain background of a brick walll. I like the text, as it goes with the genre of music I would like to show, and I think the name fits well as well. If I did it again I would definitely try and make sure both models understood what their aims were to look like, as they both don't look impressed, although I did want that moody image.