To the left is my preliminary front cover. It shows two sixth form girls, engaged in some sort of ICT work. For a school magazine this is appealing because it implies a 'happy working environment' for the school. This is usually the image schools which to obtain. My music magazine front cover, however, connotes a different aim. Music magazines usually have images of aspiring/perfect looking artists on the front cover.
Makeup
The makeup used for the sixth form students was very minimalistic, in comparison to that of the music magazine. This is because the students are engrossed in work, and therefore their looks are not the most important aspect to the cover. Also, it has to look like a realistic school environment, and too much makeup would imply that the image has been ‘set up’. The music magazine was entirely different. On average, it took about two hours to do the models makeup, and it was still edited in Photoshop. The artist on the front cover needs to look stereotypically ‘perfect’ to differentiate the artist from ‘normal’ people. The piercing eyes, and perfect skin, makes the image aspiring/desiring for the teenagers, who will buy the magazine.
Model
Finding the model for the preliminary task was relatively easy to do, as it could really be anyone, as long as they looked interested in their work. I only had to take about 7 photos before I found the correct one. This is because, I was pretty sure of what I wanted the students to be doing, so I simply had to take a few pictures of the models doing the same poses coherently. The music magazine required a lot more thought. Firstly I had to find the right model that looked like they could be on the front cover of a music magazine. I then had to consider makeup, clothing, place, poses etc. this was very time consuming in total I took about 79 photographs, of the model in the same dress, doing different poses with different props, and hairstyles. The models in the school magazine are situated to the left hand side of the page, as they do not need to be centre of attention. Technically, the computer is the centre of the page. In the music magazine, the centre of the page, and a majority of the page is occupied by the model because she is the USP artist of the magazine
Mode Of address.
The mode of address for the students was not particularly an issue; they simply had to look smart. The focus of the school magazine is not on the mode of address of the models, so it was not an importance necessarily. I did, however, base a lot of the colour used, form the colours of their clothes. The colours of their clothes are almost coherent with that of the school logo. the mode of address of the music magazine was a lot more important because the main focus of the front cover, was the image, also fashion plays a minor part in the magazine, so the model on the front cover had to be ‘fashionable’ and desirable to look at. We had to go through about 6 different outfit changes, as different outfits made better/bigger statements for the front cover.
Layout
The font used for the school magazine masthead is quite a ‘cartoon’ type font. I used this font because it is a ‘childish’ font which I felt was appropriate for the genre of the magazine. The music magazine font is a more sophisticated font, aimed at a more sophisticated audience. The school magazine also includes a school logo for identification; the identification of the music magazine is the title. A logo is not needed.
The music magazine includes a barcode, which is something a school magazine does not need. This is because most school magazines are free, and supplied by the actual school.
There is a limited amount of different information which can be put into a school magazine, which would explain the lack of cover lines in comparison to the music magazine. All the cover lines are on one side, of the school magazine, so that the reader can see the computers in use, and the folder. This does not apply to the, music magazine because the background is white.]
The music magazine also uses a variety of different fonts. This is purely because my Photoshop skills had developed by this time, so I was able to apply different fonts, which still worked coherently with the remainder fonts
The fonts used in the school magazine are very clear, concise and simple to read. This allows the parents, as well as the student to read the text with ease. There is more of a variation with fonts and font sizes in the music magazine, because emphasise on certain aspects of the magazine are necessary.
Editing
There was very little editing which took place in the school magazine, which could not have been done in Microsoft Paint, except the desaturation of the image, and use of the history brush tool in Photoshop, to colour in the models, and the folder. However, for the music magazine, a majority of my time was spent editing. I first had to edit the image. This consisted of
· Using the rubber to erase the background. Originally, I used a rubber with a solid edge. The model simply looked mutated by the time I had finished. It looked as though it had been rubbed out in Microsoft Paint. So I used an eraser with a blurred edge, to give the slight glow effect of the image.
· I adjusted the contrast and brightness of the image, because the image as originally quite dark. Also the contrast increase made her look slightly more tanned than originally.
· I used the spot healing tool to remove any blemishes and spots on her face
· I whitened her eyes, replaced the catch light in her eyes, and added in more eyelashes, using specially shaped brushes in Photoshop.
· I also used the eraser to make the model slightly skinnier. To give her more stereotypical ‘perfect’ body.
I also had to use the history brush tool, to colour the word ‘Rochelle, as I was finding it hard to find the correct pink to use for her name.
Photography
When taking the photographs for the music magazine, I was unaware that I could erase the background. I was certain that I wanted a pure white background, like in published music magazines, but this was hard to photograph,
Location for the photo shoot was originally a problem, but eventually I took the pictures at the models house because she had a plain white wall. However, when I arrived there, the wall was not the brilliant white I had expected, so I was forced to hang up a sheet. I bought a new camera with increased megapixels, to take more crisp pictures. I had already decided that I did not want a prop in this image, as it was the front cover, and props could be distracting. Also they could interfere with the text/ cover lines. I had to vary with hairstyles, poses, and clothing. The only things which remained constant were the background, and the makeup, which was retouched after every costume. I even experimented with use of the fan, to give the ‘windswept’ look. When taking the images for the school magazine, little preparation was necessary, because I was already in a school environment. The only things which I had to consider where backgrounds, or activities.
Problems
The problems which occurred for the school magazine where mainly to do with my lack of experience with Photoshop. I had a slight problem with the font colour used in the school front cover, because there was such a wide use of primary colours used in the image, it was hard to find a font which could be read over the different colours. The cover lines, themselves were not too hard to think of. I simply asked students what they would like to read about in a school magazine, and I also asked parents what they would expect to be in a music magazine, and I combined the answer to produce the cover lines. There were few problems created, when creating the music magazine, as I had spent time playing around on Photoshop, to familiarise myself with the different uses and image manipulation tools. My research for the music magazine front cover was quite intensive, and therefore I had a pretty good idea as to how I wanted it to look. I did however have to make a few changes to it, when uploading it to my blog. I feel the hardest aspect to creating the music magazine front cover, was the cover lines; because I was introducing a new music magazine genre, I had little to abide by.
Time management
My time management for the preliminary task front cover was relatively good, because I was able to put together the whole thing in one day. Also, I had all the necessary resources, around me as I was in a school environment. Collecting pictures and so on took a little longer however. My time management for the music magazine front cover, however, was very poor. This is because I spent so much time figuring out how to work Photoshop and I often change my mind about the arrangement of cover lines, and size of text ect. I spent the longest on the music magazine cover, than any other aspect of the magazine.
What I learnt
I learnt how to manipulate pictures in Photoshop properly, including removing backgrounds, use of the spot healing tool, and placing images in front of text.
I also learnt that the music magazine industry is very different from that of the school magazine industry, because they have different aims and connotations. I also learnt the importance of taking several pictures before it is possible to find only one good picture. My photography skills also improved gradually, as I progressed in the photo shoot, and I was able to recognise which pictures were good, which were bad and what was actually wrong with the images.
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