Images flow from my mind: February 2012

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Evaluation

Dubhead magazine evaluation

Friday 17 February 2012

Constructing and Developing my Double Page Spread

<<Initial Design

This was the initial design and layout that I first created on Microsoft Publisher for my double page spread before writing my actual article. I showed this version of my double page spread and they told me that the pages lacked color and vibrancy like the other pages had and that if my artist's name sounded like the word 'Wild' why not make the font and theme of the page really wild and messy.

Constructing my Double Page Spread on Photoshop:

1. I reconstructed my magazine on Photoshop, wrote the
article and changed the image. I also changed the text of the
headline to make it look more wild an out of control as well
as addingthe phrase 'Dubstep's new wild child' underneath
the headline.

2. I then realized that the headline, pull quote and sub heading
did not stand out as much as they should so I decided to add a
paint splash behind them to keep in with the theme of
wildness that my target audience wanted to see and
to also make them very visible and eye catching. I added
color to the key words in the subheadings in order to
make them more visible and eye catching once more.

3. After that I then saw that the page lacked some color
so I decided to add some more paint splatters to keep
within the theme of messiness but I made them three
different shades of blue in order to give the page some
vibrancy and color.

Developing my Double Page Spread:

2nd Draft: In response to my target audience I gave my
double page spread a theme of wildness.messiness to
correspond with the artist's name and character. In order
to do this I added paint splashes behind text and on the page
to add color and vibrancy and 'wildness' to the page since
this would be the most appealing to my target audience.
After showing this to my target audience, they approved
the theme and new look of the double page spread but
then they told me that there was a lot of useless space
in the part of the photo above the artist and that I
should fill that space up with something interesting.

Final Draft: In response to the feedback I received from my target
audience I added the DUBHEAD logo behind Wil-D and increased the
size of the photo in order for it to fill up most of the empty space
in the background.

Developing my Contents Page

<<Initial Design
This is the initial design of my contents page which I first produced on Photoshop. I followed the layout which I have pictured to the right. After creating this version I then showed it to my target audience and straight away they told me that alot was missing from contents and that although the page did look good aesthetically it lacked alot of the conventions that a professional magazine contents page would have and there where alot of spelling mistakes.

Developing my Contents Page:

1st Draft: At first I thought that all I needed to do was to make
my titles more visible by placing them in banners and also fixing
my spelling mistakes, but after showing this draft to my target
audience they told methat the image related to the 9th page
was too dark and looked very unprofessional,the image
relating to the 15th page waz to similar to the front cover
page and that the image relating to the 26th page was
over exposed. As well as that they told me that I was
missing a vital point in any magazine contents page, a
subscribe section.

2nd Draft: In response to the feedback I received
from my target audience I decided to change
the image relating to the 9th and 15th page as
well as decreasing the exposure on the image
relating to the 26th page. I also moved the
'Plus' section over to the left hand side of the
page because I realized that it is still very
important on the page so I should put it on
the left hand side (since we read from left to right)
so it will be one of the first things you see and also
it would allow me to use bigger images that would
catch the eye of my target audience. Also in response
to feedback I added a subscribe box telling readers
to subscribe via text or online and also a competition
to entice readers to read into the magazine. I then
showed this version to my target audience and they
told me that they would rather receive some sort of
technology or device in the competition than
tickets.

3rd Draft: In response to the feedback I received
from my target audience for my 2nd draft I decided
to change the competition prize from tickets to
an iPhone4S since that would be more favorable.
I then showed this version of my contents page to
my target audience and they told me that the
ways in which they could be in touch
with the magazine was limited, what about
social networks like Facebook or twitter? and that
the subscribe box was too large.

Final Draft: In this draft I acted on the feedback
I received for my 3rd draft. I made my subscribe box
smaller and also I added the DUBHEAD twitter and
Facebook page into the subscribe box so that readers
would be able to access us on these social networks
as well as our website.

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Constructing and Developing My Front Cover

<<Initial Design
The image pictured to the left is very first draft of my magazine that I created using Microsoft Publisher. I decided that I would follow this main layout (pictured to the right) for my front cover. What I liked most about this front cover was the headline and the puffs and the image I used but after showing it to my target audience they told me that the front cover was to plain and dull even though I had used the color blue to try and add a little vibrancy to the page they said that the image was too plain and didn't jump out at them and that some of the text was hard to read.

Constructing the magazine on Photoshop

1. First things first, I created my front
cover again on Photoshop but I made
changes to the language and wording that I
used on the front cover.

2. Then I added a purple gradient
overlay to the masthead to make
it more vibrant and eye-catching.

3. Then I added some copy on top
of the masthead because the gradient
in a way now counted as a banner. This
then made my magazine look more
interesting and energetic

4. I then made the image lie on
top of the image because
this was one of the codes
and conventions of maga-
zine front covers and this would
make my magazine look more
professional

5. After that I then gave all the copy on
the front cover a drop shadow effect
in order to make the copy much more
visible and easy to read.

6. Then I added adjustment layers to the image.
These layered altered the brightness/contrast, levels
and curves of the image which made the image
look much more vibrant and energetic.

<<First Draft

After getting feedback from my target audience I decided to remake my magazine on Photoshop because it has a lot more design and editing features than Publisher does. I then decided to get more feedback from my target audience and they told me that the front cover did indeed gain much more vibrancy and the text was much easier to read but they did tell me that the cover lines at the upper left hand side of the image needed to be aligned to the left in the same way I aligned the puffs at the bottom right and that "Dubsteps'" would need to be spelled as "Dubstep's"

<<Second Draft
In response to the feedback I received from my target audience I changed the alignment of the cover lines and the punctuation in Dubstep's. But then after showing my front cover to my target audience again they told me that there was a large gap between the puffs and the serial bar, they suggested that I could fill up with the space with another puff.

<<Final Draft
I added one more puff to my magazine in response to the feedback I received from my target audience. After showing it to my target audience once again they didn't have any more suggestions or improvements that I would need to add so I could tell that this version of my front cover was the most appealing to my target audience.

Images flow from my mind