AS Evaluation - Q7

1. I have overthisyear improvedmydesktoppublishingskillsetthroughmanydifferentwaysthrough
the use of a range of newsoftware thatI had neverusedandgettingfamiliarwiththe toolsneeded
to create a fitforpurpose magazine.The progressI have made issignificantbecause beforeIhad
neverusedsoftware’ssuchasAdobe PhotoshopCS5andAdobe InDesignCS5butafterI now feel
comfortable usingthe software toitsfull capacity.
Thisis the mastheadIhave usedfor my magazine finishedfront cover;incontrastto the school
magazine isthattheyare usingdifferentsoftware.The firstimage withthe vertical textillustrates
the balance of the wordson topof eachother.It isnot professional oreffective.However,in
comparisontomy second example isasubstantial improvementintermsof layout,designand
positioning.The mastheadstandsoutfromthe page significantlytoputacross the brandrecognition
of the magazine.The fontIusedfor mypre-limwassansserif andlookedsoftersmalleranddidn’t
have the desirededge Iwaslookingfor.Incontrastto my serif fontformy full frontcoverhas been
made boldto expressthe dominatingeffectthe mastheadshouldhave.Ihave usedthe effectof
stroke to emphasise thiseffectonthe front cover.I have alsoaddeda tagline toput an extraedge
on the masthead.
The variationbetweenthe twocoverimagesisasignificantcontrast.Thisismainlybecause of the
locationof the photographand the attitude beingportrayed.With the prelimitisobviousitwas
takenwitha more contemporarysettingandcolourscomparedtothe more urbanisedlook and
coloursof the frontcover.Alsothere isa lack of natural lightfromthe school magcomparedto the
warm colourand vibrancyof the real mag cover where Iusedthe quickselectiontool toremove the
background.Anotheraspecttothe image isthe positioningof the model inbothof these images.
The aim of the preliminarywastohave an image of a normal pupil fromthe school toportray the
storyin the magazine,andwiththe image notbeingmuchfocuseditwouldnotbe suitable forthe
minimaliststyle of myfrontcover.Incontrast the frontcover image neededtoportraythe attitude
of the genre andbe focusedbecause of the importance of the image onthistype of mag cover.They
are fillingupmostof the page to geta connectionwiththe audience;theyare alsoslightlyangledto
create more interestingperspective of the character.
Lookingat the two tasksyoucan see Ihave changedmy mindinwhat designIwantedtouse for my
contentspage.OriginallyIwantedtouse twoimagesto portraythe coverlinesbut insteadendedup
using3 images thatI puteffectsoninstead.The preliminarydoesn’thave the rightlayoutstructure
or magazine conventionsandsoI made thisa prioritywhenthinkingof mymaincontentspage.By
usingthe fadesonthe image andadjustingthe opacityof it,itmade the whole contentslookmore
professional.AswellasthisI triedtofocuson the layoutof the coverlines onthe page more thanin
the preliminarywiththe design.Idecidedtoaddgraphicsto make the page more vibrantand
attractive to the eye andby doingitmade the magazine have amore organisedfeel toit.
The use of fontson myfront coverdiffersmassivelyfromthe onesusedon myprelim.Thisisevident
inthe preliminarywhenIusedbasicsansserif fontinsteadattemptingtoexplore andfindabetter
fontreflectingthe magazine.IncomparisonIuseda serif inmyreal magazine frontcoverwhich
allowedme tokeepaconsistenthouse style,Ialsousedthissame fontandstylingforthe masthead.
Anotheraspectonthe frontcoverwas I changedwasin the sense of capital letters.Idecidedtouse
all capital lettersonthe coverlinesandmainstoryon my real one to emphasise the storieseven
more.In comparisononthe pre-limwhichwas quite blandandweren’teasyonthe eye forthe
readers.The coloursof the fontsbetweenthe twomagazinesIhave changedbecause Idecidedto
go witha more traditional house style onthe real magazine thatIknow works(red,black,white).

2. Thisin contrastto the pre-limwhenIusedmainlyyellow andblue whichmade the whole magazine
looksveryunprofessionaltosaythe least.The differenceof mycontentspage andpre-limcontents
page is substantial.Ihave usedmore stylishfontsonthe eye throughdafonttohelpthe page stand
out more for whatit is.Incomparisonthe pre-limwastooblandinthe sense of the textbecause it
was juststandardMicrosofttextwith no character tooit. My content islaidout differentlyfromthe
preliminarybecause Irecognisedthe conventionsneededtomake a goodcontentspage suchthe
organisationof it.Thisissaidof the imagesbecause the original ideawastohave two images
relatingtothe storiesonofferbutinsteadIwentfor 3 to imagesincrease appealtothe magazine.I
didthisso I couldclearlyportraythe genre of the magazine throughthe modelsattitudeinthe
image.Alsothe inclusionof the mastheadbehindthe imageactingasif was onthe wall,expressesa
goodattemptat brand recognition.
In Adobe PhotoshopCS5Ihave beenable touse toolsthat allowedme tospeedupmyworkflow
whichhelpedme completingmymagazine tothe bestof abilitywiththe softwarethat we were
using. Iusedthe quickselectiontool toeditmyimagessothat I couldremove mybackgroundand
eitherleave the image asitwasor able to inserta new backgroundtothe image thatwas more
applicable.Alsowhatspedupmyworkflow wasthe linkingandgroupingof layers,thiswaskey
because itallowedme toorganise all mylayersandknow whichwaswhichand the abilitytoadd
effectssuchas a stroke to multiplelayersatthe same time.Anothertool whichwaskeywasthe
abilitytosave myselectionof colours.Thisspedupmyworkflow considerablybecause itallowedme
to selectthe colourstraightawayso the house colourwasconsistentandsavedthe hassle of trying
to findthe colouragain.
The skillsetIacquiredwhenusingAdobePhotoshop CS5formy frontcoverand contentspage
allowedme toeasilynavigate andcreate myDPSon Adobe InDesignCS5.The image Idecidedtouse
for mymainimage on my DPShad to be manipulatedinPhotoshopbeforeIcouldactuallyplace in
InDesign.Iusedthe quickselectiontool tospeedupmyworkflow toremove the backgroundthat
was originallyinthe image andthendecidedtoreplace itwithamore fitfor purpose background,
such as a stage.Anothertool Iusedwas the wrap texttool because itmade iteasyto place the text
aroundthe othermainconventionssuchasthe mainimage andmain headline.Thiswashelpful
because of the textbeinglinkedandbeingabletomove aroundas 1 piece of textratherthan
multiple. Furthermore,the use of adrop capital to give aneffecttothe page to lookfitforpurpose
allowingittobe a keyconventiononmyDPS.Thisconventionis akeywhenitcomesto the DPS
because itispivotal whenmakingitattract to the readerseye.Alsothe use of sharpeningthe image
qualityinthe InDesignsoftware afteruploading ontothe software ishighlyimportanttothe success
of myDPS. Thisisbecause the image qualityiskeydue toit dominating1page out of my DPS.
Overall Ihave learntfrommy Courseworktobe able touse a range of software programstoproduce
and presentmyworkinmany differentways.Thiswill thenhelpinthe future inbeingabletonow
use these programsefficiently andalsoassistedspeedingupmyworkflow.AlsoIlearnthow muchit
takesto produce a magazine coverto coverfor the bigmediacompaniesthatdistributethousands
of these magazinesaroundthe world.