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1. Production Reflection
Daniel Thompson

2. Process: App Logo
To create my app logo, I simply needed to
use the shape tool and text tool. The first
step was to use the fill tool to change the
background colour. I chose this colour to
accompany and contrast with specific
colours. I then proceeded to use the
custom shape tool to create the waves. To
begin with, the shapes were all plain
white but I used the fill tool to change
each line to my desired colour. The last
step of my app logo production was the
letters over the top. I simply used the text
tool to place the letters down. The 3d
effect given to the letters was not
achieved by using layer effects but instead
by simply creating a new text layer with
the same letter in a darker colour.

3. Process: App Store Screenshot
This first screenshot is the product
that inspired my own design and
idea. I tried to keep my design as
close as possible to make it look as if
I had found my app in a store and
took a screenshot of it.

4. Process: App Store Screenshot
This is the first progress screenshot of my design.
The first step in creating this design was the ui of
the ‘phone’. This was copied along with the rest of
the screen. I simply created two rectangle shapes
with the shape tool and manipulated them to take
their place. The same tool and methods were used
to create the image slots on the page and the ui
buttons at the bottom of the page. The only
difference here being the changing of the colour to
white as the real ui would be. I also used the same
shape tool to create the buttons used for installing
the app and showing more information. The main
difference in these shapes is that with the ‘more
information’ button has no colour. I took away the
colour fill and gave it a thicker border.

5. Process: App Store Screenshot
The next step in the process of creating my app
store screenshot was to add in the images to
their specified spaces. This was simply done by
opening the images in a separate document,
dragging them over to this current document and
resizing them to fitting the black boxes. I also
added the correct text, sizes and colours next to
the app picture in accordance to the original
screenshot’s placement. The last detail made at
this stage was the ui. At the top, I added the
correct symbols that a typical android phone
would show and changed the colour of the top
bar. The ui buttons on the bottom of the
screenshot looked too basic and so I added the
same shapes over the original white ones in a
black colour to make the buttons looks as if they
would on a phone. To finish off the design, I
finally added in the rest of the screenshots to the
page.

6. Process: Random Pieces
During my magazine cover production, I
got distracted creating a Spyro themed
backdrop using the gradient and blur
tools. The logo's flame effect was created
by taking an image of flames from google,
placing it behind the logo in the position I
wanted it and then using the eraser tool
to get rid of the bits that did not coincide
with the logo's shape. The same process
was used for the text beneath the logo
except the text was created with the
downloadable 'Spyro 2' font available on
DaFont.com. It ended up becoming a
poster for the new remaster and I quickly
recognized that I could use this piece of
work in my project.

7. Process: Magazine Cover Background
This work was the next step in creating my
magazine cover's background. The scenery in
the area was taken from an unofficial fan-
made Spyro game. It originally had
Spyro himself in the centre of the screen
running towards the portal seen to the right but
seen as I needed a blank landscape, I needed to
edit the picture. To get rid of Spyro, I simply
used the clone stamping tool which allowed me
to essentially copy and paste the grass texture
over the top of him to conceal him from view.
To use the tool I had to hold the 'alt' button
while clicking where I wanted to copy and then
drag the cursor where I wanted the copied
section to be placed. This created a slightly
more realistic effect than simply copy and
pasting a selected area of the image. The sky
was also to be taken away so I used the quick
selection tool to highlight it all and then deleted
it. I then decided to drag in my sky from the
Spyro poster I had created earlier. This gave the
whole scene a completely different feel and
looked rather natural in my opinion. This was to
be the basis of my magazine cover.

8. Process: Magazine Cover
At this point in my cover's development, I had not
created the pieces of work in the past couple
slides which explains the lack of orange. I
experimented with a couple of different colour
schemes throughout this work's development –
this was the first choice. To get the vignette effect
on my product, I created a large black rectangle
which spanned the whole page using the shape
tool and changed its opacity to 50% - I then
equipped the eraser tool and erased the
centre of the shape, leaving a faded black effect
around the border of the page. Spyro was gained
by finding a good quality image on google images
and cutting him out of it using the quick selection
tool and then adding effects such as drop
shadows and bevel and eboss to add a sense of
depth and 3d to the image. The font at the top of
the cover was created by simply using the drop
shadow and bevel and emboss tools and also
creating a copy layer of the text and placing
separate effects onto it. This created the retro
neon light effect. I also placed some blank
squares down at the bottom of the
cover to clearly show where the
desired images were to be placed.

9. Process: Magazine Cover
In this point of production, I began to experiment with
layering. I decided to make the image of Spyro the
main attraction and so placed his layer above the rest
to create both a sense of 3d and importance. I also
began to add in the groundwork for more content in
the form of cover lines. I did this by creating an oval
with the shape tool and decreasing its opacity. I also
found a suitable image to accompany my cover line
and cut the character out of it to be used in the cover.
I then merged the character and the oval's layers
together and added a tight outer glow. I got this idea
from another Spyro fronted magazine which based
itself off of hints, tips and cheats in games. It itself
had a retro feel to it and used a lot of outer glow
effects and simple features all around such as
layering, basic shapes, easy to read, bold text and
many more effects. I also began to create the space
for my main cover line and added the relevant fonts
to it to see how it would look with different effects. I
tried to make the font look as similar to the original
game as possible.

10. Process: Magazine Cover
To begin with in this stage of my production, I started
to add in the text content to see how it would look. I
found the colour I would like to use in the final
product but I found it hard to make it mix well with
the colour scheme. I also found a relevant crash
bandicoot font to use for the cover line. It was also
around this time that I created the alternate version
of the Spyro and decided to use it in my final design. I
also created the final background image to replace
the blank purple background you can see on the
right. Finally, I wanted to change the overall vibe
given from the colours, layout and presentation of
features on the cover. At this point I feel that it
seemed to appeal to a more younger audience. My
goal in comparison was to appeal to a more mature
audience and therefore I decided to use a different
colour scheme as you will see in the next slide.

11. Process: Magazine Cover
This screenshot is of the final stage of my magazine
cover's production. I finally brought my background
into the cover by opening the file in a separate
document and then dragging it over to the magazine's
document. I then used layering to position the image
below everything. I also adjusted the size of the text
on the main cover line to emphasize the most
important key words (such as 'new' and 'revealed'). To
further emphasize the important words I also changed
the colour of them to a colour not featured in the
scheme as this will make them stick out. One of the
biggest changes made to my design at this stage is the
bottom section. I decided to get rid of the images in
favour of just the logos cut out of original pictures on
google images. I feel that changing this helped my
cover become more recognizable and relatable as
there would be more logos and titles that the reader
could recognize instead of just looking at images and
wondering what they are from. The sticker was
created using a sticker template found online on
google images. I simply dragged the image of the
sticker into the product, used the text tool to type out
the content I wanted and then placed it
where I wanted it. To create the illusion that
the text was actually on the sticker and not
over the top of it, I had to use the eraser tool
to rub out the specific parts of the text which
lingered over the peeled section of the
sticker.

12. Process: Double Page Spread
To begin my dps production, I added in some guides
and grids to allow me to section areas of the pages
off and assign them to specific parts of the product.
This would prove extremely helpful with arranging
the text in my articles and any quotes or images I
planned on adding. The first process I did was use
the bucket tool to fill in the whole document with
the main colour from the scheme I was using in the
magazine's cover. This would serve as the border for
the rest of the document. I then used the shape tool
to create the page itself and highlight to myself the
content area. It is from here that I would be able to
plan out my layout for the information and imagery
on the pages.

13. Process: Double Page Spread
To begin with, I started to add in the article
content that I had created in my copy from earlier
in my research phase. This was simply done using
the text tool to drag where I wanted the text using
the columns and grids for reference. At this point I
was unsure how I wanted to lay out the page so I
experimented a lot with different areas and
layouts. To create the article font's effect, I simply
clicked on the bevel and emboss tool which gave
the effect of shadowing and 3d in the text itself.
The text was originally aligned to the left of the
text box but to fill in the grid as well as possible
and to fill in unnecessary blanks I had to select the
'justified' button which filled out the rest of the
text box. This created a problem in which the text
would sometimes hyphenate but this was quickly
rectified by unticking the hyphenate button.

14. Process: Double Page Spread
This screenshot is of the right side of the dps in which I added a
quote from other game reviewers and also added an image to be
used as a background.
To add the quote into the product, I added a text box as I did with
the articles and resized the text to be larger. I also clicked on the
'justified' button and unticked hyphenate. To make the text clearer
and to make it stand out, I did not add in bevel and emboss. I then
proceeded to move onto the image background.
To create the background, I first had to edit an image that I gained
from online in Photoshop. The original image that I found and
chose was unfortunately too small to fit into an a4 page so I had
to revert to using the same cloning stamp tool that I did for the
Spyro poster. The cloning stamped area of the image didn't look
quite as good as the original image but it did not make much of a
difference as it would be covered by text for the most part. Once
the image was extended by a certain amount I turned my
attention back to InDesign in which I created an image box that
would allow me to place any image from my Pc to the project. I
then clicked on file, place, and then found the image that I had
edited. As you can see in the screenshot, the image was still a bit
small but this was not a problem as the rest of my PowerPoint will
show you. My goal for this page of the dps was to move Spyro in
the image into the top right four boxes with the rest of the text
surrounding it.

15. Process: Double Page Spread
The left page of the dps was extremely similar in design to the
right side. I simply kept my text within the grid that I had created
and added bevel and emboss, justified my text box and also
hyphenated it. To fit in the next quote easier I decided to drag
the two text boxes in the mid left section down a bit to an even
length with the other quote.
The image in the page was created with Photoshop using both
the shape tools and images gathered online. To create the effect
of Spyro standing over the purple box, I used the quick selection
tool to which allows you to highlight specific sections of any
image to highlight the part of spyro I wanted in front of the
purple shape. I then right clicked on the highlighted section and
selected 'create new layer via copy' - This kept the original image
in its place but also created a new version of the section I
highlighted in the same place which can be moved up and down
in the layer section. In this case I moved the layer up in
importance so that it covered the purple box which was created
simply using a rectangle shape tool and rotating it. The image
covered by the shapes and Spyro himself was originally taken
from online. Once the image had been edited to completion, the
picture was ready to be placed into the product in the same way
as the picture on the right page was.

16. Process: Double Page SpreadThe last parts to be added to the product were the
scorecard at the bottom of the right page and the
background to the text on the right. To add the
scorecard in I simply used the shape tool to add in a
rectangle which was able to fit into the gap at the
bottom of the page that the image couldn't cover. The
3d effect of the box was added using the effects
section in InDesign – In this box I used bevel and
emboss and the gradient tools. The bevel emboss is an
effect that creates makes the object look as if it is
being shone on by a light from any chosen angle. The
gradient tool was also used in the box to blend it in
better with the image background above it. I simply
had to choose the two colours I wanted in the gradient
using a pipette tool and then drag across the box I
wanted it in – it would then be applied in the direction
I used. The rest of the score card was simply created
using the text tool and resizing, moving, and changing
the colour of the font. The same gradient effect was
also used I the left page's background. The only
difference being the colours used and the fact that the
area covered is greater. This meant that the gradient
would be shown better than the one on the right. The
scorecard is there to make up for the space the image
above it could not fill meaning that it did not need to
be resized which could potentially make the image lose
quality due to stretching.
The font used in my products was downloaded off
of the internet and is the same font as the one
used in the early Spyro games. I downloaded it
from a font website and installed the files to the PC
I was using by copying and pasting a specific target
into the run box that can be opened using the
'windows' and 'R' buttons on the keyboard.