Finished Production Reflection.

1. Production Reflection
Leon Boyce

2. Intial Plans
During week one we started on our initial plans, and due to
this being our FMP we had full creative control over what
we decided to make. I spent a lot of time weighing up what I
should work on, thinking about what I was passionate
about. In doing this I explored lots of different options. I
thought about creating a short film, but came up short for
what I would create the film on, what genre, etc.
So I moved on to exploring the idea of creating a magazine. I
really enjoyed creating a magazine and a website that both
worked in conjunction. But because this is my FMP I decided
to drop the idea of creating a website and put all my time
and effort into creating a full magazine. I am looking forward
to creating something that I am interested in with little to no
limitations.

3. Research
In week two we began the process of research and looking into our desired product
and the market surrounding them. I continued to look into my idea of a VW magazine,
not sure on what exactly I wanted to come of it. I just knew that creating something
based around an idea I was passionate about was the right thing to do. This way I
would not lack the motivation to complete my work, something which I found
happening quite often in previous rotations. I look mainly into the composition of
front covers, which is something that I struggled with in print rotation.
I found that the main most important thing when putting together a front cover is the
composition of the photo that is included on the cover. If I use one full photo as the
cover, which is my plan, then I need to carefully think about how I am going to
compose the photo so I can include my tag lines and photos of my feature cars around
it.
Another thing I found when researching front covers is that I need to focus on taking a
photo with good colour balance, because the main cover car will take up a lot of the
viewers eye, so without a good balance in colours the whole front cover will be
thrown off. I need to work on a colour scheme that pairs well with the green on my
car, as that is the main focus car on the cover.

4. Production Experiments
Week three was the start of our production. We starting working on experiment products to see what techniques
and different style of work we could create and use in our FMP. My idea was to explore a different range of font
styles and photo compositions to see how they all worked together. I first started looking at a rough font to pair well
with the style of magazine I was going for. But I decided I could spend my time a little better and look at better and
more interesting techniques. So after exploring the text and photo composition I moved on to making something
interesting and different that isn’t common in the VW magazine scene. I want my magazine to be interesting and
different, not only will it reflect in my theme of the cars in my magazine being different. But it will also stand out in
the shops among the other magazines.
I decided to stay on the route of text because for me this is the biggest part of a magazine, the text and heading
stands out the most. I went down the route of creating some 3D text in Photoshop, following a tutorial. Since this
was my first time creating something 3D on photoshop I didn’t manage to finish the work. I stopped early moved on
to something that I thought would be more beneficial to my magazine.
My second experiment was working on texture overlay on text, I was certain I wanted to include a section of text or a
title with a rusty look or effect. So I worked on overlaying the texture and giving the text the look of being embossed
into the rusty metal. In terms of a magazine I struggled to think of a way to include this so I worked it into a regular
photo of a wall but I couldn’t quite get the perspective right. I then had to idea to work the text onto the side of a
van or the bonnet. So I then tried to work the technique into a photo, but I didn’t have any good photos to
experiment with so next time when I am taking photos I will take them with the intention of working the technique
into them.
I then made a mock up front cover which was by far my favourite production. Within the front cover I included lots of
different techniques that I would like to use in my final FMP. This being the use of leading lines, using the pen tool to
cut out photos of cars, and then also giving that car a hand made shadow. By far one of the hardest things to do was
settle on a font to use. IU settled with a blocky font called Impact. This looked great in white with a black stroke and a
little bit of drop shadow but the only downside was the fact that it looked so plan and didn’t really stand out among
the other fonts. That is why I was lead to create a second title in my next experiment.
I then reflected on all of my production experiments and compiled them into a PowerPoint.

5. Pre Production
In week 4 we worked on the pre production PowerPoints,
which was something that helped me decided on the
fonts I was going to pick, the colour scheme and so much
more. It took me so long to decide on a font, which is
something that I documented in this PowerPoint.
Although looking through the fonts might have been a
little waste of my time, but this was a super helpful
process because it really helped with me deciding on
settle on the undecided style of magazine, I didn’t realise
how big of an impact a font would have on my magazine.
This slide had a huge impact on the overall design and
look of my magazine and I am glad I spent so much time
finalising the pre production.

6. Production Week 1
Week 5 was the first week of production. Because I had
no photos to work with I started working with my articles
for my magazine, I figured that if I got them out of the
way I can then start composing my magazine as soon as I
had the photos. Which I feel will be best not only for time
constraints but also for the actual production of my work.
But before I could start writing my articles I had to figure
out what I wanted to write my articles on. I decided that I
wanted to talk about the all electric cars that Volkswagen
are working on, especially the new ID Buzz. But in doing
so I realised I couldn’t actually take any of my own photos
of the new ID Buzz, so I figured the next best thing would
be to draw the ID Buzz and in my magazine.

7. Production Week 2
Week 2 of production was definitely the most success I have had so far
in terms of production. I pushed my self to get my drawings done and
once I had finished the ID Buzz and the Split screen I started work on
my front cover. The drawings came out exactly the way I wanted them
too, they look rough but that was the style of concept art I was going
for. I also added in some animation, so when I upload my magazine and
make it into a digital copy then I can use the animation to show a
difference between printed and digital. The work load behind the
drawings was a little bit of a struggle because I was completely new to
the graphics tablet I was drawing with, but once I had gotten used to
the feel and the weight behind the pen I picked it up relatively quickly.
In my spare time I also worked on writing up all of my articles and got
them all finished and ready to just copy and paste straight into my
magazine.

8. Production Week 3
Week 3 of production was the week that I started to shoot photos for my
front cover. The front cover of the magazine was the only thing that I need to
take photos for, because I had already sourced all of the car photos at all of
the car shows I had been going to. I planned ahead and took photos of every
type of car I saw at the show. Just in case I decided to change my mind or
write an article on something that wasn’t a ratted car. Once I had the photo
for my front cover the next step was composing all of the elements I had
already made. I started with a different image to the one you see on the cover
now, but I was struggling to compose things around the original one so I
reworked my front cover to use a different background photo and settled with
the one you see now.
Also the components that are featuring on my front cover were creating in
week 3 as well. Reflecting back on the front cover of my magazine I think that
the background photo could still be better, but because of the time
constraints I didn’t get the chance to take some more photos.

9. Production Week 4
In week 4 of production I created the contents page, my double page spread and the
Q&A. the contents page was simple enough to make but I also feel it is very effective,
it includes some audience interaction and also gives the readers an insight into the
magazine. It was easy enough to create but I found after adding in the text it was
washed out with the background photo that I chose. This is what made me add the
colour backing behind all the text. Instead of just using plain colours I decided to try
and correlate them to the photos that the text was talking about. Looking back on my
contents page I realised that some of my text didn’t line up with the numbers that
were next to the describing blocks of text.
I then made the double page spread talking about my car. I was struggling to find a
layout for my article so I referred back to my research to look at some already existing
DPS’. And that is why I added in the introduction page, and was what helped me settle
on the layout.
The final thing I created in week 4 was my Q&A and social media page. This page was
one of the hardest for me to create, with it being a double page spread I struggled to
fill the A3 page with content, so I split it down the middle of the page which helped
the page look more full. Looking back on this page there isn’t much I would change,
aside from maybe adding in a few more question onto the Q&A page.

10. Production Week 5
Week 5 was spent creating the final 3 pages. An article, two adverts, a sneak peak preview of the next
magazine and also the back page of my magazine. The final article in my magazine is a simple single a4
page, the drawings that you see are ones that I created and reflected upon in the production week 1.
The page its self was originally planned to be a double page spread, but I found the article I had written
lacking and needed to pad it out with more text to make it suitable for a single page.
I partnered the advert next to this double page spread because I didn’t want to have two adverts next to
each other. The advert I created was made using a photo I took at a car show, I decided that this was the
most suitable photo and my plan was to make it look like the advertisement was part of the window.
The next advert was something that I needed to create quickly to full a page but I feel out of the two
adverts this one is the better one. It is simple and easy to understand, not trying to be flash or over the
top it just gets the point across.
The next thing you see to the right of the advert is a sneak peak of next weeks issue, something that
was created as a production experiment a few weeks ago. I just tweaked a few bit and then added some
new titles and I feel like it worked well.
The back cover of the magazine was the most simple task, I used a VW badge and the same texture for
the header on the front,. The photo compliments the logo well and ties off the end of the magazine
nicely.
The final step to finishing my magazine was adding in all the text through InDesign, this was a relatively
simple process considering that I has already written up all of my articles, all I had to do is create the
text boxes and then copy and paste the text into the boxes.

11. Evaluation
The final week of this year was spent doing evaluation,
which meant looking back over all of the work that I have
created. Which was really helpful because it helped me
take a step back and appreciate my work, more then I did
do when I was creating the actual work. When I did my
evaluation I looked at all my work individually and started
picking it apart and looking at the strengths and
weaknesses. I found that when I was creating my work I
didn’t really think it was up to the standard that I would
be pleased with. But when I started my evaluation it
helped me see that I was actually pleased with the
everything about my work.