Mel Nuttall evaluated their research, planning, and production process for creating a cosplay website and magazine. Their research included analyzing cosplay magazine covers and websites to inform their design choices. They conducted a survey and interviews to understand their target audience. Their planning involved creating templates and color schemes. They struggled with time management as editing photos and website updates took longer than expected, preventing them from completing a planned video. They are pleased with the final products despite not having time for all planned elements.

1. Evaluation
Mel Nuttall

2. Production Process Evaluation

3. Research
I think my research started well. I’d thought about how I was going to start my
research and decided to do two of each element I wanted to research, even if
I decided I might not end up making it part of my project in the end. The
cosplay magazine front covers were fairly easy to find, and I was able to
analyse the different elements, including going back later to add in even more
detail than previously. The magazine covers helped me to think about how I
should lay mine out, such as to have one central picture with part of it
covering the heading to make it appear to be well known. From there, I was
then able to find a website for that same magazine, along with a separate
website to compare. I did feel that my analysis of the magazines’ websites
weren’t as detailed as the Yorkshire Cosplay Con website because there
wasn’t a lot to talk about that would be helpful in my products, contrary to
the other, though I managed to find the middle ground between them.

4. Research
From them, I thought that bright colours would be good for getting the
viewers attention but if there was too much or they were too bright, it could
be difficult to read or off putting. So I tried to use a paler background and text
to make the images stand out more, since they’re supposed to be the focus. I
discovered that the font wanted to be a reasonable size and not boring but
still easy to read. I also knew that I shouldn’t have too many pages but also
not crowd everything I might be including onto one page. That would mean
users may have to scroll for ages and I knew that I would find that irritating. I
also didn’t want to have too much text either, but enough to actually make
the pages worth while. This I kept to mind and used to help me with my
planning. When it came to researching the photography portfolios and
videos, I definitely struggled more. I’d seen a few cosplay photo shoots
before, but now that I was looking for them, it seemed really difficult to be
able to find what I was looking for. Eventually I found the Merida cosplay
photographs that resembled the sort of look I knew my cosplay pictures

5. Research
would have. With those images, I was able to talk about similar things to the
magazine and how I could use these images to inspire my own as well as what
I might do differently. Unfortunately after that I felt as though I needed to
move on so that I knew I had time to get the rest of my research, but from
that portfolio, I already had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to have it laid
out.
The biggest weakness of my secondary research was definitely the video. At
the time I wasn’t completely sure if I would be able to make all of the products
in the level of detail I was considering in the time
available but I wanted to make sure that I
researched everything that I thought was a
possibility. I feel that if I had done better in
my research for the video, I might have
decided to continue planning for it and
therefore might have created a video for my
project.

6. Research
My primary research was a survey conducted on survey monkey and some
interviews other members of my class filled out. After having some difficulty
thinking about questions that would be useful and helpful to me it was fairly
simple, as with the interviews. With the survey I was able to get an idea of
quantity, such as how many people actually knew what cosplay was or if they
had participated in it before. The interviews were more focused on the
qualitative information, with reasoning behind the interviewee’s answer. My
analysis of the survey went fairly well and I was able to extract more
information from the questions as I thought I would, which I was pleased
about and I gained some more advice for my audience’s interests. The
interviews were helpful too, although I feel like I should have gotten a few
more to get a wider variety of closer opinions on my products.

7. Planning
My planning went fairly well. I wanted to plan for everything that I had
researched, even though I wasn’t sure if I would be able to have time to
create everything. This is why I created a plan for a video page on my website,
but decided not to include it in my product at the end when I ran out of time.
Since I’d had thoughts about several different colour schemes, I put them all
next to each other. I found this to be a good idea as it helped me to see that
the brighter colours didn’t actually work that well and a softer colour allowed
the pictures to stand out on their own.
A good part about my planning, in my opinion, was creating the template I
thought would work and then duplicating it to add images in that I’d found in
my mood boards. I didn’t completely stick to my plans through however as I
did rearrange some parts. For example, the ‘what’s new’ section on the home
page ended up as an Instagram feed from the account I created specifically. I
also used the community page to display the magazine front cover I designed
by making it a part of a competition to be included as part of the magazine.

8. Planning
While I didn’t plan for these changes, I do feel as though they were for the
better and I am very happy with the decisions I made.
By doing this, it helped me to visualise if that layout would actually work with
the sorts of images I would be uploading. It was thanks to those that I got to
think about my actual cosplay photographs. I had seen what sort of shots
were taken and I incorporated that into my planning. I knew that I couldn’t
just have one style of shot with the cosplayer doing practically the same pose
because they would start to get repetitive. Thankfully, I kept to this idea to try
get at least one of each kind of shot per cosplay character and I think they
ended up looking really nice in the end.

9. Time Management
Throughout most of the time completing my project, I feel that I had a
reasonably good time schedule. This feeling did fade as I got closer and closer
to the end because of loss of lesson time and parts taking longer than I had
expected. But I think I managed it pretty well even when time was quickly
running out.
My main problem was when it came around to the part in my production
where I was beginning to edit and upload my photographs while also planning
when I would take the next lot. Sometimes the editing took longer than I had
thought and I wouldn’t get as many edited in a day as I wanted which meant
that I couldn’t do any more to my website without them. That was also when
I realised that I wasn’t going to have the time to do the video. I had been
unsure from when I started my planning but now I knew it. However this did
help me to be able to focus on my pictures and getting those done and up
onto my website.
If I’d had more time then I would have definitely planned out and filmed the

10. Time Management
video. I’d already had ideas for the cosplay I could use, along with some
royalty free music and an idea of colour corrections and sequence shots. It is
something I wish I had time to do, but I’m still pleased with the products that
I made in the time that was available, and the extra time to go back and make
improvements if I needed to.

11. Technical Qualities
Both the magazines use a main image as a means of drawing the viewer in to the main part of
the cover. Again, Cosplay Culture’s magazine has the cosplayer look directly at the camera, but
I still think my cover works well too.
Both of them also use
a red font for the
title, although I use it
to fit in with the
colour of my scheme
for the cover,
whereas Cosplay
Culture’s uses red to
stand out from the
black and the red.
Cosplay Culture’s
cover this time has
more on the image
than Cosplay Realm’s
and mine. The font
for the title is larger
as it can still be read
because of the part
of the cosplay that is
obscuring the title.
This is a technique
commonly used by
magazines when the
title is popular
enough to be
recognised anyway.
The colour grading I used for my magazine was used to bring
out the red of the dress and to make it feel warmer and
happier. The other cover used darker colours plus blue and
green to give it a cooler feel to represent the character.

12. Technical Qualities
To edit my photographs for Scarlet Witch, I used the lomo effect as a starter for all of my
pictures. I then used the colour balancing to make the red stronger and bring it out from
the jacket and so the red of the powers were brighter. I also brought out some of the
green for the trees to make it stand out from the red further.
When it came to
editing in the
character’s powers, I
used the same
technique as I had
done with my
experiments with
the brush pre-sets.
However, I also
swapped between
several different
blending modes to
get the most
effective look for
each photograph.
The cosplay pictures of Merida on the other hand don’t really seem
edited. Two of the photographs I don’t think need much editing but
the others could have been edited to make the orange stand out
more, since visual effects weren’t used, although there would be a
way of adding them to the photograph in the form of will-o’-wisps
that are a big part of the Brave storyline.

13. Technical Qualities
Again when I was editing my Borderlands pictures I’d used the lomo effect along with
colour balancing to start with. For these images I wanted to bring out the warmer colours.
This is because the Borderlands graphics are often based on those colours, depending on
the whereabouts of the player. So I wanted to make sure I emulated that.
Since Borderlands is
a cel-shaded game. I
wanted to try and
replicate it on the
background to
match the makeup
of the cosplay. I
didn’t need it for all
of my pictures but
with some I used
the cartoon effect.
Unfortunately, the
effect was hardly
visible in the end
which was a little
disappointing.
The two portfolios are similar with the fact that I didn’t really need to
add any special effects, especially since the cartoon effect was
unsuccessful. One of the bigger differences is that the type of shots
were more varied that with the photographs of the Merida cosplayer.
Theirs had the cosplayer with almost the same type shot for each
picture and a very similar pose whereas mine featured several, and
with some looking at the camera and away.

14. Technical Qualities
YCC’s landing home page has a lot more to see initially than my own. They have all of their
main links to other pages they have and to their social media. I have an Instagram feed linked
to my page under the image and other links throughout. They do also use several images,
both in the form of a banner and an image taken to advertise the upcoming convention.
I feel that the
image I used was
better at drawing
attention to itself
because there is
less crowding on
the page. Because
the background is
so bright it
distracts from the
image. The focus
of my website
however is the
main image.
One main difference to do with links and apps is that YCC’s website
includes external links with a little icon whereas my website uses a
Wix app to show the Instagram page on the website without the link.
I also used a wix app to display the portfolios together. This was easy
to make and YCC’s site does actually use something similar to
categorise the images but it’s by date instead of by character.

15. Aesthetic Qualities
Both my product and Cosplay Realm’s magazine used one main image for the front
cover. While their image showed the full body of the cosplayer in the centre, wasn’t
quite a full body shot and was positioned slightly to the left.
Cosplay Realm’s
cosplayer also
looks directly at
the camera,
whereas mine
does not. It was
something I had
been intending to
do, but I felt like
this image
worked best and
used other
features to catch
the viewer’s
attention.
Our colour
schemes are
quite different,
but they both
use ones that
represent their
character: such
as blue to
represent the
ocean for
Moana and red
and green for
Red Riding Hood
in a forest.My cover has more on top of the image, such as
lines regarding content in the magazine and the
barcode is visible too. But the main title with
‘cosplay’ is slightly obscured by the cosplayer’s head.

16. Aesthetic Qualities
The Merida photoshoot uses quite a red/orange autumn theme for the pictures. This
means that the brightness of the character’s signature hair is brought out and emulated in
the colour of the leaves behind her. However not all of the pictures have this effect and I
think they look much better with it. This is a difference to how I edited my pictures, which
For my pictures, I
wanted to make as
many of the colours
as bright and as
saturated as I could
to reflect how the
Overwatch graphics
look. So I made sure
that I used the
correct colour
adjustments and I
think it worked very
well.
In comparison to the type of shots used for the photographs, mine
were much more varied in terms of distance from the camera. My
friend, as Tracer, has a range from long shots to close ups to make
each picture different whereas the pictures of Merida all seem to be
taken from a similar distance and the poses all look very similar. I like
how mine was more varied and I’m happy with the decision to go
with that.
all had a
similar
editing
process with
the lomo
effect.

17. Aesthetic Qualities
Again, I wanted to use the lomo effect to draw attention towards the focus of the picture.
Then I used the colour grading to try and make the image warmer and the red as bright as
possible. The thing that does irritate me is how the backgrounds are all different colours
due to the colour grading. If I’d had more time I’d go back and have them all as one colour.
For one of my
images, I used a
close up of the
cosplayer. I used a
quick mask tool to
make her eyes a
brighter blue that
the lighting of the
camera didn’t pick
up. I think it made
the picture look a lot
better.
Like with all of my other portfolios, I made sure to vary the types of
shots I used. Being in the studio, I couldn’t get any long distance
shots but I swapped those for a sat down pose rather than my
others, whom were stood up.

18. Aesthetic Qualities
Both of these websites use a large image or video on the landing page to catch the
viewer’s attention. However, mine is at the centre on the landing page and takes up most
of the screen whereas Cosplay Realm’s only shows half of the thumbnail video, for the
attention seeking part of the page is the large ‘welcome!’.
I prefer the colour of
my background to
Cosplay Realm’s.
with the background
being white, there
seems to be a lot of
empty space
between the
navigation and the
text. Having a bit of
colour too just
seemed to make the
whole thing look a
bit better in my
opinion.
What I thought was most weak about my home page was that I
didn’t have a logo. I thought that Cosplay Realm’s logo was well
designed, and it is something I definitely would have created if I’d
had more time to improve it. I feel that my home page would have
looked even better if I’d had a logo that I could include over the
banner images and in the top left corner of each page.

19. Audience Appeal
My target audience is very broad, but that is only because that is the point.
The idea of my target audience being quite ranged was to reflect how
different members of the cosplay community are so different. This actually
meant that creating my products that I thought about making able to appeal
to a much bigger range of an audience. To help me to find out and have more
of an insight into the more popular side of my target audience.
I used the YouGov website to see what their
profile said about the people who cosplay.
The result I got from the 450 people that
completed it and was surprised. It was more
popular with men than I had thought so I was
suddenly aware that my products might not
have been appealing to that side of my target
audience.

20. Audience Appeal
However, I still think that my products will appeal to the majority of my target
audience, especially in terms of age and sexuality. My products aren’t really
tailored to any specific sexuality so there isn’t really a reason why any
sexuality would be appealed to them if they have an interest in cosplay. In
terms of age, while the actual activity of cosplay attracts people of all ages,
the people who are most likely to look at my website or magazine would
probably be late teenagers to young adults who are enthusiastic about
cosplay or are interested in starting. The portfolio appeals to all ages because
they are suitable and will appeal to the people who are interested in the
characters that the pictures are of. My website wasn’t too childish looking to
older people by not having too many bright colours that could be distracting
but also it wasn’t colourless to seem boring. I made sure to make the content
wasn’t written so formally that younger people were put off by too much
block text but it wasn’t so informal that older people were annoyed by it.

21. Audience Appeal
Pictures involve both
male and female
characters to not
seem one sided and
that cosplays of all
genders are done,
even if the cosplayer
is of a different
gender.
Bright, saturated colours that make the characters
easily recognisable in their own world
Photographs edited to show
characteristics of the character that
cannot be created in real life easily.
Different types of
shots that can
reflect character
poses that are used
in the world they
are from.

22. Audience Appeal
Still in a formal tone so it doesn’t
seem like it’s written just for
children
But not so formal that the
younger teenagers who might
read can’t understand what is
being said.
The serif is present but there isn’t
so much of it that it disrupts the
other letters.
Text is simple
and informative
The cover isn’t
covered in text to
show off as much
of the picture as
possible.
The cosplayer is a young person
which will appeal more to
younger people involved in
cosplay who are sometimes
looked down upon.

23. Peer
Feedback

24. Feedback 1
• What did you like about the product?
– The costumes are all well crafted and look good. I
particularly enjoyed the effects used for the Scarlett
Witch cosplay for her superpower, these looked very
effective.
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
– Some use of filters or colouring on some of the photos
would have been nice, practically the borderlands
cosplay where you could’ve used a cartoon filter to
make the world feel like the borderlands world.

25. Feedback 2
• What did you like about the product?
– The website is very well laid out and the
information is very clear and easy to understand
for someone who is not into cosplay.
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
– Maybe have a brighter colour scheme?

26. Feedback 3
• What did you like about the product?
– I really liked the use of images and how the
website layout, it was easy to follow and the
image quality was amazing and it was interesting
to see all the different cosplays.
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
– The fonts could be a bit clearer and have some
more colours.

27. Feedback 4
• What did you like about the product?
– Well it’s pretty simple to navigate which is good
and the menus aren’t complicated or confusing.
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
– The colour scheme is quite simple though, maybe
jazz it up and make it more exciting?

28. Feedback 5
• What did you like about the product?
– The colour palette works well with the
photographs in making them stand out more.
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
– The text on the front page could look a bit more
professional and more centred in the box and the
about page text is kinda hard to read.

29. Peer Feedback Summary
• What do you agree with from your peer
feedback?
– I like that they agreed that my website was easy to
navigate. I do also agree that the font I picked is
actually quite difficult to read in places so I will make
sure to change that. The font for the headings is fine,
but the body font will be changed into a better font. In
terms of colour scheme, I knew that not having bright
‘in your face’ colours that distracted from the images
was a good thing but with almost all of my feedback
talking about adding colour, it crossed my mind and I
agreed that I could add more colour without
distracting from the images.

30. Peer Feedback Summary
• What do you disagree with from your peer feedback?
– One of the people suggested that I “use some filters or some
colouring” on the photographs that I’d uploaded. I used a lot
of colour grading on all of my photographs to bring out the
colours that complemented the picture as well as I could. I
also did attempt to use a cartoon filter for my Borderlands
pictures but due to the colour grading, it was hardly visible. I
also don’t quite understand what the fifth person meant by
having the text centre aligned on the front page because I
had made sure that all of my text was centre aligned, except
one part of the magazine cover but that was by design.

31. Peer Feedback Summary
Upon reading my feedback, I decided that the improvements I would make
would mainly be to my website. I came to realise that the font for the main text
on my website can be very difficult to read, and it would be especially so for
certain readers that might not be able to understand. Therefore I will make
sure that I change this font into one that could even be readable to people with
sight problems. That means a fairly simple font, probably without a serif.
The other thing that I think I might improve on is the colour scheme. When I
was thinking about this during designing my style sheet, I picked the softer
colour because it didn’t distract for the images. But I was mainly thinking about
the background. The main opportunity I would have to add in some more
colours would be to draw attention to the headings or that worked with the

32. Peer Feedback Summary
images, rather than competing with them. This is the problem I’d had with my
style sheet. I was looking at too many bright colours that looked quite
overwhelming, especially for the background. So what I think I will do for my
improvements is keep the colour I have for my background currently, after
checking that a more saturated version doesn’t look better, and using a
brighter colour for the headings. Although I’ll still make sure it looks
professional while complementing the colour of the background and the
images that are shown. I’ve collected a selection of colours that I’m
considering
to use with my
b current background
or if I decide to
change it if I find a
more appropriate
background colour.

33. Improvements
My main improvement to my FMP was an addition to the production photographs in
my portfolio. I’d wanted to do a Photoshop picture but I knew that I wouldn’t have
time to do this for all of them. So as part of my improvements, I decided to take the
time to create one picture like this.
I started by taking two images that I thought would work as a transitional image. I kept
the background from one and used the two images as two separate layers. That way, I
could overlay blue colours and outer glows and change the opacity of each image.

34. Improvements
I then started to layer up a look for the blue light to show the transitional light as the
character is shown to move from one part of the image to the other. Once I had done
this, I separated the background from the cosplayer so that I could add the lomo effect
to the background. I ended up separating them because the lomo effect on the
cosplayer took all the saturation out of her clothing and saturated colours are
common in Overwatch. Once I was happy with the background, I added the layer back
on and changed the blending mode so that the images blended together better. The
result meant that I got an image that had the lomo effect but my character still kept
the saturation in her clothes.