The document describes experiments conducted by Jessica Crosland using Photoshop to learn new techniques for her project. In her first experiment, she used tools like the rectangle and warp tools to transform an image of a strawberry into a new shape. While she struggled with some aspects, she was able to learn new skills. For her second experiment, she replicated the technique with a watermelon image and also used the drawing tool, gaining more experience. She then created proof of concept pages for her fanzine, transforming images and incorporating colors, fonts, and elements to prototype layout ideas. The experiments helped her progress her skills and ideas for her final project.

1. Experiments
By Jessica Crosland

2. Included in my factual project I looked into different ways I could learn new
techniques for my experiments therefore I chose Photoshop. I mainly know the
basics with Photoshop, and I do know how to get rid of background ds and
change the blending options etc. however, I wanted to try out something which
I know nothing about because then I will be able to learn from this. I found a
way of using the object tools for example I used basic rectangle tool and
changed this into a rounded one I then used the edit and then transform and
used the warp tool which enabled me to move the image round to match up
with the object I am trying to create. I chose to look into fruits because these
are a starting point for me and I knew my outcomes wouldn't be perfect I just
wanted to experiment, so I found a strawberry and began to form the shape
around my picture. After this I used the blending options tool and added a
pattern onto my strawberry as shown to match together with the image and I
also used the eyedropper tool to match the same colour scheme to my image
which turned out the exact same. I think this experiment did go well because I
was able to learn new ways of creating things from an image to becoming my
own image as I never knew this on photoshop however, I did struggle with
making the object as the warp tool was difficult and i couldn’t create the green
leaves from the strawberry to be exact and had to guess myself. I will now be
using this technique when it comes to creating my fanzine as I can find images
online that will go within my pages and turn them into my own by creating
them through shapes if I don’t find it to difficult to draw certain shapes. I want
to now get more practice with this and look into another experiment to which I
can learn knew ways using photoshop because my outcome will mainly be
focusing on using photoshop.
Experiment 1
Final
outcome

3. Experiment 2 Moving onto my second experiment which is similar to my first one I continued with creating
a different type of fruit which I chose watermelon and used the same technique to create this
one I felt this one turned out better as I used the gradient tool when mixing the colours
together for the edges and from a far distance this looked just like the picture I had also added
a shadow for the outline to make my shape stand out more. I then moved onto a different
technique using photoshop which was the drawing tool, and I found a collection of fruits onto
one image from the internet I then traced one piece of fruit to get experience with the
drawing tool for when I use this in my final outcome. I found this one a good experiment and
it did go well however, it was very time consuming as I was going to draw out the whole
image, but I kept messing up with the lines not being exact or straight, so I then decided to
focus on just one fruit and then added the blending options tool with a shadow and contrast,
so my other image stood out. Overall, I am happy with both of my experiments because they
have helped me to gain more experience with photoshop and learn new tools and I can n ow
say I have learned new things and will progress onto my final stage of the project being able to
include these new techniques and show them on my fanzine. I also conducted an interview
which was my 3rd experiment with another person in my class and got some feedback from
this which I have spoke about on my website.

4. Proof Of Concept
As an add on from my experiments I decided to make an
example page of how my final fanzine would look I only
did examples because I didn’t want to create one which
would be too similar to my final one. I began by finding a
picture of a women using the internet and turning this
into my own image I used the polygonal lasso tool and
created a separate layer with the image underneath my
new layer and then began to use the tool around each
part e.g. hair, eyes. Once I had done this I used the
blending tools and added a colour and to match the
colour schemes I used the gradient tool. This was my first
ever attempt with this type of experiment and I was
happy with my outcome I learnt a lot of new techniques
and I did create this outcome a few times as my first few
didn’t go to plan but in the end I managed to make this
one look realistic. As this was my first try it isn’t perfect
but I can improve on this for my final I added fonts from
da font and text and matched the pink colour scheme
(feminist colour) which links with my audience. I like this
layout idea because it is minimalistic which looks a lot
more professional but with small details this pulls in my
audience however I may not add as much text as I have
because I don’t want my audience to see too much text
and no longer be interested. Other details such as the
twitter logo which I placed in the background and added
opacity these are small but make a huge impact to the
background itself and make it look less plain or a basic
layout. I am glad I got to experiment and create a layout
plan at the same time as I now have an idea on how to
present the pages in my fanzine.

5. Proof Of Concept 2
• After finishing my first proof of concept I decided
I wanted to try out with one more page idea so I
could gather more ideas together. This was
similar to my first concept as I added images to
the background and also used images into
polaroid's to make my page look more creative.
Using a bold font from da font and minimalised
text around the images I chose to add a range of
images so the text and image ratio is the same,
whereas I noticed on my first concept I had
added too much text and not as many images. I
chose a purple colour scheme which matched
with the image of the models dress and this
colour links with my target audience of women
which will grab my audiences attention as the
whole page is focusing on this colour. Overall, I'm
very happy with both of my outcomes because
they have turned out just how I pictured those in
my head with all of my ideas and I can now look
forward onto using these plans to produce my
final outcomes I also have ideas on where I can
get my fonts from and what type of images I will
be looking for or creating, taking pictures of. I
spent a lot of time on these concepts because I
didn’t want to rush and create something which I
cant reflect on or look back on but as I have put
a lot of detail into these I am able to look back
for ideas or inspiration as I included both the
fashion industry and social media two examples
of pages included in my fanzine.