2. WHAT IS ‘HOT DESKING’?
During the hot-desking process my cover page was shown to a number of my peers. Their
feedback was based upon 4 different questions that I constructed in order to gain further
opinions on issues that have arisen through the production process.
These questions are:
1. What is your response to the cover picture, in particular the pose and its representation?
2. Are the cover lines readable (easily), and does the drop shadow help?
3. Can you clearly identify the strapline from beginning to end?
4. Can you identify the genre from the colour scheme and masthead? If not, how would
these issues be solved?
From the information gained, I was able to identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for
improvement.
3. STRENGTHS
Overall the image and the colour scheme of the front cover were
regarded by my peers as the standout strengths of the piece. The majority
believed that the image on the cover clearly represented the genre,
especially through the iconography that would be associated to the
darker clothing. My remaining peers believed that the model looked more
like he was a pop artist with his clothing and young face. One person
claimed that “my idea idea of rock is leather jackets, headbands, things
like that.
My aim with this particular model and (eventually the DPS) is too
challenge this visual stereotype and include younger people into the
genre. Therefore the feedback has demonstrated that I am beginning to
challenge representation and audience perception.
The red, white and black colours were regarded as “professional”, the
white drop-shadows for example were described as “unique”. This will
help it become more identifiable and stand out in the market.
4. WEAKNESSES AND POTENTIAL CHANGES
There were a number of weaknesses that my peers identified within the
hot desking. Some of the biggest, related to the strapline and the cover
lines. Although the response of the content and colour of the cover lines
was good, it was felt that the font appeared too “soft” of the page and
should be made edgier to better relate to the genre. Whilst the strapline
should be made bigger or changed in colour to make it more identifiable
and separate from the date and issue number which was believed to be
over powering it.
In terms of changes, I will experiment with new font styles for the cover
lines and also the colour of the strapline. After trying a number of
different fonts for the strapline, none of them fit the space I was aiming to
fill. Another change I hope to make based upon the feedback, with be the
finer editing of the image. In particular where the background meets the
skin of the model.
