Joseph Knight describes the various tools he used to create a school magazine cover in Adobe Photoshop. He used the type tool to add text, Gaussian blur to obscure a van in the background photo, and the eraser tool to unblur parts of the photo around the van. He received feedback on font choices and the distracting van, which he addressed by blurring the van more and changing fonts. He then compared his work to sample covers, noting strengths and weaknesses in layout and design. Finally, he shared drafts and annotations of his developing front cover design.

1. My media workBy Joseph Knight

2. First tool used – Horizontal Type ToolI used the type tool to write my masthead, kickers, headlines and explanatory texts. I chose to use the font LYNNfor the kickers and Adobe Garamond Pro for the explanatory text.

3. Second tool used – Gaussian Blur I used the Gaussian Blur tool to blur out the broken-down van in the background of my picture.Using this I can blur out the van, however the image will still be too blurry to use for my actual cover image. To make my image suitable I must rub out the blur using the rubber tool.

4. Third tool used – Eraser ToolNext after using the Gaussian Blur to blur out the broken-down van I had to un-blur the parts of the picture around the van. To do this I used the Eraser Tool and rubbed it on the model in the picture and the door, but leaving the glass pane on the door blurred. This is probably the tool I used most as I had to zoom into the image quite far to make sure the blurred and un-blurred parts of the picture blended well together. As you can see in this picture, I have used the rubber to highlight the model and the door, whilst I have left the glass pane untouched so the van in the background is not as visible.

5. Feedback received and how I respondedTwo good points:Font of the masthead is good because it is big and bold Main picture is suitable and eye catchingTwo areas of improvement:The car in the picture is a bit distracting For the kicker and explanatory text you should keep the fonts either both sans serif or both serif otherwise it looks quite messyThe *places so eat around ST Marylebone* maybe just write SMS so is is lined well.Continual improvement: Keep it looking neat but unique at the same timeSpelling mistake on “Marylebone”I was happy with the feedback received and agreed with her points. I blurred out the van and kept the model and the door highlighted, and changed the spelling mistake on ‘Marylesbone’ to ‘Marylebone’. I changed the font of my kickers from STENCILto LYNN. I kept the explanatory text the same font Estrangelo Edessa as I believe this is a good enough font and goes well with the kicker’s font.

6. Comparison – Marillac 2006Cover is very dull, uses uninteresting coloursNothing special seems older than ‘2006’ seems like something from 1986.No exclamation marks used to show how glad the school are to have accomplished this achievement.The main image, what does it mean? No captions to show what is happening.Gives no reasons for you to read on.No kickers apart from main headline, no explanatory text.

7. Comparison – COLLEGEAll the text are contained within the third’s which gives are far more professional look than the Marillac newsletter. Everything apart from the masthead are all in line with contributes further to this attribute.The masthead is easy to read and looks far more appealing than the other newsletter.A suitable picture has been used which is linked to the main kicker of fashion. The background of the image is a dress with a belt and some accessories which is linked to the ‘NYC’s FRESHMAN FASHION CEO’.

8. Mock-up front

9. Photo-shoot Front

10. Front cover draft

11. Front cover annotationTwo good points:Font of the masthead is good because it is big and bold Main picture is suitable and eye catchingTwo areas of improvement:The car in the picture is a bit distracting For the kicker and explanatory text you should keep the fonts either both sans serif or both serif otherwise it looks quite messyThe *places so eat around ST Marylebone* maybe just write SMS so is lined well.Continual improvement: Keep it looking neat but unique at the same timeSpelling mistake on “Marylebone”

12. Photo-shoot TOC

13. Basic photoshop skills School magazine analysis Mockup Front Photoshoot front Front cover draft Front cover annotation Photoshoot TOC