The document provides details on the steps taken to design a magazine cover and advertorial for Canon. It describes extensive research conducted on Canon's existing magazine conventions to incorporate consistent branding elements. Colors were manipulated in Photoshop to match Canon's brand colors of red, black, and yellow. Magazine conventions like headers, issue numbers, and free video boxes were added. Photographs were taken and edited to include different camera products. Layout and design elements were refined over multiple iterations to improve flow and aesthetics. The goal was to create cohesive and engaging promotional materials that stayed true to Canon's magazine style.

1. Post production canon

2. Editing
The first step in creating my product was to
carry out extensive research on existing canon
products and after doing this I found
that common conventions were found in nearly
every canon magazine such as the photo plus
header, issue number, date, the yellow circle for
subheadings the yellow box where the
consumer is shown that there is an option of
free videos and commonly a strapline that runs
across the top and bottom of the page. So,
these were all the things that I aimed to include
in my own magazine cover. From this
information I also found that the main colours
used when advertising a canon magazine were
red black which are brand colours and yellow
perhaps to draw in the reader's attention so
when creating my own magazine cover, I used
these features as a guideline for the layout
design and colour scheme of the magazine.

3. Colour Manipulation
To fit with the scheme of my magazine front
cover I needed to elevate the colours within
the focal image. To bring this colour into the
image in photoshop I adjusted the saturation,
brightness and vibrancy of the image. I also
adjusted the levels of colour saturation within
the image. This allowed for the colours to pop
within the image. The deep red vibrant tones
matches the theme of canon and the brands
logo. By adjusting the colour levels it also
allowed for contrast to be created with the
black silhouette of the lighthouse drawing the
attention of the audience and engaging them.

4. Adding magazine conventions
Due to my research, I found that nearly all photo plus
(Canon) magazines had straplines along the top and bottom of
the page along with in the bottom left-hand corner a box
advertising free videos to follow online. The free element makes
the magazine seem value for money and draws your eye to the
magazine dure to the bright yellow colour so this had to be
included. For my magazine I decided that this needed to be
included to remain loyal to the look of existing products of
canons promotional products. To do this I used the shape tool on
photoshop to create the shape I needed along with researching
fonts to find the exact one used in the canon magazine and
copied the play button emblem over to my product to make it
look as like existing magazines as I could. I used a variety of
images as the thumbnails of these free videos to again show the
vast variety canon can offer the intended consumer of the
magazine again drawing on the value for money element. I
added the bottom strapline by again using the shape tool and
importing a rectangle, I decided to colour this strapline red as it
not only is the main colour used by canon but also fits nicely with
the focal image of the magazine allowing it to flow together and
appealing on the eye.

5. Within the magazine front cover, I wanted to include a
variety of different camera types styles and accessories
therefore I went into the photography studio with a DSLR
camera and tri-pod to add dimension to the magazine.
Taking photographs within the studio allowed me to
manipulate lighting and positioning as well as angles. I
took the image with a white background behind it which
also made it easier when transferred into photoshop as I
could easily select the magic wand tool to erase the
background. I also used the magic wand tool to erase the
background from a prop phone as well as the middle of the
phone then added a layer to create the ombre for the
phone background. This background links to the social
media theme of the magazine front cover and advertorial
as due to my research the target audience are the biggest
consumers of social media which also links to the bottom
strapline as content creators become more and more
people. I also used the horizontal type tool to add a
common magazine convention of page numbers on where
to find the articles this allows for the rest of the magazine
to be easily navigated for the audience and be able to find
what they are looking for easier.

6. For this magazine front cover, I wanted to include a
canon product that related to the theme of journeys
and social media due to the audience being the
biggest consumer of social media therefore I selected
the Canon Zoemini camera as it is a pocket-sized
camera and portable photo printer to capture the
moment perfect for gigs travel and anything else you
can think of. Due to the brief requiring the use of
multimedia products I used Canva another photo
editing and product creating platform in order to
create the eBook cover placed in the yellow semi-
circle this allowed me to edit and create my own
poster quickly to add it to my magazine cover. I also
used the horizontal type tool too add the camera spec
and information to the front of the cover giving
information away to engage the audience but not
giving so much away that it would disengage the
audience making them want to buy the magazine in
order to find out more about it.

7. When looking at the poster I felt that the camera
on the tripod looked to bright and out of place
due to the highlights the studio lights provided
therefore I adjusted the saturation, brightness
and vibrancy of the image. I also adjusted the
levels of colour saturation within the
image. By adjusting the colour levels saturation
vibrancy and highlights it also allowed for
contrast to be created with the black camera
highlighting contrast within the magazine front
cover allowing for a variety of elements and
colour range to be explored and highlighted. I
used CTRL + C and CTRL + V to use an
existing barcode this allowed for a magazine
convention to be added quickly into the
magazine.

8. I used the horizontal type tool to add a common
magazine convention of page numbers on where to
find the articles this allows for the rest of
the magazine to be easily navigated for the audience
and be able to find what they are looking for easier. I
again used the horizontal type tool to add the
information about the tripod and camera. I added
another typical magazine convention of a tagline for
this tagline I chose capture the moment this not only
fits the brief and fits the theme of journeys but also
fits the camera chosen for the front of the magazine.
To do this I again used the horizontal text tool and
warped the text into an arch shape then reduced the
height of one of the sides making it look like a
sideways triangle almost like a camera flash. This is
not a conventional magazine feature however,
especially for canon magazines as they are usually
formal and set out in a particular way however, I
wanted to alter the appearance of the magazine in
order to make the differentiating audiences apparent.

9. When initially creating my advertorial I originally used the
eyedropper tool in order to get some of the colours from the
magazine to include in my advertorial creating a cohesive look
however when using the paintbrush tool to apply it to the
background I found that the colours were too harsh and vibrant
and could potentially take away from the information and images
within the advertorial therefore I again used the eyedropper tool
to select the colours then adjusted the look of them by moving
the colour cursor towards the white lightening the colour creating
a pastel whilst still maintaining the sunset theme coherent with
the magazine front cover that I initially aimed for. I wanted to
create negative space within my advertorial to make sure that the
advertorial was not too overstimulating for the brain and make it
easier to understand and read. I did this by using the shape tool
and creating white rectangles to break up the colours of the
background. When I asked the audience what they thought od
when they thought of journeys most people came back with the
idea of travelling somewhere typically on airplane therefore, I
knew I needed to include this once I imported the photo from my
phone into photoshop I used the magic wand and lasso tool to
remove the background and am now able to make this a focus
point of the advertorial to reinforce the theme of journeys required
by the client.

10. As like the magazine front cover I have featured the Canon Zoemini in this advertorial using the copy
and paste tool I was able to reuse the photo of the camera in my advertorial this allows for coherence
to be showcased between the products. Using the type tool, I was able to add more information about
the product including the spec features price and positive reviews of the product. A common
advertisement feature is advertising the product positively this is the best way to sell a product to the
audience as it allows for the product to be showcased at its best possible standard making it seem
perfect for the consumer and as an advertorial is a mix between an advertisement and article this is
something I wanted to include. I again used the type tool for my article on 8 tips and tricks for
social media. There is a rise in popularity of content creating especially among the intended audience
therefore this article would actively engage the audience. I occurred some issues when uploading my
images therefore I used the shape tool to create black boxes as place holders for my images until I
could upload them into photoshop.

11. The brief also included a mention of multimedia use therefore I used Canva another photo editing platform in
order to create the blue sea background for one of my images and then imported it using the snipping tool
found in windows accessories into photoshop this shows to the audience that in order to make products they
don’t have to buy fancy editing software and can use free platforms in order to create media products this also
adds to the value for money aspect I am trying to create within the magazine as through my research I found
that people of the target audience usually have less money than someone of an older age demographic. I
created the Instagram post at the bottom righthand corner of the through using the shape tool to create the
rectangle then used paint(an online drawing software)to create the background for the image making sure it
matched the colours and theme of the Instagram logo again using the snipping tool to import it into photoshop
where I created the icons Instagram logo and lettering using the type tool to add the comment and page
handle.

12. I again used Canva used to make quotes that look like social media posts made by famous faces
past and present and imported them into photoshop and then used the magic wand and lasso tool
to remove the background. I then moved the blue background to its position on the advertorial and
imported the image to layer on top of it and then used the eraser tool selecting pixel by pixel to
erase to make the lettering appear to layer on top of the image so that it was legible. I also
imported my final image onto my advertorial in order to decide where it would fit best.

13. For the sides of the advertorial I used a combination of a plane border and wave border which
combines the advertorial and magazine front cover giving a coherent theme and flow throughout
the products I did this by finding wave borders and a silhouette plane pattern importing them into
photoshop then using the magic wand tool I removed the backgrounds of both and made one
side of the advertorial once I was happy with how it looked I duplicated the layer rotated it 180'
and placed it on the other side of the advertorial. In the final stage of editing, I realised that I
wasn’t happy with the layout of the advertorial and didn’t seem to flow properly therefore I
rearranged the advertorial to make it more aesthetically pleasing using ctrl+t the selection tool
to resize and move the images and text to make the advertorial flow better.

14. Once I was happy with the placement behind the plane looked empty, so I decided to add clouds
behind it by using the magic wand to remove the background and resizing them so that they fit into
the intended space. The plane coming out of the clouds could also be a metaphor of canon moving
out of one audience demographic and exploring new ones and how to market to new audiences
which also links to the theme of journeys.​I used the horizontal type tool in order to add the tagline of
a journey is what you make it this direct mode address makes the audience feel like they are being
directly spoken to which can aid in brand loyalty due to the personalisation such as this tagline. I also
added the canon logo underneath this tagline making it seem like the tagline came directly from the
brand also reinforcing who this magazine is from.