2. Windows Computer
Throughout the whole of this production I have used a windows
computer which was available to me at sixth form. The windows
computer had both Photoshop and InDesign already installed
onto it therefore making it very accessible to it. Also the
windows computer had Microsoft office available making
presentations, notes and written documents easy to produce. As
my past experiences using Photoshop have only been on an
Apple Mac the windows version was more difficult to learn to
use; they are similar however significant differences like the
location of certain aspects in Photoshop. I have learnt
throughout the whole of this that Photoshop is accessible and
similar on both Windows and Mac. I have also learnt the
difference between the two office soft wares and how to use
Microsoft effectively.
3. Phone (Samsung)
Certain pictures needed in both my preparation and production
where taken on my phone, for example when finding different
places for my location recce location I used my phone to take
quick photos. Also I used my phone to take a crucial image for
my contents page, the image in the bottom right entitled
'Libertines' was taken during a rock concert I had attended. The
use of this kind of setting goes hand in hand with the genre of
indie rock as music concerts and festivals are a crucial hobbies to
the rest of the indie rock audience. In using my phone for the
camera I have learnt that I can get effective natural photos
compared to modelled ones.
4. Camera
To take all the pictures in my magazine I used a professional SLR
camera which was provided to me; the ability to use a
professional camera allowed to experiment with light exposure
and shadows more effectively to get the effect that was desired
on my images. The majority of the pictures were taken with this
camera except one on my contents page; the quality of photo is
very much higher than using a phone to take these pictures. A
higher quality photo allows a more professional look to the
magazine as it eliminates common problems such as lighting,
blurry photos or red eye. Also a higher quality photo is much
easier to edit and add effects to. I had never used an SLR camera
before therefore making the whole experience a learning curve,
specifically though I learnt how to focus the camera manually to
give the model more dominance.
5. Photoshop
For the front cover and contents page my magazine was
designed in Photoshop. In using Photoshop I had the ease and
ability to edit my photos in a professi0nal way as well as organise
them in a conventional way with text and other images to create
a finished product. In using I Photoshop I have learnt how to edit
photos, for example how to remove the background of a
situation and how to edit on effects to give the picture a whole
different approach this is used for example on my front cover in
which the main image is black and white. Also Photoshop has
allowed me to fully understand which colours were appropriate
for my colour scheme with the use of swatches where I could
experiment with the colours to match the indie rock genre I was
going for. In learning how to use swatches I could make my
magazine more cohesive by using the same dark red colour.
6. InDesign
To present my final production of my front cover, contents page
and double page spread I used Adobe InDesign. By using
InDesign it allowed me to write my article in columns and allows
the text to flow easily without hyphenations to give my double
page a professional approach. I used InDesign to fully design my
double page spread in which I learnt how to extend the
background of my main image to the rest of my double page
spread to create that sense of cohesion throughout the two
pages. Also by using InDesign I could arrange my pages to either
be a left hand page or a right hand page which is helpful in
knowing where to put page information like barcodes and page
numbers. I have learnt in InDesign how to make an effective
background as I learnt how to crop a section from my photo and
extend it making it look professional.
7. DaFont
I used DaFont to establish three different fonts for my magazine
production. The first font I used was 'Lemon Milk’ which I have
used for all my cover lines, including my main cover line. I then
used the font 'Painterz' to provide the page numbers on my
contents page. Finally I used the font 'Fresh Markers' to provide
the page names in my contents page. The rest of the fonts used
were just a normal sans serif 'Arial' to match my genre of
informal compared to the serif formal font. The introduction of
these three new fonts allows me to put across the genre
evidentially and simply. I have learnt using DaFont the large
amounts of font's there are whether it be billboard font, graffiti
font or even handwritten font. I have also learnt using DaFont
that sans-serif font can be used effectively in big bold lettering as
I thought before it was just for pieces of writing.
