Dennie Thompson AS Media Blog: 2015

Tuesday, 10 March 2015

Saturday, 7 March 2015

Evaluation: Technologies

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Above is one photo of the technology I used when creating my front cover product.

1) This is the camera (NikonD60), this was used to capture all of the images used in all the products. Improving from a point and shoot to a DSLR I have learned that better quality can be attained via the DLSR.

2) I also used a computer from college and my laptop (which is not photographed) to edit photographs, make the product and to research. This was by far the important technology used to make my product. I used Photoshop mainly, by using this I learnt many elements and skills such as enhancing photographs and creating products.

The Gradient Effect

During the creation of my products I encountered many difficulty's, however I overcame this by teaching myself effects in Photoshop. In the above Image it shows how I used the gradient effect to create a subtle background:

1. Right click on the layer, and click 'blending options'

2. Select 'Gradient Overlay'

3. I adjusted the angle, opacity, scale etc to achieve the effect I needed.

Disadvantages of the effect includes a cheesy effect if not done subtly, though I believe it improves the quality of the contents page.

The Stroke Effect

For this technique, I learnt to use the stroke effect on Photoshop.

1. Again, right click the layer and the click 'blending options'

2. Select ' Outer Glow'

3.Adjust the settings such as Opacity, spread, softness, size, contours and noise.

Finally, this can be used for many different things, I used it to border images, outline writing and the create puffs.

White Noise Effect

1. Create a rectangle over the text.

2. Add a noise filter effect (filter gallery - add noise)

3. Experiment with size

4. Select letters (quick selection tool) and delete excess noise

Web Spaces

In regards to web spaces, they were a major role in the production. Firstly, Blogger was used to show and upload all of my content onto. The disadvantage of using an online database is that copyright infringement could be heavily investigated and the multiple uses of images on the analysis' could be seen as copyright.Though the advantage of using Blogger is that its Eco-friendly as it doesn't use heaps of paper and would help with heavy restricted time consumption.

I also used Prezi and Flipsnack to upload analyses and some evaluations. This prevented messy presentation and on Prezi you could even choose the layout or background when Flipsnack is more of a flipbook. Again the disadvantages of Prezi and Flipsnack are copyright complications.

Friday, 6 March 2015

Target Audience Research

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

Images used on my DPS

Location, Props and Model(s)

Location

I chose to do my photoshoot in an urban environment; by creating an urban setting it makes the model come across as more natural and the natural light creates a better atmosphere for the shoot. The brick work in the background creates a more comfortable and somehow rebellious setting within the image and by using an urban environment the readers won’t feel the images are too flashy or over the top.

Props

Props include a typical style of clothing aimed at the audience – Leather Jacket, band tee, Jeans, Doc Martins and an electric guitar. These kinds of props intensify the music implication as they use band tees and instruments which allow the audience to receive the look of a middle class citizen or an ordinary person. The props are trying to represent a mix of 1970’s punks and the modern rocker by using band tees and jeans; also by using Doc Martins in the piece it makes this portrayal more evident as they were worn throughout the time between and the desired time difference.

Model(s)

I will only be using one model throughout my products; she will represent the front cover and cover line through to the DPS in which she will be the face of the interviewee. I used one model to show her importance in the article and make her more prominent within the products.

Unused Images

Original Used Images

Construction Schedule

Friday, 27 February 2015

Double Page Spread Draft

This is an unedited DPS draft which has no pictures and only text boxes explaining placements and text fonts used around the image. The colour used to signify a page image is the signature colour of the magazine, I actually kept to this layout completely in my DPS other than the images in the bottom right corner which moved more to the left and are all the same size now.

Contents Page Draft

My contents page draft is similar to my product in many ways, but small changed were made such as information added, alignment and images. On this draft I only used boxes, lines and text to seperate the information and to make it easier to read.

Front Cover Draft

This is my front cover draft, I actually kept my draft idea completely the same only with images and information. I've kept my idea of a neutral red throughout the creation of the magazine which will be the signature colour of the magazine.

Wednesday, 25 February 2015

Colour Mood Board

This is my colour board, which shows many variations of solid colours - also shows to magazine covers which use different shades of such colours. Originally i was going to use the colour scheme of blue and red and later changed to red as it's a forward colour, I experimented with all of these colours and shades when creating drafts for the cover, contents and DPS. Colours such as pink, red and yellow are featured as I considered using many bright colours in order to attract my audience. By considering different shades it shows that I considered more neutral colours.

Fonts Mood Board

This is my fonts mood board, it features possible fonts for headings, text and title fonts. You will notice all are quite bold and to the point, this is because typically in a rock/punk magazine they will use bold fonts to attract attention ans aim towards the audience - who typically wouldn't be impressed by cursive and pretty writing - as they would like to just get to the point of the article and be practical. For the text I used 'Myriad Pro Regular' which if the 6th one down under text. I used this text because of the simple yet effective boldness of the font - by using an ordinary everyday font people will find it easier to read and understand more effectively. The heading is in the font 'KodchiangUPC Bold' I used this font because of the old fashioned flicks on the end - this gives the heading more personality and also implies they're to be looked at first. The possible title fonts were generated online (http://www.dafont.com/), I chose to use the 'Sex Pistols' font as it referenced a well known punk album and had an edgy look to it. I did not use the one generated as I recreated the masthead on my piece.

Target Audience and Advertisement Mood Board

This is my mood board for advertisements and target audience, it consists of merchandise, brands and tours/gigs. I chose pictures of 1970's punks as the stereotypical reader of a punk-rock magazine would look like this or listen to people who mainly dressed in this way. I featured tour logos as they would typically feature artists of the genre/s which the magazine would cover and the readers would listen to such as Download Festival. Merchandise such as band tees would aim towards the audience and the merchandising as it's branding the artist and fans buy them to show support of the artists. These would typically be sold at gigs themselves to further advertise the artist. Fender guitars are featured as the music is typically heavy or band based - advertising products such as this links to my target audience as typically they play/learn the instrument as they idolize the authority figure. I feel my mood board shows a lot about my target audience and the behavior of such people. Also, the advertisement links into the target audience because they are typically things they would want/need, this creating a safe advertisement stream in items.