Thursday, 23 November 2017

Making a magazine front cover 1




I chose this image because I think it represents my target audience of young people aged 16-25, as it is of a fellow student who fits into that age category. It is a medium close up shot and I felt this was the most appropriate because it allows me to get all of the colours in from her waist up, and therefore allows me to keep a colour scheme throughout of navy, pink and white. I think it reflects the genre of a lifestyle magazine very well because the target audience is 16-25, and lots of people that age are still in education and are learning what career path they wish to take, so having my model with her student lanyard on, I do believe reflects the genre perfectly.



I chose to use the same font style for all of the subheadings and a different font style for the masthead. This is because I wanted the masthead to really stand out, hence it being in black as well. I also decided to have the buzz word 'Win!' in a bigger font and in black, because again I wanted it to stand out as it would really encourage people to buy the magazine, as everyone wants to win a free holiday. The rest of my text is in pink and white, this makes it very feminine and clearly aimed a young female audience. I liked how these colours worked with eachother as they go very well. 







I chose to include the puff, containing the competition information inside because it grabs your attention really well, especially because it is in pink. It is a conventional feature of a magazine front cover so I thought it would work well, as they usually entice readers. I think it is a good size because it doesn't take up too much of the front cover, but it is big enough to catch the readers attention. I chose to use a question as one of the subheadings with the page to find the answer below, because this way I am encouraging people to purchase the magazine and find out. This clearly addresses the readers "concerns" as well because at this age (16-25), you have to be thinking about your career and so this magazine provides guidance, which would really help them.




I think the masthead will appear to my taget audience because it uses direct address with the pronoun 'your'. This creates synthetic personalisation because it makes them feel as though they're being addressed as an individual rather than a mass, so they will feel engaged and as though the magazine will really help them in making their next step in life.







I do believe I have created a brand identity through synergy as the colours are all the same and so if I was to produce another one, you would recognise the brand from the colours and font. The masthead  will always be black and in that particular font so therefore it is easily recognisable. When I create products for my 03/04 production, I must make sure I include lots of buzz words and a captivating image in order to grab the readers attention.

Friday, 17 November 2017

TA Research of my images





I posted this image in the Vale Media group on flickr. Some fellow students as well as one of my teachers have commented on it with some constructive feedback that have allowed me to understand how to improve. They have allowed me to be aware of  what I must do in order to make my photography work in future, when I do my practical unit.


The first comment from Ella has allowed me to understand that my image would maybe work better if I had more of a foreground and background. The other comments are all very similar in that they are telling me that I am missing a clear subject/ focus, making it not work as well as it could. The end comment has given some very constructive feedback for me as I like the idea of making the tree the focus by using Elements to add more contrast and colour to it. From these comments, I now know that in future when I do my practical unit, I must make sure that there is a clear subject in every picture I take. I think I would still use this image, but I would definately manipulate it in Elements beforehand.




They also commented some constructive critisism on this picture that I posted:




I found this comment from my teacher very helpful because I was able to completely understand what she meant. I agree fully because when I tried doing what she said I did find that I was drawn to the light, which isn't what I want from the image. I would maybe re take the picture without the light in it which would improve it a lot I feel. Also, I would definately straighten the window in Elements if I was to use this picture for anything.






This has helped me understand that in future when doing my parctical unit, I must make sure there are no lights that are over exposed so that nothing distracts my image from its focus.

Thursday, 16 November 2017

Selection and Rejection

Selection and Rejection
Having spend an hour taking several pictures, I am able to look through them and clearly see which ones work and which ones don't. For example, the 3 pictures below are 3 that didn't look how we wanted them to.

                                                                                                                                                             
1) This image is clearly very blurry therefore instantly it does not look visually impressive. It is also slightly wonky which makes it more unattractive and less visually pleasing. The focus is very bad and to improve, I would need to make sure the camera is well focused and maybe try a different angle. Perhaps a low angle would have been better as it might have created more depth, and maybe made the image stand out and look a bit more powerful. I could have had someone stood at the end of the corridor because it is quite a nice natural frame.







2) This image unlike the other is not blurry, however it just does not work. There is a horrible light shining at the top of the image and the angle of the camera makes the book look an odd shape, and it isn't straight. The colours do work well together and provide a great contrast but I think to really create an impact, I would have needed to move the camera angle. It might have looked effective if it was between some other books that perhaps weren't as bright as this would have allowed it to really stand out and contrast. Also, the light reflecting off the book makes it look unprofessional.  Maybe if it wasn't such an extreme close up and we could see a bit more background it might have looked more impressive.











3) A clear issue with this image is that it is not straight. The camera angle is wonky, instantly making it look bad quality. Also, the subjects feet are blurred which looks unprofessional. To improve, I would need to make sure the subject is not in the centre because this isn't pleasing for the eye. I would remove the bins as it makes things look quite messy and I would need to make sure that the focus was really clear on my subject. It may have worked better in a different environment, perhaps outdoors so the subjects blue coat contrasted with the greens from the trees.




On the other hand, there were some images that I was really pleased with. The next 3 images are 3 that I thought worked well together and created a really good effect.


1) In this image, I really like all of the different colours and textures and how they contrast with each other and create a really good overall effect. I specifically enjoy the effect created with the holographic material and the fluffy material. The holographic sleeve creates a lead line through the photo which makes it look visually impressive and the pink material on the far right just gives it that extra contrast that really makes the image 'pop' and become brighter. 









2) I really love the detail in this image. each individual branch is really clear and it looks very focused. I think it contrasts well with the dull sky in the background and the orange coloured tree in the bottom right. I think the tree stands out well and although it completely covers the frame, I think it works because of how intricate the branches are. The sky appears to have a line of light through it which was not intentional but does work really well because it brightens the image up, rather than it all being quite dull. The big trunk of the tree is about a third of the way up, so I think it uses the rule of thirds quite well.








3) I love the contrast in lighting in this image. It is has light parts, mid tone parts and dark parts. It makes good use of the diagonal line and it is almost quite quirky because it looks very unusual and it is hard to tell what the image consists of. I like how it looks almost unnatural and quite sinister. It creates a dark atmosphere. I also like how the lines on the ceiling are reflected diagonally above, it again creates an unusual effect. At the bottom it seems to fade from dark to light, starting in the bottom left corner and I really like how this comes across.