3. After constructing my flat plan it was now time to
develop and create my media product into life, I started
to find a font for my masthead. I wanted my font to stand
out from the rest ,something different and attention
grabbing. I knew what type of font I wanted ,as the
results of my music magazine questionnaire, suggested
a three-dimensional font which would make the
masthead more eye catching , as it will be the first thing
the reader will focus their attention on, Thus it is also a
clever form of instant branding , meaning when people
just see the masthead , everyone will know it is a
“Amplify” magazine.
In order to find a good three – dimensional
font for my masthead , I went onto a
website called - http://www.logoease.com
, using this website I was able to create a
masthead, which looked more like a logo
, this helped to give a sort of brand identity
to my magazine and make it easier to
identify in the shelves. I then saved my
image and opened a program called
Adobe Photoshop, this program allows
me to enhance and edit my photos to
create more professional looking images.
4. Here , I removed the background using the
“Magic Eraser tool”, and tried playing
around with the colours to see which best
suited the target audience , and would give
my magazine a youth full look, I decided to
stay with black as it was plain and simple
and helps the 3-dimentional font to stand
out ,also I tried to filter the masthead to
make it more appealing , I could not find
the look I was going for and therefore left it
.I then saved my font as a PNG file, which
allowed me to convert my file so I could
move it across to Adobe InDesign where I
would be making my magazine.
After opening Adobe InDesign, I realised I
had to make , separate pages for the
different pages needed for my magazine
e.g. front cover, contents page and the
double spread, all these pages had to be
copies made from the" A- Master” Page,
this was the original page which I had
saved and am going to construct my front
cover on.
5. I then went back onto Adobe
Photoshop to make my plain
black background, to do this I
opened and saved a A4 page
and filled it in black with the
paint bucket tool , I then saved it
as a PNG file and imported it
back over to Adobe InDesign.
To bring across a file, you have to
create a new layer , then make a box
for where you want your images to
go, then click on “file” and “place "and
insert the image. It was important to
create a new layer because in future if
you wanted to delete an image it would
be easier because everything would
had been saved onto different layers.
6. I looked back at my background and thought ,
was this good background which would
reflect the lifestyle of my target audience ? I
realised I could do much better so I went
back onto Adobe Photoshop and opened a
picture I took of a school wall, it looked plain
and boring , so I added effects such as “Dark
Strokes "and altered the light and dark
intensity and the balance creating a good
After altering the light use forintensity and the
picture which I would / dark my background.
balance I had created a good urban
backstreet type ambience . I then saved the
changes made and convert edit into a PNG
file, and then brought it over to Adobe
InDesign where I placed it as my
background, so now I was ready to , start to
build my magazine.
7. I made a new layer and placed the
masthead in the top right hand corner
of the page, leaving room for the pug
to go into the left hand side , to do this
had to overlap the layers . I did this by
dragging the little pointer sign from
layer 2 onto layer 3, this allowed me to
bring forward the masthead and place
it onto of my background.
Now that I have got my masthead on
the front cover it was time to add,
cover lines, strap lines and other
details that will help make my
magazine look as professional as
possible. To do this I went back onto
http://www.logoease.com , and created
my Strapline “Amplify your life..” and a
fake website “ for more info visit …
www.amplifymagazine.co.uk” also I
added the Issue number and the
season in which my magazine came
8. After making and saving the Strapline ,
Sub – headings and Issue No, I opened
the Strapline image in Adobe Photoshop
and changed the colours using the “Hue
Saturation” tool, and altered the colours of
the Strapline to see which would best suit
my target audience , I knew the colours I
needed because the results of my
questionnaire suggested that 70% of
teenagers said they like the combination of
red, black and blue as they are bright and
youthful ,compared to green, orange and
yellow , which people said resembled more
of Pop genre.
To make the pug , I had to make a equilateral triangle
on Adobe Photoshop and fill it in bright red with the
paint bucket tool, then I removed the background ,
and saved the pug as a PNG file and opened into onto
a new layer on Adobe InDesign. Once I opened the
pug in InDesign I had to change the size of the shape
as it was too small ,by doing this I learnt that you
need to click “shift” and drag when enlarging a picture,
so it doesn’t look stretched or distorted which I didn’t
in my preliminary task.
9. Later on after importing the pug onto my
magazine , I had to rotate the triangle so it
fitted in perfectly in the top left – hand
corner of the page , I added coloured
rectangles to separate the top and bottom
strips and the masthead from the
Strapline. I used to text tool in Adobe
InDesign to fill in the gaps with topics ,such
as what my pug was featuring (e.g. *free
poster of Lil Rayne*)
By now I realised that I
needed a main image that
would portray my target
audience and their lifestyles,
I did not want my magazine
to look too hard core, but it
still had to resemble of the
tough , urban hip-hop image,
therefore I used an image
where the model is not
smiling or looking too
serious , to get a mixture of
potential buyers.
10. Later on , I saved my main image as a PNG file
There where many little steps, in the
and imported it across to Adobe InDesign ,
process of preparing my main image
where created a new layer and placed the
before I placed it on my front cover.
image in the centre of the front cover, however
First I had to remove background
there where still gaps in my magazine that
using the “Magic eraser tool” on
needed to be filled. Therefore I looked back at
Adobe Photoshop, however their
the codes and conventions needed for a
where still bits of grey background in
magazine , and realised that I did not have a left
between the model’s spiky hair ,
– third , after looking at some magazines, I
which could not be removed with the
learnt that the most interesting and exclusive
“ magic eraser or the normal eraser
interviews, and tips/advice are on the left third to
tool” , and so the image just did not
attract consumers. Therefore I researched
seem quite right , through long
,some major hip-hop artists and some of the
attempts of trial and error I found a
After removing the grey bits, I played latest news in the music industry, and included
solution, I removed as much of the
around with the filter effects, to see them on my left third, with the heading
background as possible, and filled in
which would best suit my image and "exclusive interviews” and “features” to grab the
the background black with the paint
consumers attention, addedbuying my magazine Rayne”
I also as by the artist’s name , “Lil
bucket tool , this allowed me to pin – represent the messenge I wanted to
portray. At the end I had chosen to use they will be which in to know the latest stories.
the first this months issue its all about him and
point accurately where the little grey
bits where so I could remove them . “Dark Strokes” again as it would match his story of growing up in the big world and how
After doing this I zoomed in to make my urban wall street background. I he has become a success . I did this to
sure that every pixel was perfect and altered the black intensity from “0 – 2”, I emphasis the well known artist’s name and
used the “ Magic Wand Tool” , to did this because it gave a shadowy look therefore is will help encourage consumers to
select the part which I wanted to cut , to my image , I left the white intensity at buy my magazine. I used the “text tool”, on
I selected the models hair and “0”, otherwise my model would look to Adobe InDesign. I chosen to leave the text
carefully removed the grey bits ghostly and distorted , and finally I white, to make it stand out with the contrast of a
around his head with the “Magic changed the balance to “8”, I did this so dark background and then I added the “outer
Eraser tool” .Then I replaced the part the colours did not blend completely glow” effect on Adobe InDesign and made the
which I selected, and at the end of together , but you could still define the “spread” to 100 to get the maximum glow , to
my operation, I had successfully image, and what the model was wearing. help it stand out in the shelves.
removed the grey marks , thus
making my main image look as
professional as possible.
*No grey marks*
11. Now looking back at my magazine , I included most
of the codes and conventions needed, but it still
didn’t look professional , so I remembered to put a
barcode on, which I altered on Adobe Photoshop
and placed it on my magazine on Adobe InDesign.
Then I added the price, this was a difficult decision
if I did not have the research I had done
beforehand .This helped me chose a suitable price
which would be affordable for my target audience.
However by looking at the typical 16-24 year olds ,
most teenagers are unemployed and are still in full-
time education , therefore they are not going to pay
£5-£6 on a magazine, therefore the price can
become a major issue when it comes to buying,
and the results of my questionnaire suggested that
,many teenagers would spend around £2.50 on a
magazine as it is the middle of the range and a
suitable price to market my magazine at, also due
to the fact that it is a monthly magazine I feel that
there I more information to write articles on and
the quality would be better and should hopefully be
worth every penny.
12. After my audience feedback I realised that there where many issues
raised within my Front Cover – For example…
• That there is not a continuous theme set with the colour scheme
since my masthead and main artist name was written with the outer
glow of orange , although previously I wanted this to make the font
stand out , many people thought that because of the different use of
colour that this resembled a pop magazine .
• The male model had a plain and straight face which did not seem to
suit this genre , and with the black jacket he wore, it did not stand
out against the urban background, also it hid the branding from the
shirt and if this magazine was to go on sale I could have lost the
opportunity for advertising .
13.
14. Trial and improvement was the process in
which I created my *NEW* front cover,
through brainstorming ideas I slowly made
many small alterations to my front cover
15. One of the major issue with my
front cover was the main image,
after the audience feedback I
knew I needed a mid shot image
of the male model that would
stand out amongst the
background, attract the
audience and advertise the
designer labels. In the process
of creating my *NEW * front
cover I came cross many
failures until I reached the final
result.
16. TRIED AND FAILED ATTEMPTS FOR THE a few,throughmany
These are
failed attempts
of my
the
OF MAIN IMAGE ON THE FRONT COVER of which I gradually
progress
progressed to make my *NEW*
front cover.
Here I used the spot healing tool to fade out the
blemishes, however it looked very unprofessional
since everything on his upper lip was smudged and
gave it a matt effect when the rest of the image was
all of a natural skin tone
On this image I used the smudge tool to try and blur
in the unibrow so it would even out the skin tone,
however smudge transformed into black messy blur ,
and I tried to remove parts of his forehead
17. *ACTUAL MAIN IMAGE
USED FOR MY
CONTENTS PAGE*
I then rotated the image, so it was straight I then used the Clone Stamp tool, to replicate
I imported a new mid shot image of the main
and in the centre of the page the skin on the models nose and overlapped
artist, and used the magic eraser tool to
it onto his unibrow and then slightly smudged
remove the unwanted grey background
the edge so the new skin blends in with the
old
I then flipped the image so that it faced towards In order for the Image to stand out from the
the camera, and on my front cover it would be urban background, I changed the colour of the I then placed the new main image onto my
looking directly towards the audience and his shirt to Dark blue , as it also coincides with my Front Cover
body language is pointing towards the left-third colour scheme of red, black and blue.
18. Whilst in the making of the front cover, I realised
that many Hip-Hop artist have a tattoo on their
hand or neck to resemble the hip-hop genre
such as Chipmuck by doing this it adds to the
Mise-en-scene of the star persona , therefore
when on Adobe InDesign ,I decided that since
my double page spread was about dreams,
achieving goals and aspirations I added a tattoos
on the neck of the main artist “believe”
THE RESULT
I then created a new layer on Adobe InDesign
and then placed the image as a PNG
19. FINAL CHANGES
I changed the outer glow colours from orange to
white with the red font since white illustrates
purity and being unique individual and the red
implies courage , and I think through my imagery
and my article people can develop as individuals
and that the article will help 16-24yrs old who
have low self esteem. I also changed the font
from “Gill Sans Ultra Bold” to “Park Avenue and
Pristina” for the tattoo” to give a graffiti type
signature effect which I believe demonstrates
that the hip-hop genre is another form of art and
by reading my magazine the creativity flows
through you.
I also removed the added background
underneath the sub heading “exclusive
interviews “, and since the main artist on my
contents page was called “Salina” I added her
name into the interviews bar in the left third to
create a sense of continuity and that everything I
have mentioned in my magazine was related to
a topic.
