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1. Evaluation
Tom Batty

2. Content
The content of my work is based around music. I have previously used music as
a main topic before with my first year end project. Basically the same concept
and idea just improved massively due to me learning a lot more skills which
helped me create better work. So with my first set of work is basically an article
on a band. The article I wrote myself is just a little more background on the group,
promotion of their new album and a small interview asking relevant questions. I
then linked the article with two pieces of work like the album cover and tour
poster. I can safely say that with my first set, I pieced everything well and every
product is relevant to each other.
With the second set, whilst planning I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull it
together or if it was worth doing but it did link well with my first set under the
music topic. Because music being a big passion I thought why not give my own
view on my experience and Leeds Festival. I again wrote an article explaining my
own experiences and giving advice for any new comers to the festival. I then
created my own festival with the band as the headliners along side their own live
album from them playing at Leeds Fest. Again everything ties together and links
perfectly to make sense.

3. Research
For my research, I felt that the best option was to
research everything I was planning to create. So I
looked at front covers, double page spreads,
album covers and posters. I basically went from
existing product to existing product picking out bits
and pieces to analyse. I would pick up on the
mastheads, texts, images and colours scheme list
goes on. But I had to go really in depths of why
they have designed it. Making links within the
work. Connect the colour scheme with key words
and images.
I also managed to get some interviews done. I did
this because it is a starting point of how I was
going to shape and appeal to my target audience.
The main reasoning of this is to make the best
possible outcome for my product. I did four
different interviews consisting of seven questions
giving me multiple responses.
Finally for my research, I went out and found
multiple different Photoshop tutorials which were
going to help me down the line with my production.
I didn’t even use all of them either due to me either

5. Design
When I was thinking and going through my design elements, I felt that I needed to do something different. For
example, with my colour scheme I didn’t want to follow what everyone else does and always uses the same
colour scheme throughout the industry. I know with bigger companies it will stay the same due to them
becoming that bigger and household name they will have to keep to their style. So with mine, I just went for the
colour schemes that were my linked in with the topics I was talking about within my magazines and also
inspirations from the music industry. The inspiration I got was from one of my favourite rap albums, that album
being Dr Dre’s 2001 album. I really find the green and black very aesthetically pleasing when placed together,
so really in my opinion it fitted perfectly. Of course with the red and yellow element only made sense to use as
the topic was about Leeds Festival. With my colour schemes, I feel that they really worked and I managed to
balance them correctly but on the other hand due to my work being different there could be a lot of mixed
reviews.
On the other hand, with my layouts I would say I kept the layouts of my front cover and double page spreads
similar to a traditional magazine. Even though I still tried to keep to a traditional layout, I wanted to give my own
style to it and try something different. For example, with my mastheads I will always try and make them stand
out and add a lot of details to them to help it all stand out as it is the masthead. The masthead on both my front
covers are similar but I made slight changes just for the topics. I added a few elements to create exactly what I
wanted just by following and some of my own knowledge which I would say is a good improvement as I am
becoming less demanding to get help from other people and using my knowledge to create work. Both front
covers are basically the same in my opinion with the same ideas behind them but I did make my double page
spreads different. I would say my first double page spread is a bit more creative then my second but I'm still
happy with both outcomes. With my first double page spread, I went for just imagery on the first page just due
to personal preference I think it looks really nice when it all comes together. I remember in planning I came up
with the idea of separating the first page into three different segments as there are three members in the band I
was creating.

6. So from that point onwards and throughout my production the design
slowly changed and evolved into probably its best outcome. I'm
personally really happy with how came out and honestly wouldn’t
really change it from how it is now if I had more time but from other
peoples opinions there is always room for improvements. When it
came to fonts, I really wanted to get a bigger collection compared to
my previous work for a few reasons. First of all this was a lot bigger as
a project then any of my previous projects and by having more fonts
gives me more variety within the creative route. I think in total I
collected about eleven ranging from mastheads, titles and regular
text.
Moving on and advancing on from my brief mention about the tutorials
I used, though I did say a lot of my work was my own designs and
creativity, I still needed some really nice creative inspiration to help
bump my grade up. So this lead to a few Photoshop tutorials. Like I
mentioned with my mastheads I found inspiration for that with the 3D
elements and design. Which I think I have consistently kept up with
skill wise. The next real big tutorial I followed was the neon text effect.
As soon as I found the tutorial I felt it was perfect fit for my first album
cover. I used the effect for the title of the album. I always planned for
the name of the album to be in the center of the cover but for the effect
to really work, it needed to be placed towards the middle. This is just
so I could get the full effect. It wasn’t really that hard to replicate at all
and with my chosen colour scheme, it contrasts just how I wanted it
too. I think that album cover is one of my more favourite products I
created. The final impressive effect I added into my work was a Marvel
themed design I stumbled across. Again, this was for my album cover
but for my second one. As I mentioned in my development diary, I did
feel towards the end of production my wok was declining slightly and

7. After creating the effect it then opened a few doors for me to really create some nice
work. For example, the effect is a portal so I thought why not just place the band in
the portal with the main stage at Leeds Festival behind them. This all fit in perfectly
to me as the album was themed as a Live edition at Leeds Fest. This almost gives
the second meaning as the album will literally take you there when listening to the
album.

8. ReflectionLooking back to my production from start to finish, I
would say I have been consistently good throughout.
This has also reflected throughout my time at college
with my other projects. But for the time management
for this production was very good and is shown
throughout my development diary. Even though some
days not much work was completed I still managed to
create a good level of work and also hand my work a
few days before the deadline. I work this way so it then
gives me a short period of time to check my work and
make any final changes needed to my work to help
improve. Even though some days weren't filled with
lots of work I always made sure I did enough work in
that week to keep up with the deadline.
When it comes to looking at my work, I'm glad I didn’t
changed anything from what I planned. I kept to
making two front covers, two double page spreads, two
poster and finally two album covers. I managed to
create all of that in time and towards the beginning of
production I was doubting myself. I was doubting
myself because of how much work I might have given
myself, maybe it was too much and a long side that
could I manage to create all of them to a good
standard. The thing I changed with some products was
the layouts and designs. It came down to me either
deciding the layouts weren't as good or functional as
first thought. So that made me change them into a
better end product. Looking at my work now its done, I
can say I am happy with I have managed to create. I

9. For example, it would be my second colour
scheme and designs within the products. The
colour scheme of yellow and red together is
defiantly out of the ordinary and not really seen
within major magazine covers. This is because
red is already one of the more noticeable
colours to the general public but then paired
with yellow, could come across as too much. It
is defiantly an acquired taste and not as
aesthetically pleasing to most but my work all
does link well with my topics. For maybe an
improvement for next time I should think about
which colours I should have used for the main
base colour. I'm sure there could be another
way to contrast it all well. This leads nicely into
talking about pieces of work I would change
and try again due to me not being that
impressed comparing it to the my other set of
products. The two pieces of work that I would
go back and re work would be my second
double page spread and second festival poster
(Leeds Festival sets). I feel that I almost rushed
through them because I didn’t really have a lot
of inspiration at the time of making those two
products and that’s what I came out with.
Overall though I feel like I have done well and I
am happy with my work.

10. Feedback-Interview 1
1. What elements of my imagery do you like? And Why?
I really like the green theme that runs through most aspects to each part of your magazine.
Contingency like that is something I really admire and look for in print based products. Similarly I
liked that you kept the style running throughout the magazine, this can be hard to do in some
cases, it gives your magazine a more processional and collectivized aesthetic. Additionally, I also
liked the light/dark fade out on what I'm assuming what is album art. It makes the neon title more
effective.
2. Do you think my colour schemes work well? And why?
For the green-orientated pieces definitely, the last two I'm not so sure. This is mainly due to my
personal preference, I'm sure others will like it.
3. Is there anything you don’t like about my work? If so why?
For me it’s just the colour scheme of the last two pieces that are not to my liking, mainly because
I associate them with fast food like McDonalds.
4. Any improvements that you would possibly make to my work and why?
On the whole, not really, besides from changing the colour scheme on the final two pieces. I
can’t think of anything that needs improving in my opinion.

11. Interview 2
1. What elements of my imagery do you like? And Why?
I like how you have attempted to make it more “edgy” and current, although it may not fit what I
would personally use, it is definitely appropriate for the content that you seem to be creating.
2. Do you think my colour schemes work well? And why?
I feel the colour scheme does work well for the individual pieces of work, as the Purly Green
content fits with what the band seems to be. Although if it is multiple editions of the same
magazine, I feel they don’t flow together as the colour schemes are completely different, and
therefore I wouldn’t associate them together. I do like how simple they are though as you stick
to approximately 3 main colours per scheme.
3. Is there anything you don’t like about my work? If so why?
I would say that the background to your text on the Purly Green could possibly be a little less
opaque as it can be a little difficult to read the text above the imagery. I also feel it may be
slightly weird to have your web address just floating on the page with the article, I feel it would
be more appropriate on the cover or with a little context, for example “for more about this, go to
our website”
4. Any improvements that you would possibly make to my work and why?
I feel that you could improve the text in the magazine pages as it seems to be quite hard to
read the title of the article. I also feel like there may not have been too much of a grammar
check there as some sentences did not seem to flow and did not seem very professional. There
were also a few times that the words would continue to a different line which I feel is harder to
read and not professional at all. I feel the framed images on the Leeds Fest page could maybe

12. Interview 3
1. What elements of my imagery do you like? And Why?
I like the imagery of the first issue of FMM as the green is really unusual and not something
which many magazines have. The triangles included in the first double page spread make it
look less typical and more interesting to look at. I like how you have used shapes to make the
poster and DPS to stand out as it is something which not many posters have. The Leeds fest
imagery literally takes you to Leeds fest with the images that you have included, if anyone has
been to this then they would quickly refer back to the memories which they had from there.
2. Do you think my colour schemes work well? And why?
The vibrant green contrasts with the black really well and is something which is carried on
through the whole magazine. It looks very technical and edgy which is something that many
people would be attracted to. When I first looked at the products, it was quite confusing to see if
they were all the same issue or what was going on, but after realizing that there were two
issues it made more sense as to why the colour schemes clashed together.
3. Is there anything you don’t like about my work? If so why?
I don’t think there is anything not to like about your work as it is very detailed but I think that the
colour schemes are a bit too much for me as the neon green is very hard to keep looking at.
4. Any improvements that you would possibly make to my work and why?
It looks as though Dan doesn’t have a green stroke on the front cover, maybe look at this and
make it thicker or something. Apart from that I think that your work is very good and would
attract the audience.

13. Summary
For interview one, it was very positive and I would say whoever gave me the feedback are in
the same understanding as myself. They really appreciated what I was trying to create and
how I used certain elements to create each element. They thought I used my colour scheme
well even though it was down to their personally preference. They didn’t understand my
colour scheme change as it reminded them of McDonalds, which is fair but if they knew that
was the Leeds/Reading festival colours maybe they would understand more of what I was
going for. They didn’t really have much improvements apart from colour scheme.
For interview two they were a bit more critical on my work. Picking out floors as my colour
scheme being “edgy” and isn’t the typical style of professional design which I understand, I
just thought creating something different would be a nice change. The changes they
suggested was maybe enlarging the sizing of my text as its hard to read but I think that’s due
to it being on a mac and not in front of you. It was basically more and more disapproved
comments and improvements which I will defiantly try take on board.
The third and final interview was same as the first interview a bit confused in some of my
ideas but mainly very positive feedback and they really liked what I had created.
overall I feel that there was mostly positive and confused feedback that I will listen to and
take on board.

14. Feedback 2
With my second part of feedback I wanted to try
reach other people other then my peers. So I
reached out on many website such as deviant art
and issuu. By doing this I could get my work out
there and get multiple opinions about my work.
This can lead to me progressing further with my
skills. With deviant art I posted all my work and
even joined a group on there called graphic art
students and even messaged within the group for
some feedback. All from the moment I uploaded
my work were some llama badges which I don’t
understand as im new to the website but I think
theyre posisitve and one favourite for my festival
poster which must be positive. Other then that I
have had nothing, no messages or feedback
regarding my work. Myself and another peer tried
to prmote each other on the wbsite for more
views and adding some hashtags relevant to our
topics but still I didn’t get any responces. So I
then went over to issuu, I managed to to get my
first front cover up on there but I only have ahd
about two viewings. From looking at the website I
saw that the two viewings werent for that long
either so not much success.

15. My last attempt on some decent feedback was
for me to get in touch with people who work
hands everyday in the magazine industry. So I
reached out to a local company called
aesthetica. The co founder actually came into
college to speak to us and gice all of us on the
course some advice. So I felt that they
wouldmbe the right company to contact for
some help after getting a good insite about
them but at the time of righting this there
hasn’t been a response from my email. They
might not get back to me straight away as the
company is very busy. Even though I might
not get responces now in the time needed, I'm
will still check as I can still take advice later on
down the line.

16. Final Concept
For my front cover, I really
think the layout works really
well and does replicate a
product that is professional.
The layout of everything
looks really good and
contrasts really well. Just
like I said everything
contrasts well all the front
cover sticks to the colour
scheme so nothing looks out
of place.
With the coverlines here on
the side they nicely match
with my masthead just
giving the front cover that
bit extra. Because before I
added in the same dripping
effect they were boring and
were just sat in the open.
With the bands name here
at the bottom, I had to add
in a outline stroke in the
colour of white just to help it
stand out and contrast
better due to the band
members blending the
name in their
shirts/hoodies. I also think
the outlining improves the
name of the band in its
design because of it relating
With the band members, I
took the photos myself
within the college studio.
The photos on the front
were planned out just how I
wanted them. I got
individual side profiles so I
could them piece them all
together nicely. To finish off
the images and help them
fit in with the rest of the
page page, I added in a
drop shadow of green. Like
ive mentioned it just helps
lift it and makes it seem a
lot less boring and basic.

17. With my text and information I wrote myself, the most
improtant thing is to get the columns alined corrrectly
which mine are and the same size in width. It helps
the layout look cleaner, proffetional and works with
the layout I went for.
For the page on the left, I
had a lot of fun creating it
and I think it came out
really well. The shapes
behind are just geometric
triangles and I edited them
myself to fit in with my
design. My main part of
editing was just using
gradient which worked
well. Then so they werent
as strong I lowerred the
opacity to work well in my
levels of contrast. Again
the images here I took in
the studio. Using the
different angles and shot
types helped me give off
some nice effects. I used a
clipping mask to get them
in each segment of the
trinagles and to finish them
off, I added in some green
shading by using
hue/saturation.

18. The obvious attraction to the album cover is the
neon lighting effect and its exactly what I planned
for. Its exactly what I was looking for and it looks
very effective. In my opinion it looks very realistic
and the ting that make sit realistic is the brick
background. Giving that look of it hanging on the
wall behind in a bar somwhere.
I was just going to have the bands name below the
title but felt as if it was a bit simple and boring so I
came up with the idea off adding multiple versions,
angling them and lowering the opacity to give that
nice fading effect. The final touch was the advisory
in the bottom right corner just for some more

19. With the backgorund at the top I
wanted to imporive on having a
simple colour of green so I went
into the filter gallery and found a
nice stain glass effect which in
my opinion works really well. As
for the band memebers still
studio taken and were editied
with some brihgtness along with
hue/saturation. Even though I
had edited them, they still felt as
if they were lackong something.
So I got inspiration from many
other artists who used this same
design by putting that black
rectangle across their eyes. I
then thought of having those
two green paint brush crosses
over dans eyes. It turned out to
be very effective so I got a bit
creative and got googerly eyes
and fire emojis for the other
two.
As for the shapes in the
middle. I used marquee tool
to select and moved them
into a mirror effect and to
finish them off I added in a
white outlining for them to
stand out. It gave a nice
effct of splitting the poster
onto two sides. I also used
the marquee tool with both
sets of texts. That’s what
gave the text that fragment
effect. I really like how they
all turned out and it all links
well with the same use of
effects. The only difference
between the two set sof text
is the bottom has a a thick
outlining stroke coloured in
white. I also positioned the
letter individually like that
just to add some shaping to
the poster.

20. The masthead only got
chnaged with another clipping
mask of a picture of a nice
view I took whilst at leeds fest.
I chnaged it obviously to link
in with the topic better. As for
the title I added another
image with a clipping mask
within for "Leeds". I felt that it
was a nice bit of detialing.
With the rest of the text I just
added a dark red drop
shadow for some more dept.
The arrows on the front cover
are inspirations from the
actually Leeds fest design
which made sense for having
them linked in with the topic.
But so I wasn’t completely
copying the design, I made
them hsve an outline of white
and in different patterns.

21. Starting on the page on the left, the title had two copies with different colours, I moved one slightly apart to give
that drop shadow effect. I did it this way because it looked more effective when I used the marquee tool to give off
that glitch effect. As for the background I thought for contrast reasons the rectangle of gradient breaks up that
powerful yellow, which gave me more areas of design creativity. The image with a whole lot of other images in it
has that design because I had a lot of images I took from Leeds Fest and not much room to put them all on my
double page spread. I just used a paper ripping effect and just used a clipping mask to place them into each one
giving off a nice effect.
For all the text on the pages, they perfectly set in the correct placement for the layout with the importsnt
words coloured in red for some nice detialing. The stage image has a red outlining for it to stand out and
contrast better and I addednin a cracked class effect to try elevate the image as a whole and I think it works
but with a little more attnetion it could be better. With the image at the top above the stage image I used a
threshold to give it that nie pop art style which I think works well with the rest of the page.

22. Just like my first album cover, I wanted to have something central to
grab the attention of my target audience. So I got that doctor strange
affect that works really well, something I'm really happy with. Placing
the band in the portal with the main stage behind them gives off a
nice effect and works really well. To help it all stand out a bit more I
did add some brightness to all of them just to help it be noticed and
the album cover contrast well.
I coloured in the text on here with a yellow so it contrasted well and
really popped out on the red background. Again I used a thick outline
for most the text but made the words be a smart object s I could fill
them in with that white. Of course for that final bit of detailing I added
in the advisory.

23. To sum up the text on this product
I used multiple types of blending
options and used different colours
for that variety. I used the arrows
from the front cover to add in
some patterns round the edges
for different layout. I think
everything contrasts well as in
you can read everything on the
poster. I think my obsession with
this poster of angling everything
differently really didn’t work out at
the end. I should have stuck to
traditional layouts but then on one
hand it wouldn’t have fit in with
the rest of my work by trying to be
different. Just so the background
of yellow wasn’t so overpowering,
I got the paint brush tool and used
different brushes to give that
dissolving effect. I think overall
this is the piece of work I wasn’t
happy with and if given more time
I would really focus on this piece
and improve it massively.