Feedback #1

Today I got given feedback on my rough cut pages about what people liked about them and what they thought I could improve on, so first here are some of the things people said they liked:

• All photos are really strong and conventional to the genre.
• The double page spread looks professional.
• Good colour scheme.
• Name of the magazine is good.
• Good variation of images.
• Fonts are nice
• Quote on double page spread fits in well with headline.

Rough Cut

So today was my rough cut deadline, and it was extremely stressful and everyone was panicking. So, here is the rough cut for my magazine.

For my front cover, I am happy with the photo and the layout of the page. All I need to do is add some more plugs in, so the page isn't so bottom heavy.

My contents page was what I found most challenging, so I need to put more time into completing this for the next deadline. But I think all I need to do to finish this is add some more photos and add the text. Other than that, I'm happy with this.

My double page spread is the page I am most proud off, and I don't think I need to change much of this to make it perfect. 

Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to get finished, so that's what I'm going to have to focus on till the final cut deadline on the 23rd April. My teachers and my peers will be giving me feedback soon, so my next couple of blog posts will be about that. 

Update

My rough cut deadline is tomorrow so I'm sorry if I'm not posting as frequently, I'm just trying to get everything finished. Hopefully my posting will return to normal after my deadline.

Photoshop process #2

The editing for the double page spread photo took the longest, mainly because I kept changing my mind. I tried editing several photos for the spread but none of them felt right. So eventually I decided on this:

I think it really expressed the characters of the band members.

As for the editing process, I did exactly the same editing as I did for the front cover photo (please refer to my previous blog post). The big different in this image is the background for it. I needed the photo to cover both pages or at least the background needed too. So I tried cutting the image out and placing it on a different coloured background.

But I think that doesn't look very professional. So I tried editing the background of the image so it would cover both pages of my double page spread. Here is the editing process.

I started off with a plain white background layer. I then used the brush tool and added black on a extremely low opacity to add some shadow to the edges of the image.

I then added the image I wanted to use on top and edited the colour of the background so it was similar to that of the white layer.

I then got rid of most of the creases in the background using the spot remover tool and the surface blur filter.

Finally I dodged and burned the whole background of the image so the left hand side would resemble the shadows of the right side. I then used this image in InDesign.

Photoshop process #1

I finally choice the photo for my front cover, but before I could place it in InDesign I needed to edit it first. So here I have screen shotted my editing process.

This was the image I chose. I love her hair in it, it is very conventional to my genre.

The first thing I did in PhotoShop was to brighten the image. This automatically makes the image much better. Then I used the selective colour adjustment tool to get rid of some of the redness in her face and make the blacks stronger.

Next I got rid of all the wrinkles in the background. I did this by first using the spot remover tool (found in the tool bar) and went over the very harsh lines to soften them. Then I used the filter 'surface blur' to blur the entire layer, then I used a reverse mask to only use that blur on the background/

Now I needed to get rid of all the blemishes on my models face. There weren't very many as she has quite good skin, but as this image is going on my front cover I decided to airbrush her face. I did this by first duplicating the previous layer twice, naming one blur and one detail. On blur I used the filter surface blur to blur the layer. Then on the layer detail I used a high pass filter (this will stop the skin from looking too fake as it keeps some of the detail) changed the blending mode to soft light and was left with a highly airbrushed image. I then used an inverted mask to paint in the airbrushing where I wanted it.
This was the finished result.

I then also went back over this layer with the spot remover tool to get rid of any blemishes the airbrushing missed.

I then wanted to make the eyes really stand out, so I used the smart sharpen filter to make them stand out more, and then used a curves adjustment layer to make the eyes have more blue in them.

Next I added a grunge filter, and to this I first added a new layer and inverted it and then added a surface blur feature to get the result above.

I then used the hue/saturation adjustment layer to completely dis saturate the layer and then changed the blending mode to vivid light.

I then created a inverted mask to paint in the grungeness to my image. This adds a lot more character to the image. 

The final edit I did to this image was to create a whole new layer, change that to 50% grey and dodge and burned anywhere that needed it. This meant I could add more contours to the face and make the eyes stand out more.

Here is the finished image!

What plugs to include

To go on my front cover I need some plugs to fill the blank space. So here is a list of the plugs I might include.

• List of artists included in the magazine
• Free CD
• Poster pullout offer
• Artist name then blurb underneath
• Picture plug of artist/s

Fonts comparrison

I'm going to have to use a variety of fonts in my magazine, and the ones automatically installed in InDesign aren't going to do the best job. So I'm going to look on the website dafont to find some suitable ones.
Here are some that I liked.

I thought these two fonts would be good for either the title of the magazine, or a large headline.

These fonts would be more suited to being used for plugs or subheadings.

I will use one of these fonts for the double page spread title.

Photoshoot for contents page

For my contents page I want to include photos from my double page spread and my front cover, but I still needed some more photos, as I want to have at least 3 on the page. So I got my friend jess to model for me, and I dressed her in a leather jacket and a black t-shirt and leggings. I also did her eye make-up really dramatically and kept her hair messy so she would look 'grunge-like'.

I took some photos in the photostudio and also some with natural light against a black wall. But I didn't like how the lighting made her hair look slightly green/yellow even though I was using a reflector. So I defiantly like the photos from the photostudio more. However I think I am going to have to edit the background to be different if I use one of the photostudio shots, otherwise all my contents page photos will look too similar.

Photoshoot for front cover

Here are the photos for the front cover of my magazine. I used the same photostudio from the previous photoshoot, but this time I had the lighting a lot darker so I could create that moody atmosphere that features in a lot of rock magazine photos. 

I changed the mise-en-scene throughout the photoshoot a bit so I could have a variety of photos. I changed her hair so it was more messy and so it gave her more attitude. I also gave her a leather jacket and a black hoodie to put on, because I really liked the original top she wore, but adding more black to the scene emphasised her facial features. I'm going to be editing some of my favourite photos so before I choose one to place on InDesign

Photoshoot for double page spread

Today I took photos which will be included in my double page spread. I used the photo studio at school as the setting for these photos, and the studio consisted of a white sheet placed as a backdrop, with light boxes which connected to the SLR camera I was using so I could get professional lighting.

As you can see, it was quite hard to get a serious photo of all three of them, so I am glad that I am going to be portraying them as quite childish. I haven't decided which photo I will be using for the spread, so I'm glad I took a variety of shots and angles. Over the next few days I'll be editing some of my favourite photos so I can see what the finished product will look like.