Production Monitoring Blog: 22nd March 2011

Progress:
This week, I finished writing the article. This was a good achievement becuase it means that I have more time to concentrate on the development of the front cover and double page spread. This is the article:

You’ve all heard about global warming, right? What do you really know about it? Temperatures increasing every year – that can’t be that bad can it? But is it more than just getting hotter?

Global warming is a major problem across the entire world, pollution from carbon dioxide- mostly known as CO2, is being pumped into the earth’s atmosphere every second. But what does this actually do? Carbon dioxide gets trapped in the earth’s atmosphere. This trapped gas stops heat from the sun from leaving the atmosphere, making temperatures rise. Scientists have said that the earth’s temperature is increasing just under 1^oC every year. You may say that’s not much, but I have felt the effects of this; I can now get a tan on Christmas day!

But why is this bad? Surely England needs some better weather. The answer is simple. The hotter temperatures have dramatic results on the Earth – the polar ice caps are melting! Every year, glaciers all over the world melt away a little more each second. Imagine, making a bowl of ice-cream, only to blink and it’s all gone! That’s not all! The glaciers are more important to us than you may think. 40% of the entire earth’s drinking water comes from the glaciers in the Himalayas. I don’t know about you, but I think I might struggle with hot temperatures and no drinking water!

Is there anything else? The answer is yes. Global warming has other disastrous effects other than melting all the ice. The rise in temperatures is also the cause of natural disasters! Floods, hurricanes, cyclones, these are all caused by the rise in temperatures. Over 20 million people were made homeless due to a natural disaster in 2008. This is a major problem. In the future, there will be more and more disasters, so you could become homeless next!

What is there now? Global warming is melting the ice caps, causing floods and storms, and making you sweat a bit more than usual. So how is it caused? The short answer is us. From pollution, to not switching a light off – we all do it, including myself! Factories, cars, burning all sorts of fuels, these all add up to the global crisis!

So, I will tell you ways in which to prevent global warming, from the simple to the extreme, if you feel like a challenge.

I am not the greatest eco-warrior in the world, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve to keep the jingles of the ice-cream vans driving through my street. One of the easiest ways of preventing global warming is by turning things off, and not keeping them on standby! (This means making sure that little red light on your TV is not on!) Turning things off is an effective way, as it saves energy! This means that power plants don’t have to cause pollution for providing the wasted energy of keeping something on standby. It’ll also save money on the bills to!

Another simple way of being green is to recycle.  Recycling things like bottles and bags reduces pollution. If they were simply thrown away, more would have to be made. Throwing away plastic is a bad idea, because it takes forever to rot!

Energy saving light bulbs are essential! My house is filled with them. They do exactly what it says on the box, save energy! These magic little light bulbs use little energy, so it not only saves some more money, it’ll help the planet as well.

If you are feeling a little more green, you may want to plant some trees! Trees and plants are an amazing ally against global warming, because of photosynthesis. If you don’t know what this is, it’s a process a plant does, where it turns carbon dioxide, into oxygen. This makes there be less carbon dioxide to be trapped in the atmosphere! I think my house might as well be a jungle with the amount of plants I have scattered about- maybe you don’t have to go as far as me!

There are many ways you can help stop global warming, be it big or small, you can do it. So now you are feeling green and environmental – go out there and prevent global warming. Remember, every little helps!

I managed to complete the design of the front cover, except I am still missing photographs.

To create this design, I used a fill gradient for the background. For the border effect I drew rectangles, each on a different layer, and used the Liquify tool to make them jagged. I then added a drop shadow and stroke effect to ceate the black lines and shadows.

On the text, I used the text tool to write the text, and applied a stroke and drop shadow to each text.

The 'FREE' logo was made using the cirlce shape tool to draw the red circle. I then added a gradient tint and texture to give it its raised effect. I also defined the shape more by adding Belevel and Emboss, and a stroke line. It also has a drop shadow on it took make it look raised.

I got the layout design by looking at existing magazine covers, and mimicking the style. The colours used stick to the three colour scheme, which makes the cover look less cluttered and appealing.

The biggest problem I have of this front cover so far is that I have no photographs. Once I get the photographs, the fron cover will be finished.

On the double page spread, I worked more on the designed, and developed the layout of it, making it look more stylised. I also imported the article into inDesign, using the Place tool, and selected the Word file of the article.

I created the background of the article in Photoshop, by using the gradient fill for the background colour. I then added a white square another layer and lowered the opacity to make it more transparent. I then copied the image into inDesign to use as the background.

The only problem I have now is that I need the photographs to put onto the double page spread.

This week I booked a photoshoot, for the 29th of March. For this I will get the photographs I need o complete the deisgn of the magazine.

Targets:

• Make sure all props are gathered
• Take the photos
• Finalise final product

Contingencies:
A problem that can happen is that the camera during the photoshoot breakes, cuasing loss of images or being unable to take  them. To make sure this doesn't cause problems I will test the camera before taking the images.
Another problem is that the model doesn't show up. For this I will make sure I have a backup model.

Magazine Front Cover Development

In this developent I created a mock-up front cover for a music magazine aimed at a teenage target audience, in order to develop the skills for the final project.

Photography Skills

I developed my photography skills during this project as I learned how to control the model for certain poses and about the best way to frame the shot.
In this photograph, I framed the model so that they were slightly off centered in order to put the text and headlines around the image.
I used a slight upward tilt on the camera to reinforce the image of the model as being rebellious and powerful, as an upward tilt makes it as though the model is looking down on you.
It was fairly easy to control the model and tell her how she should pose, as she was cooperative and managed to follow the directions clearly to give the final pose. The pose I asked her to do was one that makes her look rebellious and in control, as she is supposed to be representing a new rock star.
I made sure that the eyeline of the model was as centered on the front cover as possible, in order for the attention be directed to the image making it the ore prodominant feature of the cover.
I didn't have any lighting problems when taking the image, as I took the picture in a well lit place. There was also no background problems, as the picture was taken against a clear white background, which made it easier to cut out the main image using photoshop.
In conclusion, this project helped improve my photography skills as it helped me learn to communicate with the model, and how to find appropriate areas to take photographs with good lighting and clear backgrounds.

Photoshop Skills

I developed many skill in photoshop when designing this magazine.
The first skill I developed was using gradients. For the background I used a fill gradient, but edited the angle and colours to make it look unique.
I also developed typography skills, as I created a stroke around the text for certain effect. Also I used the website http://www.dafont.com/ to find the font used in the magazine. I downloaded the font and stored it in the Fonts folder on the computer.
To make sure everything on the cover was alligned, I created margain guides. I made sure there was a border around the page to allow for everything to be in a suitable frame.
I also used the 3 colour scheme, of red, black and white. This helped the magazine seem less cluttered and more pleasing to the eyes.
I also used the rectangle tool to create the banner where the headline is. I then used the shear tool to make the rectangle to become angled. I then rotated the text to make it line with the angled banner.

Connotations:
The main sell line of this cover creates an enigma code. The healdine is 'Introducing.. the new face of music' This is myseterious, asl it urges the reader to read the magazine to find out who this new star is.
The main image shows a link with the headline, hinting that she is this new mysterious star.

Targets for Unit 3:
The main taget for Unit 3 is to make more use of the margain guidelines, and create a larger border around the page to allow for more allignement. I will also take photographs in a studio, so it is easier to edit the background of the image, as a solid colour is easier to crop out.

Production Monitoring Blog: 15th March 2011

Progress:
Last week I started to design the layout of the front cover and double page spread on the computers, using Photoshop for the front cover and inDesign for the double page spread.

For the front cover, I downloaded a font from http://www.dafont.com/ and used this font as the main font. I also created a mast head using this font. The magazine is called 'the INFO magazine' because it is a informative magazine for students which informs them of the current affairs of the world in a way appealing to them. I mimicked the layout that I designed on the flat plan, and kept as much to the design as possible, beacuase it seemed as it was already the best layout for it. I created all the sell lines and offers on the cover, and now need images from the photoshoot. To create the background colour I used the Fill Bucket tool on the lowest layer to create one solid block colour.
To create the mast head, I created each word on a different layer. This made it easier to arrange the text to make it look stylised.

On the double page spread I copied the design scheme of my flat plan. I used the same colour scheme and made place holders for the headline, columns, quotes and images. For the background I used the rectangle shape tool to draw a rectangle, and filled in the colour. I used the text box tool to create the columns, and the frame tool to create areas for the images to go.

This is what the Double page spread layout looks like so far

This week I also started to write the draft article. I wrote the introduction paragraph, and the first few paragraphs of the article:

You’ve all heard about global warming, right? What do you really know about it? Temperatures increasing every year – that can’t be that bad can it? But is it more than just getting hotter?

Global warming is a major problem across the entire world, pollution from carbon dioxide- mostly known as CO2, is being pumped into the earth’s atmosphere every second. But what does this actually do? Carbon dioxide gets trapped in the earth’s atmosphere. This trapped gas stops heat from the sun from leaving the atmosphere, making temperatures rise. Scientists have said that the earth’s temperature is increasing just under 1^oC every year. You may say that’s not much, but I have felt the effects of this; I can now get a tan on Christmas day!

But why is this bad? Surely England needs some better weather. The answer is simple. The hotter temperatures have dramatic results on the Earth – the polar ice caps are melting! Every year, glaciers all over the world melt away a little more each second. Imagine, making a bowl of ice-cream, only to blink and it’s all gone! That’s not all! The glaciers are more important to us than you may think. 40% of the entire earth’s drinking water comes from the glaciers in the Himalayas. I don’t know about you, but I think I might struggle with hot temperatures and no drinking water!

Is there anything else? The answer is yes. Global warming has other disastrous effects other than melting all the ice. The rise in temperatures is also the cause of natural disasters! Floods, hurricanes, cyclones, these are all caused by the rise in temperatures. Over 20 million people were made homeless due to a natural disaster in 2008. This is a major problem. In the future, there will be more and more disasters, so you could become homeless next!

To write this article, I used parts and ideas from the first of the two story ideas I wrote in the story style plan. I used the research I gathered to get the information and statistics used in the article, for example 'Over 20 million people were made homeless....'

The main problem I have now is that I don't have any photographs yet, as I need to book the photoshoot.

Targets:

• Book a photoshoot
• Complete writing the article
• Finalise the layout of the double page spread and front cover.

Contingencies:
The biggest problem is that I don't get a photoshoot booked in time, and end up with no images to use on the final product. To avoid this, I will book the earliest possible photoshoot slot that is still available.
Another problem is that the data could become corrupt. To stop this from being a problem I will backup work on the college computers, and on a memory stick.

Production Monitoring Blog: 8th March 2011

Progress

 Last week I started the Pre-Production for my final product.

 The first thing I started to develop was outlining two potential articles that I would write. This involved thinking of headlines, outlining the article, and writing an introduction paragraph. I chose to think of two contrasting ideas, mainly contrasting in the tone of the article, for example one is a humorous article, the other is serious.
 After planning these articles I decided to continue with the humorous theme and will develop this article further for my final product.

 I also created mock front covers. The first idea was of an empty recycle bin surrounded by rubbish bags. I thought of the headline 'They're not going to do it themselves' which is hinting that global warming is not a problem that will solve itself, people must do something about it.

 The second was of an empty sleigh - with the headline 'Putting a man out of a job'. This was referring to Santa and being a humorous take on global warming. However, this idea was changed to a more simpler one of an ice-cream man holding an empty ice-cream cone. I liked this idea, and chose to develop it further for the final product.

 After creating the mock front covers, I then began developing the ideas, by designing a flat plan and rational. I chose to develop the ice-cream man idea, and designed the front cover using this idea. To design these, I looked at existing magazines and got idea for layout in both the front cover and double page spread.

Targets

My main targets for this week are:

• Finalise my idea and develop and plan what imagery will go alongside it - mainly for the double page spread.
• Write a draft article to help with developing the idea.
• Gather props and costume for the model to wear in the photoshoot.
• Find a model for the shoot.
• Book a photoshoot in the studio, after I have gathered the props and models.

Contingencies
The main problem that can happen is the work on the computer could become lost or corrupt. To prevent this I made backups on other computers and a memory stick.