Evaluation Video

Final Cut

Signature Added to Double Page Spread

As mentioned in a recent post, a member of my focus group advised me to add a personal touch to the double page spread, so using the new font I had acquired, I today placed the new signature in the bottom right of the page, replacing the 'Tickets for Ozzie's new album are on sale now' finishing line.

Weekly Review (Timekeeping)

This week was the final full week before the Final Cut, so I spent it making lots of minor changes and improvements to the magazine, including changing font sizes on the cover, altering the transparancy of the social media logo background, adding superimposed frames onto the double page spread to allay concerns of 'emptiness'. I also adjusted the brightness and saturation levels of my double page spread model on photoshop, and also discovered a new font for a planned signature on the double page spread.

This week, I intend to put the final touch on my magazine by creating the signature on Monday for the double page spread. I will then hand in my final cut on Tuesday, before I begin work on my evaluation. For my evaluation, I am doing a video which answers the 7 key questions. I intend to include audience feedback from my focus group (which was established back in February) in order to test the product on it's intended target audience. I will film these interviews on Thursday, and my own segments on Friday. I plan to use some greenscreen in my evaluation video to make it slightly more interesting. Then, at the weekend, I plan edit them at home using Pinnacle Studio 20, in time to upload to my blog and hand in on the deadline of Tuesday 2nd May 2017.

New Font Used

When I consulted with Luke from my focus group on my double page spread, he suggested that the article needed a "personal touch" in order to "make it feel like the interview is with him, not about him'. Therefore, I decided to include a signature from Ozzie O, the artist, at the bottom of the page. However, to create this I needed a calligraphy-style phont, so using Dafont I found this font, Amontilladios to use for this signature.

Photo Editing

When I consulted with Megan from my focus group on the current state of my double page spread, she said "The model is too pale, it makes him stand out from the page and not in a good way, he needs more colour" In order to address this criticism and make my male model on the double-page spread appear less pale, I altered the hue, saturation and lightness levels in order to put more colour and life into the model, and I am much more satisfied with the updated result.

Slight Alterations to Double Page Spread

After consulting my focus group, I was informed that some of the page still appeared to be somewhat 'empty', lacking something small but imperitive to the design of the page. In response to this, I added a horizontal line near the top of the page that breaks up for the headline and Ozzie's overlapping head in order to make the page appear more full and less boring and overly conventional, as I still want my magazine to have it's own identity and have a creative flair as well as following conventions.

Social Media Background Transparancy

When adding the social media logos, I noticed there was some white space around the logo itself, so using the quick selection tool I selected the white areas and deleted them to create a transparent background which I could then place on my Indesign document.

Enlarged Font Sizes

In the bottom right corner of the page, the text was in a rather small font which left a lot of empty space on the page, so I have enlarged the text in the 'plus' section in order to fill the space and leave less gaps between the small photos on the left and the text on the right.

More Shifted to Right

Following my earlier decision to move the majority of text on the page to the right side, it felt odd and out of place to have the 'plus' section remaining in the bottom left, so I have also moved this to the bottom right in order to follow this 'right orientated' layout, as is conventional in a music magazine of my genre.

Weekly Review (Timekeeping)

This week (9-16 April 2017) I have continued with my aim to continue making minor adjustments and alignments to make my magazine the best it can be.

I spent a significant portion of the week working on the front cover, before moving onto the contents and double page spread towards the latter part of the week.

This week coming (16-23 April 2017) I intend to make the final touches to my magazine in preparation for the final cut deadline on Tuesday 25th April.

Overlapping Titles

For the headline and sub-headline of my double page spread, I decided to create a fade effect on both, and then overlap the subheading over the heading to achieve a slightly more dynamic look, rather than a standard headline and sub headline beneath it. The subheading has been moved up quite significantly, as it originally only just overlapped but now fully overlaps. I also made the subheading fade into the clouds to make it seem more natural and less forced.

Chronological Page Numbers

On my contents page, I decided to change the numbering of some of the articles to a chronological sequence to follow music magazine conventions, as my contents page previously had featured articles with non-chronological ordering which did not look very professional or organised.

Contents Page Improvement

On the contents page, I decided to make the word 'Abbie' on the caption bigger than the standard text for captions on that page. This was to subtly point out that this article is the main article of the magazine, as it was on the front cover and therefore has somewhat more importance than the other featured articles.

Front Cover Minor Improvement

From looking at my genre of magazine and examples of it, it became clear that many used dots/small circles between important information in lists rather than a comma in order to achieve a more stylised effect, so I have employed this technique in the 'Plus' section of my front cover in order to appear very conventional.

Front Cover Symmetry Update

When consulting my focus group, it was pointed out to me that the front cover was perfectly symmetrical which is not a convention of music magazines- they tend to focus most of their info on one side, so I have moved the four featured articles across to the right and alternated the colour of the text between white and blue in order to make it visibly clear which article is which.

Contents Improvement

In order to make it very clear which article was the main one from the magazine (aka the one seen on the front cover), I decided to create a 'Featured' box in order to achieve this prominence. To make it, I created a small frame and coloured it with my magazine's blue colour scheme before adding small white text over the top. I have two fonts primarily used through the magazine, and I used the 'Lemon/Milk' font for the featured box to stand out to the 'Bebas Neue' font used predominantly on the contents page.

Weekly Review (Timekeeping)

This week I have made some large structural changes to both my contents and double-page spread, as well as adding key conventions such as Social Media logos, as well as some minor photo-shopping for small thumbnail photos to be added to the front cover.


This week coming up (9-16 April 2016) I intend to now focus on smaller details and minor changes and adjustments in anticipation of the final cut deadline in two weeks time.

Contents Change

Following feedback from Tommy in my focus group, I have changed the three photos on my contents page into four in order to include the cover artist, Abbie.

Front Cover Improvement

I have decided to use a more conventional photo of a male model in a studio for one of the small photos at the bottom of the page. However, the photo has the studio in the background, so I used the black and white brush tool and the magnetic lasso to remove the background so I can place him on a white background to appear more professional.

Thumbnail Photo

I have decided to include an extra thumbnail photo at the bottom of the page to replace my two suburban female models in the street, as Luke from my focus group today described it as 'meaningless and lacks emotion'. Therefore, I intend to use one of my male model photoshoots from the Rough Cut double page spread as a thumbnail at the bottom of the front cover, as you can see below.

However, I am considering editing out the background on Photoshop and replacing it with a pure white layer.

Focus Group Feedback (Contents)

I asked my focus group for feedback on the current state of my contents page:

Olivia: "It's good but I would suggest to add the social media logos in somewhere to appeal to your young adult target audience."

Luke: "It needs to be made more clear why the Abbie article is bigger; it's not obvious enough that it's the main article, it just seems accidentally bigger"

Tommy: "You should include your cover artist somewhere on the contents page"

Megan: "Ensure the page numbers are always in chronological order or it will look messy and unprofessional"

Focus Group Feedback (Front Cover)

Today, I asked my focus group to give their opinions on the current state of my magazine in order to get audience suggestions for changes to be made, starting with the front cover:

Olivia- 'It is too symmetrical. Magazines of your genre tend to be focused more on one side'

Megan- 'Reformat the 'plus' section, it looks too formulatic and strict.'

Tommy- 'The photos at the bottom take up too much space, they might work better as small thumbnails rather than larger photos.'

Luke- 'It's good but the barcode needs a number and the photos at the bottom should be a lot smaller and the plus section could do with a redesign, maybe a different way of setting it out'

Social Media Logos Added

Today, I added the social media logos for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to my contents page to fit the conventions of a music magazine.

Changes to Double Page Spread

It became clear to me that the background of my double-page spread was just too white, as I was told during my rough cut feedback. So I decided to use another blue coastal photo but without the white transparency effect, as this photo fits the colour scheme of the magazine significantly better.

Weekly Review (Timekeeping)

This week (27 March-2 April) I continued to make major changes, involving introducing a new background to the contents page. I also photo-shopped and edited a new photo for the double-page spread. I added small conventional features such as the page number, and adding a drop capital.

This week coming, I intend to begin making some large structural changes to my contents and double-page spread. I also intend to find a way to fill up some small empty spaces on the contents page, as well as adding some more typical conventions, such as social media logos.

Drop Capital

Today, I added a drop capital to the beginning of my article in order to make it clear where the article starts and also to follow the conventions of typical articles on double page spreads in all genres, especially music magazines,

Double Page Improvement

Next to the page numbers on my double page spread, I added the magazine title (Tide) as this is a conventional feature found in all the similar media products I have researched.

Different Photo on Double Page

So far, on my double page spread, I have been using this photo

However, it felt slightly forced and out of place, so I have chosen to use this photo instead.

Blog Brush Post

Using Photoshop, I used the black and white brush tool on a mask to remove the background of the photo of my male model for my double page spread. I did this as the studio was a very drab area that would look overly forced and out of place in my magazine. Cutting out the model also makes the background more clear for concise text.

New Background for Contents Page

I chose to use the following photo on my contents page for the background:

However, the colour scheme on the photo did not match the theme, so I added it to my contents page but then also created a white box on top of it.

I then changed the transparancy of the white box to 53%, allowing the photo to be seen but also modifying the colours to fit the colour scheme of the magazine.

Week in Review

This week,  I have taken photos of a male model to use in my double page spread after Rough Cut Feedback suggested my current model did not have enough 'attitude' . I also organised and arranged a location photoshoot for my contents page, as well as made a layer mask of my female model's head on the front cover in order to create a conventional overlap over the title.

Following Friday's photoshoot, I intend to change the background on my contents page, as well as small photo editing improvements on my double page spread photos. I am also considering a change in double-page spread photo, but I will decide this for definite at some point during this week. I am also considering adding a drop capital to my double page spread article.

Cover Photoshop

I have cut out my female model's head on Photoshop using the black and white brush tool on a mask to remove the background. This allows me to place it over the magazine title, which is a typical convention in music magazines, of all genres.

New Contents Page Photos Taken

Today, I took new photos for my contents page. I retook the surfer photos from last time, but in accordance with my rough cut feedback to give the model more 'attitude', I attempted to achieve this effect mainly through facial expressions. Since my new contents page is not image-dominated, the surfer image is now a smaller image used as one of the feature articles.

Additionally, I took some photos of the sea to use as background shots on my contents and potentially double page spread.

Below are a few examples of potential shots to be used:

Organisation of Tomorrow's Photoshoot

Today I met with my potential model, Josh, and proposed the idea of a beach photoshoot.

We sat and looked at the rough-cut version of these photos, and I suggested the main changes I wanted to make.

Firstly, I decided to arrange to meet early in the morning in order to catch the sunrise. I then instructed my model to wear a wetsuit so that he could go in the sea and achieve a more 'attractive' look, predominantly for the female audience.

We were unsure whether to use the surfboard as a prop, but eventually we decided to in order to make the photo look more realistic.

After briefing him on the shots I intend to take, me and Josh then arranged to meet at 6.30am the next day at Tynemouth Longsands, and with costumes and props and location all planned, everything was in place ready for a smooth simple photoshoot.

Major Changes to Double Page Spread

Following my rough cut feedback, I was advised that a different model with more 'attitude' was required for my double page spread, so yesterday (Monday 13th March 2017) I took some more with a new model, and have subsequently added them to my double page spread. I also intend to experiment with the positioning of the text in order to fill the space more effectively, so the below screenshots show the rough cut double-page spread and the current (work in progress) one.

I have also got rid of the blue bars on the outsides, and I have added page numbers in order to follow typical music magazine conventions.

New Male Photo Model

Today I took photos for my new male artist for the double page spread. Originally, I used Jamie as a model, an example of whom can be seen below:

However, my rough cut feedback suggested that my model needed to have more 'attitude', so I instead took photos today of a new male artist, Matthew; an example of one of his photos is below:

Major Changes to Contents Page

Following audience feedback, it has been decided to change my contents page to a blocky format. I have begun the layout and have now begun to fill in the featured articles, with more photos due to be taken in the coming days for the featured photos. 

Below is the rough cut contents page (7th March 2017) and the updated contents page (20th March 2017)

Week in Review

From this point onwards, I will be merging my Sunday 'review' post and my Monday 'plan' post into one singular 'timekeeping' post every Sunday.

Week in Review

This week, I have completed all the tasks I had planned, including:

 -Editing my new double page spread photos.

-Creating a rough version of my double page spread with the new image.

-Editing new front cover photos to make them as effective as possible before using them on my front cover to follow feedback given after my rough cut..

-Got some audience feedback on my contents page, which decided I should switch to a blocky look.
-Initiated a complete overhaul of contents page

My Weekly Plan

This week, I intend to take photos of a new male model with more 'attitude' for my double page spread. I also intend to continue my overhaul of the contents page. I am also planning to organise a location photoshoot for Friday morning with a new male model for one of my contents photos. I also intend to take some landscape photos while I am there.

Framework for Updated Contents Page

After looking through my previous research into similar media products, I decided on the outline I want my new contents page to follow, and I have created it on indesign. Down the left side of the page will be 4 specific photos which represent featured articles, whilst other, less important feature articles are listed down the side without any image- instead with a brief description and page number.

Audience Research for Contents Page

Following rough cut feedback which said that the contents page looked 'too much like a front cover', I decided to get some audience research on whether the image-dominated approach was the best idea.

Using SurveyMonkey, I asked a question to the target audience asking whether an image-dominated or blocky contents page would be more effective.

The results showed that my target audience prefer a blocky contents page rather than an image dominated one, therefore I intend to make major changes to my contents page. I intend to completely revamp the page with a blocky style but I have not decided exactly how this design will look yet.

Major Changes to Front Cover

Following my rough cut feedback, I have taken a new photo for my magazine front cover with more 'attitude'. Additionally, the white jumper on the model has forced me to reconsider my colour scheme slightly; rather than the headline being written in white, it has now been written in black in order to be clearly seen, however I believe this to be more effective because it allows the headline to stand out in comparison to the rest of the page (this being the main reason I did not write it in blue like the other featured articles on the page).

Additionally, I have added more featured articles to my front cover as in my rough cut feedback, it was said that my front cover was slightly too empty.

I have also changed the layout of the bottom section to follow conventions more strictly; rather than having three photos along the bottom, I will now have just two (which have not been taken yet) with a small list of other featured articles in the middle of the page as is typically seen in magazines of this genre.

Editing New Front Cover Photo

Using Photoshop, I used the brightness and contrast settings in response to claims that the original photo was too overexposed. After retaking the photo, I noticed the heavy presence of white in the photo made it look slightly overexposed again, so I used this tool to manipulate the colours in the photo.