Final front cover

Editing my front cover

The tools I used to manipulate my picture

The programme that i used to edit all my photo was photo shop. I feel that this was the best software as it has all of the key things i need to edit my photo.

 The Brush Strength & Clone Tool

The Clone tool is used to 'copy' a piece of the image in one part of the picture and 'paste' it on to another piece of the image. I used it to make my models have clear skin. With this tool I am able to choose how hard or soft I want the brush and how big the diameter is. The brush is used with the clone tool. Choosing how hard or soft it is helps to create a different effect on the picture in editing and depending on the size of the area I want to clone i can choose how big I want the brush tool to be.









The Crop Tool

I used the crop tool to crop one of my models out of the picture, this is because having 2 models helped to make my photo more focused and their expressions were able to be seen clearer. The crop tool makes you select the bit of the image you want and deletes the unwanted pieces of the picture.

Effects on the Image

Here it shows you all of the different things used to edit my image. I changed the Brightness- This helped to make my picture look much happier and welcoming. As well as this i edited the hue/saturation to make it more colourful and not so washed out. All of these helped to make my front cover image look more inviting and my models complections look better, as well as this the background looks much brighter whereas it looked very dim in the photos.








Hiding Guides

As you can see here I have hidden my guides and rulers and locked my column guides, this is so I can see what my front cover looks like without the guides round the edges and also helps to keep my front cover looking proffessional.

Magic Wand Tool

I used this tool to select certain parts in my background so that I could edit them out. I drew around the bits I wanted to eliminate and then I selected a colour that I wanted to fill them with. In my background I had a very obvious red border that I wanted to remove so I coloured it in grey. This helped to draw more attention to the models

Drawings - contents page

Layout Ideas

As you can see i have drawn out 6 different designs, i got the inspiration from my contents page research and further research into the layout. All of them are very different layouts however i think they are all very strong ideas.

I decided on this layout as i felt it was the best one. The picture will hang of of the edge, this is something that i had seen on my research and liked. As well as this i wanted to incorporate the school logo into the contents page and i thought that the best way to do this was to make it a a background and dim the transparency so that you can see the writing over the top. I feel that this will make my contents page look neat and it is clear that it is school themed.

I am going to have:

• A bold title
• The logo background
• Two pictures
• The school moto
• Whats inside the magazine (listed)

Contents page research - further

Close Analysis 

• As you can see most of these contents pages have the word 'contents' in bold this is something that i am going to adopt when making my contents page as it makes it clear what the theme of that page is. 
• As well as this the colour normally fits in with the house style, the font used is usually repeated throughout the page, this is to create a constant eye flow and it does not distract you from the main sub-headings.

• As you can see all of the contents pages have a main picture, this links to what will be in the double page spread
• All of the pictures are of a person- there will be a key story which means that they have to be on the contents page
• This is something that i want to have in my contents page as my magazine needs to have a focus 

Font research - contents page

Contents page research

Contents page analysis

Photos (set 2)

Second set of photos

As you can see from my second set of photos i have adopted the techniques i used in my first set to try and make a better batch of photos, i have again played around with angles to see which way my models look best however not as much as i had chosen to do a straight forward shot after considering the fact that my front cover is portrait not landscape.

I have included the main factors that i picked out from my model photo which is:

• blurred out background
• a pen in the models hand
• happy expression and concentrated expression
• work in the image

Photos (set 1)

First set of photos

As you can see from my first set of pictures i have experimented with many different angles with the camera and also different settings.

I have considered:

• the lighting
• the positioning of my models
• their facial expressions
• their body language 
• props

Taking all of this in to account I managed to get a good first batch of pictures that I can adapt my skills in to other places, however, I did not feel that these pictures were up to scratch and I have decided to take another batch of photos to get the perfect photo, i still want my models to do the same pose and use the same props. 

Drawings for front cover

 Front Page Ideas

As you can see all of my drawings have the head of the models as the focus of the magazine cover, this is what my research backs up. As well as this it shows the expression on the models faces and does not distract the eye too much on other things which are going on in the picture.

I am going to make the outfits minimalist to focus on the learning aspect rather than the fashion side.

Chosen Front Cover Layout

• I have chosen this layout as the title is bold at the top which all my research backs up
• The models faces are the focus of my front cover and barely any of their body 
• I want writing at both sides of the page so that it is not too heavily focused on one side and your eye looks around all of the page
• I am going to have the WGSG motto 'pursuit of excellence' at the bottom as my research also backs this up

Font research

Font Research

Final research - detailed

Final Image Analysis

Selected Image 

Research for my school magazine

Front Covers

Theme

Initially i chose to do a sporting magazine for my school, this is because i feel there are a mass amount of them on the market that i can compare ideas with and also get inspiration to make my front cover.

Different front covers

1

• The model is in front of the text, this draws more attention to the actual activity the model is doing
• The writing is purple, which is the scouts theme colours, it is bold, this draws attention to the theme of the magazine. 
• The logo is placed directly under the header this makes it subtle, yet still clear for the reader to see
• The information on the left side is an insight to what is in the magazine it is not too big as otherwise it draws attention away from the model and the information goes into more depth inside the magazine therefore only key points are needed
• 'MADE BY YOU' is boldly stated at the bottom this is clearly the message they want to get across

2

• The header 'sporting best' is aligned to the left this is because there is space on the right for the logo to clearly go
•  The spacing between the letters makes the words easy to read and the white font with the blue background contrast well making the header stand out.
• 'New curriculum, new possibilities is clearly the message that they want to put across to the readers, this is why it is centered and also the white writing with black background make it easy to read
• The image used is an action shot of the model, this clearly links back to the theme of sport.

3

• The header is placed in front of the model rather than behind, this draws more attention to what the actual header says, using bold whit writing contrasts well with the green background and the spacing is even making the header easy to read
• All of the key information is placed around the edges over lapping the model, this makes the information the key focus of the magazine as opposed to the model
• Yellow font has been used which is not very to easy to read against the models skin therefore this should have been changed
• 'MARY JOHNSON' is the model, it has made her name bold to ensure that you read what the article is about.

In my magazine I have decided I am going to have a slogan in my magazine as the key message to put across, this is what magazine 1 and 2 have done and I feel it makes the magazine have more of a focus and also because it is a school magazine incorporating the motto is a good way to promote the school. However all of these magazines only have one model, although this does draw more attention to them I feel that maybe including 1 or 2 more models will make the magazine look more 'friendly' and not so focused on one child as because it is for a school the magazine should encourage teamwork. I am going to include key information around the edge of my model this will be in a small font, this is so it does not steal attention from the model(s) and the school motto, however it does still let you know what will be in the magazine in further depth.

Image analysis - front cover

Image analysis

Template Image

 As you can see from my selected front cover the theme that I have chosen to follow through with is 'concentration' the model looks focused. The background is out of focus drawing more attention to the model. This is the main goal I want to achieve with my images. i know that i want to use more than one model as i feel it makes the image look warmer and will suit a school magazine cover better rather than focusing on one student.

Image Inspiration

In this image the background is out of focus which is something I wanted to ensure was done in my image. As well as this having 3 students makes the picture look more 'friendly' as it shows them all working together. All of the models are focused on one piece of paper which is something I am going to consider when taking my image as it clearly shows team work. What I don't like about this photo is that the third model cannot be clearly seen face on, this is because you cannot see the concentration on their face properly. the camera angle is on a slant this creates definition to the image and          causes us to focus on the main model in the image.

This image also has a background out of focus which highlights the models concentration. as well as this the camera angle of this image is straight which create a triangle affect to the picture this creates stability in the photo. using one model in the photo makes the theme of concentration more highlighted, however having more models makes the theme more focused.

This image is very bland. the background is focused therefore just as much attention is being paid to that as the models. their expressions on their faces do not portray real concentration.