Blog Posts

Friday, 28 March 2014

MY TWO DESIGNS




After revealing my design to my class mates we took part in a session where we analysed each others magazine covers, discussed what worked well and if there were any areas which could be improved. I had very similar comments and they were that the colour scheme worked well along with the image, however what could be changed is the range of fonts. I do agree with this as there isn't a large enough range of fonts, I also felt the magazine looked a little bare on the right hand side so I took the opportunity to change it up a little. As you can see on the second image I have moved my USP (free poster) down into the empty space and changed the font. I also added the text 'UNSEEN IMAGES" as another unique selling point in another different font. The other slight change I made was the font used for the USP in the golden circle "Exclusive Collectors Copy". Even though the changes I made were only slight changes I think they had a great impact on the magazines overall appearance. At first I did not enjoy the changes, however I have grown to like my improved magazine design!

Thursday, 20 March 2014

MAGAZINE COVER



Above is my design for my magazine cover featuring my film "One Way Road".  As you can see I have used the edited image chosen from my range as images from a previous blog post, I think the image works well as the mise-en-scene (football attire) is shown through the positioning of other conventions, the black and white filter works well with the colour scheme. Also you can see I edited the images background, I disposed of the original background which consisted of a garden with a fence and changed it to a grey and white gradient background. I think the colour scheme itself is the main attraction for me as the black and white with hints of red and gold allows simplicity however it is effective when enticing an audience as the eyes are drawn dramatically to the odd splashes of colour. I absolutely love the positioning, font and size of my masthead if I could keep one convention it would be that, I just think it looks so original and I really enjoy how it doesn't take up 100% of the top 1/4 of the magazine cover due to the different sizes of fonts for "PREVIEW" and "FILM".  Because it was my favourite convention due to its appearance I decided to carry out similar designs when adding my main story line layer, as you can see the same font is used and doesn't take up 100% of the area it is positioned, it is written on the right hand side and doesn't stretch across the entire width. What I discovered from my research is that the same font is used for many conventions therefore I used the same font as my masthead and main story line for my other story lines, media convergence (website link in the bottom right hand corner) issue number date, unique selling point "FREE POSTER INSIDE" and tag line "THE ULTIMATE EXCLUSIVE". I also think that the use of capitalising the font portrays a more professional image and the idea that the magazine is "screaming out to its audience". My magazine cover consists of many unique selling points, this really does aid to attract audiences. The bottom left you can see a gold circular layer, this USP allows audiences to gain an exclusive collectors copy of another film poster that wasn't used for publishing. Another USP is the "WIN A TRIP TO CALIFORNIA" feature. I decided to go with the location of California as a typical Football/College theme you imagine an American atmosphere, so by using the convention it allows audiences to feel that they have the opportunity to also experience the American lifestyle in California. All USP's are designed so that the audience feels that they are gaining something extra from buying this magazine, mine gives them a trip opportunity, a free poster (original) AND another collectors copy. 

Even though I am pleased with my first design I am not completely satisfied and do believe more work could be done to improve its overall appearance.