Evaluation
I have known since studying Media at college that I wanted to create magazines and have spent a large portion of my degree learning and working towards that goal. When the Major Practical Project assignment was introduced to me, I knew straight away that I wanted to make a magazine, and I have never regretted it. Although my magazine was one of the most time consuming and challenging assignments I have ever produced, it was also one of the most fun, informing and worthwhile. And I loved every minute of it.
I purposefully spent a large amount of time on this assignment, so that I could produce a great piece of work and use it for both my Major Practical Project and my own portfolio. I spent a lot of time researching, planning and sketching ideas, beforehand, so that I had all the knowledge of magazine design necessary. This included grids, font, design styles, image styles, designers and much more. However, it was all information that I knew I would take with me into my career and without it I would be nearly useless!
I then took photographs that I needed and collected the rest from my own stock. There were some areas of my magazine where I needed images but could not acquire them myself. For example the sections about music, film, people and blogs needed relevant images so I found them using the internet, after having checked with my tutor. These were either still shots from films, images from the past or images that other’s have used on their blogs themselves. Following this I made magazine adverts in Photoshop using my own images and images from the internet that I, again, could not get myself. These were images such as logos and perfume or lotion bottles. This was quite a lengthy process because I wanted the adverts to seem as authentic as possible.
The last thing I did before starting the layout design, was to research the different sections included in the magazine. This allowed me to have direct quotes and enough information to write the text with. It was at this stage of creation that I changed the Technology section to Films. As I was researching Technology I realised that I was not very passionate about it or inspired by it and although others may be, I did not feel that I could write inspiring text about it.
I was, however, greatly inspired by both the magazines Look and Grazia, because they use slightly quirky design styles. This inspiration led to my decision to use blocks of colour, against sharp, interesting images and an otherwise uncomplicated design.
All of this pre-production work put me in the best position possible, to then start designing my magazine.
I started designing my magazine and automatically used a dark mauve colour, one of my favourites, for the first blocks of colour. It was whilst I was designing this first page that I realised that although I knew and understood about all the different sections, the readers may not. And I thought, what better way to distinguish between them than to use colour! So I decided to give each section in the contents page the same coloured numbers and each page within a section matching coloured blocks. This then allowed for the reader to flip through the magazine looking for a certain colour, which I believe to be quicker that looking for numbers.
I went on to design every page, but using coloured boxes in place of images and Lorem Ipsum in place of text. This allowed me to focus solely on the design and layout, which helped a great deal and sped up the process. Once I had the first draft ready, I cropped the images in Photoshop, using the dimensions of the coloured boxes in InDesign, and placed them into my magazine. This gave me a better idea of what the magazine would look like and I was able to make essential changes. The double page spreads for Contents, Bill Brandt and Fleetwood Mac, as well as the pages on the Seaside and Flowers, were barely changed because I was pleased with them right from the beginning. However, the front cover took quite a while to get right. I had quite a few different options for background images but finally settled on the black and white Bill Brandt image so that the coloured text could stand out. I didn’t add foreground images so that it wouldn’t look too busy and there would be a sense of continuation throughout the magazine, right from the beginning. I had an especially tough time with the page about the Woods and the double page spread about Films. These three pages were changed, put back, changed again, and again, and again, until I was happy with them. This was quite a long task considering I can be quite the perfectionist, but I do think it is a good trait to have when it comes to something like design.
I wrote all of the text for the magazine, which was probably the hardest job of all. I am much more a designer than I am a writer so I found it very difficult to write in a way that was inspiring and was why I left it till last. However, I was helped greatly by having done research and picking subjects that inspired me. I am also very grateful to Melita Kiely, who wrote me an article for the page about her blog Hyper Heart. I thought it would be a great addition to the magazine and I think it adds extra professionalism. Rose, who writes Listentomywords, also kindly allowed me to include some of the poems, sayings and text that she finds and puts on her blog, along with the corresponding images. If I could start this assignment all over again I would spend more time learning to write more engagingly. I realise that I have produced this magazine for design purposes, and in that sense there are many more important aspects than the writing, however, text is one of the key features of a magazine.
As you can imagine, I spent a good while tweaking and perfecting my magazine, moving quote marks slightly left or right, making boxes bigger or images smaller. I do feel, however, that a larger space between images could have made them stand out more, singularly. I also think that some of the quotes that are within sections of text may have been too large in comparison. However, on the whole, I am very proud of my magazine and am pleased with my work. I think that the magazine has a sense of quality whilst also being interesting and different.
This sense of quality comes most from the print version, which is probably due to the high gloss paper and perfect bound spine. I used a great company and although I chose the binding, paper weight, coated or uncoated and type of paper, a lot of credit should go to them for their brilliant service. Shortly after my PDF submission and payment for printing and postage, I received an urgent voicemail regarding my magazine. As you can imagine I panicked and thought I had uploaded something wrong, or worse. However, when I rang them back I spoke to a very helpful employee who explained that I didn’t have enough inside pages for the thickness of the front and back cover and was it okay with me if they reduced it? I was very relieved and after saying yes, thanked them greatly for speaking to me first.
Once I had received my printed magazine, I used it to gauge shadows and highlights for the online version. After adding these I was ready to upload the PDF to a website I had found that creates digital page turning documents. However, once I got towards the end of the process I realised that the free version only lasted a month, and although this would be long enough for marking, it would not be available for prospective employees. So I did some research and found out how to create a digital version myself, using InDesign. I had already added shadows and highlights, but I wanted to include buttons for readers who did not want to digitally turn the pages. This was quite an easy task and I am glad that I did it, because hopefully it shows that I have thought about everyone’s needs.
It had been a long time since I had made a website, but I looked back at my previous work for help and soon got into the swing of it. I knew that I only wanted to make a single web page, because I was going to link it to my Word Press portfolio website, so it was not too hard. I purposefully styled it to match my portfolio website and, with the help of Dreamweaver, inserted the SWF file of my magazine. I will admit though, that the magazine can take a while to load, but I hope that it does not discourage readers.
I knew when I started this assignment that it would entail a lot of work. But there were a few areas of design programs, and some skills, that I unexpectedly had to learn myself. It took me quite a while to grasp the handling of images in InDesign; but I eventually learnt that, for me, it was best to deal with image size and cropping in Photoshop, before placing them in InDesign. This would also allow for the best quality image, something I was quite worried about before the print version arrived! I also spent a lot of time selecting individual text boxes for font or size changes, before learning the shortcut. Similarly, I saved a lot of time once I learnt that many boxes can be selected at once for their colour to be changed. Although these issues were time consuming, I am glad that I acquired the skills through experience, because I believe it can be a better way to learn.
As it states in my brief, I am interested in the future of print media since the introduction of certain technology and internet advancements. Due to this I created an online version, as well as a print version, which I hope reflects my knowledge and concerns about the industry. Overall I am very happy with my final products. I have learnt a lot throughout this process and produced more than I originally thought I could, which I am very proud of.
Stephanie Littlejohns - Digital Sketchbook 