Foundation media

portfolio evaluation

Jack mead
 Tasks we were set.
• Preliminary production
Design and produce a school magazine cover.

• Foundation production
Design and produce a music magazine ;
1.Front cover
2.Contents page
3.Double page spread
Preliminary production.
Finished cover. sketches of front cover and contents page.
Feedback from audience.
“Too much use of capital letters and underlining.”
“Very basic background.”
“Dull colours.”

“Clear layout of the cell lines.”

“Nice effect on the background to bring out the
texture of the wood.”
“Colour matching with clothes.”
Foundation production.
• For this part, I used the programs :

- Photoshop CS4

- InDesign CS4

... To produce my magazine cover, contents and double page

article.
My research.
• I decided to carry out some research before producing
my magazine. I felt that by getting some views from
different people , it would help me make a music
magazine that would appeal more than some around
currently. I found that most people wanted a mixed
genre magazine because they liked more than one kind
of music. It also helped me find out what kind of
articles they liked too. For example, around 70% who
filled in the questionnaire, liked articles that talked
about band secrets, exclusive info and what the band
got up to in their spare time.
• I took these results and produced the magazine around
the feedback.
Magazine front cover image and original sketch.
Completed front cover.
Image – plain, expressions , doesn't
really show much about the magazine.

Conventions – barcode, price and date.

Banner – like current magazines like

NME, MIXED, KERRANG. Position.

Text – use of Text FX on Photoshop, e.g.

Stroke, inner glow. DAFONT.

Cell lines – position of cell lines are not

in the way of the picture, colours fit
with image .

Masthead – fixed position and font.

Over lap, top layer.
 Feedback from audience.
“Quite basic cover and doesn't really have many things that attract
you”
“Picture doesn't show what kind of magazine it is”
“Needs more cell lines to show what's inside”
“Quite an amateur look to it because of the flat colours instead of
texture or effects”

“Bold masthead is very effective”

“The patches of bright colours caught my eye, and the photo is really
clear, again with good colours”
“The callout really interested me as I listen to a lot of different music”
Contents page sketches and influences.
Completed contents page.
Images – range of images showing what's
on that page. ‘new artist’ photo – interest
to reader.

Font – same kind of font used for front

cover to keep its identity.

Layout - clear layout, very basic,

Effects – Photoshop effects like stroke, glow

and shadows were used. Lasso on the ‘new
artist’ photo to edit out background.
 Feedback from audience.
“ very bland and very amateur background, not very interesting at all”
“Not much information on photos, so doesn't make me want to read on”
“colours don't really match with magazine cover”

“although colours don't match the cover, they are new and catch your eye when
flicking through”
“ the blacked out photo is quite appealing, and wants me to see what its about and
who it is”
“the five photos above the writing, is good as it makes it more interesting when
scanning through”
Double page final pages.
Completed double page.

Mise en scene – quiet background focuses on Aaron, it connotes a happy scene which is
what i wanted to get across to the audience. (Aaron’s facial expression and the sun)

Image – action shot by Aaron, jumping and laughing creates a more interesting article.
The two small pictures were also from the photo shoot which i liked and again
showed the joyful exciting vibe i wanted from the article.
Double page original photo .
Effects and tools –

Brightness and
contrast adjust,

Healing tool,

Cropping.
Feedback from audience.
“the photo has been adjusted but i think the light in the top left still could
have been removed”
“not a wide variation of colours used, a bit too green”

“I really like the photo, it shows the funny side of Aaron and makes me laugh”
“good use of mise en scene, as it focuses on Aaron because he’s in the middle
of the page”
“ looks quite professional because of the font used and the separate photo”
Institutions.
IPC.
I think this would be a great for my type of magazine because IPC say they
“offer something for everyone, with a focus of three core audiences.” this
is what I want from my magazine as its got a mixture of genres for a wider
range of readers.
NME, a rival of ‘mixed’ magazine, is also part of IPC, so adding my magazine
would again increase the number of readers that would buy it because it
already has a big audience of this genre.
Photoshop CS4 and InDesign CS4 - new program , getting used to it
took time, better than other programs like paint, publisher etc.

At first – I really didn't like using it as it was something new and

couldn't get the hang of.
In the end – I was getting used to it and started to enjoy the
different effects I could use.

Blogger – using this for the first time, I was quite impressed with
the layouts and how easy it was to upload. Other online sites like
facebook, rival this, but this is great for beginners because its really
quick to publish work.
 Skills I have learnt.
I have learnt a lot from doing these task. I have learnt
about shots and effects of different photo’s and that
doing it properly really effects the outcome of the final
piece. Using photoshop has helped a lot too, because i
know what kind of things can be done to a picture when
uploaded to the program. Know that i know that, I take
the pictures differently, now thinking about what i want
to do to it.
I have also learnt that not keeping on track with specific
deadlines , is very important because it overlaps and
ends up being rushed and not being done to your full
ability.