Name: Amelia MorrisCandidate Number: 4150

Centre Number 64135Assessor: Mr Crafts

Contents

Final Front cover Annotated=Slide 3

Final Double Page Spread Annotated= Slide 4

Deadlines: Slide 5

Post Production Skills/ The software and tools I used and why? Slide 6-7

Safe Working Practices: Slide 8-9

Colours: Slide 10

Fonts: Slide 11

Pitch feedback witness statement: Slide 12-13

Changes to front cover and DPS: Slide 14-15

Unit 14 Witness Statement: Slide 16

Conclusion: Slide 17

Final Front CoverMasthead: Beats. Checkout the reasons behind the chosen magazine name in Unit 13/ LO3

Date of issue: January 2015

Strapline: “Discover Your BEAT!” Check out the full connotations behind the strapline in the Unit 13/LO2.

Cover Lines: They are used to tell the reader what’s inside the magazine i.e. Content/information about artists or bands for example in my magazine front cover I have “Kings Of Leon Reveal ALL!”, “Check out Royal Bloods New Album!”, “Ben Howard on Tour April 2015” and “4 free posters from George Ezra, Artic Monkeys, Kings Of Leon and Jake Bugg”.

Puff Promotion = They are techniques that magazines use to increase their target audience and magazine sales/circulation. They can be features like free gifts/merchandise/posters or competitions to win prizes like mobile phones or tablets/ holidays/cash prize. For the first issue of BEATS, I have decided to include a competition to “Win 2 free tickets to V Fest 2015”.

Main Image: George Ezra

Price: £2.50

Main Headline: To make the reader aware of the most popular/important article/interview/story within that issue. I have included the word “EXCLUSIVE” to make the reader automatically check out and read that particular interview that they are raving about!

Barcode= They are a legal requirements and they are for retailers use only.

Social Media and publisher logo’s = to let readers aware that they can follow the magazine on magazine platforms.

Final Double Page SpreadMain Heading: George Ezra@ BEATS Music Magazine

Brand Logo/Masthead = It is presented on the top left corner of the DPS.

Names of people involved = EditorPhotographerStylist

Stand first and drop capital

Main body of interview

Pull Quote = To zoom in on an important part of the interview.

Main image = to add some visual effects, to make the interview more exciting and easy to read as it has been broken up with images.

Image and description

Page numbers =To give the magazine order and professional looks. This would link to the contents page of the mag.

Social media links: So that readers are able to follow George Ezra footsteps through online platforms.

Key facts about George boxTo make it more interesting for the reader and to use up to empty space that would have been there if I didn’t put some content there.

Deadlines

During the whole production process of BEATS! Magazine, it has been a very successful journey. Although in some parts it has been very stressful for example trying to get in touch with people to organise to take the photographs, the whole post production stage of trying to get the magazine pages above all perfect and professional.

In this section I will be discussing what software I used to create the pages and why and also the tools within the software I used an why.

Post-Production skills What software have you used and Why?

To be able to produce my magazine pages in a professional and structured way , I used Adobe Photoshop CS5. Photoshop has many different tools and features, which will allow me to create my pages to look exactly or even better than my hand drawn drafts. I have also decided to use Photoshop due to the fact that I am familiar with it when editing photographs with it.

What tools/features were used in the production of EACH Page? WHY? WHERE exactly? WHAT value has it added to the overall quality of the page(s)?

Free Transform tool: I have used the free transform tool to adjust the size of any shape or object on my front cover and DPS for example the black shape behind my masthead, black shape behind the puff promotion. This tool has also allowed me to rotate shapes and other objects on my front cover and DPS.

Pen Tool: I used the pen tool to create the text columns on my DPS, which wrapped around text such as the drop capital, stand first, pull quote and images on my DPS. The pen tool has also allowed me to create columns the same size and equal length and distance apart. Overall the pen tool has been a great tool to use to make my DPS look professional on the page.

Refine Edge: I used the refine edge tool to pick up on any sections of the main image, which I had missed out for example smaller strands of hair. By using the refine edge I was able to make a much neater selection of the image.

Post-Production skills (Continued) Spot Healing tool: I used the spot healing tool for when I wanted to erase any facial hair and spots on the face that was not necessary needed for the George Ezra look alike. Eye Dropper: I used the eye dropper tool to select the colors for different parts of my masthead and other areas of the front cover. By using the eye dropper tool I was able to select the desired colors from the color pallet or another feature with the same colour. This tool also allowed me to keep the colour scheme the same throughout.

Swatches Panel: I used the swatches panel to save the colours at the beginning of the production stage to use at a later stage of when I was producing the actual magazine page, so I could quickly and effectively select the colour needed for that feature. Overall the swatches panel has allowed me to keep my colour consistent throughout the magazine editing stage.

Safe working practices

Why it was important to crop and remove unwanted areas from the image?

It is extremely important that I crop my images before I placed them onto my front cover and DPS. This is because there was parts of the images that were very irrelevant to the kind of images I wanted to present on my front cover and DPS. There was also very limited space within the required front cover and DPS, so if I didn’t crop my images then they would be too large for the desired space.

Why is it important to use the pen tool?

It was extremely important when using the pen tool when I was creating my text columns so that I could wrap the text columns around features like the drop capital, stand first, pull quote, which you can see in the screen shot below.

Why is it important to change the brightness and contrast and also bringing out the details?

It is important that I changed the brightness and contrast of the images used in my front cover and DPS because the original images I had taken were quite plain and sutle and they needed to be more visible, sharper, clearer and more detailed to give the impression that it was more professional.

Safe working practices (Continued)

Grouping the Layers

It is extremely important to group my layers to keep the structure and order of all the different features in their own separate folders. This is also means that when someone else in the editing team comes to continue working on it they can easily find what they are looking for more efficiently.

Proof reading (hyphenated text)Its important to always proof read the text which I have written myself to make sure that it is appropriate to publish and concise and not breaking the editors code of practice. Proof reading the text will ensure that the journalism I publish is appropriate to the reader and also to the main bands and artist that I write about. If I did not proof read my work, there would be a big possibility that I would be discriminating or giving false information about the reader or artists/bands involved.

Ruler tool

It is extremely important that I use the ruler tool to create the structure for both my front cover and DPS. The ruler tool allows me to set the correct dimensions for features within the front cover and DPS such as the Masthead, main image, text columns and quotes. The ruler tool also allows you accurately set the gaps between each feature. If I did not use the ruler tool the pages would look unprofessional and messy as the features would be of different sizes and not in line.

Colours To maintain a continuous colour scheme I saved each colour I planned to used in my magazine pages in the swatches panel by using the eye dropper tool to select the colour, which meant that when I selected the eye dropper tool I was able to select the colour that I had previously saved in the panel. This also meant I didn’t have to search for the colour every time I needed a new one and helped to maintain my house style.

How to create a swatch1.Select the layer you wish to change the colour of in the example I had chosen a cover line.

2.I highlighted the text and presented the text option.

3. Open the colour pallet and click to add to swatches.

4. Next rename the swatch for example I called my Cover Line 1

Font(s) What was the website used to gather the font needed?To be able to create my masthead font style, I used a website called dafont.com to gather ideas and also download fonts to see which one I preferred for my final masthead idea.

Were you inspired to use this from other magazines? I was inspired by NME’s masthead Sans serif font style because they seem to portray a very strong , professional , structured and indie rock feel through their masthead even through they use a very basic and bold font style

Pitch Feedback- Witness Statement

Above is my witness statement, which the document used by the publisher “Mr. Crafts”, to assess my performance on the day of my pitch. There is an opportunity where he has to tick off the checklist to see if I have met the criteria and to write down what went well and what would be even better if?

Pitch Feedback- Witness Statement

From the witness statement. He has told that my Facebook page I created for BEATS magazine was the most strongest are of production that he thought was a really great aspect of the whole production.

However he told me that I needed to relax and be confident, avoid using the word “Stuff” and instead use more professional media language. I also need to amend the marketing costs on my budget plan and also when talking about socio economic needs, I need to use terminology like “the stereotypes”.

On my front cover, I need to reduce the stoke effect around the barcode, make the promotion smaller so that it is not clashing with the Guitar and finally I need to change the font styles for the cover lines and main headline as they are not suitable

On my Double Page Spread, I need have more key facts, make my columns more in line and straight using the pen tool and finally change the colour of the blue line stoke effect around the pull quote to more respectable and relatable colour i.e. black, red and white (Brand identity).

Changes made to the post- production work

I have made lots changes to my first draft of my front cover to make it more realistic and like a real magazine that you buy from a retailer such as WH Smith. I have changed the puff promotion in the corner to a round circle instead of a rectangle squashed right into the corner, I have also changed the font style and colours of the cover lines and main headlines

First Second Final Version

I have made changes to the double page spread interview because it was looking abit plain and ordinary. I needed to add some well known magazine denotations such as Drop capital, stand first, image descriptions, page numbers, social media links, pull quote, bigger main heading, people names that were involved and Key facts box.

Witness Statement

This is the witness statement that in order for me to complete this Unit, I have to sign my name to declare that it was all my own work. To see the witness statement enlarged, then please check out Unit 14 LO4 on my blog page.

Conclusion

In this section, I have been able to show and give evidence of how to edit a final print based media product for instance my new music magazine called BEATS.

I have included my final versions of my front cover and DPS for BEATS first issue, whether or not I met all planned deadlines, post production skills, safe working practices, fonts, colours and a step by step guide on how I created the pages including the tools that I have used and the changes I have made according to feedback given.