'Editing Images - Before and After and Colour Scheme

I used a Canon A480 Digital Camera to take the images for my cover and then used Adobe Photoshop as my editing software to edit the actual images. I have illustrated below how the image(s) looked before and after.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I used the magic wand to remove most of the background and then used the Brush Tool and selected white to erase away the extra bits that were left. For my actual cover, I've flipped the 'After' image vertically as i believe that it would look more ideal and professional.

As you can see, i took a mid shot image of the girl playing the violon (which is a well knonw classical instrument) and also got her to position herself in a way that is similar to the positioning of the images of the classical singers on the 'Classic FM' magazines which was one of the classical magazines that i researched in order to gain more ideas and inspiration. I also adjusted the lighting to make it look lighter as before, the image was too dark.

Also, i have now decided on a main colour scheme of Teal and White. Teal because it co-ordinates well with the clothing of the girl in the image above and also because teal is a bold and expressive colour which is just like classical music - bold and expressive. I have also chosen white because white sort of breaks down the boldness of the teal and also co-ordinates well with teal - similar to the way that the colours Red and White co-ordinate with each other which is the main colour scheme for 'Classic FM' magazine.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

i didn't like the stairs which was in the background as it looked tacky. That is why i decided to change the background. I manipulated the image background by using the wand tool. I then used the eraser to erase the bits of the background that was left. I then browsed the internet for a set of stairs. This was difficult as i wanted to find a set of stiars that when merged, went well with the coliur scheme. I eventually found and image and then placed the layer of which the stairs was on below the layer which had the image of the girl on it.

BEFORE & AFTER:

I didn't edit the two images above as i didnt feel that there was any need for the images to be edited. In both images, the lighting of the images was perfect and the background of the image was suitable. As well as this, the essential prop (the piano) that was needed for these two particular image is clearlyt viewable. For these reasons, the images was not edited.

Preparation of Photos for Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread: Editing Image(s) for Music Cover

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Preparation For Photos For Cover

View more documents from marauders13.

Music Magazine Cover, contents page and double page spread - Draft

Before i could go ahead with the actual designing of my music cover, i decided that i should instead first do a rough draft of the cover. This would be a base for me when i design the actual cover. I just included the basic concepts that i would like to be featured on my cover and a scan of my draft cover can be seen below.

Front Cover:

I will however, during the actual designing stage change or alter certain parts. The main strap line 'Exclusive Interview Robyn Brown' is hopefully going to be related to the image which is going to be an image of a girl playing a classical musical instrument.

As you can see from the scan above, i have drawn out the title of the magazine in a fancy classical font and went for the same affect for the heading but instead decided to use a slightly different font.

I have drawn out the 'Free CD' on the cover and have roughly sketched out the positioning of my image. As my genre is classical, i have decided to use a digital camera to take a picture of a girl playing a classical instrument which i can then later edit in photoshop i.e remove the background.

Once i have taken my image(s) for the cover, i am then going to decide on a definite colour scheme. I mainly got inspiration for the layout of my magazine cover from 'Classical FM' magazine(s).

Contents Page:

For my contents page layout, i cooperated a bit of both of the layout designs from the classical music contents pages. The layout design can be seen below:

As you can see, i am going to include 3 images near the top of the page. On these images, i am going to have the page numbers in the corner(s) of the image. At the top of the page, i am going to include a kicker that is going to say the date and this is going to be in a bold and appealing font.

For the heading, its going to say 'Musica Classica Contents' and below this, there is going to be a text box stating the magazine issue number. This is so the reader knows what issue they are reading i.e - The latest issue.

On my layout page, the magazine articles are going to come under 5 different headings: 'Community, Interview, Live, Features and Win!. Next to each heading, i am going to have a musical note photoshop brush. I am going to also to have a musical note photoshop brush next to the 'Musica' text that is going to be in the top right hand corner. In order to make sure that the contents page follows the consistency of the cover page, i am going to use the same style font that i used for the title of the magazine for the 'Musica' text as well as the same colour scheme which i haven't yet decided upon. I am going to decide upon the colour scheme once i have taken and chosen the image for my front cover.

Double Page Spread:
For my double page spread, i did a similar design to one of the double page spreads that i analysed. My layout design can be seen below:

For my double page spread, i am going to be listing 'Live concerts this Christmas' This is going to be the main heading of the article and it is going to cover a double page spread. I am going to reinforce consistency by using the fonts as well as the colour scheme that i am going to use on my cover page and contents page.

To make my double page look more professional, i am going to have two bold boxes on the right hand corner that is going to look as if it is part of the template.

The heading is going to be in the top left hand corner and around the whole page, there is going to be a faint border which adds a sense of sophistication to the design and makes it look more professional. My research analysis showed this. There is going to be a smaller sub heading in the top right hand corner.

Despite having done a layout mock design for my cover page, conetnts page and double page spread, i may alter the actual i.e layout in the actual designing stage. The mock layout(s) are only a guideline.

In Depth Research: Analysis of Front Covers, Contents Page, Double Page Spread - And Audience Research

Front Covers Research:

Now that i have chosen my music genre, I've decided to research more into it by looking at 'Classical Fm' magazine covers, contents pages and double page spreads as well as Classical music videos including Scarborough Fair by Amy Nuttall and various different classical music magazines. This provided me with various different ideas for my cover. As you can see from the covers below, a Mid shot has been used to take the front cover image(s) and the rule of thirds has been applied to the images used on the covers. As well as this, i noticed that in 3 out of the 4 covers, a side camera shot was used to take the pictures which adds a sense of controlled sophistication. Also, a free CD has been distributed with each issue of Classic Fm which also encourages readers to purchase the magazine.


The main focal point for each of the magazines displayed above is an image of e.g. The classical singer or artist which has a great impact for the reader. The positioning of the secondary/tertiary focal points also grabs the readers attention. Now that i have researched into Classical Music genre magazines, i have now decided that for my cover, i want as the main focal point, a mid shot image of the classical music Artist.

As i watched a few classical music videos, i noticed that many of the song lyrics were written and sung in a different language. This gave me the inspiration for the title of my magazine which is 'musica classica' which, when translated, means Classical Music. As well as this, i have decided to have 'The International classical music magazine' as my subheading which will be below the magazine title. By adding a subheading, it 'motivates' the main heading i.e The title and gives it more of an emphasis.

For the layout of my magazine, i want to have the image positioned and enlarged maybe at the side of the magazine and then have the secondary/tertiary focal points surrounding it. I like the idea of distributing a free CD with each issue as like i said earlier, it encourages more readers to purchase the magazine and for this reason, i too want to advertise a free CD on my magazine cover. With the magazines that advertise a free CD, a kicker has been printed at the top of the cover. The kicker attracts the readers attention and I like this idea and so i too want to include a similar kicker.

I noticed that the fonts that have been used on the different covers also expresses to the reader the genre of the magazine. For example, on a rock magazine, a grungy bold font will be used for the magazines title. On the Classical magazines above, a fancy font has been used which indicates to the reader that the music genre is classical.

Contents Page Research:

As i browsed various different sites, i found it difficult to find classical music magazine contents pages on the Internet. I did however find 2 contents pages from two different classical music magazines and despite the text being in a different language, i believe that the layout designs will be of great use. The Contents Pages can be seen below.

I have noticed that the two contents pages above are quite opposite to one another, The contents page from the classical music magazine 'Scena' has a bold and eye catching colour scheme where as the the 2nd contents page which is from the classical music magazine 'International Piano' has more of a plain and sophisticated design.

The contents page from 'Scene' (the one on the left) illustrates a lot of text which illustrates to the reader that the magazine is jam packed full of news etc but the large amount of text may also be off putting to the reader. With the International Piano contents page, more images have been used than text and subheadings have been used to separate news, interviews, reviews etc. I believe that the images are more appealing to the reader as they say that an image speaks 1000 words.

For my contents page, i want to be able to have a bold and appealing background but yet also include images that reflect the articles, reviews etc that are featured inside the magazine. I want to use the same colour scheme that is going to be used on the cover and i like the idea of having the magazine title in the top right hand corner as well as little touches such as having borders around text which makes the page look more professional.

On the second contents page (International Piano), there is a large amount of blank space in the bottom right had corner which is off putting to the reader. For my contents page, i do not want to have any white space but yet, i don't want the page to be overcrowded. In the 2nd contents page, i like the idea of having numbers on the images as well beside the text itself and i too want to include this in my contents page.

Double Page Spread Research ggg ggg g

Researching for classical music magazine double page spreads wasn't as difficult as researching for the contents page. The double page spreads can be seen below.

With the first two double page spreads, a text box had been used in the top right hand corner that indicates to the user what the double page spread is about i.e - Reviews. I too want to include this in my double page spread as i believe that it adds a touch of class and also makes the double page spread professional.

Out of the 3 layouts, i prefer the third layout 'An exceptional Debut'. I prefer this layout as a large image has been used which attracts the readers attention to the page when they are flicking through the magazine. By including a star rating system, it reinforces the readers decision as to whether they should purchase the i.e CD. If i am reviewing a classical music CD on my double page spread, then i want to include a similar star rating.

I personally think that the colour scheme used on the first double page spread that is titled 'Two minute talk' is too dark and would like to use more of a light colour scheme on my double page spread. However, i like the fact that on the 'Two minute Talk' double page spread and also on the 'An exceptional debut', the magazines website has been included at the bottom of the page. This allows the reader to find out more about a specific article in the magazine etc and for this reason, i want to use this idea and include it in my double page spread.

In the second double page spread, i think that the text has been all squashed up together and paragraphs haven't been used. Also, the actual size of the font is small making it hard to read. I believe that in a magazine, the formatting of it is of great importance. The style of the font mus appeal to the reader but yet be easy to read and the same goes for the size of the font. Certain parts of text e.g Headings should be bold and stand out more to the reader than other pieces of text as it is mainly the headings or images used that grabs the readers attention.

Overall, i believe that by analysing a variety of classical music covers, contents pages and double page spreads, i have gained a lot of ideas and inspiration for the design of my actual cover.

Audience Research:

In order to find out my audience views and opinions on what they expect from a classical music magazine, I designed a questionnaire and distributed it to a sample size of 15 people. A copy of the questionnaire with the results can be seen below:

I have decided that i am going to use the majority of the feedback that i received from my audience in the actual designing of my magazine. There were quite a few faults in my questionnaire. For example, in the 2nd question, i asked 'How often do you buy a music magazine?' and one of the options was 'other' but i didn't ask the audience to 'Please state other option' However, this won't affect the designing of the magazine.

In my 3rd question, i asked 'If you were to purchase a classical music magazine, what kind of features would you expect?' My results show that 40% of the audience would expect there to be 'Artist Interviews in the magazine and only 6% of the audience expect there to be 'New Artists' featured in the magazine. This illustrates to me that in my double page spread, i should present an article related to the artist e.g A review of the artists album.

In my 4th question, i asked 'Do you prefer magazines that have a bit of everything or magazines that are suited to your tastes?' My results show that a large 80% of my audience prefer to read a magazine that has a bit of everything. This is useful feedback as it now makes me aware of the fact that in my magazine, i need to feature a variety of different strap lines and news and to not concentrate on a particular topic.

In my 5th question, i asked 'What first attracts you to the cover when you pick up a magazine?' The results from my questionnaire shows that the audiences main focal point of the magazine cover is the image. This feedback is also useful as it illustrates to me that more people will be willing to buy the magazine depending on the image on the front cover which means that that the image that is going to be used on the cover has to have a positive impact on the readers. As well as this, 40% of the audience that i questioned said that they will be more willing to buy a magazine if a Free CD was advertised. I am going to advertise a Free CD on my actual magazine cover.

In my 6th question, i asked my audience 'What would you say is a reasonable price for a magazine?' A majority of the audience said that they believed that £2.50 was a reasonable price for a magazine. I personally believe that £2.50 too is a reasonable price as if the price of my magazine was too cheap, i.e 99p, then it would be difficult to make profit etc and if the price of the magazine was too expensive i.e £5.00, then no readers will be willing to purchase the magazine and would instead would turn to a cheaper classical magazine.

In my 7th question, i asked the audience 'Out of the following fonts, which font do you think will be most suitable for a classical magazine' It was clear from my results that the majority of the audience preferred the font: 'Brock Script' I agree with the audience as i believe that it looks like a classical font and appeals positivley to the audience. Also, the font is readable.

In my 8th question which was my final question, i asked 'Would you rather go for a magazine that has a Bold and eye catching colour scheme or would you rather go for a magazine that has a light and calm colour scheme' It was obvious from my results that the majority of my audiences felt that they would be more appealed by a magazine that had a bold and eye catching colour scheme. As my genre is classical, I'm going to agree with the audiences choice and choose a bold colour scheme and also relate the front cover image to the colour scheme.

After analysing my audiences responses, i believe that i have gained a lot of relevant information that will be of great use when designing my magazine cover, contents page and double page spread. I'm going to use the information that i have gathered and hopefully put it across in the final design.

Analysing Music Magazine Covers

Part of my Media Studies coursework is to design a Music Magazine cover, contents page and double spread page. Before i can go ahead with the designing, i first have to analyse other music magazine covers. I randomly picked out two covers from two different music genres - Rock and Classical - Two genres that are totally different to one another. I chose these two genres as i wanted to see the different techniques that were used to attract two different readers and the impact that the designs have on the reader. As you can see from the scanned image above, i annotated the designs and gave my views on the overall design.

With the Rock magazine cover, 4 different font colours have been used including Pink which could possibly indicate that the rock group are going against the stereotype of Blue being for Boys and Pink being for girls. The image of the rock group is the readers main focal point and the fact that they are pictured as a group rather than individually indicates that they are dominant and could also indicate that they are ONE. One of the band members is wearing hand cuffs which could also reinforce this as well as shows that they are rebellious.

With the Classical magazine cover, a free CD is distributed with every issue as well as a free 'Best live music guide'. This attracts more customers into buying the magazine and also, by having an image of a famous classical individual - myleene klass as the magazine main focal point, more customers will be willing to purchase the magazine just because a famous face is 'plastered' over the cover.

A suitable colour scheme of White and Red has been used as well as the same style font which shows consistency throughout the cover. The colour of myleene klass dress as well as the colour of the CD background also fits in within the colour scheme which reinforces the consistency.

Both magazines have used different layouts and styles for their target audience. With the rock magazine, its over crowded with strap lines, rock styled fonts and the actual magazine itself is targeted at rock fans whereas, with the Classical magazine, its not as over crowded and a neutral colour scheme has been used which could be connected to the peacefulness of classical music. Its targeted at classical music fans.

After analysing both magazine covers, i have decided to base my magazine on the genre of classical. I have chosen this music genre as i believe that other genres such as RnB and Hip Hop are quite competitive in the music industry and so, if my magazine was to be published, it would have difficult competition to deal with as well as high standards to live up to. Whereas with the genre Classical, it is a well known music genre but yet not as competitive as other genres making it possible for my magazine being in a chance of selling a large number of copies as apart from 'Classic Fm', there ain't as many other competitive classical magazines.

Now that i have chosen a music genre, I'm now going to research a bit more into the genre as to gain inspiration for the 'theme' of the cover. I have decided that i want a 'figure' as the main focal point but I'm yet unsure of 'its' position. That is why I'm going to watch various classical music videos as well analyse various copies of the magazine 'Classic Fm' and other classical music magazines. Hopefully, this would provide me with inspiration and ideas for the design of the cover.

Evaluation of Cover and Contets Page

My completed design of my magazine cover and contents page can be seen above. For my cover, i had decided to use bold colours as well as eye catching strap lines which would engage the reader into purchasing the magazine. I had gone for a retro design and had tried to show my photoshop skills in the actual design - As after all, it is a magazine designed to help new photoshop users.

I had manipulated the image of the girl on the cover to emphasise the retro theme and had chose an image that i felt that, when enlarged, would be the main focal point of the magazine.
I had tried to ensure that there was consistency throughout the cover and contents by using the same font, font style and colours. For the style of the cover, i had gotten my inspiration from pop art and 90s magazines. For the contents page, i wanted it to be simple but yet elegant and not too over powering with colour.

As you can tell from the title, my magazine was aimed at Photoshop Beginners. My magazine appeals to mainly students but if it was to be published in a public outlet, then it would also appeal to older age groups. I had decided to make my magazine a free edition as, i felt that it would allow readers to get a feel of what each edition contained and, if my magazine was to be published publicly with it receiving positive feedback, then i would possibly, with later editions, charge a reasonable price of £2.00-£2.50 per issue. On the cover, i ensured that i used strap lines that related directly to the reader and included a competition to attract more readers.

Throughout the whole development of designing my cover and contents page, i had improved on my skills of using photoshop and became more comfortable with using tools such as the 'magic wand' I had learnt about the style of different fonts and how different fonts appealed to different readers. E.g - Fancy fonts appealed more to girls than Boys. That is why i ensured that i used 3 different types of fonts that appealed to both genders. I had used a digital camera to take my images and applied different camera shots in order to take good quality pictures.

If i was to advertise my magzine publically, then i believe that the best place for my product to be distributed would be in a newsagents or supermarket as i believe that it would be easily noticed by the large number and also variety of people who shop there.

Overall, i believe that i have produced a good design but could have made a few improvements. On the contents page, there is a blank space which is an eye sore to the reader. On the cover page, the image looks a bit stretched so if i were to re produce my design, i would change the size ofv the image.

Analysing School Magazine Covers

Before we were to begin designing our magazine cover layout, we were asked to analyse and give our thoughts on four different school magazine covers designed by previous students. As you can see from the scanned images, we annotated the photocopied covers and gave our views on the overall design.

With the covers, i felt that boring and non-appealing font(s) had been used. The same font and font size had been used and despite there being consistency, thee was a large amount of white space which made the cover look plain and 'ordinary'.

With my magazine cover, i want it to be appealing to the reader and not off putting. I also want there to be consistency running throughout and have the image positioned so that it becomes the readers main focal point.

For my magazine cover, i want to be able to use bold colours and also include a various number of strap lines that would contain a bit of information on the articles that are to be published inside the magazine. For my cover, i want to be able to link together all parts (strap lines, images etc) and hopefully produce a professionally designed cover. Finally, for my contents page, i want to be able to use consitency from the cover to design a more simpler but origional layout design.

Magazine Cover - Draft

As part of our coursework, we were asked to design a Magazine cover as well as a contents page using Adobe Photoshop. After a short while, I had decided to design a magazine cover advising and giving tips to new Adobe Photoshop users. I chose my magazine to be based on photoshop as it would allow me to present my photoshop skills in the actual presentation of the magazine. I first drew out in pen a rough sketch of how I'd like my finished design to look. When designing my actual cover in photoshop, i might change or alter certain parts of the layout and, as you can tell, i haven't fully decided on all of the captions and headings that are to go on to the cover. This will be decided upon during the final stage of designing.

As you can see on the scanned image, i have drawn out lines coming out from the centre. These lines represent retro waves that will be covering the magazine. I have decided to base my design on a retro theme. This would allow me to use bold colours as well as experiment with different thresholds especially on the outline on the silhouette.

Around the 'waves', i want to have a film strip going right across in curved position and on the actual strip, i want to use retro images. For my design, i got my inspiration from pop art images and also pre 1914 war magazines. I want to be able to have the contents page and cover page linking each other by using similar colours, fonts and effects.

How to take a good photograph

Its amazing how positioning the camera and using different camera effects changes the focal point of an image. As you can see in the image, the Rule of Thirds is used to draw the human eye to a focal point of an image. I'm going to, later on in the course, experiment with the 'Rule of Thirds to see the sort of effect that it can have on a image. I browsed Google to find some images that show the effect of the Rule of Thirds. As you can see from the images, the main focal point is the animals eyes.

First Post of Media AS

This is my first blog entry of Media Studies A Level course. We have been experimenting with Photoshop Layers to create a magazine cover that is able to attract new readers.

As well as this, we have watched and analysed a 'Skins' video clip and used a variety of key media terms to write an essay on how the use of textural features reinforces representation of teenagers in skins.

We have also done a textural analysis of a newspaper front cover and discussed how the newspaper(s) try and influence the readers opinions. Furthermore, we looked how political agendas of media institutions will affect the way groups of people are represented i.e. Teenagers