Mood Board

Photoshop Skills Development 2 - The Simpsons Poster

Here I have created a poster for The Simpsons movie. The first thing I did was find two images that I could place on top of each other, The Simpsons movie logo was originally part of another image but I cut it out which I then cropped and shrunk it to size. I created 2 layers one with the films logo then I cropped cut and placed the image over the logo and then corrected it to the appropriate size and got rid of any thing that didn't fit the image like the background of the front image, as I used the magic wand tool to erase the background so you can see the logo behind it. The settings for the poster I used was International Paper, A4 Size and 300 Resolution. I wanted to make something impactful that would make it stand out which is why i have Homer bursting through the film title.

Photoshop Skills Development 1 - Jarvis Cocker

I wanted to try and make a cover that is related to Pulp, so i went for a very bright yet dirty colour scheme, i did this by adjusting the contrast and brightness of the original image which you see on the left. After that I  duplicated a layer i created around my image so the masthead would go behind my main image. I finally added a sell line and a main sell line, i just chose basic statements as this is just a test using Photoshop, i then  incorporated a barcode in a new layer. I could have improved this by adding more detail and make the main image less blurry and the bakground could have been more clearer, not to mention the size of the barcode and the text but as I've said this is just to get a feel of using Photoshop as me personally i have never touched Photoshop before so this is a completely new experience for me.

Time Management- 15/11/12

Since my last time management update i have a greater understanding of what i want to do for my actual work. I want to create an electronic music magazine that is catered towards everyone's love for the genre, me personally i love the genre so it shouldn't be hard for me to actually create a magazine that caters to the fans of electronic music.

I have looked at other students work that has been created in the past to get a feel of what other students in my situation have been creating and they all seem to be of a certain standard, the same standard that im hoping that i can re create with my work. I have seen some mistakes that these students have made and hopefully i wont repeat what they have done and try not to fall for the same silly mistakes that they have made.

I have created a series of different blog posts going over my inspirations for the entire main products that im going to create and the theme itself, i have looked at all of the different types of conventions used in the process of a magazine and the ones that i personally enjoy and would like to implement into my own work. I have also gone over a couple of different inspirations of mine in terms of musicians who have some sort of gimmick or trait that makes them unique as i am hoping to do the same with my musician who is the main focus of my work.

Previous Students Work Table/ Evaluation

Feedback Sheet – Student Work

Please refer to photography, colour, layout, font style, framing and cropping as well as font style and actual text in your response.

Please remember to be constructive in your criticism as this is work by students – not professional

Name of product	What I thought were the strengths	What I thought were the weaknesses
Audio	The main sell line on the front cover is really well put together with the colour in the letters that have spaces. Also the small details that are included are good. The list of contents going up the side of the page are a good something that has never been done that I’ve seen. The double page spreads text is good in places and the photos they chose are also a positive.	The main image is blurry it could have been more clear. The masthead could have been more imaginative. Other than the text going up the side the contents page is far to basic. The double page spread is good its only bad point is some of its text it makes no sense why it would be there also the random orange interview box is a distraction.
DYNAMIC	The cover is very eye catching with the colour scheme, also the masthead is very good and very well thought of. The contents pages colour scheme like the cover is good and the page numbers over the images is a good idea. On the double page spread the quotes scattered around the page from the article is good. The masthead for the double page spread is also very well thought of.	The cover is a little basic with the chosen text and photos look like they have just been copied and pasted in from an internet site. The contents page could be better its far to basic and the photos don’t make sense the position they are in. The double page spread once again is far to basic mostly just black and white with random orange and green text appearing, the image as well you can se where it has been edited in paint as there are patches of white and random black lines appearing from her arms and legs.
NEM	A good point on the cover is the name Never Ending Music that is underneath a big NEM. The chosen font for the contents page is very good. For the double page spread the font for her text at the top is very good.	The cover is not very well thought about it look like it took about 5 minutes to make, the colour scheme doesn’t fi the main image either. The contents page is far to basic and once again probably took not long to make. The double page spread is just text and an image over a plain white background it could be improved upon and the images are all blurry.
INDIEPENDANT	The cover is very good the colour scheme matches the main image and the way the main image goes over the masthead is very good. The images on the bottom of the contents page are very good very well set out and easy to understand also the page numbers on the images are a bonus. The double page spread is also very good very well put together once again the images are is what draws you in.	There isn’t really anything wrong with the cover you could argue that the text size is a little small. As far as the contents page goes it could be a little more thought of its pretty basic. Finally the double page spread you can’t really say anything bad about it apart from maybe the masthead on it, which could be bigger.
ROCK N ROLL	The main image is good. The font on the contents page in places is also okay. For the double page spread the only good thing is the quote in the black box in the bottom corner.	The cover could be better a lot better a plain white background with some text and an image, could have put more thought into it. Once again for the contents page far to basic probably didn’t take long to make. The double page spread is even worse the random brow text makes no sense as to why it is there when everything else is in black and white.

What I have learned from looking at student work : 

I have learned that some people put a lot of effort into there covers, contents and double page spreads using very clever slogans and catchphrases. On the other hand though you have the people who it looks like took 5 minutes to make theres, an ordinary plain white background with some copied Google images pasted on and a terrible slogans and images that are mostly blurry. 

What I will do in my magazine :

In my own magazine i will try to not follow the conventions of an ordinary magazine i will try go away from the grain on my cover, contents and double page spread. I will also try to create slogans and catchphrases that are relevant and are funny. Not only that but create a colour scheme that matches my main image and theme of the magazine.

Inspirational Texts- My Idea

My idea of doing my main article to be about a particular electronic music artist who hides part of his face or has something unique about him is inspired by a couple of different things from not just electronic music but other sources as well. Many different electronic or dance artists like to keep a certain gimmick to keep them unique from other musicians it also gives you an idea of their personalities.

Deadmau5
Joel Thomas Zimmerman better known by his stage name deadmau5 (pronounced "dead mouse"), is a Canadian  electronic and house music producer and performer from Toronto, Ontario. Joel created the original logo called "mau5head" while learning how to use some 3D modelling software. The logo appears in many different colors and designs, and has been shown on the cover of most of Zimmerman's albums. He was given the idea to wear a headdress based on the logo by one of his friends, Jay Gordon of the industrial metal band Orgy. In an interview with CBC Television, Zimmerman said that he wants his logo to be an "icon". Fans often attend Deadmau5 concerts sporting their own copy of the mau5head.

Daft Punk
Daft Punk is a French electronic music duo consisting of musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. Daft Punk's main gimmick is that they wear these really big space helmets and never really show their faces when they are promoting their album or are doing interviews which are mostly written based as they rarely do spoken interviews.

SBTRKT

SBTRKT (pronounced "subtract") is the musical project led by Aaron Jerome. He is very known for his songs being really euphoric and stretched out with very lyrical and known songs such as 'Pharaohs' and 'Wildfire'. His main gimmick is that he wears a variety of different tribal masks even when he is being interviewed he is not as secretive as Daft Punk as he acknowledges that he wears the mask because he really likes the artistic style of them ad felt like it would be something a little different to wear the masks.

 

"I'd rather not talk about myself as a person, and let the music speak for itself. The name SBTRKT is me taking myself away from that whole process. I'm not a social person, so having to talk to DJs to make them play a record is not something I want to do. It's more about giving them a record as an anonymous person and seeing whether they like it or not. If they play it, they play it."

Gorillaz

Gorillaz is an English musical and visual project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. The project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters.The idea to create Gorillaz came about when the two were watching MTV: "If you watch MTV for too long, it's a bit like hell – there's nothing of substance there. So we got this idea for a cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that," Hewlett has said.

 

 

Totally Enormous Extinct  Dinosaurs

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (born Orlando Tobias Edward Higginbottom) is a British electronic music producer, DJ and singer based in London. Orlando commented to Spin Magazine that he was looking for a name that "couldn't be cool, couldn't be put into some kind of scene that gets hip for six months and then falls out of fashion." In tandem with the name he conceived a stage show which involved dressing up as a dinosaur himself flanked by similarly dressed dancers.

 

 



Inspiration for my artists logo

|My inspiration for my artists logo came from a variety of different things. When i decided that my magazine was going to bee electronic music based i knew that i needed to have something that makes it stand out but at the same time is in your face and gritty almost like how the music is as itself. When looking at the picture i was going to use i thought about the style of the image and the expression on his face which is what gave me the idea of doing a thick outline over his face to highlight his jaw and cheekbones as well as his facial features such as his lips eyes and nose. Id seen this done before by a band called Disclosure who's logo is a while outline placed over someone's face and i thought it looked really good and i could maybe elaborate more on it and create a sort of backstory about it.

The song Skeleton Boy by Friendly Fires also uses this effect as they re wearing morph suits that towards the end of the video have skeletons on them which i thought was a really good effect.










Cutting the face i half was an idea i had to maybe make it so that it would maybe suggest something subjective like the character Two Face from Batman as half his face is completely different to the other side so cutting the face in half would be  good idea to keep m reader interested and start to come up with their own ides as to why he only has half is face with a white outline.

Inspirational Texts- Contents Page

For my contents page i want something that is just that a list of contents i don't want to stray to far away from what a contents page already is. I have looked at a couple of different magazines to see how they portray their contents page in terms of placement of images and text to also the actual content of the images and text used. Some contents pages are pretty standard and others try to go away from the grain and try different things which has been a good insight for me as i can maybe try to experiment with some of these conventions if i choose to, it all depends if it works with my work well enough.

NME sticking with its apparent need to be different has a very stylised contents page that features its own unique font completely different than that of its cover, the contents page mostly features a series of images that have something to do with certain articles in that particular issue. The NME contents page from what i have seen never changes the only thing that does change are the images and its actual content with the main article being featured right in the middle of the page and it is also the biggest image which is then accompanied by a quote from the article, this is a very good way of telling your audience that this is the main focus of the issue and is definitely something that i should try to have in my own work as it is a really good way of defining what you want to be the main attraction. Another good thing i like about the NME contents page is the fact that they have the page number of the articles in the image themselves and they are quite a big and bold font so it makes it a lot easier for the reader to find that certain article they like so if they look at the contents page see the picture of a band they want and without reading the rest of the page they can simply just go to the page that they want to go on very easily, i think im going to try and do this for my magazine as it is a very good way of pushing your audience to a certain article.

I had a chance to have a look at a couple of Q contents pages and they are quite different to the NME one as they choose to constantly change the style and layout of the contents page depending on who is featured, for example there was an issue that was mainly composed around the Gorillaz new album so the contents page was cut in half with one of the characters from Gorillaz featured on one full side of the page, i like this idea but i don't think it would work for me as it works  with Gorillaz as they feature a cartoon like aspect and my work is more real and less out there in terms of the musician. I really like what they did with the issue where Lana Del Ray was the main article they featured her on the cover and then on the contents page they included another image probably taken when the cover image was taken and they zoomed in on a certain part other which i think is a really good idea and is something that i will use for my work as i am hoping to add a 3D element into my work so maybe the contents page could feature some sort of 3D element with just the page number on as it wont require much explaining as my cover should be as impactful as i hope it will be once finished. The overall layout of the Lana Del Ray issue is very good as well it doesn't feature too much of images or text it just has the right amount which i would like my work to carry over i think as i really like it, the overall presentation is something that will definitely shape my contents page.

Inspirational Texts- Double Page Spread

My double page spread for me needs to be impactful and it needs to grab the readers attention but at the same time not bore them with pages and pages of text that will make it completely off putting, the genre of electronic music is more about imagery and i feel like my double page spread should feature a relevantly short piece of text that features the musician that is featured on the cover but in a really abstract way to make it so that coming onto the page tread about them wasn't a waste of time. I looked at a couple of different magazines to get a better understanding of what i want to do for my double page spread and i managed to find some pretty interesting things.

The Q double page spread has a very distinct look that never changes similar to its cover the only thing that changes is the image and the giant letter that is placed behind the actual text based part of the page. The Q double page spread features a massive letter which is usually the beginning letter of the artist featured in the article which is actually a really clever idea that really works but i don't think it would really work for my work as i feel like it could be far too distracting for the reader and would take away their interest from the actual content. I do like the very professional style that the image has on the double page spread, it gives you something different that you didn't get too see on the cover or contents page as this is more of a professional setting which is something i will definitely have in my work something a little different on my double page spread.

I was trying to find a magazine that had a similar idea to what i wanted to do which is when my classmate said that i should look at XXL after i explained to him my idea, the magazine has a really good idea of what i want to do. XXL is a magazine that is dedicated to its own very distinct genre of hip hop, the language that is used in the article is very subjective and relates back to the genre of hip hop which is something that i will definitely try myself with my own genre. I really like the way they quote or make similarities to the article in a completely different style relating to the artist above the text, this is something that i will definitely have in my work as i feel like my work could definitely benefit greatly from this.

Inspirational Texts- Cover

My idea for my work comes from various different music and non music magazines. I want my cover to be gritty as it will represent the genre of Electronic Music but at the same time i want it to look very professional as it will be following codes and conventions of the magazine GQ which isn't a music magazine but i like the professional approach they have on their covers.

NME is really good as it doesn't really takes itself as seriously as it should for example if they have a picture with someone with their mouth wide open they will include a little message saying something like "Ed McFarlane eating our page from the inside" this is something i am going to try and implement in my double page spread as it is funny and is doesn't make it look like there is massive amounts of pace being wasted. NME also use a lot of rhetorical questions in their magazine on not just the cover to try and grab the readers interest. I have looked at a couple of different NME's and they all have something different whether that be the colour palette or the actual placement of the images depending on who is featured in the actual magazine, this is also something i want to have in my work a specific colour scheme and placement depending on who is featured.

Q takes a different approach than NME they use more stylish font that gives it a really professional look that reflects on the actual content of the magazine and not just for the cover to make someone buy it. Q sticks to a specific format for every issue which i like as some of my work should remain the same all that should change i feel is the colour the location of everything musts try the same as well as the font which is what makes Q stand out as you can just tell immediately what the magazine is as NME can sometimes be far to packed with content that makes you wonder what the actual main article is. Q's masthead is also very strong and professional which goes with their overall attitude to the way they produce their magazine in terms of content and their unbiased opinion unlike NME who change their minds every week it seems just to remain 'cool', this is why i think i prefer Q a lot more although NME has their positives.

Inspirational Music Videos

My magazine is very electronic and house music based which is partly due to the fact that i really like it so i have an idea on how to best represent this style of music physically with that being said here are a couple of inspirational pieces of music that has inspired me in my work

 

 



This is Friendly Fires singing Hurting which is a song about that girl you want but cant have and it hurts you physically not just emotionally. It is a remix of the original, i like both the original and the remix but this one stands out.

This is SBTRKT FT Little Dragon the song is called wildfire and it is electronic dance music i like her vocals in this and the stretched out beats in the song that makes it very good to listen too.

This is a really chilled and laid back song that is very calm and soothing which is a little different to that of the other songs which are quite up beat and have lyrics in them.