Eat Well. Stay Well. - Contact Sheet

Diets. Dangerous or Delightful? - Contact Sheet

Front Cover - Contact Sheet

Depressingly Common - Contact Sheet

Finished Products

Monitoring Log - 28/2/2014

This week is the last week of production for the product, and due to also having a deadline for Extended Project on Monday, I concentrated my weekend and Monday free lessons on completing my report and successfully handed it in on time.
Now that this is out the way, I am able to concentrate my time on working on my product and ensuring my blog is up to date. I am finding the completion of my blog much easier as I am able to do this at home and in the library at college, however it is more difficult to work on the production side due to not having access at home and the inconvenience of using Microsoft computers instead of Apple Macs in the library. It is clear everybody doing media is trying to get onto the spare Apple Macs in college!!

In Monday's lesson I began to use Photoshop to edit the images I took of Nicola so that I could import them into my double page spread and contents page. This included using the burn tool, quick selection tool and magnetic lasso tool. I found it difficult to go around her hair on the images due to the similar colour of her hair and the carpet however once I'd zoomed in closer to the image I found this easier.  I also faced difficulties around the bottom of the image and her feet, however this didn't raise a large amount of concern due to where the images would be placed on the double page spread and contents page.

Once I had worked around these images and created a white background, I placed the images into the correct places on the double page spread and contents page. I now feel like I only have small adjustments to do on these pages to ensure that they are fully completed and ready for submission. 

After gaining feedback on my work from my teacher and peers we all felt that my double page spread could be improved, for this reason I decided to start from scratch and redesign the double page spread completely. Although the layout itself is different it is clear to see that there is a similar pattern in terms of using the same colours and use of break out boxes when discussing each diet. 

I spent 2 days redesigning the double page spread, including time in free lessons and staying back after college. This allowed me to have it completed and handed in for Tuesday the 4th of March. 

Above is the final product that I created for "Diets. Dangerous or Delightful?" Although I chose to still use the layout of using the breakout boxes, I decided to create a more generic layout for the left hand side of the double page spread. This meant I created the layout of a normal article rather than the use of break out boxes.
The border consists of small boxes using the colours featured in the break out boxes. I felt that this would jazz up the double page spread and make it more eye catching and appealing.
I also found it easier to position my main image in this layout as I was able to overlap her with the border and therefore created layers. It gave me the opportunity to spread out the text more and use advanced text wrapping to show my technical abilities.

I have now completed all of my products and handed them in to gain audience feedback from my teacher and to also gain feedback from members of my target audience which will allow me to complete the next stages of the course which consists of numerous evaluation documents.

Monitoring Log - 21/2/2014

This week is half term and for this reason I chose to come into college on Thursday 20th to do some more work due to not being able to access Photoshop and InDesign at home.
I used this time to continue working on my contents page and add small features to my double page spreads such as page numbers.
Here is the current appearance of my contents page, I have added more images which are relevant to what features in the magazine to give the readers an insight.

I also arranged to meet Nicola on Saturday 22nd who is my model for Diets. Dangerous or Delightful? This photoshoot was done at her house and I feel it was very successful. I was successful in gathering the images I wanted which included some of her looking happy which portrays how she feels about the weight loss, I also took photographs of her holding up old pieces of clothing to show the extreme differences of before and after. I have chosen that on my double page spread, I will use an image which shows her holding up an old pair of trousers as a visual for the readers. Due to spacing reasons it was difficult to find somewhere to take the images. For this reason we took the images in front of the curtains with the intention that once back at college I would use Photoshop to edit this out. Below is an example of some of the images I have taken, both successful and unsuccessful ones.

The images above are those which I have chosen not to use, this is for reasons such as not portraying the message I wanted to give to the audience or due to visual reasons such as the model not being ready or due to the image not being taken to a high standard such as not being centered correctly. 

 The image above is the image I have chosen to use for my main image on the double page spread for "Diets. Dangerous or Delightful?" This is because I feel it portrays the message I am trying to give to the readers in a very visual and literal way as they can see the clear transformation of before and after. Now that I have chosen to use this image, once back at college after the half term break I will begin editing the background on Photoshop to a high standard to ensure it looks appropriate for my double page spread. 

As I changed the design and layout of my contents page, it is important that I have images for it which will allow me to show the reader what is going to be involved in the magazine. I have decided to use this image on my contents page for this reason. Similarly with the previous image, once back at college I will edit the image on Photoshop to allow me to have a white background on the image so it fits in with the house style on the contents page. 

I feel that due to coming into college during the half term I am at a very secure position with my work and am very confident that I will successfully complete the production stage within the time limit. This therefore means I feel my client will also be very pleased with the progress I have made.