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.