6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When researching about my target audience I had the choice of carrying out my research by hand and go around asking groups of people questions to help me find out about the audience. However I felt that I would grow a bigger audience by using social media websites and creating an online survey on the website Questionpro. I would create my survey and send it out of social media websites such as Twitter and FaceBook.  Also by collecting research online I was able to find out more data which can save time.

When learning about technologies to construct my magazine I had to learn one particular programme which helped me in my editing and the manipulation of my pictures on my page, the programme was Adobe Photoplus CS6. At the start of my magazine construction I didn’t know how to use this programme and found it difficult to edit or change any of my photographs. I tried editing pictures to learn different techniques which I could use with my real photographs. From doing this I found it a lot easier to change images and make them fall into the theories of the male gaze and hyperreality. Another technology which I learnt about was publisher in the process of constructing my magazine. I learnt how create a magazine on this by using different tools to add different texts, edit some photos and add in effects.

Within my research and planning i had to use technology to process these, for my research i to annotate existing texts this had to be done on publisher but i had to learn a way to present the information without it looking poor so i had to learn to use publisher and a way to save my existing texts. Firstly i had to add the image into publish this was just simply inserting the image however i had to make sure the image was able to be cropped and adjusted without making adjustments to the text so i used the text wrapping tool. From this i had to insert text into the document i did this by adding texts boxes and adding arrows through the image so i could add navigation. This was teaching different technologies within publishers.

Through learning about technologies to represent my final product i had to learn about using the ‘blog’ this task was difficult because it was the first time i had made a blog. I had to learn how to design the blog and how to add post and images, this was all done by the testing out different techniques on the blog to learn how to use it. I found that adding a post was straight forward as you just had to add a post to put on any the media work, however i had to make sure my template would attract the audience so i had to go to design setting and change them to suit my preference. This was another technology i had to use to present my construction work.

Front page image…
This is the image I started off with image 1 and then edited and changed it to the picture next to it image 2.

 This shows my step by step process of creating my front page image on Photoshop, this was changing the photo to make it look more than real (Hyperreality). Image 3 shows that I was using the ‘curve’s’ tool, I used this tool to make my models skin colour look lighter and smoother, I adjusted the brightness and contrast to enrich her skin tone, I did this by increasing the curves tool and making them higher. Image 4 is where I had to make my models clothing look tighter and make her body standout. For this I had to use the clone tool in Photoshop to clone her leggings so that I was able to drag them up and paste them on the top that she’s wearing, which made her top shorter. This made the top she has on look tighter so that it’s more figure hugging and the image more attractive.

The next thing I had to do to my front page image was airbrush it, I did this by using the blur tool to take away any spots or marks on her skin, this made her skin look more clear and flawless so that all the ‘imperfections’ are covered. I did this to make her look too perfect and have no problems to fit in to what people think that models should look like. The last thing I had to do to my front cover image is change the colour of her lips. I did this by using the quick selection tool which had just selected with the tool her lip so I could change the colour to a brighter pink. I choose to give her brighter lips because this was a main feature of her face, I choose a bright pink so that it would contrast with her skin colour, I did this to make her lips in line with the male gaze because this is what males like to see, however the magazine is for females and these images which fall into the male gaze are what females desire to be like this. As the colour pink represents femininity, but as this is a female’s magazine most girls enjoy look at like this because they feel it’s what attracts males to them.  Photoshop allowed my front page image to standout on the page this was because the image had to go over the masthead so we know this is the main central image and the audience is attracted more to this photo. 

Also on my front page I had to learn about publisher, from this it had to help me set out the different feature stories around the page and make the background of the picture transparent to make my magazine follow some of the codes and conventions. This allowed me to have a magazine layout by being able to move different stories around the page and changed the fonts, colours and styles to have a unique look. Without knowing about these tools on publisher I would not have been able to create a page which looked like a good front cover.  I started off with just a plain layout of my page and then I had to construct each page by adding more and more detail such as the image, stories, title and bar codes Etc. firstly I had to find a colour scheme and learn how to create banners and title from this, I used the colours pink, black and grey. I then changed around different fonts and colours to create a title which would be appropriate for my audience, when doing this I had to think about the image I added with publisher I had to use the transparent tool so that it would get rid of the background. Soon after I had to use text boxes to add story lines on to the page each story has unique text and colour so that they can stand out in their own way. I had to create iconography with my title, so I decided to use the shapes square, triangle and curved lines to create a speaker to represent my magazines name. I need to add writing into my banners so this was another technique which needed to be learnt on this technology I had to create a shape box of a long rectangle and then add another text box on top write the text in, I learnt from this how to order my shapes and words because the added text box had to be in another colour and on top of the shape so that it would stand out. All the images below show the different stages I went through to create my front page. I started off with just a basic layout and step by step process of adding more features to the page to create my construction work. 

Content page…

With my content page I had a lot of images which all needed to be editing and manipulated of Photoshop, this taught me about more tools which I can use to help me change these images. This is the first picture which I added to this paged and changed.

With this picture I show the one I took and the start and the changes I added to it. I had to get rid of my background; I did this by using the rubber tool, and made it soft and white. I had to zoom into the picture and go around the picture by rubbing out everything around the two models. This was to make the background white so that it looks professional. It was a hard tool to learn the technique because I had to have a steady hand to be able to not take out any of the image and make sure they all of their clothes or body does not get rubbed out. This is shown in the first Photoshop image of me using the rubber. The second Photoshop image shows that I had to make the image brighter and have some contrast so that they would stand out and match with the rest of the images on the page. I had to make their clothing have more colour so that the picture looks lighter.

With this picture I had to find a tool which get rid of the misty background and would get rid of my models scar on her hand. I had to find different tools which would allow me to this and make the image not look dysfunctional. I had to use the paintbrush tool and have it in white, I had to zoom in and change the whole background colour to white so that it would blend into the background of my content page.  After this I had to attempt to get rid of the scar on the hand as these as showing by covering the body of the other model. I did this by using the spot healing tool, this is a tool which uses the other colour of the hand to go over the burn and make the scar disappear without changing any of the hand. This was a good technique to learn as you want your models too look like they have clear and smooth skin to make your editing skills look professional. Also on this image I had to use Photoshop to make my image blend in with the page as all my images on this page have brightness and contrast due to the fact I wanted my image to stand out. The first picture of this and the end picture of this will be shown below. 

With this photo which was placed on my content page I had to try use Photoshop to make the image in line with the male gaze. I had to do this by changing the colour firstly; I did this by adding brightness and contrast to the image to make it be more appealing this was because I wanted the image to be powerful. You can see the difference from the first photo the last. The next feature I had to change to this image was her waistline  I wanted her to look more appealing and hyperreal compared to the first image I took the image in by using the paintbrush tool with white paint to make it the same colour as the background. This allowed my image to look more ‘sexual’ and fall into the male gaze because she now looks more appealing to men and my audience can aspire to want to be like her. I did this by making her body into an hour glass shape to make her have the ‘nice’ body which people expect a real woman looks like. I also changed the colour of her lips and people are mainly attracted to her face her features should stand out. I choose to make them a reddish pink so that it would have the ‘sexy’ and ‘hot look to it. I had to do this by using the quick selection tool on Photoshop and then just colouring this one section. This taught me how to change people’s bodies and the photo on the left shows the finally image after.

When adding this picture to publisher I had to find away to make the rest of the image not move around or any of the text disappear due to this I had to format the image, I had to transparent the background which takes out the white and I had to use the adjustment of ‘text wrapping’ which allowed me to move the image around where i wanted so that the image did not affect the text/images around it.

With this image of my model I had to again use the rubber to rub out the existing background and change it to white. This was because I wanted to just see the model and have nothing else around it. I had to make his body shinny and try make his ‘Abs’ be eye catching to my demographic because the aim of this picture was to appeal to the women as they like images of males with good looking bodies. To do this it was the basic step of it was so select the picture and change the levels of the tone of the body. This made the ‘Abs’ more defined and so were appealing to the audience. The levels tool also took away the few scars which were on the body and made it look more smooth below shows how I did this and the final image I used from this creation.

This is the step by step process of my content page building up, and how I change my ideas from the beginning by adding codes and conventions. When I first started I played around with colour schemes and text. I then found a layout and added my images before editing, after this I had to edit my images and make them transparent by using publisher. When I had done this I had to find away to change the layout and move the text around I used tools such as text wrapping and sending back of forward to move it around. I then did not like my first layout and nothing on the page stood out I had to find colours and style which would do this so I have learn about different ones which would relate to by demographic. The last image is my final page.  

 

Double page spread...

For my double page spread I had two images but only one main image which had to especially stand out to my audience so that they would be interested into reading the story on this page. With this image I had to make sure it just very attractive because it was the image of the page. I first had to crop out my models legs this was because I wanted just the top of her thighs in the picture, I had to do this with the crop tool on Publisher and transfer the file back to Photoshop. I then had to make the image look more powerful on the page so that my audience know that this is who the story is about so I gave it more colour, I got rid of the dull look and make it have some contrast to it. I did this by adding a lot of brightness and a lot of contrast this made her skin colour sharp and have texture. I then had to make her look Hyperreal this was done changing her real lip colour to a bright pink. I did this using the quick selection tool and using the colour charts on the right side of the image. I did this to make her lips attract attention. With the tool to change the lip colour i had to go around the whole mouth and select this just them, this allowed me just to change the colour of the lips from the colour choice circle. 

Within double page spread, I had started off with a blank page with only a layout of a plan to follow some conventions of a magazine. I had to build and construct my double page spread to see what techniques I can learn or change in the process. I had started with my banners which have followed out through the rest of the pages, I had then placed a title and a sub title but then this had changed these through the step by step getting to the final design. I had to then write a story which related the image and was meant to be placed on one side of the page. With this story I had to make sure I related it to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs because I wanted this story to appeal to my reader’s dreams and aspirations. When I used publisher I had to find a way of setting out the text into columns, I had to use the column tool which allowed me to have the convention of having a three column article. This then made me choose an image which would be suitable to this story and would follow the Hyperreality theory. I had to make sure this page gave the right information and actual communicated with my audience. I then felt the page was presented a bit boring so I added it another image and a need to know box which my audience can read extra information from (Uses and Gratification theory) below you will see a step by step process of the changes I made and changed throughout my construct of this page. 

Overall from this construction work I have learnt a great amount of knowledge from the technologies such as Photoshop. Without the creations of computers magazine would never be able to create magazine so great such as the NME. The way I have learnt about Photoshop and Publisher has taught me that I can again use these skills in another task as I have learnt how to use them appropriately. They have made me experienced with images and what I can do to fall into certain theories. I feel that these technologies have come to a great help with the construction of my magazine as I have learnt to grow with different techniques I can learn. From all of these technologies i have learnt that without them there would be no possible form of creating a magazine which would be amazingly appealing to a audience, the technologies have been a massive improvement to the creation and this is what makes people attracted to the magazines.