DPS finished

After improving my DPS for my unit 3 project I have changed the layout of it. Instead of having three images and a column of text under every image I decided to make it easier to read and less crowded by using one image and fitting the 3 pieces of text into one column.

On the first image I decided to make a box around it with a plain white background. This makes the image stand out and looks more professional. I also have rotated the image to make the magazine more interesting. One other thing I changed was the graph paper background, the last one was too blurry and it was too spread out, I picked a new one that wasn't as pixilated.

Instead of just having 'RIDE' as the title on the DPS I decided to extend it to make it look more interested by adding the words 'IN THE MUSIC'. I also added drop shadow to my headline and outer glow. The sub headline was looking too thin too so I decided to bring the text up.

On the second page of my DPS I had the 6 pictures in a block form. I thought I could do a bit more with this so I changed it to a diagonal pictures and text. I also added a drop cap on each number so it was much easier to follow.  
       

FINAL magazine front cover analysis

After improving my magazine front cover I have learnt some different tools in Photoshop which I have used to make my front cover look more professional, one skill was learning how to add in a stroke effect on the text 'Zildjian or Zabian'.

Here you can see where I have added a black outer layer to the text on Zildjian or Zabian to make it stand out as this is the main sell line'. The black outer layer on the text stands out in front of the white background as the white text on the white background didn't have the significant effect I wanted it to.















Although it is a basic skill, I have also learnt how to add in lines. This adds more power to the sell lines as it's telling the audience to read them. Not only does it have this effect but it also makes my front cover look more filled and less boring. When redoing my front cover I also moved the sell lines onto the left I found it looked slightly empty so I added another three sell lined and also placed a bar on the top and bottom where I could make it look more professional by placing offers, date and price.      

Skills Development

I have made noticeable progress while working on projects in, In Design.

    As you can tell my DPS is far from finished as I'm still working on it. When working on my unit 3 project on In Design I have picked up some skills such as adding in drop caps, kickers, background layers, fonts and what size text to use

Final skills audit

AS Media Production: Final Skills Audit Print Production

Name:       Joe Lodge                  Tutor group: 1.17               Date:  28.4.14

Photographic Skills

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Manual Focus features	X		When taking photos in the studio for my unit 3 project, to a basic level
Shutter Speed	X		When working outside we looked at different shutter speeds and what effects they had. Medium level
Aperture control	X		Looking at how much light we let into the photos to a basic level.
ISO Control		X
A tripod	X		Used panning and tilt to avoid motion blur and get the clearest photos.
External flash	X		In the studio I used the external flash for maximum effect and sharpness of the photos.
Self timer facility	X		Used it for a photo I want to be in myself
Light meter		X
Composition grids		X

After finishing my unit 3 project I have learnt many different aspects of taking photos as I had to do a photo shoot in the studio.

Photoshop Skills

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Text control	X		Changed the text size and fonts in my unit 3 project
Filters		X
Brushes	X		Tried different brushes and found which brush worked well in what area.
Layers	X		Used different layers to stop complicating different texts on the front cover
Opacity control		X
Shape creation	X		Created a circle for my sell line on front cover
Brightness and contrast control	X		Changed the brightness of my magazine front cover. Basic level
Gradients	X		Changed the tilt on some sell lines on my unit 3 project
Load selection features		X
Feathering		X
Colour curves adjustment		X
Resolution setting control	X		Changed the resolution from 19 to 300 as this was the best possible quality I could achieve while making my unit 3 magazine front cover
Magnetic lasso, polygon lasso tool		X
Cropping tool	X		When I had images that needed areas cropping out because they weren’t needed. On my front cover I had taken the photo unprofessionally and it included a bit of background that wasn’t in the shoot so I had to trim it out.
Clone tool		X
Retouch tool		X
Other skills	X		One other skill I used were placing shadow on the header, this created a mysterious effect and gave the magazine its genre. I also think this made it look more professional.

My skills are quite basic on photoshop although over the year I have expanded my knowledge of the editing i can do on the program. 

In Design Skills

Feature	Yes	No	Comments if yes – where have you completed this skills and to what level
Have you ever used In design ever before?		X
Margin and column guide creation	X		I have used this skill when setting out the layout for my DPS on my unit 3 project. I had 3 columns on each page. For the margin I measured out the magazine I was getting ideas from and copied that.
Inserting an image ID	X		When inserting an image into ID I set out a box where I wanted to place the image.
Resizing images in ID	X		When I placed the images into ID they were often too large for the box I had created. To resize them I found that I stretched them when shrinking them to fit to scale to I held down shift and this avoided stretching the pictures.
Text manipulation – resizing, rotation	X		When I pasted the text into my DPS for my magazine I had too much so had to make it smaller so it would fit.
Text manipulation – controlling kerning and leading	X		As I wanted my project to look as professional as possible on my article I used kerning as that’s what magazines use on articles.
Text flow creation		X
Using transparent imagery in ID	X		I used transparent imagery when I dragged the graph paper background over the DPS
Shape/line creation In design		X
Exporting to PDF from In-design	X		When I had to put my DPS and front cover together and export it so it could be reviewed.
Text Wrap	X		When I had to move text boxes to make them fit onto the page easier.
Other Skills