Okay so we took a class vote on the best front covers and the results following the rank ordering were:
Upload - 8 votes
Rec. - 4 votes
Mainframe - 3 votes
Mesa - 1 vote
Today's top pitchers: Freya and Joel......(The Apprentice beckons!)
I think our critique of the front covers today was productive and should inform the next practical task you will undertake. This will be an individual project following the photoshop masterclass on 27th November/ In-design masterclass on 4th December.
Remember when we critique work it is the work that is being evaluated and NOT you the person. I know this is easier said than done...but you must learn to listen to criticism and to decide what to take onboard, what to reject - it is about becoming better at evaluating your own creative output and being confident of your design decisions.
So with that in mind. I want everyone to post a comment evaluating their group's front cover. You need to think whether your media product would stand up against a real media text. I would also like you to include your blog address in the post.
Thanks - I really enjoyed today's sesssion...
Miss B
To begin with I wasn’t very happy with our masthead, it took us ages to find a font that we all agreed on, we all had individual opinions, however I feel the one we came up with was adequate and the fact the colour was picked out of the of the colour on the models face really gave it a “wholesome” look. I thought that the selling point was one of the best elements of our magazine; it was well placed and very catchy, however I didn’t like the colour we made it, the red seemed to class with the masthead.
ReplyDeleteI feel we successfully included all of the key elements we needed such as the price and the barcode. I felt our magazine was a little pricey but in the current economical climate we’re in then it doesn’t seem so unreasonable.
The model chosen for the front cover I feel really expressed the message we were trying to get over about our magazine; the fact it was for young women into technology. The black and pink effect I also thought was pretty eye-catching and different to the usual either completely black and white pictures, or the heavily coloured ones. The main cover line I thought stood out really well and I felt passionate about the topic we chose (I wish we had actually been able to write an interview with Lauren Luke!), I think if we had, has more time to work on the colours/layout/font/size of all the other cover lines then I felt it would look a little more professional. All in all I loved our cover!
I think if we had been given a lot longer we could have perfected our covers and photo shopped them to make them look a lot more “professional” then it possibly would stand a chance as a real media text, however I think we would definitely need to do some polishing on our presentations!
www.lizzygaskin.wordpress.com
I think our front cover was pretty good. It was second! Of course, it isn't perfect and it needs to be finalized but considering we made this in about an hour i think its pretty good. All the things that are needed in a front cover is there, like the barcode, title, competition etc. and the cover looks like it could go on sale with a bit of fine tuning.
ReplyDeleteThe cover really reflects what the magazine is about and what is in the magazine and who we are aimed at (Mitch :) ) and everything else you would expect to see on a front cover.
www.adslatham.wordpress.com
I think our magazine cover would've been greatly improved if we had a clear idea of our core issue, that we could've based our ideas around. it also would've been better if we had access to more exciting fonts, the basic word ones look very unprofessional. However i felt we successfully challenged some conventions, as we are a 'hip' magazine, we had a lowered masthead and a manga image. i would have preferred a real image instead. and the masthead was stupid as it wouldn't have been seen. i also think due to the many compromises we came up with a kinda mixed front cover, with several ideas going on rather than 1 clear specification. It is always easier when working to a specification. I think the article heading were too small as well. i do quite like the paving the way in media line. i don't think the general look of the cover really portray the right message, it look more like a comic or a computer magazine.
ReplyDeletehttp://jacksauverin.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteOverall I was quite impressed with the originality of our front cover design. However, after firstly having to rush to finish the project to finish and then hearing what other people have had to say, i have to say that i am slightly less happy and can see some of the mistakes that we had made. I believe that that the ideas behind the picture and the name of the magazine itself were pretty good overall, but maybe some of the colours we used for the cover lines clashed slightly too much with the background.
ReplyDeleteI think that if the group had slightly more similar ideas and agreed on more aspects of the magazine, we could have done a slightly better job overall.
www.manousos.blogspot.com
(Ollie Bartram)
M@INFR@AME (Possibly thee best magazine in the world?)
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at 'Mainframe' and its front cover; from a glance I can see many things that i would like to change in order to improve its appearance.
Firstly, I believe the contrast between the film strip affect at the bottom and the main photo of Stephen Spielberg differs too much. To change it, i would probably use a different photo of Spielberg; one of which is in colour and of a higher resolution.
I would also reduce the size of the barcode, and re position it so that it is less unsightly. At the moment, i believe it draws far too much attention to itself.
I also would reposition some of the text, and edit the shades of green that has been used throughout. I would also look at using a variation of fonts, and reduce the amount of text on the cover.
However, overall I am quite pleased with the outcome of the front cover, and definitely pleased with the outcome of the pitch. I believe our front cover gives off a different vibe to the others, especially as it is being aimed at a slightly older audience, and gives a more sophisticated and adult feel to the magazine.
samkinrade.blogspot.com
I think our magazine cover looks more like a gossip magazine rather than a top of the market media magazine. However, this can be effective because women buy more gossip magazines then any other.
ReplyDeleteI think the colour scheme of UPLOAD is also idealic as our target market is women and the colours we specifically used for this purpose is pink and purple. The image on the magazine is also effective as it is a woman and we have edited the picture to have a purple pink hue on it which shows that it is a media magazine and what the reader can potentially do with their photos.
Although the masthead is clear and readable, the one thing I would change about that part of the magazine layout is the overlap of the min subtitle. Also I think that the image of the camera at the bottom of the cover looks out of place and needs either a background or a banner to exclude itself from the main cover image.
Overall, I believe that our magazine layout would successfully win against its opposition in the battle to be bought. Its cover is effective and professional and would attract any female reader eager to enter the media magazine world.
www.freya-marie-21.blogspot.com
www.mwhitney1992.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI think that our magazine REC. is an appealing front cover design for our specified audience. I do think that it would generally appeal more to men although we would like it to be a unisex magazine so maybe this is something we need to look into more to make it a more versatile magazine design.
I like the way that our magazine design feature bold and eye catching colours which do mix well considering there is a range of colours, although there is a sense of consistency with the colours of red, green, blue and white which also are eye catching because these are simple 'primary' like colours.
I think that it would stand out against other media text because it has an attractive design which clearly emphasises the content of what the magazine includes and although men may be slightly more attracted, we could work on this to make it more appealing for women too.
If i were to pick up this magazine in a shop i would automatically what to read what was inside as i think that the cover is very reader friendly and features points of attraction, for example, the puff in the top right hand corner which includes a 'Win' section, and other cover lines such as 'Top 50 cameras' etcetera.
Also i think that the masthead 'Rec.' appeals to the reader because this relates to 'recording' on a video camera which instantly draws in the reader and signifies this is a media related magazine.
Overall i think that our magazine would be a successful selling point on the media tech magazine market because it has an attractive colour scheme and a layout which appeals to many readers.
For Rec. Magazine the Masthead stands out quite well and is a 'logo' that everyone recognises from their cameras, which catches the attention of photographers and film makers. The top red banner with the explosion/star like effect draws in attention to the prize give away, another selling point drawing the attention of the possible buyer. All the colours used in the article headings go very well with the background picture which is an attractive picture with a male model type guy using equipment likely to be featured in the magazine, another selling point for the buyer.
ReplyDeleteThe only things I would leave out are the things about musical side of media, as the name Rec. suggests a media magazine for photographers and film makers as apposed to music tech students, for which there is already a major magazine for.
Overall the magazine is eye-catching and informative, and should stand out well within other magazines on the rack.
http://harrysmediabloggo.blogspot.com/
I liked our front cover as it was quite original. I liked how there was a film strip was at the bottom, and also how the masthead was on the side, and not at the top like a normal magazine. We made sure we included the main things in a magazine, e.g. the masthead, subheadings, a barcode etc.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the cover showed what the magazine was all about. It had the subheadings of what was inside, and it would have drawn people in as we had a picture/interview by Steven Spielberg. The design also matched the audience as it was mainly for boys, although some girls could also read it, as was said in the presentation.
Although the cover was not perfect I think it was good for a first try. Especially as we didn't use photoshop. Although next time I think using photoshop would increase our skills and make the magazine that little bit better and more professional.
www.JessicaSpeed.blogspot.com
I felt that the main problem with our mag cover was that it was too pink. I think that just because we were appealing to a female audience doesn't mean that everything on the cover has to be pink, and the colour was a bit OTT. However, Lizzy was really good with photoshop and the photo on the cover looked professional and modern. The masthead on the contrary looked too amateur and we struggled as a group to agree on a font.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the idea of having a camera on the front was a good idea, but the fact that it was red and the main colour of the cover was pink meant that they clashed and it therefore looked a bit 'floaty'.
Also, by including an interview with a relatively unknown internet success we were proving that our core values were realised through the content of the magazine.
Overall, i was really happy with our pitch, which was unrehearsed and completely improvised, and though our front cover had its faults, we had strong ideas and the cover was visually pleasing.
www.jasminephilpott.blogspot.com
I believe that our front cover showed all of what we wanted it to. We found that the background picture worked well because it meant that we were able to use colouring on the font, the picture also showed a target audience (Mitch). If we were to redo the front cover i think we should try to incorporate other forms of media as this cover seemed to included a lot of information for camera interested people.
ReplyDeleteWe were able to include all of the key elements with in our cover including barcode and price. These elements were clearly shown meaning that we would of been able to catch the audiences attention. i believe that for our first attempt the cover was good but if given more time or were to try and do another one then we could of been able to make the cover and presentation better.
www.justinewarr.blogspot.com
http://sianna-grover.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteI think that the 'mesa' magazine cover has many problems, one of which is the colours used. The yellow that is used on the advert font at the top right of the cover, is really hard to see, this may be because of the picture that is used in the background. It is the only yellow on the actual front of the cover however, which makes it stand out. This is the case with the blue writing which is situated on the left hand side of the cover. The title of the magazine is in black and white which helps it stand out a little against the plain, blue tinted background. Red is used a lot in the magazine industry as it grabs peoples attention. However, i don't think that the title works well at the bottom of the page. This is because usually magazine titles are found at the top left of the page as this is what a customer would first see when the magazine is on the shelf. This magazine cover doesn't have anything in the top left hand corner which i believe would cause the magazine to lose potential customers as they may be attracted by other magazines with more eye catching covers. I do not really like the front cover as i do not believe it portrays the true nature of the magazine itself.
M@infr@me
ReplyDeleteOverall i believe our cover was quite effective and included some original ideas. The title with the '@' signs in it is, I believe, a nice idea, and also the filmstrip running along the bottom of the page. Also, the title running down the side of the magazine is a new idea that i have seen very little or none of in the shops.
The main criticisms from other groups of our cover was the barcode seeming out of place and the contrasting colour scheme of black, white and green. In reflection, I would agree with this criticism, as that is what probably stops our cover from looking like something more professional. I would add to this criticism myself by saying that the headline could have been catchier (behind the genius never made it onto the cover!). Apart from this i think our cover was quite effective.
I do not believe that our cover could stand up against a real media text, but then we hadn't had too long to work on it! With time, maybe we could produce a more rounded and professional looking front cover.
www.joelm4.wordpress.com
My magazine was Mesa. I liked our magazine cover because I think that it is different to everyone elses. The image of the girl is animated and therefore, makes it stand out. We also took a risk by putting the title at the bottom of the front cover. Some people didn't like it, although, I think it is different and magazine publishers may like the idea of something different. We used appropriate headlines on the front cover, to appeal to the younger generation. We used a colour scheme of blue, red and black to make the cover look 'striking' and to make it stand out from the rest. We also put the web address on the front cover, to appeal to more customers.
ReplyDeleteI think that our pitch was okay and we made some good points. Although, we could of spoke more about our 'core values' and try to of got our message across in a better way.
Overall, I think our first attempt at making a magazine front cover wasn't bad, however, nect time we would of made some improvements such as our pitch and would of made some changes to the front cover itself.
www.sophhs.blogspot.com
:)
manousos.wordpress.com
ReplyDeletenot blogspot
my bad, sorry!
I think that our front cover had some orginal ideas such as the film strip across the bottom which i thought was quite effective, the masthead down the side and also the '@' used in the masthead, although looking back and thinking about the feedback that we got i can see where they were coming from. The barcode does look slightly out of place and this is something that if we had had more time we could've improved on. Another thing i would've improved if we had more time is the fonts etc, and to make our cover look more professional photoshopping it would have been more appropriate and make it look a lot more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that our cover at the moment would be able to compete against a real media text as detais like the colour scheme are aspects that we may not have made as effective as if we had more time on the project. Other things, like having Stephen Spielberg in an interview for our first issue, are pretty unrealistic. On the other hand, i think that the general idea of our magazine was good as it had a sophisticated feel which appealed to our chosen target audience. Also, our pitch went reasonably well and i was pleased with the amount we included as we got all our core values etc sorted out beforehand and were clear on what we wanted to say.
www.sophieosborne.blogspot.com
MInes www.lizzygaskin.blogspot.com
ReplyDeletei changed it sorry!