CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION

Finally, this project has come to an end. It was fun while it lasted and there were many ups & downs, but I'm relieved its over. Here is my creative critical reflection. :)

FINAL PROJECT - PLUSH MAGAZINE

This is Plush Magazine, enjoy. 

Font Recreated

Hey! So, I've changed the dripping font to make it look a little less bubbly.

I personally like this better than the previous one and I really want to incorporate it into my spread, but I'm having a hard time with placement. My original idea looks too plain since I couldn't add any shine/shadows to give it that extra touch. I know a clean look is what I was going for, but it's a little too plain and simple. I added photos that I took of the band in the D, P, and A. It didn't look bad, but it didn't look great.

Idea 1

                                      

Idea 2

Out of these two concepts I like the first one more. The only thing is that there's no photo on the first page to catch people's eyes, but I think the font does that itself. I'd also need to find a way to incorporate 1 more image to meet the requirement. Many magazines that feature musicians tend to dedicate a full 2 page spread to just one large picture of the band. 

For Example: 

Using the second idea would be the easiest, because I'd easily have a total of 5 photos just on my 2 page spread. I'm really hesitant though, because I'm not thrilled with its appearance.

I even came up with a third concept where I was able to put the font and a photo, but I still wasn't sure if it would flow with the rest of my magazine. If I went with this idea I would probably combine it with Idea 1 to meet the 4 photo requirement.

So, I'm kind of in a pickle right now, but I'll figure it out by today... I sort of have to.

Cover Uncovered

I bet you're wondering why I haven't shot my cover photo yet... Me too. 

It's been really difficult scheduling this shoot, since the friend I previously spoke of, Juan, is also taking AICE Media Studies. He's doing the film opening and has been really busy. I would use a different photo or even a different person, but he just has this certain look to him that I really think will complete my magazine. 

I've actually put my cover concept together using a photo of Jim Morrison. (Some people think Juan bares a resemblance to Jim, so I thought it would be fitting.) (Also, it's Jim, so...)

  

This is basically what my magazine cover is going to look like. I'm going to reduce the size of the masthead. I feel like it's too large and the top of the "P" is actually touching the border I created, which is a no.

I'm really happy with how my cover looks. I'm excited for it to be complete with my own photo. I'm going have Juan do a similar pose, so the masthead is more exposed. I'm keeping it for clean & simple, like I've been wanting to keep my magazine and I think I accomplished that without having to make it look too plain. I still have to add the little details of course, but this is the gists of what it'll look like!

I'd say my magazine resembles the Rolling Stone Special Issues more than anything. I'm still debating if I should add a few cover lines to fully stray away from this idea, but we'll see.

Interview

It's time to turn the recorded interview into words. I've typed out the questions I asked, as well as the various, unique answers I received from each member. This process is kind of annoying, because you constantly have to pause and rewind to get their statements right, but uh ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Each members personality is so different and vibrant, so my main goal of the article will be to capture their personalities. Their uniqueness, talent, and laid-backness. I feel like people tend to think of guys in bands as stand offish phonies, but Deep Seas is so different. They're some of the most genuine people I've ever met.

I've been looking over interviews with famous bands to conjure up an idea of how I should go about writing the article. Most interviews start off with a few paragraphs talking about the artists and any upcoming or important news.  In this particular interview with Ozzy Osbourne, the writer starts off with a sentence that give readers a brief idea of who Ozzy is. He then talks about upcoming things in the musicians career and later gets into the interview. I'm thinking of taking this approach, but just really letting the audience get a feel for the band more than anything. After all they are only a high school band and haven't had the same crazy experiences as real rock musicians.

It All Started With One Guitar

I'm very happy right now, because I have just done my table of contents! I don't want to say I've "finished" or "completed" it, well, because I'll probably be touching it up continuously and, because if I said I was done with it a lengthy period of time before the due date, my teacher would kill me. She constantly stresses the importance of utilizing every second we're given. So, no it's not finished, Mrs.Stoklosa!

Tools:

-InDesign CC

-Photoshop CC

-Photoshop Lightroom CC

-VSCO

To create my table of contents I used a combination of 3 Adobe softwares, as well as one app on my phone. I started off with a picture of Jake's, the guitarist of the band I interviewed, guitar. 

This photo was lightly edited with an app called VSCO. 

Editing:

From there, I took the uploaded photo and edited it using Photoshop CC and Photoshop Lightroom CC. Through Photoshop Lightroom CC I was able to adjust the contrast of the photo, enhance the black and white in the image, and play with the exposure. I then moved the image to Photoshop so I could erase everything except the guitar. I went about this by using something known as the "Magnetic Lasso Tool," but after many attempts I had to stop. I started getting irritated, because Ive used this tool many times before, but it wasn't cooperation with me today. I ended up taking a break and then going back and using it for most of the guitar and used the eraser tool for the detailed areas around the head and tuning keys.

The photo after utilizing Photoshop and Photoshop Lightroom CC.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I was going to use InDesign to create my cover, contents, and two page spread. InDesign isn't the most simple software to navigate, but I did it! Of course there were a lot of issues and I was constantly having to undo my last step, but I did it! 

So here's the reveal...

As you can see, I've included the image I took and edited myself. I decided to use it as the main focus to give my magazine the cleaner look I've been wanting to go for. I only included what would be the bigger articles of my magazine in my table of contents, because I don't feel its important to list absolutely everything. In the end, the consumer flips through the pages and they're either intrigued or not intrigued. What they read is totally up to them and their interests, not the size or importance of an article, or whether it's listed in the TOC or not. 

I'm kind of disappointed with the quality of the image, but I'm not sure that's something I can fix. As you probably noticed, I had to zoom in on the image to just get the head and neck fitted. If I wanted the higher quality, I should have gotten a shot closer to these parts of the guitar but I didn't, so I'll just have to deal.

I made sure to keep text off of the magazine's inside spine, for it wouldn't look right when printed. I also made sure to use the same font colors as my magazine's color scheme. I'm going with black, red, and white because I've found that these 3 colors are very common amongst music magazines. Some of these magazines would be Rolling Stone, NME, and Q. 

Overall, I'm happy with how the TOC came out. I added small details, so it wouldn't look to plain and simple and I think they worked out well. I'm going to continue to see if I can do something about the quality of the photo, though.

Photoshootin'

Today I finally interviewed and shot the band I've been talking about! May they rest in peace. That joke was much better in my head...

Wow okay I really sound like an adult trying to crack a joke with their teenage child.

Anyway, I took a bunch of pictures of the band Deep Seas. I also interviewed them, though it didn't feel like an interview. I have a class with the guitarist, but we've never had a conversation longer than 5 minutes. As for the lead singer and drummer, I'd never met them before today. They were so incredibly kind and it felt as if I'd hung out with all of them before.

The joke keeps getting worse the more I read it. I'm embarassed.

ANYWAY, I spent about 2 hours with them. I'm ashamed to say I asked some of the most cliche questions to exist, but it's not like they've gone through any crazy experiences together. After all, we're only high schoolers.

I was sort of taken aback when I first got to Anish's house, because the room they practice in isn't very big. Due to the lack of space and odd lighting, it was hard to get the shots I wanted. I might try to go to one of their gigs to get more, but I'd be cutting it a little too close. We'll see what happens.

I'm going to see if I can edit them on VSCO and Lightroom to make them look better, but I'm not sure how it'll go.

Below are some unedited photos from the interview. In all honesty, I'm not too happy with them. The environment was just not ideal to get the photos I had in mind.

How?!

I've been saying I want to create a design similar to the OIL one, but how on earth am I supposed to do that?

I started fooling around on Pages and conjured up something.

Below is the development of my design:

  

I was able to choose a font and build off of it. I did this using the "Draw with pen" tool under "shapes." I've created the base of the design I drew inspiration from, but to get the glossy look I need to add white shading. I'm not quite sure how this can be done.

I was showing my creation to a friend and he said he thinks it looks nice, but theres a softer I could use. The only problem is he doesn't't know what its called. I've been googling to try to find different apps and softwares, but I haven't had much luck. I'm happy with my way of going about this, but I could definitely be happier, so I'll continue researching to see if I can find anything. If not, I'll just have to change my design. Sad.

Rough Draft... Really Rough

I promised sketches of possible layouts, so sketches of possible layouts is what you will receive.

                                                                                                      

As you can tell, I am no Picasso, but I did warn you that it's a "really rough" draft. 

So, the top left sketch is just for me to keep in mind that I'm choosing to go with a head shot as my cover photo. Now, to the right of that sketch was my first idea for the two page spread. As you can see, I would have two-columns and a photo of the band. The band would be photoshopped onto a white background, because where I would be shooting them wouldn't be so glamorous. The lack of glamour would be due to the fact that it would not be easy to move their equipment around from place to place and I would like their instruments to be included, because that's what brings of everything together. 

The two sketches that sit below the cover page are my second idea. I would have to include an extra two page spread to show off a photo of them. I was hesitant with this idea, because I questioned not having their photo on the first page of their spread. I really liked this layout, because the name of their band would look like the photo I posted in my previous blog, which I loved. The hard part is figuring out how to produce such a design, but I have a few ideas. I had a friend state that she didn't like magazines with too much text and maybe I could just add this design to my first idea, but I think it may be too much. I've also seen many magazines that have two page spreads consisting of one large photo. 

Example: 

The two sketches on the right are my ideas for my table of contents. I'm not going to feature every single story or article in my table of contents, just the bigger ones. I don't want to give the magazine's entire content away on one page. I also would like the readers to flip through and see the other, smaller content. To give my magazine a clean look I'm going with the top sketch. It's basically going to be the neck of a guitar spread out across two pages. Above will be text indicating that this spread is indeed the table of contents. Below will consist of large numbers with the article name and a small summary. I decided to go with the guitar, because it's a necessity in any rock band as well as something my consumers will most likely enjoy seeing. I chose not to go with the bottom sketch, because it is kind of messy and reminds me of magazines that I do not want mine to resemble.

Uh Oh

I've been working on this project for 2 weeks, but its just now hitting me. I've recently been overcome with an intense amount of fear and worry. This project is the reason why. I think that's why I've been putting off certain aspects of it, but those aspects will no longer be neglected. I've really got to get going. I'm worried my finished product won't be what I want it to, but I'll never know unless I do it, right?

Alright, that's enough of my worrying for today. I took a journey to Barnes and Nobles today. I went over to the magazine section marked "Music" and envisioned my magazine sitting up there. Just kidding. Not really... The point I'm trying to get at here is that I looked at a variety of magazines and some inspired me, some didn't. I found that in a few magazines, there was an overwhelming amount of text. After speaking to several consultants, we agreed that too much text and no pictures was not very enticing. I picked up a Pink Floyd Collectors Edition magazine and found that it had a really nice balance of text and photos. 

Example:

  

Since I'm only doing a two page spread, I need to feature more text than this. I think I'm going to go with two columns on both pages. I've sketched out some layouts that follow two columns, so I'll upload them tomorrow.

Details Matter

Many characteristics for my magazine will be determined on how I plan to have my magazine distributed and how I plan on having my magazine distributed depends on my target audience.

Now,  my magazine targets all lovers of rock music, but after looking at Rolling Stone magazine and Kerrang!'s statistics, the majority of their consumers are white males from the age 25-64, the majority of Rolling Stone's being primarily 45-60 and Kerrang!'s being 15-34. 

Since the majority of Rolling Stone's consumers are older men and I assume I will have a similar audience, so I've decided to distribute my magazine through subscriptions. I will also have them distributed in book stores and music stores. My magazines will NOT be available at grocery stores or pharmacy stores (CVS, Walgreens). Because my magazine will be primarily subscription, I've decided to keep cover lines to a minimum. People will already know what they're getting if they are subscribers. The content will be evident to the book and music store purchasers through few cover lines or just by flipping through, as most people do in book and music stores.

Examples of little to no cover lines:

        '

On the Lana Del Rey cover, there are cover lines to the right as well as other featured musicians at the top of the magazine, above the masthead. I like the clean look of not having an overwhelming amount of cover lines. If I decide to go the route with no cover lines whatsoever, I may include featured artists at the top, as Rolling Stone does here. I'll do this just so consumers know what else they're getting before opening my magazine. The Kanye West cover evidently has no cover lines at all. This will work for my subscribers, since I won't be relying on distribution through grocery stores, new stands, etc. I like how simple this look is and how it gives all the focus to the artist on the cover page. I don't think I'll have a final decision on what I plan on doing until I actually create the cover.


Citations:
- Rollingstone.com Traffic and Demographic Statistics by Quantcast. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2017, from https://www.quantcast.com/rollingstone.com#demographicsCard
- * All products require an annual contract.    Prices do not include sales tax    (New York residents only). (n.d.). Kerrang! magazine: monthly reach by demographic UK 2015 | Statistic. Retrieved March 22, 2017, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/381704/kerrang-monthly-reach-by-demographic-uk/
- Summertime Sadness: Lana Del Rey Charms On The Cover Of Rolling Stone (PHOTOS). (2014, July 16). Retrieved March 25, 2017, from https://globalgrind.com/3993200/lana-del-rey-cat-rolling-stone-magazine-cover-photos-interview/
- A. (2016, February 04). Kanye West Covers Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved March 25, 2017, from http://hiphop-n-more.com/2016/02/kanye-west-covers-rolling-stone-magazine/

The Research Continues

When it comes to creating my magazine, I know I'm going to have to rely on multiple softwares. For that I've been researching basic Photoshop skills. I've only used photoshop a few times, so I'm not expert, but I've found this great tutorial that shows how to completely transform a photo. The editor actually photoshopped a mans body into a different background to enhance the photos quality. This may be useful if I want to go a creative direction for some of my photos.

Another video I found is an introduction to different magazine layouts. From the video I learned that it's important to have your spread title stand out, so it catches the readers attention. He also talked about the importance of having breaks. My breaks he means photos or call outs, which are enlarged quotes from the article. I gather they're important in catching consumers attention. With these enlarged quotes, readers are able to get a sense of what they're going to read, before they actually read it. He also reminded me of the tiny squares used after the last sentence of the article to clarify the articles end.

These videos are assisting me with the knowledge I need to create a proper magazine. Photoshop is a very handy editing tool that I will be able to use for photos and probably have to use to edit my masthead. The second video gave me great tips for small details in my magazine.

Citations:
- J. (2010, November 08). Introduction to Magazine layouts.mp4. Retrieved March 21, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4JBuCSgbZw&app=desktop
- Photoshop Photo editing | Background changing | Walking in the road. (2016, September 24). Retrieved March 21, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd8GbniQ-lM&app=desktop

Researching Software

It's time I start thinking about how I'm actually going to bring this magazine to life. I went to youtube to research ways to create a magazine via Apple's Pages. While looking for tutorials, I was constantly coming across videos that talked about InDesign. I found this incredible tutorial. This man shows step by step how he created a magazine cover for Mixmag. This is so useful in learning about InDesign. InDesign seems very popular amongst magazine creators, because it was the main software I saw being used. There are so many aspects to it that seem like they will be beneficial to the making of my magazine. While watching multiple tutorials, I saw that all these creators were using intricate grids to help them place text and photos appropriately. They also stressed the importance of using the gutter along with the grid and making sure space was left for margins. They pointed out that using the same measurements for everything was important to make it seem like everything had its own place.

InDesign seems like a much more advanced software than Pages, but I think I'll be able to work well with it after some practice. I really believe it will better my project, since many professionals use it. Of course, I am no professional and will not be able to produce a project as fast and nice as the guy in the video, but I want to mess around with it and hopefully get the hang of it quickly!

P.S. Who do I thank for all the free software trials?

New Discoveries

Today I have discovered the power of Pinterest. As I ponder ideas for my magazine layout and front cover, I search through Pinterest. There are so many different examples of magazine spreads, layouts, covers, etc. My Pinterest board is now home to all these magnificent ideas, but one idea really stood out. It is this one:


My eye was immediately drawn to the shine and drip of the lettering. I really enjoy this look and find it marvelous how the text forms around the dripping/melting effect. I think something like this could flow really well with the theme I want to accomplish for my magazine.

Aside from my discovery of Pinterest, I have some potential musicians that I can feature in my two page spread. I talked to a member from one of the local bands to see if I could interview and photograph his band. The member complied with excitement. I think it'll be really interesting if I'm able to feature a real band in my magazine, especially since they're fellow classmates. Their feature would probably include an interview and a summary of what kind of music they play. I think I might decide to do an extra spread, so I can include more photos. I say I need to include another spread, because I would like to have one giant photo of the band on the first spread. I would like to do this because I think it'll be visually pleasing to readers and they'll be able to see the band up close while getting personal with them.

In regard to my cover, I think I'm going to feature a friend who happens to be a soloist. Most magazine covers I've seen usually show just one musician, whether or not they're in a band. It'll work out well since customers are drawn to photos where eyes peer into theirs.

PLUSH

How does Plush Magazine sound?

I don't know why I asked, because regardless of what anyone thinks I love it.

I actually spoke to a few people about this title and to be totally honest most of them didn't understand it. They said that when they think of the word "plush" they envision a stuffed animal. I'm clearly not trying to get people to think of a stuffed animal when they hear my magazine's name. I want them to envision guitars and barbed wire! Yeah! Edgy things! Rock N' Roll!

The thing about the kids that didn't get the title is that they don't listen to rock. They'd never heard of the bands that inspired my variety of names. The people who liked it just so happened to be people who knew who these bands were and who immediately understood that the name came from a 90's song.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm not planing on having a very traditional magazine, so I want my masthead to stand out. I've been scavenging through 1001 fonts and found a few that caught my eye. I also found a cool font that Pages offers. I may have also made my own little font. That happens to be my favorite of the three, but I'm a bit bias.



Here they are. The top is from Word, the middle from 1001fonts.com and the bottom, well me. I actually made it by using Pages on my laptop. I was messing around with the draw feature that pops up when you click 'Shape' at the top of the program and voila! Part of the reason its my favorite is because it has that edgy look that I want my magazine to encompass. The other reason its my favorite is because I can just picture it coming to life. I see it looking great on a myriad of covers and I see myself starting a real magazine with the name Plush in a font I created.

Some of my peers thought it was a bit much for anything other than rock, so I decided to narrow my target audience to rock lovers, not just music lovers. I was also told it was a little heavy, but I'm stuck on it. Also, other magazines have some heavy mastheads as well, and I don't think that that's any deciding factor in whether or not someone subscribes or buys your magazine. Plus, there's nothing soft about rock, except soft rock.

Getting Inspired...

I've been researching other magazines that I could pull inspiration from and I'm really happy with my findings! I've found BBC Music Magazine, NME, Alternative Press, and Clash. What I've found to be really interesting about NME Magazine is that they've recently been changing the look of their covers. In the past, all of their covers consisted of NME in block letters located at the top left of the cover. Now, they've been exploring more creative directions for their covers. They do have some past covers that do have an artistic take, but the majority of past covers are like the ones shown.

More recent covers:

- June 26, 2016                                                         - October 13, 2016

                   


Older covers:              

- May 23, 2014                                                       - July 26, 2013

                    

Alternative Press, BBC, NME, and Clash all focus heavily on just music. Rolling Stone tends to focus on music as well as pop culture. I think I'd like to keep my magazine mainly focused on music as I stated in my previous post.

Oh! I've narrowed down my lengthy list of potential names to a measly 5. The winners are...
Sliver, Pink, Plush, Codex, and Kashmir

Citations:
- NME Weekly Archives. (2017, March 07). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://www.nme.com/magazine/issue-type/nme-weekly

The Start Of It All

I am so excited to be starting this project! I've been thinking about topics I could create my magazine around, but I think its a no brainer. Music. Music is such a big part of my life and means so much to me, so creating this magazine would be so fun for me. Since I've already easily decided my magazine topic, the next big step is thinking of a name. I've been pondering the idea of naming my magazine after a song I like and I think its a pretty good idea.

Prospective names:

- Lithium                    - Disarm
- Pink                         - Adhesive
- Ramble                    - Creep
- Sliver                       - Kashmir
- Codex                      - Sin
- Plush                       - Starla
- Zephyr                    - Crush
- Scar Tissue             - Glide

Most of these songs are from Artists of the rock genre. I tend to gravitate towards rock when I listen to music. They come from artists like Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, Soundgarden, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, and a few others. With that being said, I'd like for my magazine to focus on rock music, but possibly venture out to other alternative bands and musicians. I think my biggest inspiration will end up being Rolling Stone magazine.  I've already looked up some of their archived front covers and picked a few that have the look I'm going for.  They have this website (http://www.rollingstone.com/coverwall) that has tons of archived covers from the 1960's to 2013. This is probably where I will refer back to for inspiration.

 

Citations:
- "Rolling Stone Magazine Covers Archive." Rolling Stone. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2017.