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.