How I improve an image using PhotoShop

I began by choosing and image of a woman from the internet.  I selected the image went to enhance > adjust lighting > brightness and contrast. 

Once on the tab for hue and saturation I moved the dials until I got the image to look enhanced.

   

I then used the quick selection tool, selecting the edited woman then going to select > feather, this will make the image have visually smoother edges when moved onto a white background. 

Here I am showing how I chose to feather the image by 10 pixels.

Once I had finished editing the image I moved it onto a white background as the previous one it came with from the internet had a grey tint.

I then saved the image as a JPEG to enable me to post the finished product on my Blog.

The above image is my finished edited image.

This is to show the comparison of the original and modified image.

Original Images v Modified Images

In order to improve the image quality of the above image I changed the brightness and contrast, increasing both slightly.

To improve the image, like previously, I enhanced both the contrast and brightness of the image. In addition I used the spot healing brush to correct any imperfections like under eye bags and spots, this gave Rochelle an 'airbrushed' look.

Music Magazine Front Cover

This is my completed music magazine front cover. I really like the way the main cover image has a light effect on the right side of Rochelle, which is brighter then the left because I believe it compliments the differing light and dark of the grey background. Also I believe the colours of Rochelle's shirt goes perfectly with the grey background because of the contrast. In addition the proportion of the cover image fits perfectly with the layout of the front cover, overall I am very happy with my finished music magazine cover and believe it looks professional. 

Finished Music Magazine's Contents Page

This is my finished music magazine contents page. The only difference I made from my second attempt is that I added 3 extra images of Rochelle because there has to be a minimum of 6 images throughout production work to pass.

Music Magazine Double Page Spread

This is my finished double page spread which I believe looks much more like a music double page spread then a fashion double page spread which was what my previous attempt of my double page spread looked like. I believe it looks more like a music magazine because of the situation of the columns, the position of the quote and the fact that it has "Rochelle" as a heading. I'm very pleased with the outcome of my double page spread and think it looks professional.

Music Magazine Contents Page Second Attempt

This is my finished contents page for my music magazine. I made the changes needed to my previous attempt of my contents page and I believe the changes have improved it. The thing I like the most about my contents page is the symmetry of it which I think helps it to look more professional.

Music Magazine Contents Page - Attempt

This is my first attempt at my music magazine contents page, however I do not like it because in my opinion it does not look like a professional contents page. I believe this is because it doesn't have all the elements a contents page needs, for example subheadings underneath the features. In addition professional content pages normally have more then just a features section but also sections for News, Reviews and Guides. In order to make my contents page more professional I will make the changes as said previously which will improve it.

NME Reader Profile

What does NME's reader profile suggest about target audience?

• The type of clothes they wear (polos) which are comfortable and not overly extravagant. 
• The brands they wear (H&M, Puma, TOPMAN, FRED PERRY, Adidas, K-SWISS) showing that they like to look nice but doesn't have to wear high end designers or pay a lot of money for their clothes.
• The shoes they wear (converse) shows again they want to be comfortable but not spend huge amounts of money.
• The type of alcohol they drink (Jack Daniels, Carling) along with fizzy drinks (Pepsi) which are all accessible. 
• They enjoy their technology (Laptops, Playstation, Xbox) and enjoy having a gaming experience.
• The hair gels show that they take pride in their appearence.

Music Magazine Double Page Spread - First Attempt

This is my first attempt at creating my double page spread for my music magazine. Although I believe it looks like a magazine's double page spread, I do not believe it looks like a music magazine double page spread because of its layout and lack of title. However, I really like the image so will keep it when I improve my double page spread but will not keep the layout. I believe if I change the layout of my double page spread and fit in a title it will look more professional.

The above image is to show the whole of the double page spread because the above image doesn't.

Target Audience Profile

Using my mood board I created a target audience profile for readers of Moloko. Again like with the mood board this will further help me to create a magazine which I believe will suit my target audience.  

Target Audience Mood Board

The above image shows what I believe my target audience for my magazine would be interested in, wear, eat and look like. This will help me in deciding what information and images I would have in my music magazine.

Experimenting With Colours

Blue

Red

Orange

Pink

Grey

Turquoise

Green

This is the style and layout I want my finished music magazine to look like. I really like the simplicity of these magazine layouts because they look professional, sleek and stylish. Because I had created the perfect layout of my music magazine I decided to experiment with colours to help decided which could I would like my magazine to be. After looking at all the colours about I decided to go with the could grey because I believe it is more likely to attract my target audience compared to the bright colours. I believe grey is more likely to attract my target audience because the consumers reading Moloko are more likely to wear darker colours and have the 'grundge' look, which in my opinion is what the colour grey represents.

Designing My Music Magazine

I placed my masthead, tag line and barcode onto my magazine where I want them to stay. I then started to experiment with background effects. For this effect, on PhotoShop, I used the render filter effect to create the 'spotlight' look. However I did not like the way this looked so I continued with different ideas.

Music Magazine Front Cover Research

This is the style and layout I want my finished music magazine to look like. I really like the simplicity of these magazine layouts because they look professional, sleek and stylish.

       

Masthead Manipulation

Moloko Font Ideas

These fonts represent my "Indie Rock' music magazine as they are all edgy, eye catching. However, the grunge element of the last font reminds me more of a Rock magazine not Indie Rock because Rock music is associated with danger and destruction. The third and fourth fonts remind me of fashion magazines like Vogue because of the thinness of it and how it is elongated. The second font is difficult to read which makes me not want to use it for my magazine as it defeats the purpose of a masthead. Because of all of the previous factors I have decided to use the first font as its chopped off verticles, modern style, individual look and the fact that it is slightly one step removed from being the norm which is what indie rock is makes me want to use it for my music magazine masthead.

I believe the font that I have chosen for my masthead is simple, sleek and looks professional which would suggests to readers that the opinion inside my magazine will be a simple yet professional opinion, without the need to have celebrity gossip.

Different Music Magazine Mastheads

Brainstorm Of Music Magazine Mastheads

These magazine titles were the effect of brainstorming different ideas. All of the magazine titles apart from Moloko are average names that most people will think of, which made my choice of Moloko easy as it is individual and unique.

Magazine Front Cover And Contents Page - Updated

I changed my school magazine's contents page as before it didn't look much like a contents page. In order to make it look more like a contents page I added the sub-heading "Contents Page' and also added a "Regulars" section as this is what all magazines contain. I also turned the pictures of Acland Burghley into a feature. Finally, just so it looked better I incorporated the orange and also outlined the numbers in black. In addition, a date was added.

The only difference I made to my school magazine's front cover is that I added an issue number in the top left.

My Front Cover And Contents Analysis

School Magazine Contents Page - First Attempt

This is the first attempt of creating my school magazine contents page, however I believe it doesn't look very professional because of the fact it is very plain. In order to create a more professional contents page I am going to look at other school contents pages and change mine accordingly. 

Music magazine flat plan

Magazine Contents Page Flat Plan

Magazine Contents Page Layout

Just like my 'Front Cover Page Layout' blog that I posted earlier, I have taken an image of a contents page off Google and annotated it. This layout links with my school magazine contents page as just like my school magazine, the numbers on this contents page are a different size and colour. However, this contents page only has one picture and the text is more spaced out and is not in a box, also it has more information about that particular page underneath the bold sub headings.

Finished School Magazine!

This is my finished school magazine. I used my flat plan design and photoshop to create it on the computer. For the images I used a SLR Nikon camera and students from my media class. However, I did make one change from my flat plan which was to only have 3 pictures of students along the bottom instead of 4. This is simply because it looks better to only have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

School Magazine Flat Plan

This is my flat plan of what I would like my school magazine's font cover page to look like. To create this I looked at different magazines and chose components from each magazine that appealed to me and would like to use in my magazine.

Magazine Cover and Mastheads

To create the Main Cover Picture I chose an image off Google, saved it and then opened it in PhotoShop. Once the image was opened in PhotoShop I selected the image using the Lasso tool, removing it from the white background it originally had in order to be able to place it on top of another 'background' image. I then went back onto to Google, searching and saving an image of a school building which became the background to the image below. Once I had both the background image of the school and the main image of the college students, I opened a new A4 sized document in PhotoShop, placing the image of the school on first creating my first layer, then the image of the students to create my second layer as shown below. To make my magazine cover look more professional I blurred the background image, visually enhancing the students.

After I had finished my magazine cover I went onto www.dafont.com and downloaded 6 different masthead fonts which I believe had a 'school' feel and imported them into PhotoShop. Below is the 6 fonts that I downloaded from www.dafont.com

Once they were imported I made a new layer on top of my magazine cover, typing my school magazine masthead 'La Swappy'  in each of my 6 chosen fonts to see which masthead I preferred. (The below image shows my first masthead) I believe this does look like a school magazine masthead font but looks like its from an American students school magazine, not an English students school magazine, which is my target audience. Because of this factor I have decided not to use this particular masthead for my school magazine. 

                    

(The below image shows my second masthead) This font agazin reminds me of school because of the fact it looks like handwriting. However the handwriting looks childish, not as if it has been written by an A-Level student, who I am aiming my magazine towards. Becuase of this I have decided against using this font for my school magazine masthead.

(The below image shows my third masthead) Although I like this font because it looks like handwriting  from an older student, compared to the previous font, it does not work with the image as it is not clear to read, because I can not read it clearly I have decided to not use this particular font.

(The below image is my fourth masthead) Although in comparison with the previous font this masthead is very clear to read I like this least out of the 6 different fonts. Along with atheistic reasons, I do not believe the font is the correct choice for a school magazine which is why I did not chose it for my school magazine.

(The below image is my fifth masthead) Mastheads are supposed to be easily visible and readable, however this masthead is neither. If on display I do not believe you will easily be able to figure out what the masthead is saying. Because of the simple fact that this masthead is not easy to see I have decided against using it for my school magazine.

(The below image is of my sixth masthead) Out of all 6 mastheads this is the one I have chosen to use for my school magazine, although I will make it much bolder in order for it to stand out on the page and be easily visible. I chose this particular masthead because it looks like handwriting, from and older student, that can be easily visible. In my opinion it takes all of the previous fonts, moulds their best feature together into something that I really like. Because of these factors I have decided to use this font for my school magazine.