my own magzine #2

my own magazine

I have just started my contents page for my real magazine, I have quickly added the masthead and 'CONTENTS' heading and will be working on this using the flat plan I created earlier, this lesson I focused on the actual layout of the contents page. I successfully added the content from my mock up and was also able to add an image with the time that I had.

I have also designed a question and answer question with somebody who would be likely to answer like a typical artist would, I will include this in my double page spread, it will make it look 'full' and will also have interesting exclusive content for the reader.

 When did you realise music was your ‘thing’, your passion?

(laugh) This is a funny story, when I was really young, around 7 or 8, I was singing in shower. My mum told me that I had a hidden talent and I thought it was funny, but I kept pushing and I even signed up for classes to get even better, stuck to that week after week and here we are now.

Are there any particular artists or figures out there that inspire you to carry on?

Ace hood, definitely. It’s cuz he doesn’t rap about money, fame and girls. He raps about his struggles, his kids and his relationship with god init, it’s important to have a strong connection with God. Oh yeah, he even encouraged my relationship with god to be stronger and that gives me the passion to carry on. Ace hood is underrated I hope he gets the attention he deserves soon

What does your family think about your music considering the themes you cover and language you use?

At first, my parents were not really accepting of the music cuz they wanted me to be proper religious, like my mum said start rapping for church (laughs). But there was one night, I even remember it was late night and I was having hot choc and pizza, don’t ask me why. But yeah I had my notepad and pen, then my mind was flowing free and it made my music is what it is today. My parents have to accept it now I guess (chuckles)

If you could go on holiday to anywhere with anyone, who would it be and where?

Oooh that’s a good one, if I could go anywhere, it would probably be… JAPAN, I guess it’s cuz it’s a peaceful place where you can release your mind on another level, Japan is cool man. Oh! And if I could take anyone it would be Kevin Hart, he’ll make the whole journey fun and jokes he’s up there as one of my favourite comedians, definitely.

Other than music – what do you do in your free time?

I can’t even lie, I like to stay at home PS4 with the boys or if anything by myself really.

What are your goals for the near future? Any investments or plans?

My dad supported west ham and he passed away, so I’m planning to buy a place near the new stadium in his honour, I really wanna keep making music and staying on my grind so I can reach that goal

 
What are your thoughts on Trump winning the US election?

Personally, he is not capable to run because in my eyes, he is a businessman and not a politician. He has no experience and he’s a joke. He makes the whole of America look foolish and I honestly don’t know why half of the population actually voted for him. Everybody knows that Trump has plans to destroy what Obama created, I don’t agree with anything this man aims for. Make America great again? It sounds like a joke itself.

what to do next:

• Add an image of another model to the contents page 
• Add an image of trainers to the contents page 
• May add a bar at the bottom or top to make it look symmetrical
• Begin double page spread and/or front cover 

Photoshoot session

Humphrey and I booking the photography studio to use for our magazine

Once the photography session is complete I will be uploading the images taken from it

 The photoshoot session was mostly aimed to generate content for the front cover and contents page, the first batch of photos was aimed to replicate the krept and konan image from my front cover plan.

I was trying to get a suitable picture of the larger model for my contents page but as you can see the overall positioning of me (the cameraman) and the model was poor. However, I was still able to use one of the images for my contents page and another for my double page spread, I just had to crop the area around the model that I didn't want to use.

Mock ups so far and moving on to the actual mag

I have pretty much completed my mock ups and will now be moving on to my actual magazine, these are the plans I have come up with to use as guidelines for my original content:

Task 6 - Work in progress #4

This lesson I focused on the InDesign features of my magazine (contents page and dps) I think I will be leaving my contents page like this, It looks clean and is definitely an easy way to let the reader navigate around the magazine, these are the changes I have made since the last draft:

• Changed the font of the numbers, thinner numbers are a much more professional look in comparison to big block numbers  
• I singled out each of the numbers so that they could be placed more effectively
• singled out each of the pieces of text so that it could be placed more effectively
• decreased the size of the explanation text so that it fits the size 12 or below criteria
• minor adjustments of the numbers and text, it is now more evenly placed and covers more of the page

For my Q&A double page spread, I have almost completed it but i still have some more content to add, I will be making sure I add the following before I move on to making my actual magazine:

• Adding the image of dave or an album (upcoming or new).
• Social media links are added, this is to raise awareness of the artists so that those who are interested can follow or add him on different social medias.
• Add more actual question and answer content, above his head and possibly another above the phone in his hand.

location photography - models

 Unfortunately when paying a second visit to Trillick tower there was construction in the area where the art was being shown, so I headed for Brick Lane to get pictures near the pieces that I had found  from the last time I visited.

I was able to find new pieces which I didn't notice from the last visit to Brick Lane, this was very convenient as it allowed me to pretty much replace the lost opportunities from the last location. These pieces also had the same sort of theme as the ones previously found in the Trillick Tower area.

Medium shot of model 

full body shot 

medium shot with pose

I may be using this image for the contents page, but I will make sure to change the background so that it is black and white, that way it will not interfere with my chosen colour scheme.

Overall, these images have provided me with a wider variety of images which I can potentially use for a double page spread, front cover or contents page.

Task 6 - Progress #3

In this session I focused on the completion of my contents page, to make my contents look better I made the following changes:

• Made the masthead transparent 
• Added a 'winter 2016 MOBO edition' underneath masthead
• minor relocation of CONTENTS header 
• individualised each box for the numbers, allowing them to align more effectively with the corresponding content
• added a brief description of each component within the magazine.
• Removed the 'skepta comes back into the scene...' bar at the bottom, I felt this would belong in a front cover rather than a contents page. 
• Changed the main feature from 'Dave' to 'AJ Tracey', this is because I was able to find content which is much more applicable to my magazine using AJ Tracey as an inspiration for my double page spread and not Dave.

InDesign dps progress

For my double-page spread task, I was able to find a suitable picture from a current known UK rap artist, AJ Tracey. This makes it easier for me to be able to make my models look more stereotypical (in terms of UK rap culture)

I have chosen this image as it is very easy to replicate with my actual model, football pitches are very accessible areas and can produce a very nice image for a double page spread.
the components of the image are simple and clear, there is also alot of space provided for any text or any additional images.
At this point, I have only planned which parts I will include as text. I think an image of his new album being placed in the top right corner of the spread will be ideal because it will be one of the main topics of discussion found within the interview, raising awareness of a new album is a known characteristic of most rap magazines.

using photoshop to make my masthead transparent

 I will be explaining how I was able to make my masthead transparent using photoshop so that i can use it throughout the magazine and not just the cover page.

 To begin, I had created a new document which I will base my masthead on

• made the background transparent so that once I crop out the part I need I wont have a coloured background to deal with

 

 I then placed my masthead at an appropriate size, this makes it much easier to work with and all the parts which need to become transparent can be highlighted.

  

 I then made a new document which included a background, this is because I recieved an error which said 'Could not complete your request because the smart object is not directly editable' and the following steps will allow me to complete my transparency.

Error message from Photoshop

 I decided to use a blue background, any colour was fine as long as it was not white. This would allow me to see the difference when I finally crop the parts I do not need.

This is how it looks after I have created and dragged my masthead from one document to the other. The white background is still visible thankfully I would not recieve an error message when performing the action.

on the new file I am now able to use the magic wand tool to highlight the area which i do not require (white background and areas in the letters 'a' and 'e') after this step i was able to drag the masthead back into the orginal document and the transparent background allowed me to save the image for whatever I may need it for.

the masthead is finally transparent and can be used in other parts of my mag