Making changes to my front cover:

Once I had printed out my front cover, ready for the critique, I realised that there is some wrong and unprofessional editing on the models finger.

As you can see, around the fingers the layer is very visible and doesn't cover it properly.
I opened up the unflattened image and restarted this egg.







I experimented with using a real egg, photo shopping a kestrel egg onto the image, however I preferred the bright coloured eggs. This was because it fit in with easter more.











Whilst I was editing, I decided to use a lighter purple with a decreased saturation. The bellow image shows the improvement:















The next improvement on the cover, was the font. Many people said it looked unlike the magazine, this made me want to improve it.

Before:                                                                                               After:

I decided to use the font Courier new - this was because it was similar to the magazine and was less childish.
I experimented with using bold, shown below. However, I preferred the normal as it made the image the main focus.

I then experimented with changing the mini text below and changing the colour, I ended up using a light pink.
Shown in the final image below.

Evaluation:

State what have you photographed and what your work is about

For this task, I have photographed portraits under the theme of easter. I have created a front cover, suitable for the ID magazine. It has the wink, logo and barcode. It shows the model, holding multiple easter eggs over her eye. The location was the studio, which allowed controlled lighting and no distractions in the background. There was a pink backdrop, which i thought linked to Easter.

I also created two double page spreads. These had the theme of a darker, more punk easter rabbit. The first page spread shows a location of an urban, with a sign which stated 'PLEASE KEEP CHILDREN UNDER STRICT CONTROL'. I thought this added a ironic, humorous mood to the image. 

The other double page spread is based of two images, one being repeated a few times and the other being one black and white image. 

 Describe how your idea developed and changed if it did

I initially had holiday, and thought about summer. But halfway through my research i

changed my idea. 

List the equipment you have used and techniques you have employed

For this image, I have used my Canon 1100D. I used the studio and the lighting. 

I have used various editing techniques, such as adjustment layers and high pass. I also used free transform and rulers to create my front covers and spreads.

Explain the problems/challenges you encountered if any and what did you do to solve them

One of the main challenges with this assignments were that the first double spread mostly didn't fit with my other page. This was solved by doing different layouts and experimentation with images and text.

Briefly name and describe how two artists work have influenced or can be related to your work in some way

An artist that inspired me was  Lukasz Pukowiec, this was because his images were very rebellious and gave a different view to the easter bunny. This artist influenced me to make my models different and quirky. 

Another artist was Louis Vuitton, he inspired me to look at different outfits and locations. It also made me have a think about locations that added context to my images. 

Comment on whether you are pleased with your final piece or not. Consider if you did it again would you change anything

I am very pleased with my final pieces, however they are not very professional and I feel like i could experiment with some layouts and defiantly some work on the front cover, which I shall look at. The font needs to be changed and also the editing on my hue and saturation layes on the fingers and eggs. 

Experimentation with double spread layouts:

After I created the second double page spread, seen in figure 1, I wanted to experiment with another layout and image. I had edited this image when describing locations and really liked it, image 2.

Image one:    

                                                                                                

 

Image two:

editing: 

 I first added another image from a shoot after, the green image in the left hand corner.  however, this looked too unprofessional and just thrown on. I didn't like this, but wanted to add some text to see if it looked better.

For this image, I split the page into two and decided to have one image on each. I decided that on the left hand side the text was too small. Also the flipping didn't look right and there was too many lines. I did like the black and white photo next to the whitewashed image.

 Next I cropped the white washed image in half and removed the writing. I removed it so I could add more detail and specific sentences into the spaces.  The next try was to add it next to the black and white image.

Here the image shows both the images next to each other, the page does look good but is slightly too busy. 

This makes me need to think about the positioning and perhaps a border on the black and white image. 

I like the text as its a little bit of specific information. I will be keeping the left side of the image the same now. 

Here, I made the black and white image smaller, revealing a white border. This made the image less distracting and busy. It also gives me the opportunity to add text under the image. I think for this I will use one sweeping statement. 

This shows having an illustration of two eggs under the black and white image. 

I do feel like something should be under the image, but dislike this illustration.

I feel like it needs more detail or context. 

Here I tried having 3 easter eggs and tilting the outside two. 

I do like this however i feel to replicate the style of ID, i should have text.

In this image, it shows the text under the black and white image. Its simple and names the model and photographer. 

I prefer text under the image, compared to the illustration. 

Next, I want to try another statement and it in bold. 

Here I tried having a small statement under the black and white image. 

The statement really gives the viewer a sense of attitude and moodiness. 

I do like the normal font, however think that bold may attract the viewer more. 

Here, I tried the bold font. I really like this as it attracts the viewer and works well if you cover the left hand side. 

I feel like it could be a stand alone image, which makes it work well. 

This is my second final double page spread. 

^Final image:

My final cover & one double page spread: with recap of analysis..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The location was a brick wall, found near an old factory/yard. I specifically chose this location for the sign that reads 'please keep children under strict control'. For this shoot, and the general theme of Easter, the location being very worn down and the sign added a humorous irony to the image. It also added a essence of punk and rebellion which I wanted. This again contradicted to the usual 'Easter bunny' mood and excitement. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Front cover studio shoot: Edits:

The two finals that came out of editing: 


These two images were created in the studio with a plum/peach backdrop.
I made the layout while looking at figure 1,  an ID cover. This gave me the idea for the low opacity, white square in the left of the image.
Both of the images have the same layout, fonts, text sizes etc. I did this so i could compare the better image for the cover. I will do a general how i edited for both of the images then go into evaluation. Before choosing my final image.

Edit 1: (above)                                                                                         Edit 2: (above) 

This image was edited by using a layer mask                   Again here I used different level layer
with different layers of levels, oen for the back                 masks, one for the background and 
ground and the other for skin tone.                                       one for the skin tone. 
I then edited and coloured the eggs by using different      This was all I did for this image as I
hue and saturation layer masks and painting it on.          wanted it to be very simplistic. I also 
I like this image as the eggs really add colour and the           wanted the main focus to be the 
easter feel to the image. They are being held really           chicks and the easter theme.
differently and even though the eye is covered, it is           I prefer image one to this, as this image
very attracting.                                                                     doesn't attract the reader as much. It is 
The pink/light red background works well with the         nice and portrays the theme of easter, I 
 models outfit and hair. This is because it doesn't              feel like the edit 1 does it better.
distract the viewer.
 Due to the composition, the eggs being mostly in the 
centre, they are the first think the viewer looks at. 
I really like the unique and quirkiness to the image. 

Figure 1:

THEREFORE EDIT ONE WILL BE MY FINAL!!

Front cover studio shoot: Contact sheet:

The location:
The studio:
I experimented with the normal white background, which made me feel my images were boring.
I then saw the pink/plum backdrop, thinking this was more easter like, i chose this.
However, the camera and lighting made it darker, i will need to edit this on photoshop.

(More props) Easter Shoot:- Double page spread layouts:

Once I had edited all my images, it was time to create my double spread. I had difficulty making these fit with the other punk cover, however eventually it began to fit in more. 

Layout one: 

This layout is very cute and stereotypical of an Easter spread. It seems very different and wouldn't fit well with my 'punk bunny' spread.
This layout involves two different images, one being a model holding the basket over his face, and the other being a set up of props. There is space in the layout for some writing and article, however I feel like its too simple. I really like the punk bunny spread, so wont be getting rid of it. Therefore this page will need further work.


Layout two: 

This image shows another layout

for a double screengrab. 

It shows the use of two images, which i dont think is effective and professional as having one image.  I  also think that the  images dont match with the punk theme. If I did  have two images that were linked, I would consider using two images on a page. I think the font is nice and similar to the other spread. 

i do like the way one image takes up half of the page. 

 

Layout three: 

Again here , the layout looks very childish and  unprofessional.  Again, the font works well with the other double page spread. This is as its cartoon like and fits in with the culture of the mag. This  does look like a page spread  but i think it needs development. 

Layout four:

This development  shows a yellow font.  I chose this to match the chicks and  the general theme of easter. However,  its too distracting and doesn't contrast with the white enough.  This layout isn't something I really wanted as it looks too busy and  not as 'punk' like. I want my pages to show attitude where this shows cute and fluffy. 

 Point: 

This  screengrab shows an accident which led me to produce the screenshot below. I  went to clone the grass, so the whole page was grass, however this happened. This then led me to try having the same image twice.  

Layout five:

This image shows the same image  duplicated with yellow  font. The middle of the page looks  weird and needs to be flipped. Also the font doesn't really work in the current position. 

Layout six:

This image shows the one of the images flipped, so the middle is more smooth and effective. However, i still think this layout is too childlike and unprofessional  It still needs work. 

Layout seven: 

This image shows development of the double page spread. It shows the image above duplicated and flipped 4 times. This looks more  how I wanted 'punk' like and shows a uniqueness . The next issue is the font, which i have worked on below. 

Layout eight: 

This image shows lines over the image. I do like the effect , however i think they're should be less as it distracts the viewer too much . I also need to think about font size as well. I should make the lines more spaced and bigger. This is so i can fit in some text with the page. 

Layout nine: 

This image  shows some repeated text on the lines. It shows the need for less lines and bigger lines. Also the background is very bright, which may need editing. 

Layout ten: 

This image shows the version with less, bigger lines. I made a layer, coloured white, and placed it over the other layers, text , lines and the image.

I then changed the opacity of the layer, this gave the page a whitewashed effect, which made the colours less distracting. 

The less lines allows the reader to realise its a male model and that the image has been duplicated. I do like this layout as it fits in well with my other spread and has the same mood and tone. 

FINAL PIECE: 

I feel like my second double page spread is very effective. It works well with my first spread and to me, it looks like an advertisement. The repetition of the image and the text makes the simple message, Easter fashion, simple to understand. The lines cover the models face, which masks his identity.

The location was a very normal, rural grass field. This gives the spring walk feel to the image. It also doesn't distract the viewer from the main theme and model.