Production Log (final)
09/05 Progress Picture
Daily Diary 09/05
Today I worked with the feedback given by Paul yesterday and focused on designing my front cover. This will be my last week of designing it
Paul mentioned page 4 & 5 being the wrong way around and they're technically not but it makes a lot more sense if the pages are swapped so I'll keep it that way. I tried to rearrange products 4 & 5 so that they'd be left to right as I felt like that would also make more sense, but I didn't like how it looked so I just kept it how it is. I think if I swapped how they were rearranged rather than just swapping their positions it'd have looked a lot better
I edited the front cover so that the person is transparent (their head goes over the magazine brand title, which is a staple of luxury magazines and magazines in general), I'll have to clean it up later because there's some stray bits of the background still. I didn't have as much time today to get rid of it so I'll have to do it later this week. I mainly based the front cover off of Luxury London's front covers since I liked how they looked the most. I changed one of the headings to be about the Oscars (I replaced the travel one) since it's a much bigger event than the travel article. In general I feel like I sidelined the Oscars a bit too much, including the page itself
I talked with my tutor about some ideas I could do for the screening (perfume sticks, print bigger versions of multiple specific pages, see how much it costs for 4 magazines and hand them all out for a reading). The main thing about the screenings is that they'd have to be interactive. I could do all three options but I think I'll try to do perfume sticks and handing out four magazines, since I'd still have to pay for more printing costs. I'll have to go into town and go into Boots or Dove to try and find the perfumes listed in the magazine and then ask for perfume sticks, which I'm not sure how well it'll work, and then I'll have to put the sticks in a zip lock bag so that the smell is still retained on them. I'm not excited about the screening but thats likely obvious already
I asked Akua and Gabrielle if I was allowed to use the photos I'm currently using in my magazine, I didn't ask Tasha since those were original photos and because she already signed the talent release for them. Gabrielle sent me a more recent photo of her to use which I'll use for her interview page and Akua said that the suit one was more recent so it'd be better to use that one, I sent another email saying that I'm using another photo for the front cover but I haven't recieved a reponse yet
09/05 Feedback
I got a response from both of the magazine designers about my mock up from the 9th. I also told them both that, since this is the last week I'll be designing, I'll be sending them daily mock ups rather than one every week. In this case I only sent them an image of the front cover since its the only thing I worked on that day
Paul said the front cover looks better but that the header should still be bigger and should be in a different colour. The subheadings shouldn't overlap the person especially because of the colours, but instead of making the text smaller I should just use more lines for my subheadings. I considered making the subheadings smaller but using more lines for each of my subheadings would be better since it'd cover more dead space. He also mentioned the spring subheading having more leading, which is something I did notice but I didn't have the time to change it.
Joan said to use a different colour for the subheadings, saying grey or black would work. I'll colourpick a colour off of her shirt for the subheadings since it'll match with the picture. He mentioned the bottom subtitle being in the middle which is something I did try previously, but it was hard to see due to the necklace and shirt. Paul said the bottom subtitle should be moved off the ground which is more doable so I'll try that instead
10/05 Feedback (at 2pm)
I sent Paul an email featuring some of changes I made today while I was in class at 11am and he responded back to me when I was still working on designing. He also designed a mock up of one of the interview pages
I only sent him the images above as I was still designing things. I overlapped the image in the interview page like he said previously and he made a mock up of the interview page which shows more of what he was talking about. I really like the mock up page he did but I don't want to fully copy it, so while I will take some elements from it I'll try and do it in a style that fits the magazine. I still don't understand what he means by the the table of contents list but I changed it again so that the numbers were listed on the left. This feedback was especially helpful since I was still in class which meant I could still make the changes
10/05 Progress Video
Daily Diary 10/05
Today I continued working on my magazine from the feedback I got yesterday
I changed the colours on the front cover by colourpicking from the image in the front cover like I said I would. I think adding more lines to the subheadings was a better choice rather than making the text smaller like I was originally thinking of doing. I wasn't able to center the bottom subtitle, which I knew I wouldn't be able to anyway
I moved the prices on the product page to not overlap the image. There's only shading on two of the images used for the products so I'll remove the shading on the products with them for consistency. I also tweaked the table of contents to align with the feedback given by Paul (smaller social media icons, smaller table of contents text). I justified the text for all the pages as well
I tried to add the description on the bottom left of each interview image but I didn't like how it looked because it kept overlapping with the image and was hard to see. I think there could be a better way of doing this though (shortening the length of the descriptions so that they fit with the images) so I'll try to do it tomorrow
11/05 Progress Video
Daily Diary 11/05
Today I'm still working on my magazine. I focused on the rest of the pages, specifically the ones I was less happy with. I plan on coming in tomorrow to finish the last few things (finishing up the Oscars page, maybe work on the adverts a bit & editorial notes)
I still haven't received a response from either magazine designers about yesterdays mock up, I've been checking my emails throughout the day. I sent a reminder email halfway through but still haven't heard anything. I feel fine if I don't get feedback before I sent it off to the printers since I feel confident enough about the design now, but its still not ideal
I had to add two extra pages since Tasha's interview was a bit long. I expected that it'd be longer due to it being audio recorded as that's what happened last time too. I like the text effect I was able to pull of for that page though, I was going off of one of the images in Joan's Pinterest board
I changed the hairstyles page layout and I like it more than before but I'm worried its too similar to the Ritz-Carlton page that's right next to it. If I had to change either pages it'd be the hairstyles one again though, so while its fine I might change it tomorrow
I tried something different with the Oscars page as I felt like it was still very plain. I think what I've done with it isn't bad.. Just okay. Its at least not boring. I've never used the pen tool before so it looks a little off, but I can clean it up tomorrow
I'm still kind of stuck on the work-life balance page. I think its fine but I don't feel that good about it, especially compared to the other pages. I wanted to make the page half and half like below, but getting the text to invert with the background isn't possible in InDesign. I looked up if there was a way to do this but I couldn't replicate it. I decided to scrap the idea and go with the design shown in the PDF/video above. I don't like it that much still but I can't think of what else to do with it
Final Magazine
Online
Printers
Daily Diary 12/05
Today is the last day I'll be able to work on my magazine. I had to add two more pages because the printers only print pages in multiples of four, but I did send it off to the printers today as well (after sending the email I called them again to ask if it was fine and they said it was)
I tweaked the Oscars page slightly so that the text shaped like an award looks cleaner. I also made the title more dynamic like with what I did for Tasha's second double page spread, although I think it looks much better in that page than the Oscars one. I also added a shaded box behind the text of the quote like I did with the last question in the interview pages
I did end up majorly editing the adverts already in the magazine and adding another to fit as two extra pages (making my magazine a total of 24 pages). I edited the Louis Vuitton advert since that was the one I liked the least. I think it looks a lot better now that its more simple. I also tweaked the Afro Elite advert so that the bottom section is centered, I also made the 'Available on ___' buttons smaller
I saw that there's a Dior advert in the magazine Paul sent me and that Dior adverts are actually very simple, so I tried to emulate that more (pictured below). I know they usually make Dior's logo black but the picture I was using featured someone wearing black clothing, so I felt like it didn't work that well. I would've made it white instead but then that made it hard to see with the background. In the end I chose to make it gold to match with the bag. I did like the previous design I did for it with the different coloured squares, but I also felt that it didn't really fit
I changed the hairstyles page so it wasn't so similar to the travel page. It looks more in line with what its previous design was, which I'm fine with as I still vastly prefer it over the old design
I'm still not that happy with the work-life balance page, especially when compared to the rest of the magazine, but its fine. The page isn't really that bad, it's just a bit basic. I'm not that happy with how the Black-owned businesses page turned out either as I still feel like its missing something, I added links to both of the stores featured and added a short introduction to the page that tells readers they could also feature their own business. It says something similar to the end of Tasha's interview since I thought it'd be nice to put. I wasn't sure if I liked the text much but it at least fills space and has a reason to be there (Afro Elite is about black women supporting other black women after all)
I always leave the editorial notes to the end and I don't have a set framework for it, I just write what I want to. I always felt like it makes the most sense to do it at the end which is why I don't plan it. I feel like that's the reason why it always gets a bit personal (I was worried about that but isn't that a bit of the point of editorial notes?). I listened to the song I put in the moodboard for my pitch while writing it
I called the printers before sending my email with the printed PDF, it was a good thing I did while still in class as they told me they only print in multiple of 4's. I had to add two extra pages to the magazine because of that and I added the double page spread of Alex Mill. I'm a little worried its obvious that those two pages are filler I added at the end, but I feel like it fits the magazine still because its spring and looking at their store they mainly do clothes I'd see in spring
I still haven't gotten a response from either magazine designers, but I have to print. I feel confident enough in my judgement of the magazine and I know I'm done with it. I'll still send them the finished product so they can give me feedback of it. I'm also emailing everyone else I said I'd email the finished product for audience feedback (which is everyone I interviewed for the magazine)
Contributor Feedback from Tasha
After I sent the finished design to the printers and sent it to everyone who contributed to the magazine, I got an email from Tasha who was one of the people interviewed in the magazine
At the time I didn't understand what she meant, but after a talk with my tutor I realise Tasha meant that it felt like I took exactly what she said in the audio and used that as the interview (and it feels like that because I did). I did take out one or two parts in the original audio but I mostly kept it the same as I didn't want to edit it too heavily. However I've received feedback from Tasha and my tutor that the interview itself doesn't read well because of this (an example being 'own your seat at the table' repeating too many times at the end). I kept it originally because I liked the repetition but I realise now that I should've paid closer attention while editing the interviews
I should've waited for feedback before printing as well, especially from the people featured in it, but I didn't want to wait to print due to me not wanting to repeat last years mistakes. The printings already done so I can't change things, but this was important for me to learn regardless
Contributor Feedback
Industry Feedback
Audience Feedback
Daily Diary 16/05
Today I focused on getting more feedback on my magazine since I only have until 12:15 today, which isn't much time for me to write my evaluation. The final deadline & screenings are on Thursday 25th
I asked for feedback from the people included in the magazine already last Friday and have only received a response from one of them so I sent a reminder email to the other two. I got a response from Gabrielle who said she'll send me feedback on it by the end of the week. I sent requests asking for feedback from people in the industry (magazine designers and copywriters) but I'm aware of the importance of audience feedback still
When asking for feedback I wanted to also get feedback on the articles themselves, since I felt like I glossed over that with my previous FMP. I sent my finished articles to the people who gave me copywriting advice earlier during the research process
Daily Diary 17/05
Today I wrote for my evaluation since I didn't have much else to do
I think the evaluation is okay so far but I'm not working with the usual checklist as majority of my class are still in post-production, so I might've missed some things. I'm also kind of glossing over a few details since I ultimately don't think they're that important to mention (I originally wanted the magazine to be a balance of fun and serious topics during the start of FMP for example), but I wouldn't really be surprised if I went back to edit everything in anyway. It's not like I need to worry about word counts or detail too much, I'm still talking about pre-production & the articles and I've already reached 2500+ words which is about the usual amount I wrote once I finished most evaluations
I know I'm kind of known for writing extremely long evaluations (the most I've ever written is still my previous FMP evaluation with 7206 words), but they are genuinely a little tiring to write. I've never set a goal to see how high I can go with them and I just write what was on my mind at the time. I obviously don't know if I'll write as much as I did for my last FMP, although I likely will since I have a bit to say at the end of the evaluation
Daily Diary 18/05
Today I continued writing my evaluation and writing a bit for my practical page
I've been looking at my magazine while I've been writing my evaluation and I only now just realised a mistake that's in it, the table of contents is wrong from "11 ... Taking a Maldive(s) with The Ritz-Carlton" because I had to add two more pages.. It's not an extremely noticeable error or anything, but its still bad. I can't change it because the magazines are already printed out too and considering it took me this long to notice the mistake, I'm not sure if I would've caught it at all. I'll add it at the end of the evaluation when giving my thoughts of how I could've improved the magazine
As I said I'd likely do before, I went back and added a few details I glossed over (I don't know why I didn't go into more detail about meeting Akua & Gabrielle). I was able to do this mainly because I now have the checklist to work off of, yesterday I felt a bit aimless while writing since I didn't. Not saying I can't work without it, I was mainly working with my first FMP's evaluation while writing this one, but it does help me remember exactly what I'm meant to be going over
I also added pictures so that the whole evaluation wouldn't be one block of text, I usually only add images when talking about post-production or comparing my work to industry standard
Evaluation
Daily Diary 23/05
Today I finished writing my evaluation and started planning for my screening
I'm not sure if I like how my evaluation ends, but I was originally planning to end it with me stating 'own your seat at the table' multiple times over so I suppose the one I chose is the lesser evil. I like writing more personally at the end of evaluations but I'm a bit worried it leaks a bit into the end of the evaluation (talking about university portion) where I'm supposed to write more objectively. Worried is a bit strong of a word for that though
Daily Diary 24/05
Today I planned for my screening that'll be happening tomorrow
I was a bit worried that my slides are too plain, but most of the screening is just me talking while others are flipping through the magazine. If I add too many distractions in the slides like arrows it'd be difficult to read the actual magazine, especially since I only have four copies of them so some people might have to read from the board
I'm going to go with the plan I had in Daily Diary 09/05 since I feel like its the most effective (handing out multiple copies and giving out perfume sticks of the perfumes in the magazine). My only worry is that since I'm going to be talking a lot it'll be difficult for the audience to actually read the magazine. I'm unsure whether to leave pauses in between each page either since I want to make sure I'm able to get through the entirety of my presentation
I made a few mock ups using free templates on Behance, I did another I liked but I only wanted to include one in the slides since they're pretty similar. The one below is the one I decided to not use
Presentation Video
Presentation Slides
Presentation Video
Cue Cards
Presentation Evaluation
I stuttered a bit during some of the presentation but overall I think I did pretty well. It helped a lot that, after seeing everyone else's presentations, I took this a bit more casually as I'm presenting in front of classmates. While making my presentation and the cue cards I struggled a bit on what I was supposed to talk about, but talking about the behind the scenes of the magazine itself was a good idea. I didn't have too much to say on every page, but there are in total about 24 pages so I think its okay. I was allocated 20 minutes for the magazine but only used half of that time since I was quite brief. I don't think this was a bad thing though because it'd mean the audience wouldn't get bored of flicking through the magazine
I was worried the audience wouldn't be able to actually read through the magazine but I realise that unless I took long pauses that would likely be awkward, I had to move the presentation along. I'm glad I went with this approach to my project screening though as doing a read-along makes the most sense to me. I was also a bit worried the perfume sticks wouldn't smell like anything, but after the screening one of the audience members commentated on the scent being really strong. I'd rather it be strong rather than bland so I'm happy with that
I chose to do perfume sticks and handing out individual copies of the magazine as part of the interactive experience. I did perfume sticks as I felt that previews such as those fit with the luxurious theme of the magazine and by passing around the sticks everyone would have to interact with each other. The multiple magazine copies were mainly so that everyone would be able to read along with the magazine, but counting all of my classmates there would be someone left out which is why I put the magazine spreads on the board so that everyone would be able to see them
Daily Diary 25/05
Today is the last day of this unit
It feels a bit weird to have to write my last diary here. I think treating the presentation with a more casual tone helped me feel a bit more relaxed while presenting, but I made sure to still treat it professionally for the most part. I really liked seeing everyone else's products and I think they all did a very good job on theirs
While this is my last diary in here, this won't be my last day in college. I still have to come back on Wednesday at 1pm next week to finish uploading Project B files (I'm worried about this since I have no space in my previous Wix website, but I think I know a workaround to this that I'll be able to do). I'll also be designing the end of years poster for the art department which I'll have to come back in for, but I'm not certain on the date for that yet
As mentioned in my evaluation, I'll be going to university at the University of the Arts London and I'm doing a magazine design course there. This means this won't be the last magazine I make which is good as I still like creating them (although writing for them not so much). I think I'll have a lot of fun there. I'll be staying there for about three years and I'll have to move there too. I'm a little nervous but once again I think I'll learn a lot there and it'll be enjoyable
Bibliography
Adobe Support Community. (2011) How to place text INSIDE an irregular shape in InDesign. Available at: https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/how-to-place-text-inside-an-irregular-shape-in-indesign/td-p/3776979. Accessed at: 11.05.23
James, E. (Year unknown) How to Make Text Fill a Shape in InDesign. Available at: https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-make-text-fill-a-shape-in-indesign. Accessed at: 11.05.23