Advertisement

Since i was ahead in my product i was allowed to design an advertisement page to go between the front cover and the contents page.

I started by looking through music magazines like NME, Q and Kerrang because the music genres these magazines include are the same kind of genres that my magazine promotes (Rock, indie, alternative, Brit pop and grunge). From looking at the magazines i concluded that the most popular advertisements in music magazines are either advertisements for album releases or gigs therefore i decided to have my advertisement of an album.



I wanted a grungy/ sarcastic album of which the most successful album covers usually are therefore i decided to base my album on the concept that nothing is original anymore, it's all been done before so that people claiming to have a 'new sound' are probably copying something. From this concept i decided to take a picture of a statue of knight suggesting that the last time something was original was long ago and has become stagnant and lifeless like a statue.

I decided to call my album 'Renaissance is futile' because its a pun on the phrase 'Resistance is futile' and suggests that no one can resist music or a 'rebirth' of music can not be achieved through lack of originality. It was also a nod to the historical denotation of the knight statue.

After i had decided what my image would be and the album title, i needed to create a band name to go with the album. Since my magazine is a rock genre i needed to make the name have rebellious connotations but i also needed it to be easily memorable therefore i came up with the name 'Begging Brandy'. The 'Begging' is meant to suggest a lack of scruples and desperation which is then juxtaposed against 'Brandy' which has connotations of drunken/ wild abandon. When the two are put together it suggests that the band is desperate 'begging' for a chance to rebel. It is memorable as it uses alliteration which makes it easy to remember and say.

I opened the image on 'A4' size and started to edit the image:


1)First i made the image smaller by using the 'move tool' to make the image smaller and placing it in the top half leaving room for the advertisement information.



2) 'Enhance' - 'Auto levels' : To improve the image's levels automatically with the computer rather than trying to do it myself.



3)'Enhance' - 'Auto contrast' -:To improve/ balance the images level of light and dark contrast to make a clearer image.



4)'Enhance' - 'Adjust lighting' - 'shadows/highlights': to change the highlights of the image manually so that i could emphasise the highlights and shadows to make the statue shiny but have its shadows greatly accentuated.



5)'Filter' - 'Adjustments' - 'posterize' : this was to give the image a rough grainy effect to make the image seem old or hazy like a memory.



6) 'Enhance' - 'adjust colour' - 'Adjust Hue/saturation' : I changed the hue and saturation to work with the posterise effect to created rusted colours of browny red and dark yellow oranges and pinks to add to the concept of a decaying rusting past glory of music.



7)'Text box' - 'Reboard' - 'Begging Brandy' - 'black' : I placed the band name in the top left corner to comply with western eye flow. I used three text boxes to create the band name. The first was a large 'B'. The second was used in half the font size 'egging' and then used the 'move tool' to position near the top half of the 'B' so it now looks like 'Begging'. Finally i used the third in half the font size of the 'B' to say 'randy' and then used the 'move tool' to position near the lower half of the 'B' so it now looks like 'brandy'. So now the whole thing says 'Begging Brandy'.



8) 'Text box' - 'Angelic war' - 'Renaissance is futile'- 'white' : I created two text boxes, one that said 'Renaissance' and the other saying 'is futile'. i positioned them center and right below the knight. However because of the elaborate nature of the font i needed to simplify it by erasing part of the design of the font so that i could position the two text boxes closer together. I did this by duplicating a layer, linking them and using the 'Eraser tool'.



9) 'Paint bucket tool' - black' : I then used the paint bucket tool to fill the space left for the advertisement information to serve as a background to the text. I made sure that the black was of a slightly lighter shade of black so as to not interfere with the black of the image.

10) 'Image' - 'HMV logo' : i decided that 'HMV' was an appropriate sponsor/advertiser for a music album in a music magazine. Therefore i searched for the hmv logo on the search engine google and 'copy' and 'paste' it into the advertisement using the 'move tool' to re size and place in the bottom right corner as there are often placed with enough room for the company's website underneath which most commonly follows the logo in advertisements.

11) 'Text box' - 'The album of the year' (White) - '2 disc version featuring 5 bonus tracks'(White) - 'Out Now' (pink) - 'www.RIFFRAFF.co.uk' (white)} Rockwell font- 'hmv.com'} Times New Roman Font (white) : The album of the year is in the second largest font above the rest of the advertisement so that readers will notce that it is the album of the year. I then positioned below this the contents of the album '" disc version featuring 5 bonus tracks as an incentive to buy the album as they are getting something 'extra'/'bonus' for their money. In the largest size font and center beneath the 'The Album of the year' and the contents i put 'OUT NOW' so as to inspire a sense of urgency to encourage the readers to buy. I then put the two websites so as the reader can find out more about the album from the magazine and from the sponsor.

Riff Raff Take 4

Once I had fixed the background I noticed that I was missing the price and the date of the issue that normally accompanies the barcode in most conventional music magazines. I also noticed that the positioning of the featured artists cover line was too near and encroaching on the main cover line. The definition between the two therefore was rendered too unclear.
To fix the positionig problem i simply used the 'MOVE TOOL' and moved the 'Featured artists' more down the page.
To fix the problem involving the barcode i needed to add a white rectangle extension to the barcode so that i could write the missing text. To do this i first created a 'NEW LAYER' .Then i used the 'CUSTOM SHAPE TOOL' to make a rectangular shape directly above the barcode so it is touching. After I used the 'Paint Bucket tool' to fill the rectangle white.
Finally i used the 'Horizontal Type tool' to enter the date of the issue and the price in the white box.

Riff Raff take 3

Although I made the appropiate changes to 'Riff Raff' draft 2 the cover was still missing something which i identified as a too simplistic or plain background.

Therefore i decided to experiment with the use of 'Brushes'.

To do this:

1) I first selected the 'brush tool'.

2) I then on the 'drop down list' selected the extension to 'load brushes'.

3) I then loaded the brushes from the appropiate folder in the U drive.

I experimented with the different 'brushes' such as:

'Assorted brushes'

'Basic brushes'

'Calligraphic brushes'

'Drop shadow brushes'

'Dry media brushes'

'Faux finish brushes'

'Natural brushes 2'

'Natural brushes'

'Pen pressure'

'Special effect brushes'

It was the last brush types that I found one that was most suitable for my magazine. The other brushes were either completely inappropiate or were more suited to the hip hop or drum and bass genre of magazine. The brush was of a rose which worked with my rock genre because of the popularity of the image in tattoos or in bands such as Guns and Roses. I changed the brush to black as a black rose challenging the expectations of the red rose of romance opposed to its now negative or darker connotations. I did this by adding a 'New layer' and placing the rose in the left third. I then used the 'rubber tool' to erase the part of the rose that was covering the main image of my model.

Riff Raff take 2

The first draft of Riff Raff was not working effectively either to to with poor colour choice or missing conventions.

To tackle this:

1)The featured artists kicker colour was not effective and blended too much with the the background therefore I decided to change it to white by using the Painr bucket tool'.

2) I then decided to fill in the letters of the masthead blue and white alternately with the 'paint bucket tool' this is so i could tie in my colour scheme of black, blue and white.

3)I then added the missing dateline in white Flair roman with a black drop shadow.
I achieved this by duplicating the 'dateline layer' and putting it behind the first layer and retyping the dateline in black before finally using the 'move tool to achieve the drop shadow.

4) My first draft did not have a barcode therefore by using the search engine 'Google images' I searched for an image of a barcode to 'copy' and Edit -> 'paste' onto my magazine cover in Photo shop. I then used the 'move tool' to re size the image and place in the bottom left because of the excess space there.

Riff Raff cover take 1

Since I had edited the 'Main image' all i needed to do was to deal with the text of the cover. This included the 'Masthead', 'Strap line', 'Cover line', 'Main cover line' and 'Featured artists'.

For the Masthead I used a 'Black Casper' font in size 500 in black. I used bold blue Flair Roman for the strap line. I used black 'Impact' for the kicker of the cover line and a bold blue Flair Roman explanatory. I used bold black Flair Roman for the kicker of the main cover line and the explanatory in blue 'Impact'. I used bold 'Flair Roman'for the kicker of the featured artists in the same colour as the background by using the 'eyedropper tool' and blue 'impact' for the explanatory.
The diferences from my plan is the positioning of the featured artists to the right bottom of the cover to comply with the western eye flow and to make the text seem less like a list.
The 'a' of the 'raff'' was not the same kind of black casper font as the 'i' of the 'Riff'' therefore it offfset the symmetry that i was aiming for therefore i needed to change this. I achieved this by simplfying the masthead ('Simply layer') so it becomes like an image. Then i used the 'rubber tool' to rub out the 'a', (I also rubbed out the part of the masthead that was covering the model so it looks like the model is in front of the mast head following the conventions of successful music magazines). To make it symmetrical i needed to make an 'a' in the style of 'BLack Casper' font - first i used the 'shape tool' to make a rectangle and used the 'paint bucket tool' colour it black. Then i used the 'text box' to enter an 'a' that was the same as the 'i' within the black rectangle. I then used the 'eyedropper tool' and 'paint bucket tool' to change the 'a' ('Cloister black')into the same colour as the background( I then 'link layers'). Finally i used the 'move tool to resize and reposition so that the 'a' is slanted like the 'i' and in the masthead.

Photos taken and edited part 4

For this photo I wanted to convey the true rock spirit of rebellion and attitude therefore i asked my model to give an offensive gesture to the camera. This sentiment is supported by the models costume- the leopard print dress bears connotations of wildness and the leather jacket is often associated with the rock culture a an icon of a disregard for rules and morals.

1) 'Crop' - i decided to crop the right side of the photo so that I could get rid of the door handle.

2)'Enhance -> auto levels' - the program automatically corrects average issues of the level of contast/lightness and tonal so I don't need to worry about it.

3) 'Enhance -> auto contrast'- the program automatically fixes the contrast levels so i don't need to worry about it.

4) 'Enhance -> Adjust lighting -> shadow/highlights'- I slightly increased the light and the dark tones to make the the image more clearer with better lighting/tones.

5) 'Adjustment layer (hue/saturation)-> photo filter x3- I adjusted the colour of the image giving it slight orange, black and yellow/green hues to make the location and the model look visually more appealing fixing the quality of the skin tone giving it an overexposed look.

6) 'Burn tool' - I used the tool to darken the models eyelashes and eyeliner to bring attention to her eyes emphasising her challenging/questioning stare. I darkened the models roots to support the overexposed effect.
7) 'Blur tool' - I used the tool to smooth out the models skin to fix any blemishes or textures that were an issue.

Photos taken and edited part 3

For this photo I decided to try a very obvious rock feel shown by the mock innocent pose and vest top that literally spells it out to the reader that she is a rock model. However I found the pose and the costume to be too obvious and therefore very amateur and low quality therefore I will not be using this photo.

1) 'Enhance -> auto levels' - the program automatically corrects average issues of the level of contast/lightness and tonal so I don't need to worry about it.
2) 'Enhance -> auto contrast'- the program automatically fixes the contrast levels so i don't need to worry about it.
3) 'Enhance -> Adjust lighting -> shadow/highlights'- I slightly increased the light and the dark tones to make the the image more clearer with better lighting/tones.
4) 'Adjustment layer (hue/saturation)-> photo filter x3- I adjusted the colour of the image giving it slight orange, black and yellow/green hues to make the location and the model look visually more appealing fixing the quality of the skin tone giving it an overexposed look.
5) 'Burn tool' - I used the tool to darken the models eyelashes and eyeliner to bring attention to her eyes emphasising her challenging/questioning stare. I darkened the models roots to support the overexposed effect.
6) 'Blur tool' - I used the tool to smooth out the models skin to fix any blemishes or textures that were an issue.