Design Skills

I have gained many skills from designing my front cover page in both Adobe InDesign and photoshop. With each aspect of the cover magazine, I have encoded meanings into the colour scheme, fonts and words on the cover page to draw my specific demographic into reading the KSTORM magazine.

What have I learned?

For taking my photos I have learned that to have lights in the photo room gives a brighter look to the photos and helps the camera lens to focus, the flash on the camera gives a very high-quality photo of the model or object as it zooms in on all the smaller aspects of that thing. Without the flash from the camera, the images result in having softer looks that are much less harsh than the ones with the use of flash.

From photoshop I have learned a range of different techniques on how to make an image look better and sharper, I know how to edit and photoshop a model to make them look even more media-worthy for the public to see. For the editing of my cover star, I used the burn tool to darken some areas of the face to help define the jaw or neck so the sharpened areas of the face stood out more. I then used the dodge tool to lighten up any areas that looked to dark are portrayed the wrong message of that star to the audience, and give a lighter skin tone to make the model appear more Korean. One of the tools I used a lot was the spot healing brush to remove any spots from the model to make them look even more perfect for the front cover as idols are in the media. I can cut images out of their backgrounds by using the quick selection tool, to have them as single images to then place onto another background of my choice which I did for the cover that ended up being very effective and standing out, I can make these backgrounds in photoshop so that I have the correct colour scheme for the photos so that it can encode a message to the audience. This created a conventional neon aesthetic to the cover that Kpop normally conveys to the audience to make it look more exciting and inviting.

In Adobe InDesign, I used many types of fonts and colours to create effective titles and cover lines on the front page to interest audiences. I have learned how to make fonts and techniques in InDesign look as effective as possible, I also put in a plug of KDREAM in the corner of the cover and used the shaping in In Design change the shape of the photo to a circle so that it stood out more and looked more interesting as Kpop is very exciting and different from other genres. On this plug, I put an outer glow to further highlight it to audiences, I then snip tooled in a bar code for the magazine by creating one online InDesign has kept it looking clear and sharp. I have learned that less is more and not everything needs to stand as much as other aspects of the magazine.

In the future, I intend to use these techniques from both Photoshop and In Design for other projects to make images look better and cleaner. I think I have done well in using the online tools to help make my images better and more professional, I will improve my skills in the future to result in better-looking photos for my media.

What went well?

The photos I have taken so far have all been very successful and all convey a narrative and story to the audience, the angles and distances of the camera each give a certain amount of intensity to the models and narrative. For the single male model photos of Jinho, many of them were close up as I wanted him to be conveyed as slightly arrogant and intense to the audience so that the specific demographic, teen girls felt he was looking right at them. The group photos of the girl group KDREAM were mostly mid shots as I had to get the whole group into the shot, some were close up but I liked the ones with the front angle and mid-shot lens. This made the group appear very exciting to audiences and convey the narrative of something new and enticing, lastly, the two director shots were also mid shots and close-ups to show how important they are as directors and their significance in the kpop industry and to many of the idols and groups themselves. There were low angles within the shots to convey the dominance and power of these two men, but also some front angle shots to soften the narrative of them as I wanted them to be viewed as kind and mature to the audience.

In Photoshop, I first struggled with the many effects that were usable to my images but I quickly understood how everything worked and ended up professionally editing many photos for my magazine which were successful. I edited a lot on the cover star because it was such a close-up image it had to be perfect for the front page to interest the target audience, the plug of KDREAM did not need too much editing as the image was not as close up as the cover star image and due to the image is a small plug in the magazine. I intend to use more of KDREAM in the double-page spread of the directors to help tell the story to the audience, the images each tell effective stories themselves with the help of photoshop to help emphasize those stories to the readers and audience.

I was very successful In InDesign as I kept reinforcing the narrative of the magazine in all the fonts and colours. I kept the colour scheme simple in the cover so that there is a larger focus on the pugs and plugs and main cover star, the name of the magazine KSTORM is very effective as it is not too busy but stands out enough to be clear and noticed by audiences. The K of the KSTORM is slightly different from the rest of the name as I wanted it to stand out further so that is is the letter that sticks in whoever’s mind looks at the magazine, I decided to colour it white with some bright red strike to entice audiences in as red is a vibrant colour. The whole KSTORM has an outer glow that effectively stands out against the transitioning colours in the background that I made in Photoshop, giving fun and sophisticated looks to the magazine. I used a limited number of fonts on the cover of the magazine as it keeps the magazine simple for readers to look at and it is not overwhelming either. The magazine cover is busy but not overwhelming, I needed that balance to successfully create a magazine cover with the narrative that calls to young teen girls.

Even better if?

I need to work quickly when designing and editing my material for my content as the stories and narratives need to be clear in the image, I then need to experiment with more techniques on photoshop and InDesign to be able to perhaps result in a more effective piece.

Encoding in the cover

In every aspect of the magazine, I encoded a message into that specific aspect to help the audience of teen girls when reading this magazine. I wanted my magazine to be seen as professional and mature but also have the fun exciting touch that kpop has, It needed to be straight forward so that the audience gets what the want from the magazine images and cover.

In the name of the magazine KSTORM I wanted the excitement to be there immediately in the magazine so the letters are all in capitals to make it sound urgent and important, the storm in the name reflects on how the magazine is taking the world by storm and is very dangerous as you can become addicted to kpop fast, you must be aware of it. The danger of the KSTORM is what interests young girls as they want to be free and live on the edge as young teenagers reading the magazine. The red in the letter K gives more urgency and energy that the magazine wants to display, the font is straight forward and bold and very readable to anyone.

The fonts in the cover each portray different meanings to whatever story or event they are connected with, the colours of white black and red are all very contrasting showing how each story within the magazine is different and gives the audience different information about the world of kpop. These colours further stand out on the background of purple into blue giving it a bigger and brighter pop about the cover, the colours of the words and background contrast so nicely that they actually fit very well together to create a very impressive front cover.

This magazine needed to show the energy around kpop and what the genre of music is truly like, the sophistication and maturity in the magazine is displayed by the fonts and cover star whilst the danger of the addiction to kpop is seen through the colours. This magazine is a powerful portrayal of how compelling kpop is as a genre of music and how it really can take the world by storm.

Screenshots of tools

Photoshop

Quick selection tool to cut out the models and parts of the image i want and do not want.

Spot healing brush tool so that I could remove any blemishes from the models to give a cleaner image.

And finally, the dodge tool to lighten up areas in an image to make it look brighter.

InDesign

The text box tool to be able to add text and words to the magazine, and edit the words within the box.

The fx tool to add effects like outer glow and outer shadow to the words.

Finally the tool that I used to change the height of the words to make them look more effective in the magazine.

Mission statement: The magazine K STORM aims to express and convey the unique genre of K-pop and open audiences’ eyes to a world of the unknown in a positive manner. It strives to present new and exciting themes within K-pop and constantly produce high-quality media for a wide range of demographics.

Brand values

My brand values include the quality of the images and the content within the magazine as it has to call out to the audience and be as effective as it can be, my magazine will need to have the correct themes and colours to reach the correct demographic that my magazine is designed for therefore being conventional and relating to what the audience is used too. To reflect the theme and genre of k-pop in the magazine the mise en scene and colour palette will be vital to display the Korean style of music, my magazine will be high quality in both images and articles to grab audience attention and become popular in the market.

My magazine will need to have the visual effects and boldness that Korean media such as music videos is so well known for globally, and feature the articles that are so important in this type of media such as dating and mental health and what it’s like to be part of the k-pop industry and how truly intense it can be for rising stars. To make the brand value better and stronger I will add aspects such as quizzes and games in the magazine so that the audience has the chance to interact with the magazine, some fashion ideas included in the magazine will interest people more into the Korean style and new cultures and lifestyles.

Communicating ideas

I have learned many things from the camera and mise en scene from the past weeks of working on my music magazine, to communicate these ideas I will use specific colours and patterns in the mise en scene and use certain camera angles to portray a narrative and show different emotions in the cover stars. Combined together the mise en scene and camera angles are very effective for media and it is vital to have the aspects punctual and clean so that the right message is conveyed to the audience, my magazine will display the themes of young wild and free with a touch maturity and professionalism so that a wider audience gains interest in it through the communicated ideas.

Camera

By learning how to professionally use a camera to achieve high-quality images and knowing about the different camera angles as well as the lighting I will be able to get high-quality photos for my magazine so that it looks professional and well thought out. All the certain angles used in a shot display different feelings to the audience, whilst an extreme close up shot is intense and emits powerful feelings a mid-shot will soften that intensity and make the image look more inviting. The angle of the shot also matter as well as they give the cover star status in the narrative, In my own magazine photoshoot, I will use a wide range of camera angles and positions that give the audience different auras so that I can pick my favourite one that creates the right vibe for the magazine cover.

Mise en scene

The mise en scene is a large part of K-pop and is very vital in the media to portray the groups and idols in certain lights, the costume, lighting, acting, makeup and setting are all as equally important to show the audience what kind of celebrity they are. My stars are going to be displayed to the media in juxtaposing ways whether they are on the front cover or the contents page, this will give a broader shape to the magazine and interest people more in the world of k-pop. I want the difference of the unique genre to be viewed as positive in the magazine as audiences sometimes fear new things, but as my magazine will be conventional it should have that aspect of familiarity to reach out to audiences and demographics. In Korea, the makeup and hair and fashion are very different from the western world so I want to clearly display that difference through the mise en scene so my magazine really stands out in the market, every single facial expression and accessory onset will display a chosen narrative to an audience.

Star image and decoding

In all magazines including mine, the star image is vital to reflect the magazine genre and vibe it wants to display to the audience, the star image is how the cover star is portrayed through mise en scene and setting as slight differences will result in the portrayal of that star to be wrong or misleading to what the producer is actually trying to convey. These stars will need to have set characteristics to show to the audience, aspects such as being ordinary or extraordinary will need to be shown to the audience so that they recognise that this person is a celebrity, the stars will need to be shown as absent or present in the audiences lives with shows and tours that allow audiences to interact with the stars. Each star image is different whether it is a band or group or as individuals, every point of mise en scene is vital for the correct narrative of the magazine.

The audience has to be able to decode the articles and images in the magazine, so my magazine will need thee right use of language that reaches out to my specific psychographics in the audience. As a producer whatever I encode has to be able to bee decoded by the audience so that it interests them, decoding is seen in aspects such as colours, fronts, images and writing. If the target audience cannot decode the magazine contents then the product will not b very successful in the media so that is why it is very important to know your client.