GCSE Graphics: 2013

What was the theme for the project?

The main theme for my magazine cover was fashion. I used most of my inspiration from popular magazines such as vogue or ELLE.

How have you developed your ideas? How did your work change through the project?

I developed my ideas by looking at different magazines such as VOGUE. This helped me to take ideas from these magazines and develop them into my own. Throughout the project, I developed my work by adding more colours rather than using only 1 colour. This made my magazine look more eye catching and attractive.

How many photographs did you take? Do you think you should have done more or less?

During the photo-shoot, I took about 30 photos. I think this was a good amount to take because I could then see which photos worked well and which photos didn't.

What artists or designers have you looked at to help and inspire you?

I looked at images of Cara Delvigne to give me inspiration for the photo-shoot. This helped me because I could then see which camera angles and colours worked best with the audience I was trying to target.

What materials, tools and techniques did these artists use? Think about lighting and wardrobe.

For magazine covers different designers used different colours depending on their target audience. They usually used about two or three colours which were taken from the models clothes or make up. This makes the magazine more appealing as it looks simple but effective. The models used on the front of magazine covers were dressed accordingly depending on what the theme was. The model is usually the first thing that the reader sees so it is important that the image draws the reader in. Designers did this by using central camera angles which makes the models face the focus of the cover.

How have your skills developed during this project?

During this project, my skills for photography have developed with using lighting and different back grounds. I also learned which camera angles worked best for my magazine cover. In this case, the theme was fashion so I used a central camera angle to draw in the readers attention. I have also improved my skills using photoshop. Some of these skills include: air brushing, saturation levels, contracts of the picture and how to change the background of the image.

Are there any aspects of your studies that you wish you had explored further?

I wish that I had done more research of different types of magazines. By doing this I would have had more inspiration for my final piece.

How have you used formal elements such as line, tone, colour and shape?

I used 5 colours on my magazine cover which could have been too many but I thought that some of the colours were very similar and they all contrasted very well together. I stuck to pink, white and grey but used different shade of pink and grey so that there was more of a variety.

What materials did you use, and why? Did they work successfully?

I only used photoshop to create out final magazine cover. Therefore we did not used that many materials.

What meaning and messages did you want to convey and were you successful?
I wanted to make my magazine cover as interesting and eye catching for a female audience of either teenagers or young women. I tried to do this by using bold writing when saying 'Gossip Girl'. This is inviting as women will want to know what it is all about. It is important that the cover-lines were bold and stood out because the audience will then read into the magazine. I also used cover lines such as 'fitness tips' and 'style secrets' . This is something that women want to look at so they will be interested in reading it. think I achieved the message I was trying to convey by making it as attractive and interesting to look at as possible.

Are you happy with your final piece? Are there any elements you like in particular?

Is there anything you would change? Why?
Over all I am happy with my final piece because I thought that the colours worked well together to create an eye catching front cover. However, I thought that my cover was possibly too simple and I could have used images of clothes or celebrities to make it more interesting. If I had used more shapes, images and text I could have created a better final piece.