PLANNING
Idea Generation
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What Am I Advertising?
I will be advertising a product that I already own or can easily acquire so as to make it easy for myself when it comes to sourcing images to use. Possibly some kind of energy supplement for example a drink product or tablet. This is because we have experience with the advert creation of a drinks product due to our previous project so I will therefore use the skills that I have learnt to benefit me.
My layout is going to be open and easy to read with emphasis on logos and images. This is to prevent the whole magazine from becoming too wordy and hard to understand.
What is My Article On?
My article is going to be on a new game which is in playtesting. It is called ‘The Finals’. Here I will use my knowledge in the stages that a game goes through before release to provide an insight into the progress when it comes to the development of the game. The developers are active on social media with updates so I will be able to use some of the posts that they release in my work to support my statements.
What Is My Tech Review Going To Focus On?
My tech review is going to be on a stream deck and all of the cool features it allows you to program through its system. I own one of these so will be able to provide first hand experience as to the benefit that this holds. It allows you to program certain shortcuts etc to make your life easier. Such as pressing a button to open all of your apps and google tabs necessary to begin working etc.
I intend on having a not so wordy review with some emphasis on images and diagrams etc, i may even create a youtube video showcasing some of the key features and how they can benefit you.
Trello Board
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Project Proposal
Magazine Template
When designing my pages i wanted to ensure a colourful and interesting design/colour pallet was used. I did this so that my magazine was pleasing to view and had the ability to grab the attention of the person who is viewing it. The theme of my single page article page was supposed to be rustic and scrap like to make it align with the game which i have chosen to write about. I feel i did this well and managed to make my intentions visible. If i was to design these pages again however i feel i could have created more variation in the shades of colours used etc, as the way it is seems pretty copy and paste but with just different designs on the background. Although this works occasionally, it can get repetitive to the viewer and cause a lack of interest.
Contents Page Template
Single Page Article Template
Tech Review Page Template
Article Plan For Double Page Spread
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Pre Mortem
Lack of motivation
This is one of the main issues that I feel I could encounter throughout this six week project. As a result of the long project timeline it is possible that I will feel that I am making no overall progress towards the end goal which is the deadline. To avoid this from happening I will set myself mini goals every week to ensure that I am completing small wins towards the overall goal. I will use this same solution going forward with other projects so that I am keeping a positive mindset throughout my projects. Slipping into a negative overall mindset may cause other issues to arise so it is important to prevent this from happening.
Feelings of repetitiveness
A negative point of setting weekly goals and targets is that I could begin to feel a sense of repetition. This could lead to me feeling burnt out and that I am stuck in a never ending cycle. I could prevent this from happening by changing the way that I do certain tasks such as my weekly reflections. I could change it from written journals to a video journal. It is important to prevent this feeling of repetitiveness as it also ties in with lack of motivation and an overall negative attitude, this affects the overall work quality as well as how i am feeling.
Organisation
This is an important area of our projects as it improves focus and also speeds up time it takes to complete a task. If I need to locate two files in order to complete something, I will feel much better and be able to complete it sooner if I know where to find it. I will prevent this from happening by laying out in detail all areas of the project. For example I will take the title of the task and then split it down into different areas and file my work there, so that I can ensure it is easily accessible. It is important I do this to prevent work from being lost and therefore prevent unnecessary stress.
Thoughts to words
Sometimes I find it difficult to put what I am thinking into words. This can be problematic when I am writing things such as reviews as it is important to put across my opinion. To combat this I will utilise a planning structure before writing any large pieces of text. This will allow me to predetermine what I want to say and then I can focus on how I want to say it. It is important to prevent this issue from occurring so that I can improve the quality of my work and also shorten the amount of time it takes me to do it.
Quality as well as quantity
When completing large quantities of tasks it is important to ensure that the quality remains high while the amount of work is still done within a specific time. I will ensure that this remains the case by working carefully between my project checklist and individual plans for each task. It is useless completing all of the tasks in a project if they aren't done to the correct standard as it will just result in me failing that area. Equally though it is important to ensure that I don't spend too much time on the small details and quality of a task and therefore don't get all of the work done on time.
Analysis Of Double Page Spreads
The placement of all text and images on this double page spread is really well thought out. It gets heavier towards the edges and remains fairly clear in the centre to ensure that the fold doesn't look strange when it's folded.
The use of imagery and graphics on this double page spread is all tied into one theme which gives off this dark and gloomy look. This is done well as it ties in with the game that is being covered too.
All typography on the page is easy to understand and read, the headers and titles are easily identifiable through the use of size and bold text. Important areas of text are also easily seen in combination with their placement.
All of the information being discussed is relevant and not overly wordy, all of the points that are being covered are short and concise and allow the reader to get all of the information without reading too much.
The background image ties in with the text and gives room for extra informational boxes such as the picture and name of the author who wrote the double page spread itself.
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I have taken some inspiration from viewing this double page spread with things such as the use of extra images including the author's face and a little bit about them. I will carry this information forward to benefit my final work.
The layout of this double page spread has an image on one side of it with all of the information on the other side. The title stretching along the top cuts through the fold line however ties the whole thing together.
The use of dark imagery and colours throughout ties in with the game that is being spoken about, the colour of the text is good as it makes it easily readable over the background image.
All of the typography here is good, the colours combined with the size and use of features such as bold text or italics makes the important information stick out to the reader.
All of the information being covered is interesting to the reader, the title at the top under the title grabs your attention and makes you want to read what is actually being spoken about.
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Some extra elements such as the dark coloured logo in the bottom left corner show that thought has been taken into the positioning of everything on the page and that only necessary stuff has been put on there in the first place.
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I have taken inspiration from this with regards to where to place my text and also certain design features such as the blood trickling through the title at the top, as well as this I now have an idea of what content to include.