CCR

Reflection

For my Foundation Portfolio Project, I decided to make a magazine because I personally like magazines more than films. I feel like I can read a magazine whenever I want and for however long I want. For films, I feel like I have to watch the entire thing in one sitting. With the busy high school and teenage life, reading magazines works better for me and I have more interest in them. When choosing to work on my own or with a group, I chose to work on my own so I that I didn’t have to count on anyone and could work at my pace. I chose my target audience to be from ages 25 to 40 and represented that age group as people who are busy trying to balance work and personal life. I tried to keep my magazine organized so my target audience can look at exactly what they want to see in the little free time they have. I did this by engaging with them through text and visuals such as articles, recipes, and pictures.

Before starting to create my magazine, I decided to choose healthy cooking as the genre of my magazine because I love food, especially healthy food because of its fresh and yummy taste. I then did a lot of research to figure out how I wanted my magazine to be laid out as well as what I wanted to be included in it.  Two websites that helped me make these decisions were Pinterest and Issuu. They allowed me to look through examples of past magazines and got my brain thinking of new ideas I can incorporate into my magazine.

To make my magazine my own, I used and challenged the conventions of normal cooking magazines. I included a variety of recipes so the reader can learn about them and try them for themselves, like many looking magazines. I challenged many cooking magazines in my double page spread. To fill the white space, I used stickers that went along with what was written in the article where it was placed. I also kept my double-page spread article to one page so that it gave my audience just enough background information they need to realize how important eating breakfast is. After reading my main article, my audience can try the healthy recipes I included for them.

I am a very organized person so i made sure that my magazine was easy to read and understand. To do this, I made sure to include page numbers in the same place on every page so my audience can flip through the entire magazine and quickly get to the page they’re trying to find. Also,I split my table of contents into sections so the audience can find what the magazine has in it. Lastly, I made my double-page spread into two pages so that nothing got crammed.

My production skills have developed through my magazine creation process. I became more efficient with my time management and used schedules with deadlines to get this project done in time. After making my first rough draft, every time I looked back at my magazine, I had light bulb moments and saw something different I wanted to add or fix. That has never happened to me before so moments like these will never be forgotten.

I want my magazine to be distributed both in supermarkets and on free magazine websites so my front cover can hook my target audience. If a reader sees the paper copy and a recipe they want to try, they will be in the right place to buy the ingredients they need to make it. With the rapid evolution of technology, I also wanted my magazine to be available online. I think that having it on a free website will allow my target audience to read my magazine at their leisure. They can do this without having to feel hooked into a subscription fee if it were on it’s own website.
Even though this was a long process, I really did enjoy it and am happy with how my final project turned out. I am thankful I got this opportunity and would like to thank everyone that put up with me whether it was giving feedback or just making me smile when I was stressed.

Final Project

Here is the link to my final project. I am very thankful for this opportunity for teaching me various skills I will use in my future. I am very happy with the way it has turned out and hope you enjoy reading it!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GcGTv49nITsw0GzgtFYsF9vFXnU-9au9/view?usp=sharing

Just in case this link doesn't work, here it is again!:)

Changes!

After looking over all that I've worked on so far, I decided to change my table of contents as it didn't turn out as good as I thought it had the potential of. 

The first issue I noticed was the picture. The content in the picture was only a small portion of it. To solve this problem, I cropped the picture I originally used into a square. The square picture contained all of the content and looked better with the layout I changed it to. I also added a page number to go along with the picture so that if the reader likes the picture and wants to know where it came from they can go to that page.

Since there wasn't a lot of information in my original table of contents other than the main articles, I knew I needed to add more information as the table of contents should be informative and allow the reader to easily navigate throughout the entire magazine. I did this by adding sections to help organize all of the information I wanted to present in the table of contents. The first section is called "The Latest." This is the main articles that will be presented and change every issue. I called the second section  "On The Menu" to show the reader all of the recopies in the magazine. Since this is a healthy cooking magazines, recipes to make are very important and should be able to be sound without difficulty. The third and last section is entitled "Always Included." This section will be in every issue and include what's in every issue that's the same as other issues. I added lines in between each section to show the distinction between each one and separate them with organization.

The last thing I did was add pictures that I had previously taken of food that I have made in the past to the "On The Menu" and "Always Included" sections. These will show other pictures of various things that will be included in the magazine. I also put page numbers on the pictures so the reader can easily identify where the pictures and information to go along with it are. 

When first viewing a magazine, my target audience is looking for the best variety of information they can get. Since this is a new magazine, I thought the best way to do this was by making a long magazine for them.  

Working on the Double Page Spread

When working on my double page spread, I chose to put the ingredients and directions to make the recipes in a different font that would allow me to bold the title. 

I decided to add an explanation point to emphasize the title of the main article. I made sure to change it on my cover and in my table of contents as well. 

For the title of each of the ingredients, I chose to highlight the name of the recipe with a color that related to it. I used navy blue for the acaí bowl to highlight the blueberries, a cream-yellowish color for the peanut butter granola apple bites to highlight the granola on the apples, and green for the avocado toast to highlight the avocado. 

I chose to use three columns when writing my article with information on the health benefits of eating breakfast. I used the research I previously did to write the article. I included a little description under the title of what the article was going to be about. I also put the name of the author who write the article under the description.

I decided to add a star to each of the recipes to show how healthy each of the recipes I decided to include are. I made the star in the same color that I highlighted the title of each of the recipes with.

Once again, I made this as well as the rest of my magazine on Canva. I am happy with how it has been working for me. I really like how there are grids and alignments when I am placing texts and objects onto a page.

For the ingredients and how to make each recipe, I made the title of each bold so the reader can see where one starts. I also put them shaped around the main image. For example, for the acaí bowl, I put it on the counter top where there was white space. For the peanut butter granola apple bites, I put it on the cutting board where there was plain red space. For the avocado toast, I also put it on the counter top where there was once again white space. I made sure that the font was easily legible so anyone can read and remake the recipe. I also made sure my directions were in the step-by-step format(best way according to my previous research) and thorough so they're easy to follow. I also had the text of the avocado toast wrap around the image to create a stylistic look. 

Here's what I have so far.

Working on the Table of Contents

I decided to make my table of contents one page because I felt as though I only needed to include the main articles. If the reader wanted to see what else the magazine had to offer, they can flip though and look if they had time to browse. If not, they can look at the main articles and see where they are from the table of contents. 

When previously looking at layouts for table of contents' on Canva, I liked one (picture below) that had the left side with information and the right with little things that together made one great picture. When making my big picture, I didn't spread out all of the little things as well as I should have, hence why the top and bottom is plain countertop. Even though it could have looked better, it still works. 

I kept as well as changed some things from the layout I chose to use. I liked how it said "your guide to issue No. 1" so I added that to my table of contents. I also liked how the page numbers were big and then the title of the article was below with a little description telling the reader what it will be about when they flipped to the page it was on. I didn't include the website of the magazine as it would be too cluttered in the bottom corner of the page with the font thatI chose to use. I changed the font to go with the same one I'm using throughout the magazine, except the one used for the masthead. Lastly, I changed the articles and made my own descriptions for each of them. 

Here's what I have so far. 

Second Peer Review

In class this week, I did another peer review with my classmates Daniela, Mariana, and Elizabeth. They were different than the ones from my last peer review session so we could all share new ideas.

Daniela is doing a film opening about a girl running away with her boyfriend. The beginning of the film is going to start with her planning and packing her escape. After that, there is going to be a school scene of her and her boyfriend talking about where they are going to go. The beginning of the film will end with her and her boyfriend getting into the car and turning it on right before they leave. Daniela asked us how we can help her make the girl look edgy. We told her that she can wear all black and use colored hair extensions to give her the look Daniela wants. She also wanted ideas on how she can put her credits in an artistic way. We suggested that she can put it on a mirror in black sharpie or red lipstick.

Mariana is also doing a film opening will an intense story. It’s going to be about a girl growing up in a low income family. Her dad abused and then killed the girls mother. Following, he abuses her and she ends up killing him. She gets sent to death row and right before she dies, she gets interviewed by people working at the jail. The beginning of the movie will be of the interview and starting the process before death. She started filming but has had some troubles so she’s planning to finish filming this upcoming week. She told us how her dad is an actor and has helped her tremendously.

Elizabeth is doing a travel magazine for Miami. She has visited various places and took pictures at all of them. She showed us the template she is going to use and told us that the name of her magazine is going to be SEEKER. She wants the magazine to be simple in writing with a lot of pictures to look at. She asked us what she should do for her double page spread and we told her that she should show how there’s a lot to do in Miami so it can be for everyone. She can portray this by saying that for the art lovers there’s Wynwood walls, for the nature lovers there’s beaches, for the food lovers there’s many restaurants, etc.

I told my group that I am doing a healthy food magazine entitled Cook It Up. I then explained how my double page spread was going to be about breakfast being the most important meal of the day. I showed them layouts that I’m going to use and they thought it fit my magazine well. I shared mine asked for their thoughts on what I should make and include recipes for. We all agreed that I should keep my three recipes as planned with the açaí bowl as the cover.

This session was very helpful and I’m glad that I had to chance to do it.