BLACK ART Blog

After finishing my magazine layout, I used all of what I learned to design my magazine cover. While finishing this, there were things that I needed to make sure I have on my cover. This includes... - A title - A headline - A dominant picture - Secondary headlines - Additional pictures - A price - A publishing date - An address label - A barcode - External and internal margins - The use of white space - Elements of design - The use of micro, conventional, and macro spacing

By the middle of October, it was time for me to start thinking about the design layout of my magazine. I began to learn about the many different elements of design. This includes pictures, copy and white space, column designs, external and internal margins, placement of the eyeline, dominant photo, copy area, vertical axis, and captions. After that, I started learning about adding more information to my layout by using secondary coverage, how to use micro, conventional, and macro spacing, and the importance of visual/verbal connections which involves the headline and dominant picture. In early November, I began to study fonts. I completed an assignment where I chose five different types of secondary coverage and then I explained how the different font I chose for each secondary coverage would add contrast, where the text will be placed, how drop and raised caps would be used, if transparency and text-wrapping will be used, and the aligning of the text. Creating a good headline was the ...

At the beginning of October, I began to learn about StudioWorks. This is an online publishing program that I will be using to create my magazine design and layout. The first thing I learned about was the Navigation Bar which is located at the top of StudioWorks. This is where all major sections could be accessed including the dashboard, pages, content, planner, and more. I completed a Padlet in class where I wrote down what some of these things do. In my next assignments, I learned how to do many things such as… - Choose a font - Select a text size - Create a text box - Make a picture box - Create a colored background - Add a picture - Find the bleed mark - Find the gutter - Add a stroke - Measure things in picas - Use the measurement tool After I continued to learn more about StudioWorks and complete more assignments with it, by mid-October I learned how to… - Locate the trim - Flip an image - Invert an image - Add a rounding radius - Change the transparency - Add a drop shadow - Add ...

While continuing to search and develop ideas for my theme, I completed an assignment which was to create and fill in a list of 10 different business websites and their theme ideas. I explored these business websites by comparing the fonts they used, their color themes, the type of audience they targeted, their photography techniques, and their overall message. Some of the websites I compared are shown below. Comparing these websites helped me decide what my project was going to look like and what type of audience I want to target. Figuring this out helped me with my next assignment which was to complete a Theme Worksheet in the middle of October.

Before I began to work on my magazine, I had to decide whether I wanted to work alone, with a partner, or even in a group. I chose to work with a partner, Jordanna Eaves. After this decision was made, it was time to think about the type of theme I wanted my magazine to have. In mid-September, my partner and I looked at magazine examples in class so that we could get ideas and/or inspiration. Assignments were given to me along the way to help me with my decision. I watched Powerpoints, participated in discussions, and looked at many different magazine covers. By the end of it all, the theme chosen for our magazine was to educate others on how different hair care products can affect hair growth.                                                                                    ...

One of the first things our magazine project centered on was creating a publication at the beginning of September. I learned how important a publication is to a magazine and the role it plays. Publications are used as a reference to magazines, saves memories, and documents their history. Some popular examples include People Magazine, Vogue Magazine, and Women’s Health Magazine. After learning about the importance of a publication and reviewing some examples, my partner and I decided that Black Art Magazine would be a great name for our own.

Welcome to my blog! I will be using this online platform to record the formation of my magazine for Media Studies class.