My Creative Critical Response!

Click here to view my CCR!

Until next time, Lysh :)

The Final Product!

The Grand Finale

This past week has been amazing and I am very proud of my final product. Although I will still add few changes before I turn my project, it is still beautiful! I finished my two page spread the other day and have put some final touches on each page. This process has been so wonderful and I have never thought the day would come where I got the opportunity to create  my very own magazine. I truly am so proud of my work. I began this project with very little prior knowledge. I had't known how to layout a page, how to take an epic photo of food, or even known what a "masthead" was! This process has taught me how to use hardware and software for various usages, how to work with one another, how to blog, and how to make an idea into reality. Another thing I has learned is the power of the IPhone. By just using the IPhone 7 and a white sheet, my photos came out almost professional! I also got a taste of how tough it really is to get that perfect picture. 
And not to mention, research has played a very large role in the making of this project as well. Researching multiple magazines, photos, layouts, genres, conventions, how to make my own photography studio, and more has been the sole purpose of how I really created this masterpiece. 
...and a big shoutout to my partner Paige Lewis for being there every step of the way. Although we didn't always agree on everything, we created something amazing! Anyways, I can't wait to upload my CCR and final magazine! :)

Until next time, Lysh

Helping Hand

Today I met with my partner again after school, but this time it was to help her!
She needed to take pictures for her own two page spread for her July edition of "Bitez". Her two page spread consists of a summer do it yourself popsicle, but with a twist. There is actually two twists, the first is that there is cool candy involved such as sour patch and airheads but the second is an optional add in for adults of drinking age. We researched for a while to actually find a good recipe and Tasty, a popular recipe company, had this amazing idea! We changed it up a little by having optional alcohol although. 
Today we went to the grocery store and purchased popsicle molds, sour candy, air heads, jolly ranchers, and sprite. We also set up another photography homemade studio by taping a white sheet to her wall and beneath it. The set up looked like this:

As we did with my photos, we took about an hour to get the perfect shots. She took photos with her iPhone 7 and did pictures of the process of actually making the popsicles with each step of the way. After they were done freezing, we needed to get the perfect shot for her two page spread!

On the other hand, my magazine is coming together very nicely. We have decided that we will not be using a bite mark in the right hand corner because it doesn't look nice on the cover and takes up some room, we think the bite on the 'B' will indicate that our magazine is pronounced "Bites".  My cover is finished as my table of contents is as well! Tomorrow my two page spread will be finalized and we will start our commentary this coming Saturday! I can't wait for the final product :)

Until next time, Lysh

Laying out... but not by the sun

I have almost completed my cover page, it needs just a few finishing touches. I added all my content on to the cover page, my photo, and finalized font and colors. 
Today and yesterday I have been working with my table of contents and two page spread. My table of contents has a layout, title, and photo but I still need to add actual content onto the page. The page will include my two page spread which is the "always included". My table of contents will also include "latest trends", and "bakin' it" section.  Latest trends are baking and food trends that are popular, fun, and easy to do! The bakin' it section will be articles and interviews of bakers in different parts of the country or will feature a certain pastry or baked item that is interesting and has background to it. My table of contents layout can be seen in my previous blogs to refer back to it. 
My two page spread has begun it's layout process, but it has been quite challenging. The two page spread is going to be the "always included" D.I.Y. snack of the month. As I began to design it without any example to refer to, I came up with a  pretty cool design. Here it is below:

Colors are not final and will change according to season/month of the issue. For instance, my partner who will be completing a July/summer edition may use blues and yellows to represent summer or red, white, and blue to represent the Fourth of July. Because my edition is April/Spring, I will be using pastel colors, such as the ones in the photo above. The other page of my two page spread will be an entire photo of the final product. One side of the two page spread are directions and materials and the other side is the final product/what it should look like. I've seen this in this specific baking magazine below and I find it appealing to the eye.

This is not exactly how I would like my two page spread layout to look like, I would like a full picture on the right page and the instructions on the left with a white background. I like the idea of having one whole page to show the final result because it catches the consumers eye, shows an example of how it should come out, and is very aesthetically beautiful. By tomorrow, the two page spread will be done as will the table of contents. After that, the advertisement will be out into motion!

Until next time, Lysh

Things Are Starting To Really Come Together

As days pass by, the dead line is coming closer and closer! This week I stepped up my game and got  a lot of important things done. My partner and I have taken our photos, agreed on colors, font, layout, and have started putting our imagination to the test. After meeting up 5 times over the course of this past week, we have taken over 1,000 photos, created multiple dishes, and really made some final decisions.

Photography
My partner and I went to Public and purchased multiple necessities for our photoshoot. We purchased items such as sprinkles, icing, floral decoration, easter confetti, and the ingredients for our two page spread always included "D.I.Y. snack of the month". 
To take photos, We used natural light, a bright lamp,, and a white sheet. Some photos were also taken outside. Here is what our set up looked like:

My partner and I decided to use just our iPhones to take photos because we did not have access to a professional camera, although, iPhones had very nice quality. 

The first photoshoot consisted of my cover page. My cover page was for an April edition, so I incorporated spring and easter into the cover! I have yellow confetti as my background and homemade cupcakes placed in a triangle shape surrounded by marshmallow chicks and decorative flowers. Here's what the photo looks like

The second series of photos was the process of my D.I.Y treat, which was fruity pebble marshmallow treat in the shape of flowers, decorated with icing in spirit of spring! I took photos of each instruction and step of the way so I can incorporate into my "how to make it" two page spread.

The third photo shoot was for my table of contents. Originally, my photos where quite sloppy so I had to take them over the course of two days. Here is the before and after photos to show my improvement:

As you can clearly see, the second photo is much cleaner, a nicer image, and has better lighting. I also decided to include flowers in my table on contents because it will be a spring edition. I imagine "Table Of Contents" written on the rolling pin and then the actual magazine content written on the right bottom corner.

Some other final decisions my partner and I decided to make was to get rid of the border. Although my original idea was to have the cover be very shape-ish, clean, and with a border, we have decided it looks much better and more professional without it. Our coverage will still be aesthetically pleasing and will involve some pink lettering because we have found that many baking magazines incorporate pink into their magazines.

Over the course of this week, I'm hoping to design my two page spread layout, add graphics, complete my table of contents, and create an advertisement to place next to my table of contents.

Until next time, Lysh

Back On Track

Finally, I am back on track! After looking over some major issues, my partner and I sat down and discussed. We agreed on a final layout for our table of contents, a final font, and took some awesome pictures. We will be mimicking this style of layout below for our table of contents:

Our table of contents background photo will be an image pertaining to food/baking, the words "Table of Contents" will always be placed creatively, and we will have our content information on the right side as well. Heres a draft of what I would like mine to look like:

There will be information on the right bottom under the rolling pin, which will be done by Tuesday the 4th. 

As for my cover page, I took over 200 photos today to get a perfect shot and I ended up with a very nice cover image! 

Since I am doing an April edition, I wanted my cover image to be very spring! By spring I mean refer to flowers, easter, and pastel colors. Here is what this image would look like as my cover image:

(not a finalized product, just the idea)

Looking at it now, I'm not sure if I still like the boarder on my magazine.

There is still much work to be done but I am extremely proud of the progress I have made and cannot wait for the final result! Tomorrow My partner and I will be finalizing our advertisement, two page spread layout, main color, and magazine content in general. I will also be researching how to "take a bite" out of the "B" and the bottom right corner and how to utilize graphics in my magazine!

Until next time, Lysh