Walking Man gif

This simple gif is made up of 4 repeated frames. I used a tutorial online and traced over the frames (just the outlines, excluding details) then imported into flash. I then used a graphics tablet to add detail (the hat, face and hair).

Magazine Article & Name Ideas

Mind-mapping consists of writing the first word that comes into your head related to the one youre branching off of. The hard thing to do is to ignore the main question and just use the word your branching off from. This creates a wide range of words that later on can be joined up to make it easier to come up with names/ideas. Mind-mapping defeats the 'creativity barrier' and lets your brain work more easily. 

After a little mind-mapping a few ideas started to pop up. With the main link behind Politics and Young People being “Parties”. I decided to play with the word slightly to create a witty yet professional title for my magazine. Young people in the news are currently being portrayed as having a ‘short attention span’ and likewise. With fast food being linked to young people, I decided “Fast Politics” could also be designed and an article created (with a weekly instalment feel to it). 

Fast food, Fast Politics

“You wouldn’t go to a boring party, so why vote for one? Get informed.”

• Daily Party
• Debating Party
• Boring Parties
• Parties Today
• Party Monthly
• Seated Party
• The Party Times
• Times to Party
• Suited Party

Magazine Features

Magazines share a group of features to match them to a standard magazine layout/format. These features can range slightly between different magazines and publishing companies, however most use them for a familiar reading experience for the consumers.

On the front page, the following features are most common:

• One main image that takes up all of front page
• This attracts the readers attention
• Usually ties in with the main feature article to attract readers 
• Studio photographs usually in medium close-up or mid shot. A studio is used for the environment to be more easily controlled (lighting, background etc.)
• Usually uses direct address (looking directly at you) to draw readers into buying magazine.
• Title (Masthead)
• Trademark, unique font to make it recognisable to readers
• Usually one or two words for memorability. 
• Fills the width of the cover, or is in the top left corner to stand out on cover
• Positioning statement (strap line)
• Puff - offer something else to the magazine such as free giveaways
• Buzz words - Usually with the main feature article. Used to attract attention e.g “Exclusive, free, plus”
• Barcode - This will be positioned at the bottom right, or up the right side.
• Cover line and main cover - Advertising contents etc.
• Strip - across the top or bottom containing lists of items which feature in the magazine so readers can find out whats inside at a quick glance. 
• Colour - small amount used with a simple colour scheme that can vary per issue - often to tie in with the cover shot. This keeps the cover interesting and visually appealing.

• Read - Leads the viewer to tell them where to start reading. Usually shown in large, bold font. 
• Drop capital is very popular with magazines and is used to tell the reader where to start reading from
• Pull quotes, sometimes large to stand out on page
• The name of the article writer
• Usually another photo shown among the text
• Sometimes there could be an icon of some sort to make it noticeable that it is regular content.
• Facts and upcoming important information 
• The headline is the biggest text on the page to attract attention of reader and describe the subject of the article
• Sometimes the double page spread will have an insert
• Quotations within the article

Resolution

The pixel density (pixels per inch) defines the quality of the image by showing the amount of pixels in an inch.

This image's pixel dimensions are 4256 × 2832. This is the exact dimensions of how many pixels (width and height) are in the image.

Physical Screen Size -  Imperial

If shown on screen, 72ppi is the web default 

4256 / 72 & 2832 / 72

=59.1 x 39.3 inches.

Physical Print Size - Imperial

If shown in print, 300dpi is the standard print resolution 

4256 / 300 & 2832 / 300

=14.2 x 9.4 inches

In the UK this measurement requires converting to metric. There is 2.54cm in an inch.

Physical Screen Size - Metric

59.1 x 2.54 & 39.3 x 2.54

= 150.1cm x 99.8cm

= (1501 x 998mm) 

Physical Print Size - Metric

14.2 x 2.54 & 9.4 x 2.54

= 36.1cm x 23.9cm

= (361 x 239mm) 

Audio Sources and Copyright Types

Creative Commons

Creative commons allows you to share your work with no legal obligations. Make sure it is credited, meaning you credit the person who actually created the product, image etc.

Copyright

Right given to the owner/publisher to protect their media (for example music/audio, graphics/video and software) and stop others using it without their permission.

Types of copyright:

Right to copy - royalty free, creative commons (CC)

No right to copy - Copyrighted protected

Royalty Free

Royalty free is copyrighted material available to use without needing to pay royalties or license fees.

Fair Use

Fair use is using a copyrighted material for a limited purpose such as to comment, criticise or parody. These uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. If your use qualifies as a fair use, it would not be considered an illegal infringement.

http://www.musicbed.com - Attractive, well designed website with a large amount of free and paid audio.

http://www.beatsuite.com - Simple, royalty free audio available. Music and sound FX.

http://www.eccorights.org - Copyright obtaining service. St. Lucia based.

http://www.ppluk.com - Music licensing company

http://www.beatpick.com - Music licensing company

Copyrighted Music Catalogs:

iTunes

Amazon Music

Google Music

Flash Shape Tweening

This is my test shape tweening. 

When uploaded as an animated gif, it appears to run much slower than in flash. I am unaware of the reason behind this.

Political Poster Process

I first decided to play with some fonts to meet the effect im looking for.

I liked this one, however I thought it may be too bold for my aim.

This one was too messy

I liked this one

Again, too messy.

I did like this one, however I dont think it matches the style for the rest of my poster.

I really like this one, however I think a bold style would be more eye catching

Using a thin, san-serif font creates a modernistic effect.

Using the gap tool I widened the gutter to create more space.

After adding a small box to leave room for a QR code I liked the effect of the poster. I feel its very modern feeling and shows a good use of space, however I feel as if it is missing something. I decided that the percentage design should be changed to make it more legible and look more swiss-inspired.

I decided to turn the percentage on its side and align it using a grid.

When I added the rest of text, I decided a slight greying makes the percentage stand out more.

I aligned everything to a grid to keep it all neat and tidy

I decided to create a swiss-inspired graphic

I then placed it at the bottom of my poster. I felt it worked, however the poster still had no instruction at this point.

I then replaced this image with a QR code, adding text to instruct people to scan it. The code would send people to link with more information about compulsory political education. I liked the look of this, however I wanted to include my graphic somewhere.

I decided to add the graphic behind the text. To make the text legible I had to lower the opacity of the graphic.

I then aligned the text so that it sat on the grid properly.

I decided that moving the text to sit on the grid caused it to look out of line. I nudged the text up so it meets the top of the grid.

I tried to use the swiss-style grid formatting more, however knowledge started to cause issues (due to being too long). I hyphenated the word and moved the "Scan the QR code to find out more" text.

After a peer vote, this design wasnt favourable, however I decided to push it further by formatting the text in a bold style. 

I like this one more, however I still feel that my first design is better and features a better use of whitespace.

Final design