28 Jan 2014

Masthead study 1

One of the first things that people notice about a magazine is it's Masthead. The Masthead has the power to sell magazines and most of the time provide a base for the house style of the rest of the magazine.

Here are a few that I find really well done and draw my eyes to the magazine when I see them in shop.


I find a lot of the Mastheads pictured above contain the colours red, black and white. The combination of red, black and white is widely known as a powerful color scheme.Even subtle touches of red make a huge impact on this largely black and white design scheme. Decorating with red, specifically in the office, is said to promote concentration and can even prevent procrastination.

25 Dec 2013

Top 5 Christmas Songs

In the spirit of the holidays I have decided to post the top five christmas songs of all time, for me at the very least.

No. 5 - Jingle Bell Rock



I love this song for the high tempo. Most Christmas songs are very low key and peaceful and this one breaks the norm and ups the speed, strait into no. 5 on this list.

No. 4 -  Walking in a Winter Wonderland



This song is just beautiful, the great vocals delivered seal this songs place in No. 4.

No. 3 - Santa Baby



This song is just a great tune, this brings me straight into the christmas spirit as soon as I hear it, planting this into the No. 3 spot.

No. 2 - Feed the World (Do They Know It's Christmas Time?)



This classic by Band-Aid blows me away every time I hear it that chorus, even the chorus it self would have secured this song the No. 2 spot.

No. 1 - Fairy tale of New York



This is my favourite Christmas song of all time, "You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot" is my favourite line in any song of all time. This song is safe and secure at No. 1 and will be for a long time unless something really special comes along.

6 Dec 2013

Task 14 - Impacts of Photoshop

Photoshop can have a huge effect on society, both negative and positive. In this post I will explore aspects of both and draw a conclusion on whether Photoshop is a tool for the betterment of the Music Industry or a hindrance.

The Positives
  1. The positive effects of photoshop are mainly beneficial for the magazines themselves rather than the consumers, but i'm not going to say that it isn't all bad for the consumers.
  2. The music magazines have a more attractive cover and that makes the magazine sell better, which means more money.
  3. It can make celebrities look like goddesses and give them a lot of great publicity.
  4. The consumer has something nice to look at also.
The Negatives
  1. The consumer is given a false idea of what woman look like and that gives them unreachable goals.
  2. This can lead to anorexic girls and men with high expectations of woman that are unrealistic.
  3. Celebrities can also be negatively impacted by this, the public can get a perception of what they look like when they completely different.
My View

I believe that photoshop is a great tool and no restrictions should be placed upon it as I am completely against censorship of any kind. But I would like a note on the cover that informs us that the image has been altered. Perhaps even just a symbol, like the recyclable symbol.        
                  

21 Nov 2013

Task 13 - Photoshop Challenge

My teacher has just given me a challenge for this lesson. The challenge is to design a cover for a 50 Cent, Susan Boyle album. Yes... you read right. Susan Boyle and 50 Cent. Here's what I came up with.


The only way that I could envision this working is to play it completely serious or take it as a complete joke. Since my teachers would have a problem with me taking my coursework as a joke I choose the serious approach. I am quite happy with how it turned out, if I would do it again then I would use a better picture of Susan Boyle.