vent bmx magazine - final major project reasearch and development
DESCRIPTION
Here is my research and development file that I produced in InDesign for my final major project at college, studying a BTEC National Diploma in Graphic Design, this helped me to develop my final piece which you can view here http://issuu.com/chadpowell/docs/vent_bmx_magazineTRANSCRIPT
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UNIT 6: ART AND DESIGN EXPLORATION/ APPLICATION
Project brief:
Date Set:
Presentation:
Hand in date:
Requirements:
Company Profile:
BMX Magazine
22/03/10
17/06/10
Target Audience and Customer Base:
Budget Agreement:
PPA is one of the UK’s largest and most
effective trade associations, and is one of the
leading magazine trade bodies worldwide.
Our job is to promote the interests of the UK
magazine and business media industry in
every way possible. We are at the heart of a
network of national and international alliances
across the creative industries, protecting our
members from damaging restrictions on press
freedom and on the freedom to advertise;
safeguarding our members’ intellectual
property; fighting for a cost-effective
postal distribution system; defending our
members against unnecessary regulation, and
promoting the editorial and financial health
of our industry. We have a strong interest in
training and development, and (as well as our
own training and qualifications) we accredit
twelve university courses in the UK. We are
part of the European and worldwide magazine
organisations, and we are part of the funding
bodies for the Press Complaints Commission
and the Advertising Standards Authority. We
are also one of the issuers of press cards to
journalists.
The target audience for this magazine will
be stereo typically targeted to males as they
are the substantial percentage involved in
the sport of BMX. The magazine will also be
targeted at people aged 16 - 30. To meet
the target audience’s needs through the
magazine, you will need to create a file,
researching BMX’ers and there interests. To do
this successfully, you could look into existing
BMX magazines, there lifestyles, and the
clothing they wear, which could all benefit the
magazine.
You will need to research materials and a
variaty of stock paper which would be suitible
for a magazine as well as being cost effective.
There will be no budget for this project, as it
shouldn’t be greatly costly. We will give you
a credit card number in order to purchase
items for the magazine, which could include
Fonts and Stock Imagery. Throughout this
process you will need to have a receipt for all
purchases.
We will pay you a wage of £10 per hour for the
job, including £1000 for the magazine sample,
£200 for the visual website design and £200
for the magazine logo itself.
- Design a BMX Magazine which will include:
• Designing logo for magazine
• Place logo onto T-shirt with additional
graphics
• Design front cover as well as up to 10 inside
pages. Each page must be diverse to one
another, all using various graphic design
techniques which reflect a BMX’ers lifestyle, to
interest them into the magazine.
• Content inside the magazine must contain
mainstream International news in the BMX
world, which may include such things as,
Interviews, Competition news and results,
Bike checks, Riding spots, Road trips. You may
also consider other things which may be of
interest to the potential buyers, but this must
be justified
• Create and design a website visual of a
home page for the magazine as well as a flash
based animated advert
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Project Brief
PPA: Magazine Design
Targets Progress
25/03/10
01/04/10
08/04/10
15/04/10
22/04/10
29/04/10
06/05/10
13/05/10
20/05/10
13/05/10
Produce project brief with realistic aims which meet all criteria.
Start my research, analysing existing magazines that interpret the same characteristics within each page, which also includes looking at logo’s for these. I will also need to research into BMX’ing and there lifestyles in order for my magazine to fit the target audience.
Research and discuss Materials, Equipment and Techniques, which includes the health and safety within a work place and equipment I will potentially use.
Begin personal research. Thing’s to include can be questionnaires, interviews, exhibitions, galleries. Also look at the target audience the magazine will be aimed at in order to meet there needs.
Begin personal research in order to get inspiration for my designs within this unit, by looking into a wide range of sources from graphic designers that inspire me.
Start development which will need to include mood boards, influences, colours and materials. I will also need to come up with a magazine name and maybe a strap line.
Continue my development by creating unique styles which I can incorporate into my magazine page layouts including adverts.
Start putting together final magazine pages using the knowledge of techniques and processes I have discovered during research.
Look at the constraints including print quality and stock that I will print my magazine onto and also what is used in industry.
Present my final work to fellow peers, taking criticism constructively in order to enhance my skills within graphic design. analyse and evaluate unit including final outcome.
Finished on time
Analysed several existing magazines that I’m going to base my magazine topic on, this included front covers, contents page and advertisements.
I looked at the articles that are written in BMX magazines . I will research and discuss materials, equipment and techniques at a later date. I was so inspirated by a piece i saw, I created my own advert to use in my magazine based upon the artwork.
I referenced the history of Ride BMX Mag and how it has changed through the years. I also experimented with ink and watercolour in order to generate ideas and technqiues to use for my page layouts/advertisements. I also quickly analysed different sport covers to see exactly what things are featured on a cover.
I searched the internet, creating a mood board of inspirational pieces of artwork in which I could extract certain styles and techniques to use in my own magazine. I created my first advert to use in my magazine using one particular piece of work as inspiration. Not get came up with a magazine name.
I analyzed several pages in an existing BMX magazine which include the contents page, advertising, and articles. I also looked at the artist Adi Gilbert, which inspired me to experiment using his techniques.
I generated a brainstorm of words that relate to BMX in order to try and come up with a magazine name. After creating handouts for my fellow piers to select what they think was the strongest name to go with, I started bouncing ideas of them which resulted in me coming up with my name, which will be ‘Vent’. I also designed the logo
I have made drawn concepts of my logo and finalized my final one. I have also began to put together my magazine pages using techniques that I’ve learnt through the research period.
Continuing magazine production and sourcing imagery and text from the internet as well as my own photography.
I am now putting the finishing touches to my magazine, and have been looking at binding techniques that I could use for my own magazine.
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Action Plan
Throughout this brief, I will need certain materials in order to create a final piece to the highest standard I am capable of,
these include electronic equipment as well as traditional instruments. Here is a list of materials that I would need, which
allows me to be prepared which saves me wasting time and disrupting my work flow.
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Equipment I will potentially use
Materials, Equipment And Techniques
Essentials -
Apple iMac
Adobe Suite including InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator
Access to the Internet
Pen, Pencil, Rubber, Ruler, Paper
Professional Printer
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Materials, Equipment And Techniques
Health and safety
When working in an IT based environment, there are many things that need to be taken into consideration. Firstly your
posture when sat at a computer. If not sat correctly you can develop repetitive strain injury (RSI) also known as repetitive
stress injury, repetitive motion injuries, repetitive motion disorder (RMD), cumulative trauma disorder (CT), occupational
overuse syndrome, overuse syndrome, regional musculoskeletal disorder.
This is an injury of the muscular skeletal and nervous system that can be caused through repetitive tasks, for example,
sitting in the incorrect position at a computer for long periods of time. There are over 10 RSI conditions, which most
commonly effects the upper arm area. There are many symptoms of RSI, some of which include pains or tenderness in
your muscles or joints, stiffness, throbbing, tingling or numbness, weakness, and cramp.
Mimicking this simple diagram will help to prevent yourself from developing RSI. It is also advised to take regular breaks
whilst working at a computer, this can be important, not just to help prevent such injuries as RSI but to also help prevent
mental strain which includes stress. When you hold your muscles at a fixed position, fatigue builds up and the same is
true for your eyes. Focusing on text or an image on the computer screen can also stop you from blinking regularly, which
adds to the feeling of fatigue. Using the computer after work to perform simple tasks such as surfing the web or replying
to emails will place extra strain on your already tired eyes. Simply looking away from the computer screen, and into the
distance, for a few seconds will relax your eyes and reduce the irritation of sore and dry eyes. As well as taking 5 minute
breaks every hour, which can help prevent the build up of general aches and pains that come from poor posture and lack
of movement. When taking these breaks it is very useful to do exercises which will help these trigger points that have
been involved in repetitive strain, and ultimately break the cycle of repetitiveness. Stress can acure throught the amount
of deep thinking involved in producing high standards of work in such proffessions. Ways to prevent stress include
Listening to soft music, excersin and, eating healthly.
Risk assessment is a simple way of taking an examination of things that could be potentially harmful to you and others in
a workspace. Determining a cause of actions if an accident did occur is also important, which could seriously change the
results of an action.
When in industry, working in such professions as graphic design, as well as any other field of work, which includes
meeting clients outside business premises, It is extremely
important to consider your own safety. Essentially you
should tell someone at all times where you are going and
what time you will be back. This will allow th`em to take
appropriate action if your not back in time whilst knowing
exactly where you are. Also carry a mobile phone around
with you, which you can use at any case of emergency.
The target audience I’m going to aim my magazine is obviously BMX’ers, at an age between 14 - 40. I will create a variety
of graphically pleasing page templates as well as articles that accomidate their needs. There are several scenes in the
BMX world. As there are many different disaplines in BMX, the terrain they ride of differs, for example, A street rider will
spend most of there time riding cities, towns and generally the ‘street’. To reach out to this target audience I will need
to incorporate things into my magazine which relates to every type of rider. For street riders, I will include articles on
professionals that ride the street, road trips, interviews and also create a page layout which relates to the chosen topic.
For park riders, I’ll create articles covering competitions, road trips, newly built skate parks, interviews innovative tricks
etc. I will also review products that are new out on the market
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Target Audience
For good practice I decided to look into the history of RIDE UK BMX MAG and how they have progressed since they
started, graphically, through there articles and commercially. There first magazine dropped in October of 1992. There
enitial logo was typography based, upper case, san serif and heavy weighted. Depending on the image used on the
cover, the logo would change between red, white and black. A san serif font would be used to advertise the articles
that are inside the magazine whilst an image of a rider would be placed in the centre of the cover. On there 4th year
they rebranded themselves. Changing the logo to something better suited and modernized. This new logo was a rathar
stylized lowercase font with a white fill and black drop shadow. Most layouts during these years consisted of an image
inside a border, allowing text to sit beside. Moving on 6 years, an image began to completely fill each front cover.
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Historical Referencing
Issue 1 - 6
1992 - 93
Issue 22 - 27
1996 - 97
Issue 57 - 62
2002
Issue 123 - 127
2009
Issue 80 - 84
2004 - 2005
On the 58th issue of RIDE BMX MAG they rebranded the company once again, by simplifying the logo down to all
lowercase characters, but also adding BMX to the title, as well as ‘magazine’. This gave Ride a new contemporary look
which left the old logo which is deemed unfashionable, in the past. It seems that in the past issues of the magazine a
lot less creativity was used in the from cover, a good example of this is shown between issues 67 and 104, where a hand
written font is used on most front covers. The reason for this is probably because of the simple fact that they didn’t
have acsess to the variaty of fonts avaliable today, although this was between 2003 and 2007, and through my research
I have found a range of fonts were actually available at that time. Whilst analysing 2009 issues of the magazine I have
noticed that there is a huge diversity within each front cover, incorporating traditional techniques with digital which
compliments the magazine and tells the viewer the type of presentation which will be expected within.
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Historical Referencing
Issue 1 - 6
1992 - 93
Issue 22 - 27
1996 - 97
Issue 57 - 62
2002
Issue 80 - 84
2004 - 2005
Issue 123 - 127
2009
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Cover Analysis - Ride UK
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Cover Analysis - MBUK
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Cover Analysis - Sidewalk
As part of my research, I’m going to analyse different
criteria of 4 magazines, ranging from a BMX
magazine to Front, which is a magazine aimed at
teenagers that includes girl models and interesting
weird topics. This type of analysis will allow me to
get an idea on what makes a successful magazine
for a particular topic. The things I’ll be looking at
include Magazine Logo’s, Page Layouts, Types of
articles etc.
The key question that you need to ask yourself
when launching a new magazine or spin-off is
‘How do I successfully reach out to the right
target audience. This is a hugely important
factor, not only is it great to produce
interesting articles and information as well
as graphically pleasing pages, it is not
appreciated heavily by the reader
if it isn’t what they intended
to read, especially if
it isn’t in there
interests.
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Existing Magazine Analysis
After looking at a variety of content
pages within the RIDE BMX Magazines,
I have noticed that each content
page consists of two pages, which are
covered by one single photograph.
These are landscape shots, which
mainly consist of the rider being
situated on the left side of the
photograph, which allows information
on the magazines content, being
shown on the right page.
The bottom left of the double page
spread often depicts a paragraph
written by the photographer about
this particular photograph and how
it came about. Also the designers
show which magazine issue you are
reading, on the same page which
the content information is on.
This is shown using a
particular technique
which suites the
image.
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Existing Magazine Analysis -Contents Page
This is a double page advertisement
spread placed on the first 2 inside
pages of Issue 138 of Ride UK BMX
MAG. It’s an advertisement by
Federal Bikes, which depicts one of
the team riders riding up a wall. This
perspective gives off a good clear
look at the rider and ultimately his
Federal BMX. What seems very clear
in this advertisement is the use of
traditional graphic design to create
such an effect on the pages. Ripped
paper has been used in order to add
important text to the page. These
include the rider seen in the picture,
which has been added to the top
right page. The UK distribution of the
company, that is also added which
includes there phone number, and
website. The photographers name is
also roughly placed at the bottom left
of page one. This is simply a ripped
off corner of a pervious photograph by
the photographer. This ripped paper
technique is very effective and gives
off a unique style when incorporated
with a photograph, but is often hard
to read when trying to present certain
information. Federal could have
presented the text a bit better by
revealing more letters in some words,
for example; the blue text above the
seventies logo, in which only 3 letters
are visible out of the 12 which spells
out Federal Bikes. Although this isn’t
ideal, the advert and magazine is
targeted towards well knowledged
BMX’ers in which most would
automatically notice
what company the
advert is promoting,
due to the team riders
that are shown at the
far side of page 2. To
create this effect it
seems that a paper
print out of a previous
advert has been
scanned it and placed
behind the original
photograph of the
rider. The mixture of
colours on the entire
page complement each other, as all
shades and colours are rather bland
which means here is no clashing in
colours.
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Existing Magazine Analysis -Design
As well as the sales of the RIDE
BMX Magazine gives them money,
what is the most profitable are the
advertisements that BMX companies
pay in order to advertise there
products in the magazine, A horrific
amount of the magazine is just pure
advertisement, which the average
reader of this magazine wouldn’t
particularly notice. When I began
to flick through Issue 138 in order to
really see how much of the magazine
was advertising, I was shocked to find
that the first 20 pages consisted of
double page advertisements and no
actual articles on BMX. I continued
to look through the magazine and
noticed that nearly one of every
two pages was an
advertisement.
This has automatically began
me to think that I should base
my own magazine more
on the articles rather then
advertisements. This would
be my USP (Unique Selling
Point) which would make
my magazine stand out
above the competition. The
only way for the potential
buyers to recognize this,
is through maybe the
magazine name, or and
strap line. I will soon
create a brainstorm, in
order to generate a
name and
strap
line.
The
above
image is an
advertisement for Nike 6.0,
It consists of a large image covering most
of the page, with information about the advert on
the right. This includes the companies logo, website
and team riders. Nike 6.0 use a unique mixture of
colours throughout there advertisements which
include neon orange and a mint green, whilst
using certain techniques which has added
texture to the colours to give off a traditional feel
to the advert. It seems as if the designer has used some
kind of print technique to create this
urban effect.In
most
sport
magazines as
well as many others, a
small catalogue can be found which
will sell many products that relate to the
magazine subject. The layouts (especially
in BMX and skateboarding magazines)
are generally the same which allow the
company to add as many things to this
2 page or maybe 4 page catalogue as
possible, in order to present a wider
selection of products to the reader
which will give them more of a chance
of selling a product compared to
an advertisement presenting one
product.
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Existing Magazine Analysis -Advertising
In every issue of Ride BMX UK Magazine, they analyze and
review various new products on the market. By my personal
experience, it seems that they try and review products which
the readers of the magazine will be most interested in, which
include long awaited products. The way they present these
pages are in a clean and visually pleasing design which
is easy on the eyes. The base colour of these pages are
white with products scattered randomly around the page
but in a manor which allows them to fit comfortably. The
products seem to have been photographed in a studio using
a white screen backdrop which allows easy transferring
into the magazine. It seems as though all the products
were photographed by the same photographer at the same
time, as all images have the same lighting and perspectives
angles. The images are complemented with a light weighted
san serif font in black, which contrasts perfectly with the
white background. To back this light weighted font up,
the designer has underlined each paragraph. To make it
easier for the reader to pick out import information about
the product, such as weight and price; the designer has
added these details in bold. If the reader wished to see more
images/read more about the product, the website of each
company has been added to the bottom of the page
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Existing Magazine Analysis- Articles
Each issue of the magazine also includes a page each on
‘UK News’ and ‘US News’ page. It’s quiet self explanatory
regarding the page title. It gives the reader an insight
into BMX new’s throughout each country. As the previous
analysis on reviews, this page is laid out in a very similar
fashion. Using a dotted lined border to isolate the page
information from the edge of the page. They have also
used the same background and body text, as well as
adding some words and sentences in bold, which allows
the reader to find information that suites them best,
quicker and easier. On the same page they sometimes
ask riders about there signature products as well as other
topics. In this certain questionnaire about the rider and
signature frame, they were asked how long they have
been riding for there sponsor, how long the product has
been in the making, when it will be available to buy and
other info regarding the product that could potentially
useful for the reader.
In Ride BMX Mag they also do bike bike tests, on high
end bikes to cheap and cheerful ones that can still take
a battering. They often get tested by pro’s and even
beginners by riding it for a day, pulling some big tricks
to see how far it can be pushed. Included on the page
are the specs of the bike which covers every part that is
combined to create the built BMX. Underneith the spec
also includes the RRP price.
By looking at several Ride BMX Magazines it seems that
they roughly keep the same layout for each topic in
each magazine. This gives consistency throughout the
magazine which allows the regular reader to know where
things are situatuated on each page. The Bike Test page
is no different, accompanying a full picture of the bike
to the top left of the page, including the specifications
by the side. I picture of the person testing the bike is
situated below, with there honest opinion on the bike at
the side. Close ups of the bike is also added on the page. I
believe the reason for this template throught pages in the
magazine is so the regular readers know where everything
is, which prevents confusion , which would happen if
things were placed differently each issue.
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Existing Magazine Analysis - Articles
Other unique articles on events that
include competitions, road trips etc
also have a place in the magazine.
They all individually have there own
design which is created especially
for each article. This first article
is coverage of the Simpel Session
competition in Estonia. The
designer has used white body text
in front of a black background
which gives off great contrast.
Images have been added to add
colour to the page and relate the
text with visual communication.
On the first page, a sequence
shot has been used of a rider
(Harry Main) landing a trick
which has never been done
before in the BMX world. This
covers the first half of the page,
followed by an overview of the
event by Harry Main and a report on other tricks that were landed.
The writer has backed up the sequence shot with a quote on the next page which reads “The look
on harry’s face in the last frame pretty much just sums it all up. . .”. Because the eye of the reader
automatically reads from right to left the designer has positioned this quote to the right/center of
the page which allows it to be the first thing the reader see’s which makes them automatically
look for the sequence shot. The background of this page depicts an image of part of the skate
park in the competition as well as a rider performing a trick in the centre. The top
of the image is very dark which allows white body text to be
added without the need of effects to
help it stand out.
For this particular
issue, a section
of the magazine
consisting of about
12 pages, which
are dedicated to an
article on Pro BMX’ers
which could possibly be peoples role
models. Ride UK Mag caught up with
them all at Corby Skate Park, and set
up a booth to get there picture taken
.Each page includes a section on the
BMX’ers bike spec which is shown
as well as statistics on there name,
where they live, age, years riding,
sponsors etc. Following this are
questions about there riding style,
bike setup, why they think they
might be a positive role model
as well as bad one. A template
has been made especially for
this article. It involves a pale,
tanned coloured background
with orange and black body
text. A very bubble like font is
placed at the top of each page,
aligned to the page crease, showing the riders name.
Accommodating each page is an image of each riding at Corby Skate Park.
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Existing Magazine Analysis - Articles
Other Inspiriational Advertisements - Adi Gilbert - Crutial BMX Shop
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I have been looking at digital and traditional techniques created by the
graphic designer Adi Gilbert. As well as many other things, he designs
advertisements for Crucial BMX Shop as well as his own clothing
company, TWOand8. His adverts are very inspirational as they include
inked drawings that seem to have been created mainly using a lightbox
as they are very life like with no distinct style. He has mixed watercolour
paints into the paper of the adverts in different ways. For example, to
create the blotchy patterns he most probably applied a heavy amount of
paint and water onto the brush and flicked it, These are very scattered
and randomized. He also took great care in painting certain parts of
each illustration. These mainly involve the hair and shading on the face,
which he has created using coffee, which gives off a very skin like tone. I
will take what I learnt during my analysis of these pieces and create my
own which I could use for one or more of my adverts if the technique is
successful.
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Inspiring Artists - Adi Gilbert
I am hugely interested in this type of design. It involves
scans of certain textures, shapes and the use of digital art
combined to create a montage of images and text which
gives off a very ‘hands on’ vintage feel to the artwork.
To create the black background for this work, my guess
is that Adi Gilbert crumpled a piece of paper up, scanned
it into photoshop and inverted the colours which has
given the previous dark crease marks a pale look, whilst
the pale paper is now black. The text was most certainly
digitally produced using ready made fonts. The fonts
were situated in a certain order, then using photoshop, a
layer mode bend was used, most probably Overlay, which
allows the texture from the layer behind to shine through.
If these colours and shades weren’t used it wouldn’t give
it such a old school look that it gives off. Effects were also
used which may include drop shadows which gives off
the effect of a collage of paper being laid on top of each
other. I may decide to incorporate this technical style into
one of my magazine advertisements.
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Inspiring Artists - Adi Gilbert
These are ink illustrations also created by Adi Gilbert, He
has used a large range of mediums to create these, which
include, ink pen, paint and watercolour. I wouldn’t expect
these are creating on one canvas, but infact several, for
each individual part, which he digitally manipulates to a
certain order. The background, which involves a mixture
of paint is most definitely a once, seperate piece. For
the portraits themselves, Adi has used simply an Ink
filled pen, and by using a build up of directional lines,
he has developed the face and beard including shading
by narrowing the width of each indvidual line. These
illustrations would have been made on a seperate piece of
paper and then scanned into Photoshop and manipulated
it. Random paint flickers have been made with a colour
that contrasts well with the black ink. To add the dark
shaded areas on the face, a pale watercolour has been
used. It seems that The typography on the page seems to
have been created by the designers himself rather then a
stock font.
Work with a similar style to Adi Gilberts Pieces
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Inspiring Artists - Adi Gilbert
Although
this may seem slightly
inappropriate to include in my work. It is completely relevent,
as it demenstrates just how a particular graphic designer in industry creates
the front cover of a magazine from scratch. As you can see, he printed outthe
rough front cover onto an A3 sheet of paper. He situated the photograph that
will be used in situe with the magazine name in place, and using a biro pen, he
wrote titles of articles which he thought would appeal to the target audience.
As you can see he came up with rather a lot of ideas, which allowed him to be
subjective with his final articles which appeared on the magazine.
On your right tells the reader of the magazine exactly who works for the
magazine and what they do for the company. Both these additions to the
magazine are quite unique, in the fact that I have never seen either of these
included.
23
Existing Magazine Analysis -Articles
24
Inspiration And Good Practice
25
Inspiration And Good Practice
26
Inspiration And Good Practice
27
Inspiration And Good Practice
28
Inspiration And Good Practice
29
Inspiration And Good Practice
This is just at the experimental stage, and I will most probably use this technique on a different image which I will then use for an advert. I decided to use a lightbox to draw a portrait of a BMX’er. Firstly I went around his main features then started to add detail in certain areas. For my second attempt, I used a fine liner pen which allowed me to go into a lot more accuracy with shading. To keep my master copies safe, I scanned both illustrations onto the computer using Photoshop and printed off a couple of copies of my pen drawing to experiment further. Using my print outs I began to use watercolour on them, in the style of Adi Gilbert on his pencil drawing illustrations with watercolour combined. The first watercolour I created was more randomized with not too much thought which I thought could benefit my artwork. I also splattered watercolour onto my page and tipped the paper in order to give it the desired effect. My second watercoour was more controlled, by adding thought to were I placed the brush. I also used more
unrealistic colours. I thnk this technique worked well, which I’ll use for one of my advertisements.
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Experimentation - Pencil, Pen and Watercolour
Using the Doctor Who ‘To Victory’ poster as inspiration, I
began to recreate the poster using a BMX theme. I managed
to find an ideal picture of Total BMX rider Mark Webb,
although this was a low resolution image, it depicted the
rider performing a trick whilst pointing at the camera lens,
similar to the U.S. Army Campaign in 1917 which included
a man named ‘Uncle Sam’ pointing out to the viewers,
explaining that he wanted them to be part of the U.S. Army.
I began to use Adobe Photoshop to cut out the rider and
his bike. I managed to do this using the magic wand tool as
well as the eraser tool. After completing this stage I gave
the image the layer mode blend ‘Overlay’ which blended
all light parts of the image into the background, a similar
effect to what’s on the Darlek poster. I then found a brown
paper texture which I situated in the background. I also
used the pen tool to create orange triangular shapes within
the incomplete poster. Looking through my font archive, I
started looking at fonts that resembled the original one on
the Dalek poster. After failing at finding the right font, I took
the original poster into Photoshop and edited out the text. To
cut out the orange vector shape around the text, I duplicated
the layer and added a stroke to this. After rasterizing the
layer, I selected it’s path, clicked onto the orange vector and
hit delete. Although this is that I was aiming for from the
start, I felt as if I could do much more with it, which is when
I decided to create my first advertisement, using this retro
style.
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Experimentation
To convert this into an advertisement,
there were a couple of simple
things I needed to do. As I was only
advertising the company itself, I
incorporated there logo into the
bottom right of the image. I also
added information on the photograph,
of how to get in touch with the
company, using the font Alexandria
FLF, which is a slab serif font that
is similar to such fonts used in the
early to mid 20th century. I added all
this information on the ramp, at an
angle that married with the image.
After searching for a font that would
suite the style of design. I found one
that was very rough looking. After
realizing that I could have used Total
BMX’s logo for the title of the page,
I replaced the rough looking font.
This definitely benefited my design,
as it looks a lot more professional. As
well as the addition to this, I included
the companies UK distributors logo
to the bottom right of the advert.
As there was no white on the page
besides the information regarding the
company, I decided to select this text,
and highlight the image of the rider.
By pressing the delete button, I have
allowed the paper texture to show
through the image, which adds more
to the vintage feel of the design.
32
Experimentation/Development of first Advertisement
After previously decided to just advertise the
company itself apposed to there products, I had
a re-think and decided to try and incorporate the
BMX frames in their product line as there seemed to
be enough negative space on my design to do so.
I sourced the images I needed by searching their
website. Unfortunatly there website didn’t include
the specifications of the frames. I used google
search engine to come across the information I
needed on a BMX forum. Opening the frame images
in Adobe Photoshop, I desaturated them, to get
rid of any unwanted colour. I also used the magic
wand tool to delete any white in the images. As
the frame had highlighted parts throughout, they
are now transparent which, when placed onto the
advertisement looks rather retro and stencil like.
An effect I have added throughout is the negative
stroke, which deletes part any surrounding layer in
a stroked manor. I have done this on both frames,
frame specifications and the Total BMX logo. I
decided to do this as I have seen it done on several
vintage designs.
33
Experimentation/Development of first Advertisement
Session -
Carve -
Spine -
Hip -
Magazine name suggestions?
I created this handout in order for my fellow piers to
give me there opinion on what they think would be the
strongest name for my BMX magazine. I also gave them
a choice to give me suggestions on names they thought
would work well.. I interacted with them but having dis-
cussions, which is why most of the ideas aren’t down
on paper. After coming up with many possible names,
I decided on it to be called ‘Vent’ which links with BMX
due to an air vent, as ‘air’ is the term used in BMX when
a rider leaves the ground or ramp.
34
Developing Magazine Name - Handout
VENT BMX
VENT BMX
VENT BMX
VENT BMX
VENT BMX
VENT BMX
VENT BMX
VENT BMX
- Century Gothic Bold
- Century Gothic Regular
- AlexandriaFLF Bold
- Rockwell Regular
- Akaski Regular
- Arista 2.0 Alternate
- Disco Diva
- MOD
After deciding on my magazine name, I began to search for fonts that would work suitably. Century Gothic caught my
attention due to it’s clean cut, san serif style. I think a font like this would work best as it wouldn’t get outdated as quickly
as a font that is modern at this time for example, Rockwell. This would save the logo needing to be changed a few years
down the line, which would ultimately cost the company a lot of money. AlexandriaFLF Bold is slightly more condensed
then Rockwell Regular and appears to have more style within. Arista 2.0 Alternate is a very modern font, fonts of this
style are used largely at this time which is why it would be a suitable font as it would appeal to the target audience by
looking fresh and ‘in’. The shape of the characters also links with the magazine name as the gradual curves imitate air
vent pipes. The font Disco Diva also gives the same link through the build up of lines which create the characters. The
fonts that I have discussed in this paragraph, I’ll experiment with using Adobe Illustrator, I will also need to add ‘BMX
magazine’ to the logo in some way.
35
Typography
Firstly I created my first concept
using the font ‘Century Gothic’. I made
my magazine name in a bold style
with ‘BMX’ being in the regular style.
I find that doing this makes the two
words compliment each other due to
there differences. I have decided to
use the font ‘Caviar Dream’ for the
word magazine’ In each concept I
have lined this word up with the end
of the large text and the end of certain
characters. The next font I chose to
experiment with was ‘Disco Diva, as I
said on the last page, the connectiion
of lines side by side resemble air vents
in buildings by the interlocking style.
Although the style of font has this link
with the magazine name, I don’t think
It would be very practical to go ahead
with this, as the font is very stylized
and could go out of trend very quickly
which would result in the logo looking
dated. I also experimented with
two other fonts which have similar
properties between one another
which are named AlexandriaFLF and
Rockwell MT. They are both slab serif
fonts but Rockwell MT is shorter and
more compact. I experimented with
the positioning of the word ‘magazine’
as well as ‘BMX’ and it’s tracking. I
also manipulated the tracking on
both fonts which allowed the serifs to
join one anoher. On my last concept,
I prolonged the body of the T by
bending it to run under the N which
gave a nice fit for ‘bmx magazine’ to
situate. Although either of the slab
serif fonts would be visually suitable
for the magazine, they would get
dated very quickly which is why I’m
going to go with the font ‘Century
Gothic’.
36
Logo Development
VENTB M X M A G A Z I N E
BMX MAGAZINE
VENTB M X M A G A Z I N E
VENT BMX M A G A Z I N E
M A G A Z I N EBMXVENT
VENT BMX M A G A Z I N E
VENTB M X M A G A Z I N E
This is my finished logo, I created it using Adobe Illustrator as it allows me to resize the logo to what ever size I wish
without pixelation, this is perfect as I wouldn’t need to recreate the logo at a larger size for promotional adverts for
print etc. I have added a slight black to transparent gradient to the text which gives off more of a modern feel whilst
contrasting nicely with the red background. As the logo is based on a straight line whilst having a relitively short height,
it would work perfectly on my magazine cover, by not using up too much space
37
Logo Development
I decided to add a blurred effect to my logo which would be used for advertising and merchandise, although it wouldn’t
be very suitable for the front of my magazine as the blurred effect would interfere with the impact I want the logo to
create to the potentional customers. I create this by duplicating the layer in Photoshop, and by experimenting the motion
blur effect, it created something which relates to the magazine name as the blur makes the logo look as if it’s moving,
similar to air in an air vent.
38
Logo Development
This is a 3D version of my logo which I created using Adobe Illustrator. I selected my text and clicked onto extrude and
bevel in the 3D category in the effects bar. I experimented with certain settings including the angle of my logo, in which
I found this position the most complementary. After I was happy with my 3D logo I exported it into Photoshop which I
added additional shadowing to certain parts of the text as I added lighting that shone down on the logo from the top
right of the design. This could also be used on merchandis, website and possibly a letterhead
39
Logo Development
Alexandria FTF
Caviar Dreams
Disco Diva
Arista 2.0 Alternate
Comfortaa
Doergon wave
MOD
Plexifont BV
P o p l a r S t d
RockoFLF
Rockwell MT
VAL
Walkway Black
WC ROUGHTRAD Bta
Weezer Font
Angel TearsQuicksand
Haettenschwei ler
I have searched for fonts that would be appropriate to use as the main type face for a double page spread article. All of
the above fonts would work well as they all have strong styles which would suite as a main type. These fonts can also be
used as part of some of the advertisements I will soon design.
40
Typography For Magazine - Titles
Quicksand Book Century Gothic Helvetica LightMin ut alisl eriureraesto el iliquat, consequam iriure diat vent aut ullan veraessi.Raessi blan euguero eum dip euis aut wis at dolortissent lam illa con ute consequ ametuer iliquis er aliquip sus-tinim do euAgna faccum dui et nullan eu faciliq uamet, quat nisse do dignim adionsed do duis ea conse dolore erostrud min hent illa ad dio conse es-sim num velenim volenit alissis at ver sis nostrud minit vel del dolenim delis amconsectem dio consed enim dipissi.Unt lor suscin hent ing et prat alit lan-drer at acidunt nullam enim ex ea fa-cillut wis atem ercidunt nummy niamet venim dolor sis et alisi.Duiscinim digna facinci blan erostrud del iliquat. Esto dolenis eros niat luptatum il ercinibh esecte dolore duisi.Sissi bla commy nulput praessent aliquat alit utpat, quat venibh eu feuis num il dolore doluptat ip er suscidunt laor sequam vel ulluptatem del ullaore molestrud magna feu facin hendip eniam ilit iriusci duipit adignim non-ulpute magna facil del ing eugait illut diat venisissed essequismod eraesecte do corpero stinis eros dolor sent eros dolesequi eugait am ilis nonsequ am-corperosto ea adipis aliquis atin vulla facilit prat at iure feugait adipsuscilis dolore faccum nullum velessed te vo-lore faccums andigna augait alit ali-quatuero do consed dionsed magniam conseniam zzrit dolutem voluptat, qui tis nim dolorem quatue magnisi.Ibh eugiametue vel eugiam, sumsan velit acil ing ea facin hent dolorer sum vel utet praesendre ea facinis nulluptat adipit ut volore euisisi.Um accum vulla feugait iurer sum dolobore dolendre dolut accummo doloreet, summodo lortie magnis nos-tinibh essi.Ci te vel eugue velisse mod magna feu feuisim quis eugue dolese magna con-
Min ut alisl eriureraesto el iliquat, consequam iriure diat vent aut ul-lan veraessi.Raessi blan euguero eum dip euis aut wis at dolortissent lam illa con ute consequ ametuer iliquis er al-iquip sustinim do euAgna faccum dui et nullan eu faciliq uamet, quat nisse do dignim adionsed do duis ea conse dolore erostrud min hent illa ad dio conse essim num velenim volenit alissis at ver sis nostrud minit vel del dolenim delis amconsectem dio consed enim dipissi.Unt lor suscin hent ing et prat alit landrer at acidunt nullam enim ex ea facillut wis atem ercidunt num-my niamet venim dolor sis et alisi.Duiscinim digna facinci blan erostrud del iliquat. Esto dolenis eros niat luptatum il ercinibh es-ecte dolore duisi.Sissi bla commy nulput praessent aliquat alit utpat, quat venibh eu feuis num il dolore doluptat ip er suscidunt laor sequam vel ul-luptatem del ullaore molestrud magna feu facin hendip eniam ilit iriusci duipit adignim nonul-pute magna facil del ing eugait illut diat venisissed essequismod eraesecte do corpero stinis eros dolor sent eros dolesequi eugait am ilis nonsequ amcorperosto ea adipis aliquis atin vulla facilit prat at iure feugait adipsuscilis dolore faccum nullum velessed te volore faccums andigna au-gait alit aliquatuero do consed dionsed magniam conseniam zzrit
Min ut alisl eriureraesto el iliquat, con-sequam iriure diat vent aut ullan ve-raessi.Raessi blan euguero eum dip euis aut wis at dolortissent lam illa con ute consequ ametuer iliquis er aliquip sus-tinim do euAgna faccum dui et nullan eu faciliq uamet, quat nisse do dignim adionsed do duis ea conse dolore erostrud min hent illa ad dio conse essim num velenim volenit alissis at ver sis nostrud minit vel del dolenim delis amconsectem dio consed enim dipissi.Unt lor suscin hent ing et prat alit lan-drer at acidunt nullam enim ex ea facil-lut wis atem ercidunt nummy niamet venim dolor sis et alisi.Duiscinim digna facinci blan erostrud del iliquat. Esto dolenis eros niat luptatum il ercinibh esecte dolore duisi.Sissi bla commy nulput praessent aliquat alit utpat, quat venibh eu feuis num il dolore doluptat ip er suscidunt laor sequam vel ulluptatem del ullaore molestrud magna feu facin hendip eniam ilit iriusci duipit adignim non-ulpute magna facil del ing eugait illut diat venisissed essequismod erae-secte do corpero stinis eros dolor sent eros dolesequi eugait am ilis nonsequ amcorperosto ea adipis aliquis atin vulla facilit prat at iure feugait adipsus-cilis dolore faccum nullum velessed te volore faccums andigna augait alit aliquatuero do consed dionsed magniam conseniam zzrit dolutem voluptat, qui tis nim dolorem quatue magnisi.Ibh eugiametue vel eugiam, sumsan
After looking into fonts which could possibly be suitable for the body text in my magazine, I had three to choose
between. I needed to find a font type that wasn’t extreme in style, as this could possibly distract the reader from the
content written. I thought that going for a san serif font will make it easy on the eyes of the reader. I am unsure on what I
will use in my magazine and will decided at a later stage when I have page layouts to place the body text in situe.
41
Typography For Magazine - Body Text
42
Colour Palettes
Here I have chosen a selection of colour palettes which
would work well together on a page layout in my magazine.
Throughout my research I have came across colour trends
which I have added to this page in order to not forget them.
I have been searching the internet for images that could possibly be suitable as a front cover
image for my magazine. What I needed to find were images of a high resolution, which show
the rider performing a trick at mid point, in order to present it in such a way that is appealing
to the viewer, this evidently allows them to notice the trick being performed. Good lighting also
needs to be existent in the image in the beneficial way of making the rider the main focal point.
43
Possible Front Cover Images
44
Possible Front Cover Images
45
Possible Front Cover Images
All together I sourced 8 images which would all be
suitable to feature on the front cover of my magazine.
These are my three choices to be set in situ in order
to get a feel of what they might look like as my
from over. All have strong properties, in which they
all share powerful colours and contrast. As it will be
the first issue of the magazine I wanted to express
the company name as much as possible. One way I
have done this is by creating a motion blur behind
my original logo which links with the company name
‘Vent’ such as air vent. This would not be possible
with the two images on the right of this page as thee
photographs have been taken in daylight which will
mean the motion blur wouldn’t show up as effectively
as the above image. Overall I decided to choose
the image above to be my front cover. There are
many reasons for this which includes the resolution
I found the image at, the stylish modern trick being
performed as well as the perfect lighting and urban
feel the photograph portrays.
46
In Situe Imagery
My last job on the front cover is to
add the two main features of the
magazine onto the front. This is vital
as it advertises to the viewer what
is included in the magazine when
on a shop shelf. As well as depicting
this, I will have to present it in such
a way, that it works in harmony with
the background image and other
attributes. I added my main feature
onto the cover which will be an
interview with former BMX Flatland
World Champion Effraim Catlow. One
of my additional titles will include
‘Total BMX’ where I’ll add a subtitle
saying exactly what I’ll be doing, this
will also be the same for my other
key features I’m including inside the
magazine.
47
Drawn Concepts
48
Issue numberIssue date
Prices in different countries
Actual scanned code
Here is my finished barcode which I have placed onto my
front cover image. I have used the font Rockwell to present
the text information about the issue number, date of issue
and the prices.
Front Page Development
49
I created this sticker design in Photoshop to promote
the fact that the magazine comes with a free poster.
To give off the effect of the sticker seeming authentic
I had to go through a lot of stages. at first I simply
used the eclipce tool in photoshop and made a circle
with a gradient inside which I then added a stroke
to and rasterized. I selected the layer, right clicked
onto it and used the warp effect to manpulate the
circle in order to give it some sort of flick to the edge
which cannot be seen until later on. I then added a
drop shadow to the circle and right clicked the FX
icon where I selected Create Layer. This divided the
layer and effect which allowed me to manipulate
them individually. I warped the drop shadow layer
outwards in order to create a better effect. The final
stage I needed do was to create the shine on the
sticker in order to give it the effet of peeling. To
do this I created a black to white to black reflected
gradient and changed the layer mode blend to
screen. This was my sticker finished, I then imported
it onto my front page and applied text within
Front Page Development
My first concept idea is to slant the text depicting features in the magazine. I’ve done this
to link the text with the trick the rider in the photograph is performing. This gives the cover
consistency. I used the font ‘Alexandria FTF’ which is a slab serif font, It is a rather heavy
weighted font that, although looks rather old fashion, it gives off a modern feel as slab style
fonts are heavily used at present. I’ve positioned everything in a dynamic way that each word
complements the next.
50
Digital Concepts
My next concept is similar to the previous one as the typography is slanted and also interlock
with each other. However, I have used a completely different font called ‘SF MOVIE POSTER’.
This font is highly condensed and elongated which gives the cover a completely different feel
to the previous concept.
51
Digital Concepts
For my third concept I aligned the text straight. I also used the font ‘Quicksand’ varying the
style depending on it’s purpose. I find this the weakest concept out of the 3, therefore I will not
be developing it further.
52
Digital Concepts
Primary Research
53
Effraim Catlow Interview
For the main feature in my magazine I
have chosen to interview former BMX
World Flatland Champion Effraim Cat-
low. As I know him personally it has
made it a lot easier to do this. I re-
searched the types of questions that
are asked in a bmx interview from
such websites as vitalbmx.com and
bmx.transworld.net. I used some from
these sources as well as creating my
own. I emailed Effraim just to make
sure it’s still ok to do the interview, he
emailed me back saying it was fine,
which is when I sent him my twenty
questions.
54
Here is the email in reply to my interview questions, as well as doing a fantastic job on answering each question in depth
he sent over a selection of images for me to use in the article.
Effraim Catlow Interview
Document Setup
55
Magazine Development
After deeply analysing different magazines, I
gathered information on their measurements,
and decided to go with the measurements 225
mm x 300 mm. This size wouldn’t fit onto A3 pa-
per which means I will have to print each double
page on A2. I turned facing pages on, on my new
document and gave a top and bottom margin of
8 mm and inside and outside to 6 mm. I gave my
document a 2 mm bleed around the edge which
gives the printer some flexibility if the print is out
of line, as this 2 mm bleed will be cut off. I also
added page numbering to my master page.
Content Page
After creating my InDesign file, I began to produce my content page. I already had the image to use across the double
page spread as I used one that could possibly have been my from cover. Firstly I mirrored the image horizontally
as the rider was originally positioned on the right which wouldn’t make it possible to add text to the page. I added
information to the right page which gives the reader a clear understanding of what’s inside the magazine and on each
page. I decided to use the font ‘SF Movie Poster’ as it’s a san serif font that looks very modern and clean, making the
page numbers and title orange which I find complements the background image and specifically the orange ramp. To
mark the first issue of the magazine I wanted to make this very clear on the contents page using the same text used
for the content text. At first I enlarged my text reading ‘ISSUE ONE’ and justified all lines in the text box which forced all
characters to the edge of the text box evenly. Although I like the concept idea, the text was situated in the wrong place
as well as being too large.
56
Magazine Development
Content Page
Magazine Development
Next I positioned the text below the content information, aligning
the text central. Something just wasn’t looking right, and figured
out it was the space between the text and ramps in the image
below. Because of this I changed the word ‘one’ to the number
and made it read on one line which looked a lot better.
57
Effraim Catlow Interview Layout
Magazine Development
For my interview of Effraim Catlow I decided to go with
the theme of bokeh art. This is a type of blur which can
be achievable using a camera. It gives off, out of focus
circular shapes that usually appear in the background
of photographs. Instead of using a camera to create
these effects, I’ll be designing them digitally using
photoshop.
58
Effraim Catlow Interview Layout
Magazine Development
To create this bokeh effect, I
firstly added a dark grey layer
to my file. I then hid the layer
and created a black circle at
50% opacity and added a black
stroke. I turned this into a brush
by going to File/Define Brush
Preset, this added my shape to
the brushes window. I opened the
brushes settings up and began
to experiment with each setting.
I wanted to create a brush that
automatically scattered the brush
which is why I turned the spacing
to 100%. I also experimented with
the smoothing, shape dynamics
and scattering until I was happy.
59
Effraim Catlow Interview Layout
Magazine Development
I added a gradient overlay to my grey background using
the colours d8e000, 1bdaeb, 9b3b81, d27e34. After I was
happy with my gradient and the way the colours were
positioned, I used my customized brush to add the bokeh
effect over the top of my gradient on a new layer in a
large manor.
60
Magazine Development
Effraim Catlow Interview Layout
I used a gaussian blur to blur the bokehs and repeated this process again applying the gaussian blur
at a lower level and at a smaller size. Finally I made my bokehs rather small applying them to my
design and not blurring them which gives off a closer perspective.
61
Magazine Development
Effraim Catlow Interview Layout
I used my bokeh design for the double page spread of my Effraim catlow interview. I placed a white
gradient on each page which is where I am going to place my text. I decided to present Effraims
name using the font SF Movie Poster. I selected the path of the text, clicked on the white gradient on
the left page and hit delete, this allowed the bokeh effect to be shown where the text originally was.
62
Magazine Development
Effraim Catlow Interview Layout
I gathered the interview text from Effraim and placed it below his name which I added at the top of the left page. I pre-
sented it using 2 columns of text, continuing onto the second page. I placed photographs of Effraim sent by himself to
the right hand page in such a spacious manor, which is easy on the eye. My other reason for this is because the photo-
graphs were not of a high resolution, so if I sized them any bigger, they would pixelate.
63
Magazine Development
Hardware Insight and Master page
For articles which will be shown during each issue of the magazine, I needed to create a master page that regular
readers could relate with on going articles such as an insight on hardware products. For this master page, I created a
coloured background, depending on the subject, I loweredW the opacity to 50%. I then added a white box over the top of
my coloured one, making it fit into my restricted art board. To make my master template look a little more graphic based
and professional, I added dotted lines around the joins of the coloured and white box. I used the font SF Movie Poster for
my title text and underlined it using a dotted line which I continued on the next page. I decided to go with a clean, simple
and spacious design layout for my hardware insight page. I sourced the imagery from various BMX shopping websites
and using the specifications given on the sites, I wrote my own content about them, which ended up being rather time
consuming.
64
Federal Advertisement
Magazine Development
of the image until I was
happy with the outcome.
I wasn’t greatly happen
with how my sequence
iamges came out in the
photo so I used a photo
that I took outside and
took the sequence shot
from this and added it on
top of my studio photo. I
changed the brightness
and contrast in order for
the colours and shapes
to match the photograph
behind. I also needed to
add a drop shadow to
this in order for the layer
to seem like it’s part of
the below image.
of my collage. At first
this didn’t work as the
lighting was poor and
uneven, resulting in
light glare being made
on the images. I went
outside to try again
using natural light to
aid my photograph.
This was much better
then the photographs
I took indoors but still
wasn’t what I was
looking for. This is when
I used the colleges
photography studio to
take my photograph,
with the aid of two
tungsten lights which
gave me a continuous
light source, that
ultimatly gave me even
lighting throughout my
collage photograph. To
finalize my photograph
to be used in my advert,
I experimented with the
brightness and contrast
I decided to create an advertisement,
which included mainly the traditional
technique of collage, with the mixture
of digital finishing. Firstly I sourced
a selection of photographs which
depicted a BMX performing a trick
which is shown in a sequence. This
sequence of images was shown in a
one file GIF format. In order to collect
each image within the file, I had to
open the GIF using the appropriatte
software. I then took a screen shot
of each image as I couldn’t export
each image seperatly. Once I done
this I printed each photograph out
individually, making sure that stretched
out in 2 rows of 4, the images would
measure 450pixels by 300pixels whih
is the measurement of the custom two
page spread in my magazine. I stuck
them down, overlapping each other,
and placed them over other peices of
paper I ripped up, which I intended
to add images and text too, which is
why I used contrasting shades of black
and white. After the images were stuck
down onto black paper, I used a SLR
camera to take a birds eye photograph
65
Federal Advertisement
Magazine Development
I chose to advertise Dan
Lacey’s frame the Lacey
Frame, which he is riding in
the sequence shot. It was
hard to find a high resolution
image of the frame so I
needed to go with a medium
quality image. I subtracted
the white background from
the image and split it into
two seperate layers. I then
added each frame on top of
each seperate piece of paper
in the background image so
the end of the frames lined
up with the tear of the paper.
I used the eraser tool in order
to rub out parts of the frame
to give it a look of the frame
being printed on paper, and
then ripped in half. After I
was happy with this outcome
I began to add other details
to my Photoshop file. These
incudled the specifications
of the frame which can be
visable by the reader, which I
tried to show using the effect
of a seperate peice of black
paper behind the paper
with the frame ‘printed’ on
it. I thought it looked a little
plain at the lower part of
my design, so I added some
grunge looking textures to
the frame printed paper. I
managed this by sourcing a
texture image and using the
magic wand tool, I selected
grunge looking parts of the
image and imported them
on top of my photograph. I
used a layer mode blend in
order to get the texture to
montage nicely within each
object and changed the
colour . Using the eraser tool
once again I rubbed out any
unwated parts of the texture.
66
Magazine Development
Federal Advertisement
There were quite a few parts of negative
space on my design, which I needed to fill with
mandatory information about the company
and what’s being advertised. This included
the BMX companies logo which I sourced from
there UK distrubution companies catalogue,
which I placed at the bottom left of the design
as if it was ripped near the start. I also added
there UK distrobution companies logo to
the bottom right and using a magic wand
selection of my grunge texture I deleted part
of the logo to help the image fit in more with
the advertisements style.
67
Magazine Development
Proper Advertisement
For another double page spread advertisement, I decided
to use the company Proper BMX. I simply sourced an image
from the internet of one of their professional riders, and
created a simple/ contemporary design. I did this by typing
out the companies name in an appropriate font and set up
guide lines all the way around the text to give me a 5mm
spacing. I then used the pen tool to create a shape which
in housed the text, adding a light red to dark red radial
gradient within. Using the effects tab I added a white stroke
around my shape to add a very bold presentation to the
design. Next I needed to experiment with the placement of
the design in order to find the
appropriate place to place it. I
felt that, as a wall was running
along the center left of the
photograph, I could place the
design in such a manor, that it
looks as if the design is behind
the wall, this is what I decided
to do by cutting out part of
the background image and
duplicating it, setting it in front of
my design. The final stages of the
design included myself placing
the companies website and
email to the bottom left of the
advertisement using the same
font as my contemporary design.
68
Magazine Development
Total BMX
I wanted to design a Total BMX double page spread, which includes my Total BMX advertisement that I designed a few
weeks back, whilst developing techniques during experimentation. I created two quick sketches using a light box, one of
which was done during the experimentation process. These sketches have been included into my magazine that you can
see in the above image. I also sourced images from the Total BMX website that I included into the article. This page is
giving the reader an insight on what this new company is about including the owners and riders, all text of which, I have
written myself.
69
Magazine Development
Tested and Rated
Equipment Used:
• Digital SLR
Camera
• Photography
Studio
• External Flashes
• White Screen
• BMX
I wanted to create and design, a tested and rated feature double page spread into my magazine, which would include
images of my BMX bike. The article would include pictures of my BMX and the products used on it.
As I have ridden all of these products for a long time, I know how they perform, so I decided to write a review on a
selection of parts used on my BMX. Firstly, I took my bike into a photography studio and took images of it, close up and
at full view. To get the effect I was looking for I had to experiment with the shutter speed and aperture, in order to allow
enough light into the camera to get my desired shot. After this I took them into Photoshop and edited them to make the
colours brighter and shadows darker in order to get a professional outcome to add into my magazine.
70
Magazine Development
Tested and Rated
I partly used the master page
layout for this article by adding
dotted line border around the
edge. I decided to go with a
rather random layout for this
page by placing imagery and
text randomly. I went with a
white background as the imagery
fades nicely into the back drop.
At the start of my first page
I added a title using the font
Sketch Rockwell, which I thought
links well the dotted border as it
gives it a some what, blueprint
atmosphere. Below this I added
the full view photograph of my
BMX, including below this is a full
specification of my bike which
starts off the readers outlook on
my bike. For each product I wrote
a paragraph talking about the good and bad points which include its reliability, weight, price and comfort. At the top left
of page 2 of this article I included a photograph of myself performing a trick at the local skate park.
71
Magazine Development
Frame Insight
For my final double page spread in my magazine, I have written an article, looking into four totally different frames, by
four different companies. I sourced the imagery from the internet as well as the frame specifications although, I have
written each paragraph myself. I have used my master page layout as if I was to create another issue, this article would
be included in every one.
72
Magazine Development
Monster Energy Advertisement
For my back cover I wanted to create something that was vibrant and very eye catching to the reader, which is why I
decided to create an advertisement for Monster Energy who depict there company in a very bright manor.
I searched Monster Energy’s logo
from google.
I created this eye catching blur in
Photoshop, by duplicating M part of
the logo and using the radial blur
effect. I done this to seem as if the M
is shooting out of the page.
To keep things consistent, I added
a subtle motion blur to the word
energy , As well as creating a mirror
effect by duplicating the layer and
vertically mirroring it.
I needed to include the website into
my advert, so I used the font Caviar
Dreams to do so, below the modified
Monster Energy logo.
I wasn’t entirely happy with the
way I presented the Monster
Energy website which is why I
designed this quick piece of text
saying ‘.com’ which links with the
monster logo by using a green to
yellow gradient.
73
Magazine Development
To finish off my last advertisement, I wanted to add more of a personalized touch and include
more imagery. I decided to use Monster Energy’s slogan which is ‘Unleash the beast’and present
this in text form using the font Haettenschweiler,. This is a very heavy weighted font, which I found
appropratte as Monster Energy is all about pure energy and strength which relates to the font. I
placed the word ‘unleash’ above ‘the beast’ and aligned the text central to the page. I added a
green to yellow vertical gradient to the text, which once again relates to Monster Energy, in both
visual form and by their intentions.
Monster Energy Advertisement
74
Magazine Development
Vent BMX Website
This is the website I created for Vent BMX Magazine, I based it around the Effraim Catlow interview page layout by
adding bokehs to the background and a white to clear gradient as my sub background layer. I kept with the whole
gradient theme by adding a black to clear gradient to make up each column on the website which shows each article
and the most popular artlicle on the website. I used the font SF Movie Poster for my menu bar which allows you to reach
any part of the website. I added the Vent BMX logo to the top of the white sub background, inverting the colours of the
original logo which gives a base black fill with a subtle white gradient. My website was looking to plain and I needed to
create and add some adverts to the website to make it look more professional and active. I used imagery from my Total
BMX as well as my Federal advert in order to create two seperate, website ready advertisements. Finally I added a bar to
the bottom of my website which allows viewers to contact Vent BMX, read the terms and conditions of the site as well as
many other things.
75
Apparel
Using designs I had already created, I decided to place them onto some t-shirt templates.
Vent BMX White
Monster Energy Front Monster Energy Back
Vent BMX Black
76
Perfect Binding
Saddle Stitching
Singer Sewing
Wire-O Binding
There are many different techniques involving the binding of paper and documents. I will need to investigate and look at
different ways of doing so, in order to pick the right technique for my magazine. These are the different techniques that
I’ve sourced from the internet.
Method of binding books, brochures and
magazines in which sheets are folded and
collated and held together in a wrap-around
cover by adhesive.
This binding technique involves attaching the
double sided printed paper on top of each
other using a flexible glue. The pages are
glued at the edge and using a clamp, they’re
secured together. After the glue has dried, a
preferable hard outer shell is then wrapped
around the document and glued at the spine.
Also called All Along Sewing, a style of sewing
along the edge or centre fold to keep pages
bound.
Technique in which the leaves of a brochure,
book or calendar are punched with square or
round holes into which a loop wire is applied.
Wire-O® is available in a chrome finish and a
range of colours.
77
Binding Techniques
Inter Screws
Spiral Binding
Case Binding
Ring Binding
Binding device whereby a screw with an
external thread is screwed into a post with
an internal thread. Available in chrome and
brass finish. Can be used with or without
metal plate.
Technique similar to Wire-O binding in which
the leaves of a brochure or book are punched
with round holes into which a spiral of plastic
or metal is applied. Spirals are available in a
wide range of colours and sizes.
Specialist technique of gluing pages into a
case made of binder’s board which can be
covered with cloth, paper, plastic or leather.
Also called hard binding and cloth binding.
Spring-loaded clamping device usually
riveted into a paper over board or
polypropylene folder. Available with a various
numbers of rings and capacities.
Binding Techniques
Source: http://www.impcreative.co.uk
After researching the different techniques of binding documents together, I have came to the conclusion to use the
technique of Saddle Stitching. Although a traditional magazine will use the Perfect Binding effect, the amount of pages
inside my magazine isn’t enough to glue against a spine. I still want to include my spine in the magazine so I will be printing
the front cover, spine and back cover on a thick stock whilst the inside pages will be printed seperatly, stapled together and
slotted inside my outer shell. I’m undecided on whether the inside pages will be glued to the inside of the outer shell or not.
78
Printing Processes
Offset lithography is a printing technique which is widely used around the world. Most books, newspapers, and
magazines are printed using offset lithography, and this printing technique is widely regarded as the workhorse of
printing, because it is fast, efficient, cheap, and relatively easy. The “offset” in the name refers to the fact that the ink is
transferred to a separate surface before being applied to the paper.
This would be the ideal way of printing my magazine if it was going to be printed commercially, as the offset process
prints pages at super high speed (300 pages per minute). As I will be only printing one copy of my magzine, I will get it
printed at a professional printers, using a standard printing process.
79
Evaluation
I was approached by the PPA, which
is one of the worlds most established
companies which promote the
interests of the UK magazine and
business media industry. The brief
was to create from scratch and
produce a BMX Magazine. I was
given the freedom to decided the
name of the magazine and what
would go into it. To do so, I needed to
research into existing BMX magazines
thoroughly, looking at each section
separately. Firstly, I referenced the
historical development within the
BMX magazine, Ride. This showed me
how technology had changed the
way things are made, allowing further
development and experimentation
to take place. I also quickly analysed
using arrow form, other front covers
of extreme sport magazines including
Mountain Bike UK and Sidewalk
Skateboarding Magazine, this gave me
a general knowledge on what needs
to be included on a front cover, for
example, price, bar code, title of the
magazine and information regarding
the interior of the magazine i.e
featured articles. The presentation of
the features on the magazine needed
to be interesting, clear and readable,
in order to grasp the potentional
customers attention. As I would be
creating several advertisements to
place in my magazine, I searched
inside magazines and on the internet
for any work that could possibly
inspire me, be it the layout or
technique used. Whilst looking through
the magazine Front, I came across
a very helpful page, which showed a
small image of the front cover with
biro pen written all over it, this was he
designers way of brainstorming ideas
to place on the front cover. I added
this to my research file a for good
practice which could benefit me at a
later date which I start my production.
I started to begin experimenting with
different materials and technique that
I found from inspiring artwork and
design previously. My first piece was
an illustration of Total BMX rider Mark
Webb. I then carried on experimenting
with this BMX rider by creating a
piece of artwork which I based on
designs from the early nineteen
hundreds. As the time I spent on this
design lengthened I found myself
creating my first advertisement for
Total BMX. I thought it was about time
I started thinking about the name
of my magazine, which resulted in a
brainstorm of words relating to BMX
being made. Although a variety of
words were produced, none of them I
thought were strong enough to be the
name of my magazine company, which
is why I resulted in creating a hand
out and asking fellow peers for advice
and suggestions. During the stage
of bouncing ideas off of a particular
student, we came up with Vent.
Straight away, During my research I
found out that mostly all magazines
in the industry have a typography
based logo. Searching the internet, I
found a collection of fonts which could
possibly be suitable for my logo, the
next stage was to type the magazine
name out in each font and back some
of the strongest fonts out, which I then
bastardized and experimented with
in Adobe Illustrator until I picked my
chosen font which was Century Gothic.
Through experimentation I finalised
my logo which I’m very pleased with,
as it is very simple, yet contemporary
by the sharp edges, gradient fill and
radial blurred background.
Now I had my magazine name chosen
and logo finished I needed to start
thinking about the contents of my
magazine and how I was going to
depict this. The first stage in this
process was to create a couple of
pages focusing on the typography I
was going to use inside my magazine.
I looked at appropriate title fonts to
use for each separate feature article
as well as a base body text font
which I will use for every page. With
this chosen I created several colour
palettes which I thought would appeal
to the BMX community through the
relations of shades and colours in their
sport. I went on such pages as www.
flickr.com to find my imagery which
I was going to use for my front cover
and advertisements. After picking a
front cover image, I placed my logo
behind the rider in a realistic fashion.
Taking good practice from my
research, I created my drawn concepts
on what would be placed on my front
cover, using a lowered opacity print
out of my front cover image and
using a biro pen, I drew my ideas
and designs onto paper, which I then
converted into several digital mock
ups, choosing the strongest one.
Before the development of my content
started I created a list of the featured
articles I wanted to write about, one of
which was an interview with two time
BMX Flatland World Champion Effraim
Catlow. I had contacts with him, so
I thought it would be an ideal thing
to put into my magazine. Looking at
several well known BMX websites, I
took inspiration from BMX interviews
to create my own questions that I sent
to Effraim through email. He emailed
me back with in depth answers to all
questions which could only benefit the
article.
80
To create my magazine document
I used a piece of software called
Adobe InDesign. Researching different
sizes of magazines, I came up with
an appropriate size. When creating
my inside pages, I used a variety
of techniques including my own
photography, experimenting with a
professional studio and SLR camera.
I explored the world of mixed media
design, using techniques including
collage and pen illustration. As well as
mixed media, I covered a variety of
digital techniques including digitally
reproducing effects which are made
during photography, page layouts,
producing mixed media artwork and
finalising digitally, producing digital
layouts which present themselves in a
traditional manor, photo manipulation
and creating old style looking designs
in a contemporary manor. After I
finished my magazine, I created a
set of T-shirt designs using artwork
I had already created. I looked into
ways of getting my magazine printed,
both commercially and as a college
project and also put thought into
the presentation of my work, by
researching different ways of binding
documents together. Overall I am
extremely happy with the outcome of
both my research file and final piece
as it shows how far I have came in
the two years of studying teh subject
of Graphic Design. If more time was
given I would have spent more time
producing my advertisements, making
sure that the quality of design would
be the best it could be. I would also
spend more time writing my articles,
making sure they appealed to the
reader at the fullest.
Evaluation
81
http://www.federalbikes.com/09/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/RideUK_134_web.jpg - Federal Bikes advert
http://twoand8bmx.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/twoand8_crucial_ride114.jpg - Crutial BMX Shop/ Two
and 8 BMX advert
http://twoand8bmx.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/twoand8_crucial_ride113.jpg - Crutial BMX Shop/ Two
and 8 BMX advert
http://99seconds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/crucial_2and8_levi_rideuk.jpg - Crutial BMX Shop/ Two and 8
BMX advert
http://99seconds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/crucial_2and8_collage_rideuk_B.jpg - Crutial BMX Shop/ Two and
8 BMX advert
http://twoand8bmx.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/twoand8_crucial_ride119_b.jpg - Crutial BMX Shop/
Two and 8 BMX advert
http://99seconds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/twoand8_crucial_ride117_a1.jpg - Crutial BMX Shop/ Two and 8
BMX advert
http://99seconds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/crucial_2and8_clavicle_rideuk130b.jpg - Crutial BMX Shop/ Two
and 8 BMX advert
http://99seconds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/crucial_2and8_collage_rideuk_B.jpg - Crutial BMX Shop/ Two
and 8 BMX advert
http://99seconds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/movment_jam_poster_preview3.jpg - Movement Jam Poster
http://99seconds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/kyeforte_twoand8.jpg - Two and 8 advert
http://www.colonybmx.com.au/news/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/colonyguettleradvert.jpg - Colony BMX advert
http://www.colonybmx.com.au/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/colony-alex-rideus-feb09.jpg - Colony BMX advert
http://www.colonybmx.com.au/news/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/kenny.jpg - Colony BMX advert
http://99seconds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/lh_chain_ride.jpg - Loophole advert
http://s3.amazonaws.com/pijinad/pijin_dig_63.m.jpg - Pijin BMX Shop advert
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2240/2417128592_01708275ea.jpg?v=0 - Pijin BMX Shop advert
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_howebmx/2417128592/sizes/l/ - Pijin BMX Shop advert
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_howebmx/2417128592/ - Pijin BMX advert
http://blog.verdebmx.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/verde-x-estate.jpg - Verde BMX advert
http://99seconds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/profile_garwood_cranks_rideuk.jpg - Profile Racing advert
82
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