Creative Critical Reflection

Lastly, this is my creative critical reflection of Valor my magazine. I reflect upon my work and talk about how I enjoyed creating the magazine. Hope you guys enjoy it and learn more about my overall process. Thank you once again in being a part of this journey! 

Final Project!

I am finally done! Guys it was definitely a journey and I thank you all for being apart of it. The magazine is called Valor, it focuses on informing young girls on fitness and helping them achieve their mental and physical goals. I was able to change and add the finishing touches in order for my magazine to come out just like I wanted it to. I want to say thank you to my model/friend who helped me achieve the fierce cover image. Also, I want to give a huge thank you to Ariel and Gabriella who allowed me to interview them and create the story for my two-page spread. I am super happy of how it came out and I hope you all love it as much as I do. Let me know what you think. So without further ado here is my magazine Valor!

Adding the Final Touches...

I’m almost there! The magazine is coming out just like I wanted it to. This morning I was able to finish and edit my two-page article. After I finished writing the first draft, I realized that I was writing way too formal for a magazine. So, I went back and tried to use a more casual tone. I then added the images to the spread to bring it to life. Deciding which picture I wanted to use was definitely time consuming because I wanted each image to be a part of the story. At last, I’m in the process of adding the final touches for the magazine, such as changing some font colors and filling in more information on the table of contents to make it stand out. I will continue to finish up the magazine tomorrow. Also, tomorrow I will complete the CCR. Before filming I am going to create a script in order to have a fluid, straightforward reflection of my work. I’m really looking forward to showing you guys the final product!

PS: I wanted to let you guys know that I finally decided to keep the title of my magazine as Valor. I think the word, which stands for courage and bravery, is a great representation of what I want my magazine to stand for.

Working Hard

This weekend was very productive. Like I mentioned before, I finished taking all the images for my magazine, and I was able to set up the layout for the two-page spread and table of contents. I also began editing the cover image. However, I did encounter a few problems. After I edited it, I wanted to crop out the image without the white background, but I realized that I had no idea how to do it. My friend had showed me this app called PicsArt, but I felt it would take too long to download the images to my phone, crop the image on the app, and then send it back to my computer. Hence, I found a better approach. My brother had been apart of newspaper at school, so he figured out a way to crop an image on LunaPic. I was playing around with the tools and I was able to crop out an image I choose randomly. I placed it onto the magazine and I was surprised of how much I liked it. Thus, yesterday I was focusing on creating the cover image and cover lines for the magazine. I worked with the different fonts and colors in order to make it attractive to my target audience. Nevertheless, I can honestly say I really enjoy working on the magazine. It is time consuming, but, I’m having fun designing, taking photographs, and interviewing the girls. Next week, I’m planning to work on my magazine everyday in order to have enough time next weekend to complete my CCR. I’m so excited for you guys to see the final product. See you later!

PS: Regarding my title, I have come up with a few options, but I'm not so sure of them. I'm considering, Valor which stands for strength and bravery. However, I realized that the title has been used for other magazines in the past. Another idea I was brainstorming, was using numbers as the title. For example, Five magazine. I'm definitely closer to figuring it out, but I do not want to rush it because I believe a title should mean something towards the magazine.

One Step Closer!

Today I am happy to say that I finally have everything to complete my magazine. Yesterday, I took the final images for my cover and my table of contents. Also, this week I interviewed the two girls for my article. Now it’s go time, this weekend I will try to set up the layout for my magazine on Canva and start editing all the pictures. I’m getting a little overwhelmed, but I know I have a few more days to complete it then originally planned, and our teacher is giving us this whole week to work on it. Currently, I am creating the table of contents page and it’s coming out just like I planned, however, it definitely is going to need some retouching. Heres what I have so far:

Next, let me tell you a little bit about my day yesterday. After school on Friday, me and my friend headed to her house to get a few clothes and make-up for the shoot. Later we arrived to my house where I had set up a photo shoot studio in my living room. I choose that location because it is where I got good and natural lighting. I got a white bed sheet and taped it on the walls and floor to create a white background for my pictures.

Finally, I was able to capture my friend in different poses, as options when considering what image I should use for my cover. We then headed to the pool where I took some additional pictures of her swimming. At the end of the day, I was really proud of how they came out and very grateful for my friend that helped me. Here are some of the unedited images I took:

It's Coming Along!

Welcome back! I happy to tell you that my project is finally coming along. Yesterday I was able to take all the pictures for my two-page spread. However, I did experience a few problems. I had planned to take the pictures with my Nikon camera, but I never really learned how to take images in motion, such as a football game. So, I searched for a quick tutorial video on shutter speed. This feature freezes a moving image. Yet, I found nothing. I was getting so frustrated, but I realized that there's another feature which can automatically capture these images. I found it, changed it and I headed to the football fields! I went to my friend’s flag football practice, where I captured a few moments with the team and during the game. I then made another stop at the YMCA pool to take various action shots of the water polo team in practice. I was very happy of how my images came out and I can’t wait to start writing the two-page spread this weekend. Here is a sneak peek of some of the moments I managed to capture:

Before I sign out, let me announce a few updates. First off, I realized that my title for the magazine is already taken. This was very disappointing, however, I’m actually glad that I realized sooner before starting the magazine. I have not found the new title, but I am continuously searching and brainstorming other options. Next, I have finally narrowed down what I am going to write about in each page for the spread. On the first page, it will discuss background information of the two sports and why they might not be considered a girl sport. The next page will consist of an interview on the two athletes. These are some of the questions: 

On Friday, I will start the photoshoot for my cover image. My friend and I are coming up with a variety of ideas for different poses and different close-up shots we can take. I will talk further about my experience and show you some behind the scenes images on my next blog.

Sofia, signing out!

Tutorials For Canva

As I now start to create my magazine, I wanted to check out some software programs that are best to use. I came upon Canva, which my teacher had mentioned to us before, it is a free simple graphic design software. I made an account and started to play around with it. However, I wanted to understand the program a little better, so I watched some tutorial videos on YouTube.

In this video, they give an overview of how to use the tools in Canva, such as their writing tools and how to insert certain images.

In the second video, it demonstrate how to use Canva to create a magazine. The video shows how the user can start with a template and fix it to their likings, and how to also set up a two-page spread. The video also gave some tips on the downloading process. Nevertheless, both of these videos gave me a clearer understanding of how the program works and how I can use it when starting my magazine. These next two weeks are focused on getting the images and interviewing the girls, so I can incorporate it into the magazine using Canva.

Source:

T. (2015, June 18). Canva Tutorial: Create Beautiful Graphics Quickly, Easily, and for Free! Retrieved March 26, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-lB4Q-k1OI  

E. (2015, October 19). How to use Canva to Make a Magazine. Retrieved March 26, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suyGeN7ggFs&t=1s  

Figuring it all out...

Okay this magazine is definitely harder than it looks. Before starting you need to have your ideas straight or else it's not going to come out as you might of imagined it. That’s what I have been doing this whole week. Let me start by saying that I really want to make sure my message is clear through this magazine, so I needed to sit down and create a sort of checklist of my tasks before starting. After figuring out that it’s going to be a lifestyle magazine, I then came up with the title. I began by searching up synonyms for strong and took some words into consideration, like Likely and Powerful for my titles. However, I came upon the word Vitality, which means exuberant in physical strength or mental vigor, and decided it was PERFECT! Yet, I’ve come to the understanding that a company is also called Vitality, so I need to make sure it's okay to use. After, I started to create story lines that will appear on the cover of the magazine and in the table of contents. Some I came up with are:  “20 ways to become more confident” and “Essential yoga routines for stress relief.” I’m in the process of making 12 cover lines in order to have enough content for the magazine. I then moved onto the two-page spread. Like I had mentioned before, I’m going to interview three girls in different school sports teams, like track and flag football. My main idea when writing this article is trying to show the strength of these young, athletic individuals. Honestly I always admired girls who are able to be part of school sports teams and not mind other people’s perception of them. Hence, that’s what I want to show, that girls can be apart of any sports teams they enjoy. The title of this article will be called “Get your head in the Game.”A problem that faced in the process was with my target audience. I’m going back and forth in deciding whether or not to expand my target audience's age range. But, after really thinking out about, I’m going to stick with 15 to 25 year olds. This is because women in their mid-30s already have Shape and Fitness magazines that satisfy their ideas of a certain body image, and so there is less of a possibility that they will read upon new body types that are different but still as beautiful. Next, to make sure I’m sticking with the message that having physical and mental strength is beautiful, I wrote a short ‘about’ paragraph for my magazine:

‘Vitality is a lifestyle magazine that focuses on informing young women of today about fitness and helping them achieve mental and physical goals.’

Obviously this is a rough draft, but that's the general idea. Lastly, after finally having a more clear path towards achieving this magazine, I started to create an outline of what my cover page, table of contents, and two-page spread will look like. It’s definitely just a sketch, but again it surely gets me a lot closer to my final product.

Little Changes

This week we got the opportunity to meet with our classmates and receive feedback on our progress within the projects. I was actually very happy that I was able to introduce my ideas and get different perspectives. As I started to present, many of my group members were beginning to get confused on how I would market my magazine. Honestly, I didn't have that fully figured out, but because I’ve seen most fitness and teen magazines sold in grocery stores, I thought that was an appropriate location. This then was followed by another concern with the target audience. Some members believed that the audience age is too young and are usually not influenced to buy this types of magazines. So, I took this into consideration and decided I would expand my target audience to women in their mid-30s. One last suggestion that was brought within the discussion was that I also should expand my genre. Instead of my magazine only focusing on fitness, it could also be about eating, health care, make up, etc. I will stick with my message about how having physical and mental strength is true beauty, however I will now include these other topics. Thus, it now changes into a more lifestyle magazine. In the end, this really helped me to advance in my magazine and allowed me to also view other people’s blogs and ideas within their projects. I’m hoping that our groups could meet again when the projects are closer to the final due date.  

I’ll see you soon with a title and images for my magazine!

Do It Yourself! (DIY)

Hello! Today I wanted to show you a few quick DIY videos and images that helped me find easy ways to create at home photo studio materials. One of the videos shows step-by-step instructions on how to make your own ring light, which is used to give off a natural light on the subject. I would only need a clamp light, light bulb, tape, and wax paper. 

Nevertheless, I definitely needed this because I do not plan to spend all my money on a few light props. When I was on Pinterest, I also found cool DIY pictures on how to make at home studios. For instance, in the picture below, it shows how one can use a bed sheet, lamps, and umbrellas from home to create a professional photography setup.

Like I mentioned, in next following weeks I want to start creating my magazine’s cover and start taking pictures for my two-page spread, so I need to figure out how I will be able to capture these images on a low budget.

Source:

K R. (2015, January 4). RING LIGHT DIY // Affordable Video Lighting. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgCZP0UQdi8

Ghosh, A. (2013, June 8). DIY Photography Studio Setup Guide. Retrieved from https://thecustomizewindows.com/2013/06/diy-photography-studio-setup-guide/

Finally Have It!

Okay, truthfully, I had a hard time trying to figure out what I wanted my theme and story to be for my magazine. I believe it’s important that I get this done before moving onto creating the magazine. The only thing I knew was that I was doing a fitness magazine for young teens. However, as I began researching cover images of teen magazines I came upon this picture of Gigi Hadid.

She is a well-known model that many young girls look up to. Hence, in this picture she has a black-and-white filter while behind a white background which captures her beauty in a simple manner. So, I thought I could do that for my cover image. The magazine also attracts teenage girls because it includes different shades of pink that surround Gigi. I was VERY happy when I came upon this magazine cover because I finally realized what my cover image will be and what my story will cover for my two-page spread. Let me explain. So I’m going to use the similar layout that this magazine used, however instead of using a Victoria's Secret model I will use a real teenage girl that represents the beauty of her strength. Hence, I’m looking for someone who is able to capture this, like the competitive swimmer in the picture below.

Next, for my two-page spread I want to go around the school asking girls in competitive sports team about their perspectives of being athletes and what made them love it so much. I will be focusing on three sports team: flag football, track, and swimming. During this, I will take pictures and interview the girls for my story. I’m so excited I finally have my theme and the content for my two-page spread! Next week I will begin the interviews as well as setting up for my magazine’s cover photo shoot.

Source:

A W. (2012, November 26). Olympic star Jessica Ennis: 'Girls are put off becoming athletes because they worry about being too muscly' | Daily Mail Online. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2238795/Olympic-star-Jessica-Ennis-Girls-athletes-worry-muscly.html   

ASME. (n.d.). Best Cover Contest 2016 Winners & Finalists | ASME. Retrieved from http://www.magazine.org/asme/best-cover-contest-2016-winners-finalists

Lights, Camera, Fitness

Welcome back! I’m excited to tell you about the tips and tricks I’ve been learning throughout the week on fitness photography. I wanted to research this because I want to start creating my cover image as well as the images within my two-page spread. When I previously researched information on magazine layouts, I found out that using a black-and-white filter for the cover image makes the magazine more dramatic and interesting. I came upon a video on lighting techniques that helps beginners (like me) create these images.

The video shows how important it is to have various lights surrounding the model in a certain position in order to create that low key lighting filter. It also offered techniques on how to set up the camera effectively to capture the subject. I further researched on Pinterest other ways to use low key lighting. For instance, in these images the lights are placed on either side or behind the subject to help understand the difference in the shots. On the left picture, the model comes out much brighter, while the model on the right has only a part of her face lit creating that black and white tone.

  

Yet, I’m still considering if this is the route I would want to take for my magazine’s cover image. Another way I could go is by using more bright lights. Because I am making a magazine that attracts the teenage girl population, it’s important to utilize some photo techniques from magazines like Seventeen and Teen Vogue. From what notice, their images are more colorful and bright. So, I want to figure out a way to make my cover image dramatic to portray that strength, while also using fun colors to appeal to the younger population. Next time I’ll show you some cool Do It Yourself photo shoot setups and professional lighting that can be done at home.


Source:

E. M. (n.d.). 7 Essential Photography Tips All Photographers Need to Know. Retrieved March 18, 2017, from https://photographytribes.com/

G. L. (2011, March 29). Speedlite Tip Series, Part 3: Wireless Flash Primer. Retrieved March 18, 2017, from http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2011/speedlite_tip_pt3_article.shtml

S. (2016, December 05). 3 Tips for Dramatic Fitness and Athletic Portraiture. Retrieved March 18, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7FqwPuu1Tk

Tips, Tips, Tips!

Hello again! I’m so happy to tell you about some tips I’ve learned on how to design effective magazines. Because I already have my genre and target audience, I wanted to start researching on how to design my magazine. I came upon an article called, “10 Tips for Designing High-Impact Magazines” in which offered me tips on how to ‘breath life’ into magazines. The first thing that I took from this article was the ABC rule, in which A stands for A-heading,and B and C stands for sub-headings. Having already learned the importance of a heading, sub-heading, and cover lines in class, the ABC rule is a quick and easy way to remember this. The article also explained that to achieve a simple and balanced layout for a fitness magazine, it needs to have a strong heading, simple black-and-white photography, and typography to interact with the images.

    

The next few tips further state that having simple bold colors could be a great way to bring the design of the magazine together. The article also mentioned was to include a digital appearance to the content pages. This had interested me from the lesson on magazines in my class. Supposedly, this adds a more exciting and interactive way to engage the audience.

I also seemed to focus on Tip #9, in which stated that having a thematic design creates a more professional magazine. This means that my magazine should include strong themed elements that are incorporated from cover to cover. Because I can only complete a few pages of my magazine, I would want to include a theme that will be continuous throughout the pages in order to achieve that cohesiveness. Here the article gave us a checklist to make sure these elements are consistent:

Nevertheless, this article definitely gave me ideas and helped me start to think of some cover images, titles, and fonts for my magazine. Next time I will show you a rough draft of my magazine cover and the different themes I would want to include.

Source:

Fussell, G. (2016, March 9). 10 Tips for Designing High-Impact Magazines. Retrieved March 11, 2017, from https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/10-tips-for-designing-high-impact-magazines--cms-25956

Found My Target Audience!

Today, for my research, I wanted to focus on finding information on the target audiences of fitness magazines. This helps me to understand what type of individuals my magazine can attract and what route to take towards creating quality content. I came upon an article called, “Market Focus: Fitness Enthusiasts,” in which summarized each fitness magazine’s general audience. For instance, the Shape and the Women’s Health magazines attract those college-educated, middle aged females who are striving for a healthier lifestyle. The magazines that promote professional athletes and extreme bodybuilders, like Muscle & Fitness and TriAthlete only attract the middle-aged men. After gathering this information, it seems difficult for a fitness magazine to attract both genders. Thus, this helped me realize that I would want my target audience to be young women aging from 15-25 years old. I choose these individuals because I believe that young girls, especially in this generation, are trying to change the way society views them. So, I want to create a magazine where it can speak out about the beauty of accepting a woman's physical and mental strength. I believe I would have a harder time extending this message to those older audiences like the ones for Shape magazine, as they already have an idea of the certain body image they want to attain. Nevertheless, I’m super excited that I found this information because know I can delve into researching how to design my magazine.

Until next time!



Source: Lester, L. Y. (2004, September 01). Market Focus: Fitness Enthusiasts. Retrieved March 10, 2017, from http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/market-focus-fitness-enthusiasts-28722/all/

Day One..

Welcome to my blog. Let me begin by giving you 3 facts about who I am.

Fact #1: My name is Sofia Martiarena and I’m a stressful 17 year old.

Fact #2: I’m addicted to good music and good food.

Fact #3: I have a weakness for cheesy life quotes.

Today I will embark on an exciting journey towards creating my very own magazine. Ever since  I was young, I remember sneaking into my older sister's stash of Seventeen magazines and flipping through each page, admiring the articles on What Lipstick Shade Are You. However, as I got older I started to admire the health and fitness magazines. One that grabbed my attention while waiting in the grocery line was the Women’s Health magazine.

  

I envied these beautiful, thin women and the confidence within their skin. So, I began to workout. My friend helped me by introducing me to CrossFit for the first time, and let me tell you, it was no joke. The people at the gym were athletes, they had the capability of performing a variety of exercises and lifting twice their body weight. It was intimidating, but I was not discouraged. I, then, began to be inspired by the women at my gym who defined beauty and strength in a whole different way than what the health and fitness magazines had shown. For this reason, I want to present women in a different light, those who don’t need juice diets and size two waistlines. I want to change how people perceive strong women, like the ones at my gym, and convince them that they are as equally beautiful. These next few weeks are dedicated to researching how I can achieve this message through my magazine.

I'll see you next time!

Sources:

Gina Rodriguez Wants Women to Be Their Own Heroes. (2016, April 13). Retrieved March 09, 2017, from http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/gina-rodriguez-may-2016

Women's Health Cover Star Eva Mendes Isn't Ready to Dole Out Motherly Advice-Yet. (2015, October 19). Retrieved March 09, 2017, from http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/eva-mendes-april-cover

Cover Stars: "What Keeps Me Fit". (2016, February 11). Retrieved March 09, 2017, from http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/magazine-cover-stars