I have produced an experimental third draft for my billboard. I am not sure how this will be received. The changes were quick to make but they were different. This was purely to see how my audience would react. I am not sure I like this change and may change back.
I changed my original layout up. This was purely a test to see how it would look and I don't like it. I do not feel that this was a strong layout choice and I much prefer the previous layout. However, I think that experimentation is necessary for a product to work and you must try every possible option to see if it works or if it doesn't. I will still submit this for audience feedback to ensure that their opinions align with mine but I cannot see the feedback being positive.
As I am on target and making good progress, I decided to look back over my blog so far and ensure that everything was the best quality it could be. I corrected some errors in the captions on posts. I am fixed the formatting with some previous presentations.
I have produced a draft for the article page complete with article and edited images. This means that this is close to the final product I will produce and only minor changes need to be made depending on the feedback I receive from an audience. I am very much on track with the work I have done.
In this, I added in a lot of changes. I wrote the article and I think it is strong. I will include the writing under the cut. I filtered the images and changed the tone too. This made them all work together as they all fit an assigned colour scheme. I added captions to each image and I also included credits on the side of the article.
There may be some small changes I could still make but I think this is close to how my final product will look.
I posted my third contents draft page today. I only needed to make small changes so this didn't take very long at all. I also re-read my article and checked for errors and I corrected a few of my mistakes that I'd missed the first time around.
The first thing that I changed was the shadows on the image. I used the replace colour tool to make all of the shadows have a purple tint to them as this also drew the images together in the same way a filter would. With the images, I also raised saturation so that they were brighter and would stand out more. I also lightened up the background again just to see if I preferred it that way and I am currently undecided. I also reworked the fonts in my editors note to make my signature look more like a real signature by using a handwritten font and by using a more professional looking title font.
I will seek audience feedback to see if these were good decisions.
This time, I decided to start experimenting with the image and changing it around. I raised the saturation and added an orange/pink filter to bring out these colours in it. I feel that the edits I made served to make the text stand out more and to make the magazine as a whole stand out more. The brighter and more saturated colour scheme is a lot more attention grabbing then the past colour scheme was.
I checked back in with my aunt on two of my drafts. I received only positive feedback which tells me that I'm doing something right. I will continue to develop them further to make them a little better.
As I recently made a very large change to my website, I decided to seek feedback on this straight away. I had also recently made changes to my front cover so I sought feedback on this as well. Once again, I sought this feedback from my aunt who is a part of my primary audience as she is a 27 year old female who is recently married and belongs to the upper middle class.
Here is the feedback she gave me:
Transcript:
- Third draft of the front cover, please? - Yeah , this looks a lot better with those layout changes. It's much more professional now in my opinion and a lot more readable. - And the website, if you don't mind. - I like this layout a lot better. I feel it gels better with the other products as a whole. There's a lot to unpackage with this change because you changed in one go. The addition of advertisements really works and it makes it more professional. The sliiiideshow honestly meets conventions much more than the four individual images did. I much prefer this. - Thank you!
I could create another two tables but I did not receive any negative feedback so I don't feel that this is necessary. This only encouraged me to keep on doing as I was.
I will list the compliments I was given so I know what not to change:
Layout changes on the front cover are more professional
The new layout of the website looks better
The advertisements look professional
The slideshow works better than the previous four images
Here, I made a lot of changes. I changed the colour scheme completely as it did not fit with the rest of my products.Whilst I used a lot of bright pinks initially, I decided I'd rather go with muted colours and have white as my primary colour with a muted pink as my secondary colour. I also changed the initial four images into a slideshow as I felt that this resembled real websites more. This means that I have completely deviated from my original plan but I felt that this better reflected my wants and needs with this website.
I am extremely happy with this change and will be seeking audience feedback immediately.
I worked on my website all day and came out with some changes that I think should please my audience. This has taken longer than some previous drafts have done but the product has been greatly improved by this work. I will be checking back in with my aunt for her feedback soon.
I have began making large changes to the website and have done a complete upheaval on the layout. It looks entirely different now but I feel that these changes better reflect what I have learnt. These changes will take longer than previous changes will have taken but I will try to produce a draft tomorrow.
I added in the subscribe/purchase apps. This was relatively simple. I also need to change my other issues shortly. This will take more time but this work today only took a short amount of time. I am making fast progress for now but I believe that my progress will slow slightly when it comes to making bigger changes.
Not too much has changed except the addition of the subscription box app. However, I decided to post this draft as it is a major layout change. I won't go for feedback just yet until I have changed more. I feel that the addition of the subscription box has filled a lot of the dead space and this makes the page looks fuller and more interesting.
The changes to this are subtle. I moved the tagline above the masthead and added in an issue number and the name of the publisher. I also lowered the sell line so that they covered darker sections of the page and this made them easier to read. These layout changes simply make the front cover look more professional and make it easier to read.
In college, I emailed her to confirm and I also worked on my front cover third draft briefly however it was mostly experimenting with difference enhancements. The main thing I did today however was my audience feedback. Today I met with my aunt and got her opinions on my different drafts. The feedback she gave was useful and will affect the upcoming drafts that I will produce.
As I made more changes, I want to get feedback and see if the changes I was making were working and if they were what my target audience would want to see. Once more, I asked my aunt to give feedback as she is a member of my primary target audience by virtue of being a recently married 27 year old female of the upper middle class. This is the feedback that she gave:
Transcript: - Front cover, draft two. - I like the content of the sell lines. Think it suits the target audience and the genre very well. However, there's a couple of things to consider here. You could add in a tagline or some additional information like the publisher or the issue number. You should also move the sell lines down so that they're over the top of the darker green rather than the blue. It'll make them easier to read and more appealing. - Okay, and the contents page? - You've made a lot of changes here, wow. The photos work very well together and I do like the picture in the suit. You've clearly added filters to the images to make them fit together and this ties the page together nicely. I also really like the way you've ordered the contents list. It looks a lot more professional. If I had some advice, you could consider putting a gap between the image of the suit and the image of your sister. But that's just an idea. - What about the article? - You've got the rest of the images but you still need to write the article. The images show a well-rounded wedding. They're very romantic and pretty. The layout's quite stunning. This should work well when it's done. - And the billboard? - This looks better with the additional information. The placement also shows spacial (pronunciation issue in video) awareness so that's a good point. - And the website? - The looks fuller and more professional. The use of images is also strong. They're high quality. They're lovely. This product works but my only problem is that it doesn't match the rest of your products. It still feels like the odd one out. I feel like you need to make changes to make it fit. - Thank you.
I worked on the billboard and produced a second draft. In this, I edited the image and added in the additional information. This was a task that I could do within college time and didn't take too much time at all. I am making swift progress with my drafts and they are representing everything I want.
I really like this draft. I think it came out particularly well. The additional information does not detract from the page but ensures that some of the empty space is filled at the same time as directing onlookers to where they can learn more about my product. I also raised the saturation and increased the pink tones in the image to make it stand out more visually. The more vibrant colours are more interesting and far stronger. I think that this image is far more dramatic this way and is far more likely to attract and maintain onlookers attention - which is the goal of a billboard.
I produced a second draft for my website today. This took up a considerable chunk of time but I had a lot of free time. I experimented with a range of backgrounds and I put in images from my sisters wedding. I have also asked my aunt about when I can do audience feedback again and I'm expecting it to take place on the 16th.
Here is the second draft for my website. I have added in all of my images and none repeat now. I have also added in an editors note. I am happy with this progress and feel that this looks more like a real website. I have also added in advertisements to give the page a more real and more professional feel. There is still a feeling that this draft does not mesh well with my other products and that I may need to change the color scheme to find something that blends better but I am currently happy and I will see what my audience feedback says.
Reflection:
I have pout in the rest of the images for my article draft as I now have access to these images. Not much has changed and this was a short task to complete but it now ensures that I can begin receiving feedback on the images.
Here is the second draft for my article page. I still have a lot of changes to make as I have not wrote the article yet.
There isn't as much to say about this as all that I have changed is the images. I posted this just to update that I had gotten subsidiary images and put them into the layout. My images work well together due to similar colour schemes. It also looks very neat and everything is in line with each other. I could, in my next draft, use the shape tool to put white lines between each image to ensure that - even if I move the images - there is always an even gap between them. I could also use the duplicate feature to ensure that all of the gaps are equal.
I did a lot of work today as I took the work home with me and completed it there. Now that I have the image of my boyfriend in his suit, I can add this in. I also wrote up my articles and finished the page. This took a lot of time but I am happy with the product I have created. It made a large amount of difference in my opinion. I will continue to make small changes based on feedback but the current product I have is similar to what I want. Thus, I will spend more time on my other products which are currently worse that this.
Since I posted the first draft, I have made a lot of changes. Firstly, I added in the image of the suit. This image matches what I wanted and it works well with the other three images. I lowered the saturation on the images and then applied a creme filter so that they all fit together and work as a cohesive whole. I also filled out the contents list. I made a separate text box for the page numbers and made them larger so that they covered two lines and were the same size as the article title and the article description. I also lowered the leading value so that the numbers were closer together. Additionally, I decided to try separating the content within my contents list with titles to see how it would look and I particularly like it. It makes my contents page look more organised. I feel that the content I put in the contents box reflects that my magazine has a range of content and different articles. I also think that the text I put in my editors note is welcoming and adds a personal touch. Finally, I lowered the brightness of the background so that the white in other sections of the page stood out more and looked more vibrant.
I am proud of the progress that I have made and I will continue to make changes suggested from audience feedback.
I posted my second draft for my front cover and I have fixed my spacing issues by reducing the leading and the font size. I am happy with the sell lines and I will begin editing the image in the next draft.
For this draft. I put in the sell lines. I felt that these reflected the sort of content that a real bridal magazine would offer and that they were varied enough to show that my magazine had a wide range of content. Like I'd expected, I did have to make the fonts smaller so that they'd fit on the page. For the next draft, I expect that I'll have to edit the image and change the satiation and potentially apply a filter over the top of it to make it stand out and look more appealing. Currently, the layout reflects the dull English weather whilst I want to to be a little more saturated and colourful.
Altogether, I am happy with this look and I think I have made good progress.
I worked on my second draft of my front cover today and began adding in my sell lines. I looked at other magazines and copied off of some of their sell lines to ensure that my product resembled a real product and obeyed conventions. However, I also came up with some independent of other products. I am mostly done with this but want to make tweaks tomorrow. I will then post the updated draft with complete sell lines and confer that these sell lines are effective. I have had spacing problems with the updated text that must also be fixed tomorrow.
After asking my friends for feedback, this was the response that I got.
I made these tablets to represent the feedback I was given and give my own response to it regarding whether or not I'd follow the advice or disregard it.
Today, the Christmas holidays ended and I used the AWW online app to create two whiteboards. These whiteboards featured nothing but the first drafts of my purchase page and my online article. You can see them below:
Upon creating these, I sent the collaboration link into a group chat. This meant that these people could now edit the whiteboard. I then asked my friends whether they would use the post-it note feature to add feedback. I did this because I wanted to experiment with my feedback and try getting it from a group of people rather than from one person. Whilst my interviews are more focused, this will give me a range of opinions.
Today I emailed over the additional photos so I could begin work on them post-holidays. I also set up the layout for my online article and created a first draft for that. This ensured that I had all of my first drafts complete - though these two pages were later than expected.
For this, I used the images I had available and I had taken multiple images of flowers. I liked these images as I thought that they suited my target audience as my audience is feminine and I also liked that they were colourful and thus they stood out. I used fonts that I thought were appropriate and formatted my text so that it went around the article. I then put the comments box along with a Like and Tweet button on the bottom of the page.
In Janurary, my goal is to complete multiple drafts. These are just brief outlines of where I'd like to be at each point in the month and I'm not too worried about it. I may get ahead of this as I feel I've given myself more time than I need for each. Still, I aim to produce two drafts each of my front cover, article, contents page, billboard, and website within this month.
