Planning for the future 

     Not only does my magazine need to be complete within the next two weeks, but I also have to produce a Creative Critical Reflection (CCR). It seems like just yesterday I was beginning this journey and starting to create my magazine. Fast forward a couple weeks, and the deadline is almost here. I feel confident that my final project will be presented with nothing but perfection. I won't accept anything else from myself. In order to remain ideal, I need to focus on the whole picture. It's not only a cover and two page spread I have to worry about. There is also a table of contents and CCR that needs to be presented just as fairly. Because I began to realize that I could start to fall behind, I caught myself and started the process of researching different methods to design my CCR. Below I have embedded a video on how to upload to youtube. 

     

     I tend to not be the best with technology; but hey, what am saying, everyone in my generation is involved in technology. I guess I can do the basics: I can tweet, I can Instagram, I can snapchat, I can set up an iPhone; although, I have no idea how to make a voice over slideshow or create a screencast. Because of my limits with what I know, I watched many examples of previous aice exam CCR's, so that I got an idea of where most students tend to create their reflection. Out of all my option, I am almost 100% positively sure, that I will create a podcast. A podcast is defined as, "a digital audio file made available on the internet for downloading to a computer or portable media player, typically available as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically." I plan to record myself strictly on the voice memo application that is on iPhones, then i'll transfer it over to youtube so that I can share a link on my blog in the future. Using voice memo, is most likely my smartest bet, because I have used it for aice media projects in the past. Also, I think it will be cool to answer questions about my magazine through voice, rather than you guys just reading about it. It's time to put a voice to the story. 

Here is a very helpful youtube video, that showed me, and taught me how to upload a video for future references within this project. After viewing this video, it guided me  in the decision choice, that I would be using youtube as my internet software application to present my Creative Critical Reflection. 

xoxo, Paige 

Table of Contents time!

      I've been putting all my hard work and effort into creating the most amazing two page spread, and cover page, that creating a table of content, blew over my head. I guess it just didn't come to me, that it means just as much towards not only my grade, but also my overall magazine, as the other pages do. For the artist type of magazines, which is what I plan to present, a table of content needs to be simple and organized, just how I like it. 

     I started to brainstorm in class today, about the different ways I could layout this page. I can have many smaller images, or one large image, and the rest a plain background. I thought to myself, if I am having multiple imagines on my two page spread, which will be shown directly after the table of contents, I should try and keep things simple. I have an idea, of capturing summer flowers as an image for this page, so it can relate to my specific issue of my brand. Looking for inspiration, i found the following examples that really caught my eye. 

                                             

     The first three, present what I feel is a clean cut page. One picture and the rest text. The first example, is the most simple out of all and that may not be my best bet. Although, personally I like clean cut, it doesn't fit my target audience as much. Yes, females tend to like clean lines, but they still reply better to pop and artist ideas, rather than one simple thing. Meeting in the middle would be example number 3, this is because it has a greater background image, as well as keeping it clean and not too overwhelming. As of now, i'm coming up with an imagine idea for the table of contents,  planning to only have one imagine on this page. 

xoxo, Paige

COMP

     Hi guys! If you read my previous blog, about the changes my partner and I made, you would know that we have been having issues with our title. It came to our attention, that “BITEZ” can be pronounced many different ways. Having that in mind we tried out a ton of way that the “Z” can be emphasized, considering it is one of our key trademarks. At the bottom of this posting, I inserted three different ways we tried to make the "Z" pop out; however, I noticed that making the one specific letter more outstanding, doesn’t help the pronunciation. I also, put them in the order in which I feel towards them, the first being the one I like the most and last being the one I dislike most. My partner and I took a step back and gave ourselves the weekend to just brainstorm. We know our deadline is coming up soon, but we feel confident in what we have and only will settle for the best title we can possibly think of. As the weekend went on, our latest idea is changing the name to “COMP.” This doesn’t effect the fact that we wanted something short lettered and simple. Having less words, is more eye appealing to our target and genre audience of females of the middle class, ranging from 20-50. Because changing the title would mean the “Z” icon of our magazine brand is gone, we would really have to try our best to get the bite mark out of a letter within the title, to replace the trademark of a “Z". As of now, my partner and I are trying out our new title, CHOMP. I really it works out, because I don’t think I can deal with another change of the cover. It’s time to work my table of contents. I’ll get back to you guys soon with my layout ideas for that page. 

xoxo, Paige

Time for a change 

     As you know, I felt really confident in my work. Well things flipped on me. My partner and I decided we want to keep things ~artistic~ which changed my layout. Yes, it's annoying, but I know I'll be happier with a clean cut cover. We decided together, that adding a boarder to match our header will help connect our two issues. Making it more blocky will attract the eye of buyers because it looks different. Three examples of magazine layouts we plan to follow, as of now is the ones pictured bellow.

  

     Planning on using pink as our magazine color (for the title and boarder), we realized it wasn't our best bet. Ya pink appeals to females (our target audience), but it doesn't appeal to our genre (food/baking). Personally, I think oranges and yellows would look nice for a magazine about food, but I'm still in the process of messing around with different shades. Also green stands for nature, which relates to my two page spread about "D.I.Y." D.I.Y stands for do it yourself, in case you didn't know. My magazine is planning on having this section in each issue. 

     Another issue I encountered was my title. BITEZ is original and new. It's also artsy which goes with the layout. The only issue, is how people my read it. Pronouncing my magazine need to flow and not give people a hard time, or else it will lead them away from buying it. In order to change that I have been messing with emphasizing the "Z". I may make it the only capital letter or change the font of it. I'll have to get back to you guys on what I decide, after I mess around with it again this weekend. 

xoxo, Paige 

Team Work 

     Yesterday, my class split up into groups and discussed our ideas. Getting feedback, whether it was what I wanted to hear or not, really helped me take a step forward. I got to split from my partner and hear new concepts that I really would like to imply into my magazine. Of course I love my partners idea, Alysha is amazing, but it's nice to hear something fresh and original.

     When I presented the ideas I have so far, I basically explained how there are many holes within my project. Many undecided factors are to be determined and I was having a brain fart on how I should fill them. Because one of the main trade marks that I have been working on, is taking a bite out of the B, I explained my situation to my group. I simply told them that I don't know if it will be possible to create a font. They came up with the best idea. I can just edit the specific letter I want, in my case "B" and cut out piece by piece of the letter, then paste it to my doc. This weekend I'm going to mess around with fonts, and get back to you guys with how it goes. 

     Another fabulous advantage I received from being apart of my group and presenting my idea, was that it was a confidence buster. Even if people don't admit it, they have nerves. Personally I can relate. I try to act strong and as though I don't care, but showing off ideas, not knowing how people will react can be very scary. I told myself I had nothing to lose by presenting the sample magazine cover I made for practice. I was so scared that someone would say it was bad, because I was pretty proud of it. Taking the risk, I got the reaction I could only dream of. Remembering exactly what they said, "wait is that really only a sample, it's amazing." Hearing that helped my confidence level grow as I continue to work with the creation of my magazine. P.S. the sample is posted in my previous blog posting!

     New ideas, confidence buster, what else could I ask for. All that came to me in just an hour and a half. After leaving class that day, all I could think about was how ahead of the game I felt. I was the only person in my group who had a set plan and knew where I was moving with it, let alone my picture and cover idea was practically made. Time moves fast and I just need to make sure I move faster. 😄

xoxo, Paige💘

The Real Deal 

     Today, I sat in class messing around with pages. It seems to be easier than what I expected, which is really good. The third picture I posted yesterday for you guys, is what I used as my sample. Who knows, maybe it will end up being the real deal. After realizing blue would be a prime subject color, within my magazine cover, I wanted to tell you guys what it means. Blue represents trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Also the shade of blue pictured (water) can represent summer. Blue is considered as beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect, which is what most feel during summer. 

     My partner and I decided that our magazine “BITEZ" will use the color pink to represent it’s image. Thinking of the color pink, will automatically connect someones mind with our magazine. Although, summery colors like blue and yellow (water and sun) will go hand and hand with my specific issue. Having pink, representing a food magazine only seemed to make sense. It portrays a female view, which most of the time, is the stereotype for who runs the kitchen. 

     I have started my research, on how to create my own font. My partner and I have this imagine in our head, that we want a bite taken out of either the "B" or "Z", creating a more distinct feeling to our readers. From the research i've done so far, I learned that having a specific font, or design to represent your magazine, can bring in monthly readers. Because we aren't 100% that creating our own font will work out, we decided to have an always included section of the "TOP D.I.Y." based on what season or month it is. For the issue that I will be creating, I'm using this idea as my two page spread. Having the Top 10 D.I.Y. being popsicles, it brings in the summer vibe, without relying fully on colors to do so. 

Here is the third imagine from my previous posting, input onto a page document. I have watched many videos to learn the maximum skills possible to create a layout; however, practicing is the only thing to make me better. This is why I designed a sample layout, using my information. It isn't exactly what me or my partner had in mind, but it doesn't hurt to take a step back and see if my picture may work out. Just looking at the image at first, I thought to myself, I could do so much better. But now, since I see it with all these colors, I can relate to the summery vibe perfectly, meaning i'm on the right track. Please comment what you think about this imagine as a potential cover image, keep in mind, the font and layout may vary. I love all the feed back!! I'll get back to you guys as soon as my partner and I discuss or newest ideas.

xoxo, Paige                                                                                                                                                                     

Practice makes Perfect! 

     Let me just start off by saying... I failed. This morning, I woke up, and felt ready to work on my magazine cover. I thought I had it all planned out. This weekend I would take photos, and during the week I could edit them and design my cover page. Next weekend, I would work on my two page spread and slowly come to an end. HAHA, was I wrong. Below i'm sharing three images and a short story of how these all played out. 🌊

I looked out my back door, and saw my pool shimmering. I thought to my self, it's the perfect day to take my cover photo, because I imagined the blue water, representing a summer issue to my magazine. As I ran outside to capture this moment, I didn't realize my shadow was bad. Thinking that I may have just caught the best image, I sure was wrong. Shadows, are the worse thing to look at. I could never put that on a cover, and imagine anyone wanting to buy it.

Opps. Yes, my popsicle did fall in the pool. All I can say is, at least it wasn't my phone or camera. Forgetting that I live in hot sunny South Florida, it didn't occur to me, that I don't get to have all the time in the world to shoot my pictures. I guess that's why they say food magazines are the hardest to make. Not only is it hard to capture the tasty look, but it also puts you under a timer. 














After this picture was shot, I thought to myself, hey at least i'm improving. I'm not the ~artsy~ type of person, so being able to take pictures of food doesn't come so easy. My main subject in this picture, is focused on, the background looks nice, and there are NO shadows. Even though I can't find anything specifically wrong with this image, I have a feeling, something better will come along. 











xoxo, Paige 

Why can't the world be in black and white?

     Colors, colors, colors. WOW! I never thought color could bring so much meaning to an object. Seeing something in black and white, can have a such a different feeling than something with vibrant colors like: red, pink and yellow. After researching what each color means, or represents it was clear to me that pink, yellow and red would be my go to. A color can remind someone, like my target audience, what the main idea is of my magazines issue. 

     Pink, it represents a feminine, happy, healthy, sweet, playful and compassion tone. Well, since my target audience is females, it just makes sense to use a color that would appeal to who they are. Red, represents love, energy, power, strength, passion, and heat. Yellow, shows a bright energy and can express creativity. For my two page spread, I plan on creating a "Top 10 D.I.Y.S. popsicles with a twist." This means, my readers will have to be creativity and willing to use energy in order to create something on their own. Throughout my magazine issue, I was going to relate it towards summer; that is where heat (red) and sun (yellow) would interact with the specific issue of BITEZ magazine. 

Key guide for color meaning:

💗: feminine, happy, healthy, sweet, playful 

💛: bright, energy, creativity, sun

🔴: love, energy, power, strength, passion, heat

Font, Colors and More!!

Today, while I was sitting in class, I decided to draw out an idea for my cover page and two page spread. This design came directly off of my creative thinking, without furthering my research. The image to the right is what I came up with. As you can tell, my partner and I have finally came up with a title for our magazine. We will be calling it "BITEZ." Before I did extensive research on target audience, I assumed it would be middle age female such as 21-45 years of age. After I found this website, I was able to for sure state, that my target audience is middle classed females. At least double the amount of women read food magazines, in comparison to men. If I stick to my plan, of having my two page spread being about popsicles with a twist, my addition for BITEZ magazine will be targeted towards ages 21- 50. In the 21st century, text lingo is a must know. Which is why a simple change such a converting the "s" to a "z", will draw in the eyes for lower aged women, increasing sales and drawing in a larger target audience.

The image, of different way BITEZ is written, is a sketch of ideas me and my amazing partner Alysha Steinman came up with. Btw, you should go check out her blog (Alysha's Blog). Adding the bite, taken out of a letter could create a trademark for our magazine. After viewing this article, I have some thinking to do on which color would best appeal to my target audience. Yellow, being attention grabbing will help to improve sales and draw attention; while, pink brings in the feminine idea, which expresses my target audience in itself.

xoxo, Paige 

Whoever said technology is a good thing?

     What a week it has been. I finally got to sit down and relax on my comfy denim blue sofa while I googled some websites and searched for programs that allowed me to create and design my magazine. Yet of course, a problem has to come along my way. I don't have pages, Joomag cost money,,,and so on. I'm not sure whoever said technology was a blessing, because right about now, I feel like it would be easier to just draw a magazine. 

     
     From picking colors on my blog, to designing what shaped layouts I want, I can't seem to take control of my computer. Maybe I'm just not computer savvy enough? It's not that technology is getting complicated, it's also the amount of options it brings. "Less is more." Well apparently not, in the senses that technology keeps brining me new ideas and making me change my mind more times then I can count. 

     
     After searching and searching for online websites that can help me create my blog, I am almost positive that i'll be working with pages. It is a very self explained programming that offers layout designs, and gives me the option to move around shapes, in order to get the PERFECT spread. There is also a youtube video that can teach me every trick and how to work with all the advances. Oh and since my name is paige, I look at it like it's a sign. Below, I shared some images of what, the design system looks like on pages. I'll get back to you guys soon, with my latest update, on how this program works for me!!! 

          

xoxo, Paige

Hold up... Are You Ready For The Big Reveal? 

    Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real? The images were so clear and seemed as if it could truly be possible. Last night, I went to bed with practically a million different magazines genres laying around me. The second I woke up for another beautiful, early day of school, an idea popped into mind. Seeing a clear image of what I wanted on my magazine cover, how I wanted to layout my two page spread, and knowing exactly what my content would say, I thought I was still dreaming. It just all seemed to come so easily. 

   

    FOOD! Some may say it's the hardest to capture images of, because there are many different shots and angles that come into play. I decided, that sometimes it's okay to take on a challenge. Lighting might effect my magazine, picking a specific genre of food can effect my magazine, and generally anything can consequence the outcome of my magazine. I tend to live by my go-to saying "everything works out", so hopefully this is the case. 

    

    The battle isn't over yet. My thought process is in the air, soaring around, trying to land back on the perfect plate. There are so many options and components that come into action after, having picking my overall topic. Do I want to stick with a single image and plain background, or do I want it to be wild and eye popping? After minor research, I have come to the conclusion that, adult women are the prime consumers of this genre. Leading me to feel like a simple image is my way to go. 

     Here are three examples of food magazines, with a variety of different coloring and cover images, that effects the way a magazine is presented. Coloring of a magazine cover, can effect the target audience I chose and also it can make or break the rest of my magazine issue.

I'll catch everyone up with my latest decisions soon!

xoxo, Paige Lewis

Let The Good Times Roll!!!

     They say starting something new can be hard; however, I'd like to jump all over these opportunities. As I start my journey through the process of creating my very own magazine, I would absolutely love for everyone to follow along. You may see my ups and my downs; although I can promise you the final product will be breath taking. 

     Of course- right when I think this whole voyage will be a simple task and my ideas will come easily- I'm proven wrong. I began the planning process by viewing many... many sample magazines. Almost enough to make my head blow off. After thinking I've seen enough to finally decide what genre I'd like, more ideas got brought up. Everything from teen trends, fashion weekly, sports, hobbies, crafts and food were catching my eyes. My biggest issue is picking my topic. Don't they say the base line is the most important? That's why I need to make sure it is PERFECT! 

     Below, I added some pictures of magazine covers that really caught my eye. Sharing them with my readers may help in the planning process, so that I can proceed with creating a one of a kind magazine. I would absolutely love if you could leave comments on which topic you think would be best to begin working with. It's always nice to help a girl out! 

                           

You should always stick with what you know right? Well, I'm a teen, meaning this genre is fitting for me? Here is an image of the cover page for a teen magazine. After viewing many different cover options, I noticed that having a teen genre may be easiest for me because I can relate most. 

Do I take on challenges? Sports aren't really my go to thing. Nor do I love reading about it. So maybe, creating a sports magazine will expand my genre preferences. 

Who doesn't love looking at pictures of food? Clean cut is always the way to go right? At least that's what my mom taught me growing up. Having seen many food magazine covers, they all had the same trend of portraying a simple image on the cover. Being the organized girl I am, maybe this is the way to go. 

xoxo, Paige