AICE Media Studies

Question 4: How did you integrate technologies - hardware, software, and online - in this project? https://prezi.com/view/wLkzXiqBsEYjuhgxKeZO/

Question 3: How did your production skills develop throughout this project? https://prezi.com/view/q0Hbr67cRjuuRl4ILWu5/

Question 1: How does your product use or challenge conventions, and how does it represent social groups of issues? https://www.scribd.com/presentation/440114024/CCR-Question-1

I also used Prezi to answer the third question for the CCR. I decided to do a different template for the question to add variety and further demonstrate how my production skills have developed. To keep in coordination with the color scheme from my project, I changed the original colors of the text bubbles from a navy blue to a light orange. The arrows that were initially directing your eyes from each bubble was red and looked as though they had been drawn. I deleted the arrow and lines since I could not adjust them or rotate them to best flow between the 'story blocks'. Instead I added lines and arrows that I was able to stretch to fit between each bubble and curve to my liking. The template only came with four story blocks so I had to add another to accommodate to the addition of the PicsArt bubble. I designated a story block for each aspect of production skill development, focusing primarily on how my skills evolved with the software and online programs. Since I added the...

To ensure variety of the programs used for my CCR, I used PowerPoint to respond to question one. I am more familiar with the workings of PowerPoint than I am Prezi so I felt more comfortable in my skills. I was able to expand the question into multiple parts by dividing the presentation into sections. First I divided the conforming to conventions and the challenging conventions. I broke down each of these categories into different slides that discussed each of the ways in which my magazine conformed to and challenged traditional magazine conventions within the same genre. Then I divided the representation of social groups and the representation of social issues, further expanding on each in separate slides. I used title slides to introduce the upcoming concepts by using a table. The table would display an icon representative of the subject and the slides appeared in the listed order. The icon used would appear at the header of the slide it represented. I used images from my magazi...

I am using Prezi to answer two of the questions of the Creative Critical Reflection. Right now I am working on creating a presentation to answer the following question: How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware, and online - in this project? I wanted to answer this question first since the ways in which I used various technology mediums is still fresh in my mind. This also requires minimum research from outside sources, unlike the question about engaging with audiences and real-life distribution of the magazine. For my Prezi presentation about this question, I selected a template theme that is related to the idea of technology. The default transitions are very helpful since I have never used this program prior to this CCR. Originally there were four bubbles, but I deleted the fourth and designated a type of technology for each bubble: hardware, software, and online. I changed the color of the circles to match the color palette of my magazine. Clicking on each circl...

Although the adjustment was minor, I moved the cover lines and headline closer to the border. I wanted to keep the text off her face as much as possible. I raised the "Best Summer Jobs" cover line closer to the slogan to avoid it overlapping her face and taking away from the natural beauty of her features. I moved the "Must-Have Summer Fashions" cover line down to cover her hair and shoulder more. This way it doesn't cover her face and still has a darker background so the white and light pink text is visible. I wanted to keep the yellow circle that was meant for text since it is aligned with the yellow color scheme of the magazine, but I didn't know what caption to put. Since the image is cropped and you can't see her outfit - which is what is usually described in such a text bubble -, I settled on inserting another dragonfly symbol to fill that space. I made the dragonfly black to make sure it was coordinating with the black headline below. The bl...

To solve the issue of formatting and to make the description text colors match, I switched the locations of the "Best Summer Jobs" cover line and the promotion. Having a darker background of the shoreline allows for the white color text to pop off the page, thus sustaining the house style. With dragging the promotion to the lower right corner, I made the sunburst frame yellow so it would be noticeable against the white of her shirt. To avoid the same issue of finding a color to show up against of her shirt, I raised the text so it overlaps the promotion and made the text color black.

When creating my table of contents page, I found that I had formatting issues with my original design. The utilization of the large page number and larger font size made it difficult to properly fit all of the cover lines on the page. It also made it difficult to arrange the articles in a pattern that was natural for the eye to follow. Additionally, I had divided my articles into sections based on the main theme: academics, entertainment, and lifestyle & advice. This is a method used by many magazines whose target audience is young women, such as  Teen Vogue  or  Seventeen . To remedy this, I switched my design to an efficient one being used by my groupmate and removed the section headers. This not only solved my formatting and spacing issue but it also helped to establish a house style for our magazine.  I also had trouble with the setup of Canva. For my table of contents I wanted to have the cover line be bolded and of a larger font size than the descripti...

This is my initial draft of my magazine cover. On Canva I searched "teen magazine cover" for inspiration by scrolling through their preset templates. The thirteen magazine cover seemed the most suitable. This template allowed for the image to fill the entire background and eliminates any borders, a feature uncommon in teenage magazines and college magazines. I maintained the italicized magazine name but added a dragonfly symbol, something representative of our brand. I added a text box that informs the reader that this is the "Summer Edition" for the year. Under the magazine name is the slogan "spread your wings". I placed it in its designated spot so that the 'g' in dragonfly would not overlap the slogan. This placement also allows for flow so that it reads "dragonfly, spread your wings". We continued to use the default font type from the template. This particular font, Montserrat Classic, is bold and in all caps. We felt this help...

For the table of contents page, I used the Canva site and searched "table of contents" in the templates page. I selected the Bookish magazine table of contents preset template and tailored it to fit my college girl-aimed magazine. Above is the original draft I created for the magazine using said template. I uploaded an original image taken at the beach for the backdrop of the "CONTENTS" block. For the format of the page numbers and cover lines, I used the template shown to the left. Based on inspiration from other teenage girl-targeted magazine, I decided to include an image that correlated with the headline in the upper left quadrant. After consulting with my groupmates, we decided to continue using the default template for the table of contents. However, this time we settled on using the given arrangement of the text. I duplicated the text box to establish two columns for the cover lines. I kept the backdrop the same since it ties in the summer theme. To fi...

This is my original draft for my two-page spread with my main article. The headline article is arranged so that the featured celebrity, Sarah Danes, occupies the top half of the first page. I settled on the title of "Sarah Danes" with the strap line of "The Summer Before Graduation" so that it corresponds with the summer theme of the issue. The piece is one of reflection as Sarah dives into her reason for leaving fame for the educational path. It provides our college readers the insight of the value of a college education all while looking into the personal life of a well-known name. I created an introduction paragraph to provide context about the celebrity that helps flow directly into the interview. I used a two-column format for each of the pages because I felt this is most common within magazines and is easy for the reader's eye to follow along naturally. The second page has another image of Ms. Danes in the upper left-hand corner. ...

Due to limited available space on the two-page spread format, I had to eliminate some questions from my main article. I also had to trim down some of the responses so they still flowed but were also direct. I wanted to maintain the conversational tone of the interview so I restricted how much I would alter of the responses themselves and stuck to just deleting some sentences. Below are the revised responses: What caused you to want to leave your stardom? I was tired. I’d been acting since I was thirteen, and my parents pulled me out of school so I could start filming. I would film for eight hours during the day, then go home and be in school with a private tutor for another four hours or so. I did the home-school thing for five years until I finally told my parents, “That’s enough. I want to go to college.” So, my tutor helped me find applications for colleges and helped me find scholarships, and soon enough I got admitted to one. I finished the project I was working on, and then ...

I sent a set of predetermined interview questions to my friend who would be acting as the face of my magazine cover: Sarah Danes. Here are the answers she provided with the character she morphed. What caused you to want to leave your stardom?                I was tired. I’d been acting since I was thirteen, and my parents pulled me out of school so I could start filming. It was exhausting. I would film for eight hours during the day, then go home and be in school with a private tutor for another four hours or so. It was so strange, especially because I had finally grown accustomed to the public-school system back home in Florida. I did the homeschool thing for five years until I finally told my parents, “That’s enough. I want to go to college.” So, my tutor helped me find applications for colleges and helped me find scholarships, and soon enough I got admitted to one. I finished the project I was working on, and ...