Creative Critical Reflection

This is finally it! Thank you again for following me on this amazing ride and please enjoy :)

P.S. so very sorry about the ugly watermark :( I thought it would just appear in the corner and there was no way for me to move it (ง'̀-'́)ง

Also, here is the link if the video doesn't play for any reason :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJy_wM6AVqI&t=368s

drum roll please!

I present to you, bon voyage:

final update

I finished the table of contents!!!!! The magazine is DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SHOW WEEK IS OVER!

The show went GREAT, I can't believe it was my final high school production (I cried on stage during our final bow) WOW I am so grateful for the experience.

Back to the project, I am so excited to post the final product, but I want to add some finishing touches as well as complete my CCR which hopefully happens tomorrow since that's what was planned!

Thank you for joining me on this awesome ride :') I remember being so excited while writing my first blogpost in class!

With senior year slowly coming to an end and everyone deciding on where they are going to college, I have been incredibly emotional lately and reflecting on a lot of things but everything is also just so exciting at the same time with prom and actual graduation coming up.

I think if senior year had to be crumpled up into one word it is definitely bittersweet.

But anyway, enough of my sentimental little speech, I am very excited to self-reflect on this magazine and all that it came from!

Talk soon!

progress, progress, progress

Show week is this week and that means rehearsals, rehearsals, and more rehearsals. 

Surprisingly, though, I have gotten a good amount done!

My two-page spread is finally finished so now I can officially begin the eagerly anticipated table of contents (yay palm trees!!!!).

The two-page spread came out as expected and I am content with it, I just need to fix/add some final touches regarding margin sizes and that'll pretty much done!

Since the show is Thursday and Friday night I am planning on finishing [before] then and recording my CCR on Saturday since I am doing a college visit on Sunday and Monday [and the project is due on Tuesday].

I have to say I'm pleased with the progress I've made, hence why I am so excited to share it with the world (literally because I will share it with my whole family, maybe even on Facebook later on).

Finally, so sorry for the short post, I have just been finishing the article and being nitpicky with the two-page spread so I haven't done much new research this past day.

P.S I didn't release any pictures of the two-page spread just because I rather not give it away so quickly... guess you're just gonna have to hang in there and wait a few! ;)

table of contents idea

I am currently smiling from ear to ear and it's all thanks to the table of contents.

I began my research, looked up "table of contents for travel magazine" on Google images, scrolled down and looked at some here or there.

and then

I came across this work of art:

If you've learned one thing about me it should be my undying love for LA and its gorgeous palm trees.

So, after I laid eyes on this amazing layout I thought "WOW, if only I had a palm tree picture like that!"

And so I kept on finishing my two-page spread and I found a little angel within my own photo album:

So let's just say I will have my table of contents page done very very soon (and not just because the due date is fast approaching ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Citations:

1. Lammerant, Ivan. "Amanda Friedman Photography | Page 2." Pinterest. Pinterest, 14 Jan. 2014. Web. 02 Apr. 2017. <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/571535008932798446/>.

exploring Canva

After playing around with Canva for some time now, I have to say I truly love it.

It has absolutely everything

and by everything I mean tutorials and articles on how to do this and how to match colors and how to match backgrounds and just, wow. It is heaven.

I found this article on how to match fonts and such because as much as I love the rush in finding fonts and looking for ones that match, I needed some professional help.

I read about the serif and sans serif fonts and how they work incredibly well together. I only found Source Serif Pro on Canva but it works and it actually looks pretty good!

I also read about to stay within a family of fonts when combining (I didn't even know font families existed) AND that one should stick to at most two to three fonts during a project (which was the initial question that led me to do some research) so that article has been pretty neat and helpful. 

I am not completely done but I will release a sneak peek of the first page of the two-page spread (serif font isn't used below because that is part of the final that I will release soooon):

This is NOT THE FINAL DRAFT ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but it is very close and similar hmmmm.

Back to that schedule! Umm, going mostly as planned but I will probably have a sketch of the table of contents made by Sunday night and hopefully I can get it started (and finished) Monday! (?) (I knew this would happen) (But it's totally okay because I pull through and get my stuff done) (so yay me) (enough sidebar)

Have a lovely rest of the weekend! :)

Citation

1. Kliever, Janie. "10 Golden Rules You Should Live By When Combining Fonts: Tips From a Designer – Design School." Design School. Canva, 28 May 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. <https://designschool.canva.com/blog/combining-fonts-10-must-know-tips-from-a-designer/>.

GOOD NEWS

OUR DEADLINE WAS EXTENDED (BY TWO DAYS) so now the final project plus the CCR is due on April 11.

Now, I still want to try and follow the "schedule" I made up on my last post in order to not stress myself out more than usual and fall behind with this project, specially because I'm having fun with it and don't want to make it a chore.

I have gotten most of the article done (yay me!) AND I came up with a sketch of what I imagine my two page spread to look like (yay for progress!):

I have started playing with Canva and it's been a little rough since I'm still getting used to working with text, but I'm working with that. 

Regarding the article, I'm writing about areas I have been to and I have been trying to add fun facts in a casual and lighthearted tone in order to make the article fun and easy to read.

To finish off this post, I am just glad to be working at the pace I planned (this is the Capricorn in me).

Toodaloo!

it's [almost] crunch time

I have begun this week feeling somewhat better and with some goals set in mind since the due date (April 9) is FAST approaching!

I started writing my article and I want it done by Wednesday to start designing the actual two-page spread. I was very excited until good old writer's block hit me like a brick (ง'̀-'́)ง
To begin with, though, I started researching some travel magazine articles on different cities just to see the type of writing I will be dealing with.

I then want to work on my table of contents during the weekend and only have to do final touches early next week to then record my CCR hopefully next Wednesday/Thursday (??) (The school's musical is Thursday and Friday so I rather have it done earlier. I'm praying!) (have to 'ponerme las pilas' as we hispanics say!)

Also... this next update will probably have you go crazy... but I did make some slight changes to the cover (I KNOW I AM VERY INDECISIVE) and so that is what I will leave you with:

I added more "traveling pictures" so goodbye to the cute dog (I came to my senses) (why would a dog be on a travel magazine cover) (I don't know) (bye bye doggy)

Expect to hear some more of me this week :p

P.S: that phrase in Spanish directly translates to "put on my batteries" which just means I need to get myself together and get to work!

plot twist!

Hello there! I have been STRUCK with a cough and a congestion that has had me a little down throughout the weekend but I'm doing somewhat better :)

I was finally able to go to FedEx and print out the pictures from the cover in order to take my classmate's advice and take an actual picture of the pictures instead of having the cover be completely digital.

I printed the pictures out 4.5in by 4.5in and they came out gorgeous! I tried choosing a matte paper so the glare wouldn't appear when the natural lighting shined on it. I then took the pictures on my dining table in order to have that beautiful wooden background and voila, here are some (including one of me cutting the pictures LOL):

me, cutting borders off

one of the many tries

my very own studio!

here is my canvas

I then got the chance to try the picture on Canva and... the unexpected happened:

real picture with digital text

digital over digital

I have to say I love the original version so much more. Surprisingly, the actual picture (on the left) looks odd and messes with one's head because it looks more digital than the digital one, yet they are the real photos! I also can't find a successful way to brighten it. The original cover to the right is so much more brighter and attractive to the eye and even though it appears mostly as digital, because it is, it presents itself better and is more eye-catching than the one to the left. And eye-catching is one of the most important aspects for the cover isn't it?

Until next time, lovely readers!

research leads to creativity

We got a day off from school today so yay! That means relaxation but also time to get ahead on some things. 

I started researching two-page spreads for travel magazines and I came across these layouts:

This layout is one I had in mind at the beginning of the project but it lost my interest because it's so basic and I feel it doesn't match the "care-free look" I'm striving for since it is organized so strictly with most pictures at the top and mostly text at the bottom.

 

I LOVE this layout. It's casual, has room for creativity and, therefore, helps portray the "fun" and "care-free" look I want for the travel magazine. LA is also a very "hippie" and artistic city so, again, with the creativity room this layout presents, I feel as if this could easily be the best choice to convey these tones.

I also found some layouts with a picture of a well-known sight of the place being mentioned as the background and text within and around the photograph. I don't love it as much as I adore option number 2 but I feel as if I could definitely play with this layout. My only worry is I won't find a good picture for it or the picture won't look good blown up so big... I will keep you all updated as per usual!

For this weekend I'm going to figure out the final touches of my magazine cover. And for this upcoming week I want to write my article, come up with the questions I will be asking my uncle (and ask them) as well as play with the two-page spread :) busy week coming up ahead! (I also hope to work during rehearsal because this year's school play is finally coming up!)

I will check back with you later this weekend!

Citations:

1. Danielsson, Nadin. "Amazing Magazine Layout Design Idea (84)." Design Listicle. N.p., 18 Dec. 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. <https://www.designlisticle.com/magazine-layout/amazing-magazine-layout-design-idea-84/>.
2. "Dubai." Dubai. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. <http://www.africa-ata.org/dubai.htm>.
3. Ming, Lara. "Travel Agency Magazine Ad Series." Behance. N.p., 26 Apr. 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. <https://www.behance.net/gallery/8372055/Travel-Agency-Magazine-Ad-Series>.

chats & feedback

To start off, I made some changes to the cover I created last week because the sharp edges really irked me and I felt as if it was uncomfortable and contradicted the idea of fun, lighthearted traveling. Here is a before and after:

old, sharp, mean cover

NEW & IMPROVED cover!

I also cropped the pictures and made them all square to be consistent with both the size and shape. I also did change some pictures in order to make the top and bottom "match"/reflect in a way with the picture of palm tree and bright blue sky in the middle.

In class today, we got into different groups and "pitched" our project idea to our classmates in order to have their input on each of our projects. My group seemed to really like my idea and were intrigued with the photography/travel magazine idea so that made me even more excited to continue.

I then showed them the cover, which I am still a little nervous about since it is very very different from normal magazine covers but they said they also really liked it! I asked for some feedback and one girl asked if I had taken a picture of the table with the actual pictures on it, I explained no and she suggested for me to try that because the natural shadows/lighting could add a nice touch. I had not thought about this and I do want to try it even though I know the lighting will be a tough job, but it sounds kinda fun to figure out since I have never played with lighting that way. (I am already looking for a cheap way to print the pictures LOL).

For this week I definitely want to try that and I am also going to look into the two-page spread format. *eyes emoji* Ooooooooooo progress! 

Yay and until next time!

some good news, some bad news

I will bring out the bad news to you first: Thespian competition/festival is over :( and I am super sad it is but also SO incredibly happy with the outcome. Our school did very well earning 3 Superior's and 3 Excellent's and getting to know my troupe was as awesome as the whole experience.

Now for the good news:

I have gotten ready for tonight's departure very quickly and have used the extra time to work on my magazine, yay!

So I played around with Canva and made a possible cover!(?) I really love it and it is very different, breaking magazine conventions such as one photo in the cover and the masthead normally being towards the top.

I chose this template/layout to begin playing around with:

screenshot from Canva

And here is my first try at the cover page:

screenshot from Canva

I went through the fonts first and loved this one since it reminded me of a postcard which is the type of look I wanted to try for the cover. I had put the title diagonally to begin with in the middle of the page but thought it looked way too causal and not as appealing as it looks horizontally.

screenshot of how it looked diagonal, did not end up liking it

Regarding the pictures, they were all taken by me in Miami and LA (I did not add them simply because this issue focuses on LA, but because my favorite personal photography is mostly from there). The background is a picture of our very own dining table. I got the idea from my mom who peeked over at my design and gave me the idea of a "scattered pictures on a table" look. I opened up all the windows and took a bird's eye view picture as well as adjusted the lighting while taking the picture for my cover. With all this together I want the "scattered" look to be portrayed, as well as postcard look accompanied by the masthead [font], revealing the "good vibes" my title offers whilst traveling to the place mentioned.

action pic of me, taking a shot of our beautiful dining table

Most of the travel magazine covers I viewed did not have a lot of writing/cover lines so I just added the "Where to next? Los Angeles, CA" in order to distinguish this issue from others. I want to try and add one more cover line so I will play around with how that will look.

Until next time, prospective travelers!

1. Peter. "Travel." Issuu. Issuu, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. <https://issuu.com/categories/travel/adventure-travel>.
2. "Photography." Magzter. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. <https://www.magzter.com/magazines/Photography>.

mid-thespian competition update

I found some time from the festival to escape to my room in order to write this mid-week, mid-brainstorm update.

I have thought some about the title, throughout the thespian madness and liked the thought of bon voyage (keeping all letters lowercase, to give off a relaxed and casual look - also looking for a travel-y/postcard looking font, I shall experiment later!)

I looked up the definition and liked the idea that the word gives off, since I want the readers to want to travel and have a good experience at the place the issue is about (in this case, Los Angeles):

I also got the chance to play around with Canva and found TONS of tutorials and even a "designing school" where people write "how to" articles that relate to magazine making! It is basically magazine heaven.

There are templates available and I looked at some in order to have some ideas but I think I will be taking matters into my own hands; meaning I want to try something new. Maybe a collage/postcard type idea (I will play with the idea on my way home and will update on my next blog post!).

I was searching through and reading and found Designing the Perfect Table of Contents: 50 Examples to Show You How article (right on Canva!). I looked towards photography ones in order to include images and visuals and I LOVED numbers 6 and 13. Number 41 also caught my eye and now I want to try to integrate text with image(s) or maybe even images with text, so I will try my best to provide examples of what I am working on in my next posts!

I am now close to time and I will be participating in a dance workshop here at the festival (yay exercise! yay getting fit!).

Wish me luck and until next time!

1. Maria Jose. "Designing the Perfect Table of Contents: 50 Examples to Show You How."Design School. Canva, 06 Jan. 2016. Web. 17 Mar. 2017. <https://designschool.canva.com/blog/table-of-contents-design/>.
2. "Travel Magazine Cover Templates." Travel Magazine Cover Templates - Canva. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2017. <https://www.canva.com/templates/magazine-covers/travel/>.

maria gets it together

First off, I am the type of person to be assigned something and become very overwhelmed looking at all my future tasks at once. So by "get it together" I mean get myself and my thoughts organized.

In order to enjoy this project as much as possible I am going to make a to-do list and hopefully it will be in a chronological and doable order.

1. First, I'd love to know my magazine's name - so I'll definitely explore and think a lot about it throughout the week.
• Now that I'm on this topic, this week ahead is going to be pretty busy. Tomorrow I leave for Thespians States Festival in Tampa, FL and I'll be back home on Sunday morning. But no worries, I will be bringing my computer along in order to complete homework and other exciting things like this project.
2. Second, I need to do more research on photography and travel magazines to understand their conventions.
• I came to the conclusion that I want the magazine to be more of a travel magazine with a base of photography, so I want to make it heavy with visual content.
• I also went through my camera roll and found perfect shots to include and I am just so excited! I love LA! (catch me saying this in almost every blog post) (oh lord).
3. Third, I want to find a layout for my article/two-page spread and then begin to write my article.
• I want to have the layout in mind to have an idea of how much I would like to write because I could probably go pages and pages about the city, so I need to know my limits!
• I also thought of the cutest idea (and I already got permission so YAY): I am going to interview my uncle in order to include a small section to give some "insight" about how life is over in the city from a an actual resident! (And I have super nice pictures of him because he is just so cool and stylish! LOL)
• Sometimes I think this project was made for me.
4. Find a layout for my table of contents page
5. I also want to get to know Canva and play around with it since my friend recommended the website to me since she used it last year to create her own magazine.

This helped me organize myself and keeps me from feeling clustered. Hopefully this also gives you an insight on what I have to do the following weeks.

I hope to find moments on this upcoming States trip to do some research and I will be updating as much as I can!

Au revoir!

to new ideas and new new beginnings

Hello fellow readers!

With this new idea in mind, I started to research different photography magazines to have a sense at their "look" and I came across this specific cover that really caught my eye and I definitely want to try and use it as inspiration:

I loved it since it breaks magazine conventions by having more than one photograph in the cover and I thought this goes great with what I want to do since I want to have people "travel" through pictures.

On this note, I decided the magazine could be more of a travel one than solely a photography magazine because I want people to have the ability to get to know a city/place through the pictures (and article, of course). So I did look up some travel magazines and noticed the covers are an island and/or exotic looking places.

As of now, I want to make the magazine more with the photography conventions but also adding travel magazine conventions (specifically to the article) in order for the readers to have the feeling of wanting to visit after they have read the article.

For target audience I thought of 21-55 year olds, both male and females, who are interested in traveling and exploring new places, also enjoying visuals of the places they are interested in visiting.

I found a website/blog that offered a Travel and Leisure magazine analysis and it stated that the target audience was "between the ages of 25 and 54" and mentioned that "60% of their readers are counted as being married" because most couples enjoy picking up a magazine and looking up travel places whether it be for a honeymoon or an anniversary. I also realized that the reason they start at 25 and not 21 years is because after 25 most people are done with college/university and therefore choose to travel more. In conclusion, I will make my target audience between the ages of 24-55 years old, with an interest in traveling as well as an interest in photographs and visual content.

Citations:

1. Johnson, Josh. Outdoor Photographer. 2010. N.p.
2. Dennis, Marco. "Re: Travel Magazine." Blog comment. Pinoy Manila Lifestyle and Travel Blog in the Philippines. Pinoy Manila, n.d. Web. <http://pinoymanila.com/2013/01/27/travel-magazine-launches travel-now-campaign/travel-magazine_-feb-2013-cover/>.
3. Avery, Meredith. "Travel and Leisure Magazine Analysis." Blog post. Mereavery's Blog. N.p., 7 Feb. 2012. Web. <https://metdenver.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/56/>.

well, this definitely took a turn

Hi there!

So, funny thing happened on Friday, as I was researching for this women's magazine: I had some sort of... uh... epiphany let's call it. A life, more like project, changing idea...

Luckily, this big change came before I really got into the women's magazine idea. 

So this is how it came to be: I was having a lovely conversation with my friend in the class and the concept of photography came up and I LOVE taking random pictures, it's a random hobby of mine and not very consistent because I don't do it often but I do have to admit that I think I have a good eye for pictures! Here are some pics for fun:

My dog, Tambo, at the beach.

Perez Art Museum Miami

Winter Park, Colorado

Now, as I mentioned in my first blog post, I LOVE the city of Los Angeles, California. I visit often because my uncle/godfather lives there and the city is just so beautiful I have to take pictures everywhere I go. I know, super embarrassing because I am always looking super lame and touristy, but it is just too gorgeous.

Anyways, back to the brand new idea: I thought of making a photography magazine and have every issue's main story (aka the two page spread) be about a specific city that is recommended to visit and the article explains what there is to do while, of course, including a heavy load of visual content.

I then looked through my camera roll and found amazing shots I definitely want to include.

Finally, I wanted to add that as much as I love my mother and admire her hard work everyday, I am more motivated to do develop this idea into my desired magazine (she was also happy with my new idea AND was a little relieved about not having to be photographed).

My follow up post shall include some research and maybe even some covers I saw that really caught my eye...

Until next time!

to new beginnings

Today, I commence the blogging of my upcoming project for my AICE Media Studies class.

I am very excited, but also a little overwhelmed, of course, since it is something I have never in my life tried before: creating a magazine from scratch.

Now, that last sentence may have sounded weird since most high school kids haven't created a magazine either (here is a first of many awkward moments) but I just say that because I have never thought of designing until I took this class! Let me tell you a little of what interests me and has always interested me: 

Show Business, and all of its aspects. Whether it be acting, producing, directing, writing, marketing/publicity, set design, editing, you name it! I love it. And when I started to think "hey I want to go to college and I really want to do something I enjoy," I thought of studying Mass Communications/Media Studies! (And hopefully in Los Angeles since this business is prominent there and/but also because it is my favorite city!)

But, anyways, back to the task at hand:

I did have the choice of filming the opening scene of a movie of my creation, but I have had experience with writing, filming, and editing and so I decided to try something different.

I even made a list of topics I could make my magazine about:

• dogs
• food
• shoes
• feminism

So... I actually did come up with a decision earlier in the year because I had friends tell me about this project and I wanted to jump in with some topics in mind. My thought process was:

• "Hmm I only have one dog and he is hard enough to take pictures of, so maybe next time" *cries because dogs are awesome creatures and no one can ever get enough of them*
• I had a friend who did food and it looked amazing and food is pretty awesome too but I kind of just wrote it because I thought about her project, not something that moves me. Next!
• I was thinking of cool and different shots I could take of various shoes and also because this girl next to me was wearing white converse but she gave them so much personality that I found it truly interesting so this topic was in the back of my mind for some time.
• Ah, and finally feminism. Relevant, important, I consider myself a feminist, so why not? But then I realized some people were also talking about this topic, so eh.

A few days later, though, I then saw my mom come home from work dump all her stuff down on the table and get to cooking after a short break and thought "huh, a working mom AND one that takes care of her household at once, how does she do it?" and the cute idea came to interview my own working mother on her double life as a mom and as a full-time working woman!

I told her my idea, she is a little shy but she is up for it! Soooo, no more babbling from me but this is basically how my magazine idea was born :) I will post later on what ideas I have for what the overall of the magazine will include!

P.S the title of the blog is currently "how *mag name* came to be" because I am currently thinking of a name, hopefully I come up with something fun and catchy later on because I am not really digging this one.

"Moms! Not all superheroes wear capes!" Digital Image. ChurchMag. 12 May 2013. Web 7 March 2017. <https://chruchm.ag/superhero-moms/>.