Visual

1. Visual
Evaluation
Aaron Acaster

2. Production Process Evaluation

3. Research
• A strength of my research would be the fact that I did a lot of it, and I
knew exactly what I was looking for. For example when doing my practice
magazine covers, I looked up other gaming magazines and took inspiration
style wise from a lot of the magazines I saw.
• Research helped my product massively because without looking at other
magazines I’d have no clue where to start. For example when doing
research I looked at things such as the way the main character is portrayed
and how that links into the game
• The one weakness of how I conducted my research would be I maybe took
too long on it. I could have sped up the process by focusing on one specific
magazine or one specific genre of game for my front cover. That in my
opinion would have defiantly sped things up.

4. Research
I used this existing magazine as inspiration for my double page spread. Its an article called “retro
station” that Playstation magazine do regularly. I chose this as my one magazine to focus on
because they are the official PlayStation magazine, they have a good reputation and have been the
number one for a very long time. I used other magazines but this was the main one I kept coming
back to. I kept coming back to it because I think the design is simple and clean, overall its just good
looking. I felt like I could take inspiration from this and replicate it but with my own ideas and in a
way that looks good to me.
When researching I came across a lot of
magazine articles, this one stood out to
me the most because I liked the idea of
having a massive picture that more or
less fills up the whole page. Not only is
it a good way to show the game your
about to review, its also a good way to
grab readers attention if their flicking
through.

5. Planning
• A strength of my planning would be the fact that I did a lot of it. For
example I went in-depth with font, colour and image ideas, this helped the
production of my product because I had a vivid idea of how I wanted the
end result to turn out instead of going into it blind eyed.
• When planning I also came up with a few magazine cover ideas. This is a
good example of my planning stage playing off because in the finished
product you can clearly see those same ideas I used in my planning.
• A weakness of my planning stage would be the schedule. I feel like on
some days I had too little planned, but on others there was too much. To
improve this next time I would put a little bit more thought and effort
when thinking about it.

6. Planning
This is my practice front cover. You can see that I had an idea of how I wanted the end product to
look. This magazine cover is very basic however. With this side by side view you can see how the
original idea has evolved into a much more realistic looking magazine cover. A good example of
ideas evolving is the circular picture. In the final version its advertising a PS4. And its purpose is to
attract you eyes to the cover. In the practice one I had the game “Red Dead Redemption” in the
circle. This serves no purpose other than I thought it would look good. Also you can tell that I liked
the idea of having quite a simple yet dynamic background that makes everything else stand out. I
think in the final product

7. Time Management
• I think overall I defiantly managed my time well. At the current rate I am
going I will possibly finish this project early. I estimated the time a bit
wrong on my schedule however. I feel like I put too little on some days and
too much on others. For example I think that day 4 I could have started
production on the double page spread as well as finishing off the front
cover also the plans I had on day 8 could have been done on day 7.
• If I do finish early, or there was more time available I would make a second
double page spared and a second front cover.
• At the end I had extra time, so I was able to create a contents page.

8. Target Audience Appeal
• My final product appeals to the target audience because I said that the
magazine will appeal to both male and females but will aim slightly more
towards males, because they are more likely to buy a games magazine. So to
target both of these audiences on the front cover I have featured a male
protagonist who isn’t a typical human. And he has almost no personality.
Existing fans of the game will see this and realise that he's a character that
almost anybody can relate to.
• I have also featured articles that appeal to all genders. Articles such as “108
greatest cheat codes” and giving readers an opportunity to win a PS4. By
having these articles on the front gives all readers a chance to pick up the
magazine.
• On the double page spread I have appealed to Belongers by adding a twitter
logo and name. I have appealed to Type B by giving an overview of the new
Hitman game. And I have appealed to the balanced audience by having the
“108 greatest video game cheats” on the front.

9. Technical Qualities
I used this image of an existing magazine
article. I used this as a reference to give
me some kind of idea of how to lay out a
magazine.
I added things that I personally prefer, such as a pull
quote in the centre and a twitter name and logo of
the developer. I also have less in game screenshots
witch is just a personal design preference. I also
changed how the text is laid out. I did this because I
feel like it fits better with the overall look of the
article.

10. Technical Qualities
Some similarities between the two would include the “news station” logo. I positioned it differently on
the page, bit I feel like it’s the most noticeable similarity. Another similarity would be the “info” box on
the left hand side of the page covering the big picture. I think that having this box is a good idea because
it gives the readers a chance to learn the most important key pieces of information with out reading the
full article, and above all it makes the whole thing look more professional. Also other little similarities
would include such things as the black bar at the top, I personally changed the way the logo sits on the
bar. Also things like the name of the magazine at the bottom of the page, I decided to add a page
number however because I think it looks more professional. And also the barley visible grey border. On
the right hand side of the page.

11. Technical Qualities
This is the contents page I used to inspire
my work. I used this to give me an idea of
how to layout the contents page, and
how it would look once its finished.
I changed things that I prefer such as a
more interesting background. And
more visual things such as pictures and
a more interesting title
I laid out the text
differently, I still did
columns, but I spaced it out
more and made it easier to
read

12. Aesthetic Qualities
Edited
Original
Once I finished I went back and changed the font
on my double page spread. I saw it and it didn’t
look right, so I went back into Photoshop and got
the right hand side layers text style and copied it
onto the left hands side. It’s a very small detail,
but it makes all the difference. Readers wont
notice if it looks normal and good, but they will
realise if something's a little off, especially
something like two different font styles for the
same piece of text.

13. Aesthetic Qualities
On the double page spread
most of all I like the fact that
everything complements
each other, for example the
red boxes around the pull
quote complement the text
and the big picture on the left
hand side of the page brings
everything together. I also like
the big black bar at the top of
the page, I like the fact that I
have put the news logos on
each side. I think it make it
look really professional and
brings everything together. I
also like the little info box at
the side of the page. I think
it’s a good idea for people
that don’t want to read the
whole article

14. Aesthetic Qualities
To improve my double page spared I
would put more time into picking the
actual text that goes into it. Its not that
the text I have chosen is irrelevant, its
just if I had more time I would have
more detail and compared with other
articles and use the best points from
all of them. In this current version I
found an just one article and chose
pieces from that to use. I spent more
time figuring out the lay out and how it
will actually looks, more than what the
text says.
I think that I could also use different or
more in game screenshots, I just feel
that there isn’t too much to look at
when it comes to the actual game. All
there really is, is the one big picture I
made on the left hand side. To improve
I would add more screenshots of the
game.

15. Aesthetic Qualities
I liked the idea of
having a name for the
article. For example
this piece is called
“Retro Station” and
has its own logo so
fans know where they
will find the old
games.
I made this logo to replicate that. Instead of it
being a retro game article, I decided it would
work just as well if it was for newer games and
for game related news in general. So “News
Station” is the name I chose because its simple
and easy. There's defiantly no confusion what
could be featured here.

16. Aesthetic Qualities
I think that overall my work does look good. I
took some of the best features of other
magazines and used ideas like that in my final
product. I was creative because when making
my product because I took inspiration from
other existing products and made it into my
own by adding my own ideas in there and also
changing other aspects of existing ideas to
make them my own. For example on the
double page spread I got the idea to put the
text in columns from a existing magazine, I put
my own spin on it by having it at the bottom
of the page instead of the middle. And in the
middle I decided to use a pull quote because it
looks more professional that way. The thing I
like most about my front cover is all of the eye
catching colours and the way the font really
stands out. I also like the way I have
positioned all of the text and pictures, it took
me a while to get the positioning just right, I
had to resize everything a lot to get everything
sized correctly.

17. Aesthetic Qualities
I think on the cover I could possibly the
background I don’t feel like I was able to
spend enough time on it. So to improve it
I would spend more time making it more
detailed, I would use the blur tool more
and add more colour. I also feel like I
could make the “I” on the “Hitman” title
smaller. I used the rubber tool to size it
down, but I feel like it could still use sizing
down more . I spent a lot of time focusing
on the spacing and size of the other text
that I forgot about the dot of the “I”. So to
improve I would simply use the rubber
tool some more and rub some of it off.

18. Audience Appeal
I have appealed to my target audience by targeting people 10-29. I think that my magazine targets this
demographic because it features games such as “GTA V” and “Hitman” witch appeals more to the older
audience. Then you have such things as the “win a ps4” competition and the “108 greatest cheat
codes” along with some of the bright eye catching colours that appeal to a more younger audience,
however feel that its better to have more younger content because some of the older audience likes
things that is typically targeted towards children. But it often doesn’t work the other way round. Mainly
because parents wont buy things for their children that is too explicit.
GTA logo is recognisable and appeals to an older
audience.
The cheats appeal to everyone. I featured this
on the front cover because this can appeal to
children also, so it balances things out a bit
more.

19. Audience Appeal
Also on the double page spread I have appealed to Belongers by adding a twitter logo and name. I have
appealed to Type B by giving an overview of the new Hitman game. And I have appealed to the balanced
audience by having the “108 greatest video game cheats” on the front.
Overall I have tried to appeal to both males and females. However I made the decision to target more towards
males because they are more likely to buy a games magazine. So to target both of these audiences on the front
cover I have featured a male protagonist who isn’t a typical human. And he has almost no personality. Existing
fans of the game will see this and realise that he's a character that almost anybody can relate to.

20. Peer
Feedback

21. Feedback 1
• What did you like about the product?
– I like that the magazine not based on more than one game.
– The layout presents lots of information but is still spaced out well
– the content seems very realistic
– The article seem very realistic
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
– Designs on the front page clash

22. Feedback 2
• What did you like about the product?
– The magazine identifies clear information regarding the
contents and what is being reviewed and discussed within the
magazine. It offers a variety of content.
– Price and barcode clearly labelled.
– Simple grey background design helps both imagery and text to
stand out.
• What improvements could have been made to the
product?
– Main header of “Next Level” could be made slightly larger, as
“hitman” overpowers this.
– Placement of text down the left hand side. Some of the bottom
text (in blue) is quite hard to read.

23. Feedback 3
• What did you like about the product?
– Layouts match conventions of the magazine genre well
– The colour schemes work well with the products and will
attract the primary audience
– The images and graphic style work well with the format of
the piece.
• What improvements could have been made to the
product?
- The colours of the front cover are quite varied and could
distract attention from the articles.
- More buzz words could have been emphasised in the DPS
article to attract attention to specific parts of the writing.

24. Peer Feedback Summary
• What do you agree with from your peer feedback?
• the background on the front cover is clear and makes the images stand out
• I also agree with the feedback saying that it looks like a real magazine, especially the double page
spread
• the feedback saying “Placement of text down the left hand side. Some of the bottom text (in
blue) is quite hard to read”
• “The colours of the front cover are quite varied and could distract attention from the articles”
• What do you disagree with from your peer feedback?
• I don’t disagree with much, but I do disagree with “The designs on the front page
clash”

25. Peer Feedback Summary
Overall I agree with all of the feedback I have received. I mostly agree with the feedback saying the
background on the front cover is clear and makes the images stand out. I also agree with the feedback
saying that it looks like a real magazine, especially the double page spread. Also the feedback saying
“Placement of text down the left hand side. Some of the bottom text (in blue) is quite hard to read” and
“The colours of the front cover are quite varied and could distract attention from the articles” I agree with
this because I was thinking myself and if I were to do this again I would make it easier to read. I disagree
with very little, however the only few thing I do disagree with is “The designs on the front page clash” I
understand what they mean and I do agree with the fact that there's too many colours on the front. I
wouldn’t say the “clash” though. I feel like they complement each other. If I were to do this again I would
use less colours and use the colours that I do use more effectively. Based on my peer feedback I would
change very little on my double page spread. I would use more buzz words to grab the readers attention, I
would do the same on the front cover too. Also on the front cover I would change some of the colours used
on the front cover and possibly use less of them.