Project Monitoring 06.02.14

This week, I began production on my first DPS. I found it particularly easy positioning my image, as I did not need to stretch the the backdrop to fit my page layout. However, with this ease, a difficulty arose; this being the style of my DPS. The problem here was that my page did not have enough simplicity and, yet again, I had gone for some more adventurous fonts with a bizarre colour scheme of green & black. It came to mind that perhaps my magazine would gain more marks if there was to be a larger degree of simplicity. Thus, I changed the fonts so that they looked slim and plain - this did actually make the magazine look far more conventional than what my previous draft had done. Even the colour scheme was changed to black and white as opposed to green and black. The white and black worked better with the grey backdrop. At first, I was unhappy with these changes and I found it might need more work if the DPS used simpler fonts and colour schemes. Upon testing the DPS and its layout, I eventually found that I was much happier with the changes and I now feel that it looks far better.




Here is the simple, more modern version of the my Reading Recommendations DPS

According to my schedule, I am working at a good pace and am on track to completing this first DPS on time. Although, the end of the week is very close at hand and if I am to finish on time, I need to work at a much faster pace. On the first day of the week, I placed the image in my DPS page and created the masthead and the page slogan that went either side of the centralised image. On the next day, I inserted the list of reading recommendations by researching Amazon's list and then using this with my own favourites to create a great list of recommendations. On the third day, I began writing my article for the left side of the page and today I plan on finishing this and text-wrapping it around my model on the page. I am slightly worried about how I might be able to make this work but if I do struggle then I will have to seek help.

With the upper image, I found that images I had taken such as this one, there would great difficulty in trying to create a professional-esque DPS. The reason for this being because I had too much of my model's body in my shot, and while this would give me more room to work, it almost feels like too much room, to me. In addition to this, the shoot has been badly-aligned and I would need to crop the image so that the top of the backdrop was no longer showing, but this would mean I would be cropping my model's head at the same time. With the image below, I am zoomed in further to my subject which does - I feel - look more professional.

At first, I had trouble positioning the masthead of my magazine but I discovered that it would be best in the far corners of my DPS. I believe that the biggest problem I have with creating is that once I have made an addition or initial decision, I am reluctant to change. Although, once I have considered other options, I find that my magazine does look more professional. While the initial positioning of my list of reading recommendations ran smoothly, I found that once I had tinkered with the list, I discovered that I could give the DPS a more authentic feel if I adjust the placing. One example of this is the shortening of the stroke lines to fit around the model. I have learnt that I should refrain from resisting advice from others concerning my work. In addition to this, I should be more open-minded about some of the decisions I am making. By doing this, I will be able to create a more authentic magazine.


In terms of progress made this week, I believe that my client would think that I have worked with diligence and hard effort. My client would see that I have been working well with my schedule and that I am working quickly and carefully with the time I have. What my client might dislike about what I have achieved, on the other hand, is the way in which I am quick to take my decision over anybody else's. They may, though, be pleased with how I am becoming more open-minded and even perhaps wise. The current state of my project vaguely mirrors my treatment handbook because I have used the same layout and positioning (that being central). However, I feel as though I am not doing as good of a job as what I could be since I am not being a consistent as what I could be; my colour scheme has changed unexpectedly and my font style is dramatically different to that on my flat plans. At the minute, my greatest worry is that my product is only 'satisfactory'.Essentially, what I am most scared about is how my DPS may not even be that good in terms of stylistics. Though what is more worrying is that I will know exactly how good it is, overall, until it is too late.