Hey everyone, my CCR is taking a really long time to upload to YouTube because I'm using a much older computer than my current computer to edit the video. Nevertheless, I have a link that I can share for now, and hopefully my CCR video uploads sooner than later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq8ZVCZFVFs
My friends, it's been a real pleasure. I hope you all take care and I'll see y'all around. ;)
Saturday, April 14, 2018
MAGAZINE SPREAD!
Hey guys! (This might be the last time I start off a post with "hey guys" 🙁)Wow, I'm so happy with how the magazine came out in the end. It really does seem like that all the hard work that I put into the magazine spread over the past six weeks weren't for nothing.
For the moment of truth: my magazine spread, Navigator. Enjoy!
Click to View Magazine
(just in case the link doesn't work, the images of the magazine are displayed below).
For the moment of truth: my magazine spread, Navigator. Enjoy!
Click to View Magazine
(just in case the link doesn't work, the images of the magazine are displayed below).
Thursday, April 12, 2018
thinking about the CCR
Hey guys! We've finally boiled down to this point... the CCR. To be honest, I have not been looking forward to completing this assignment, but it may not all be for the worst. It might actually give me an opportunity to look back at all that I have done and let me see how far I have come. In the past few weeks, I have been thinking about how all of the new techniques are helping me, but I have never really written them down or have answered any of the four questions that I have to address in the CCR video. However, in the next two days, I plan to truly take some time and really ponder about how far I have come.
I have also been thinking about how exactly I want to execute this assignment. I have been thinking about quite a few different options. One way that I can do is that I can do an interview with myself with my mom giving me the interview. Although I think this would be a really cool idea, I feel like enough kids are going this route, so therefore I should take some other route. I remember hearing someone told me that I should take the path that is unbeaten, which is just simply the decision I want. I would like to just simply be recorded in all of the hard work that I have been doing.
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Editing Pictures for the Two Page Spread
Hey all! I need to be really brief because I'm literally working on a billion things at once right now. However, I wanted to share one of the things I'm working on right now, with you. So one of the main restrictions that the AICE syllabus is giving us is that we cannot use any pictures that are not ours in our project. Sometimes I see some really nice pictures of Trinidad that are not mine circulating around, but I would never use those pictures for my project. Recently, However, it's been tempting. You see, I wanted to use the Trinidad and Tobago flag to be the background images of the numbers on the two-page spread pages. I am not allowed to simply use a flag of Trinidad and Tobago on the Internet on my project, but rather I figured that I have to make my own. You see, I figure that I must do what is best for the project so that I have to do it.
The system that I came up with to create the Trinidad and Tobago flag are a bit more complicated than most people would have thought for it to have ee, but at the time I literally couldn't come up with any other solution. So first things first, I have a board in my room that is clear, meaning that I can see either side of the board. What I did is that I printed a picture of Trinidad, got a clip, attached the paper to the back, and then copied the trace from the picture. I then went in to Superimpose and did some special effects that allowed me to create the flag once again.
Well, that's all for now. I'll talk to you all soon.
The system that I came up with to create the Trinidad and Tobago flag are a bit more complicated than most people would have thought for it to have ee, but at the time I literally couldn't come up with any other solution. So first things first, I have a board in my room that is clear, meaning that I can see either side of the board. What I did is that I printed a picture of Trinidad, got a clip, attached the paper to the back, and then copied the trace from the picture. I then went in to Superimpose and did some special effects that allowed me to create the flag once again.
Well, that's all for now. I'll talk to you all soon.
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Technology Aspects of the Magazine
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| Cover Page with a barcode scanner image |
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| Table of Contents with the QR Code on it |
In other news, I'm practically done with the magazine except for the two-page spread. I've completed all of the text for the magazine cover, but I still haven't figured out it all together. That may be a small problem. out how I'm going to I've figured out that I won't have any time to do an ad, so I'm not even gonna bother worrying about that. Also, I really do need to start the CCR soon, but I can't do that until I finish the magazine. I hope you all survive the rest of this week with all of the mocks that are ongoing and I hope you all have a pleasant day.
Friday, April 6, 2018
Group meet, again
Hey guys! So today my AICE Media Studies class split up into groups and we talked about our progress. I was grouped with Vincente Faret, Dani Serota, and Payton Bolonka. Although they were all doing film openings, I received some really helpful feedback and constructive criticism today that I would like to share.
When I showed my group members my cover page, they were all pleased with what I created. They fell in love with the mango-colored border around my cover and how my cover image was edited. However, there were some issues with my headings and my title. The title of my project, navigato, seemed too foreign and confusing to my group members, which I understand. They said that in order to reach my target audience in the manner that I want to, I really need to make my title a bit simpler and more intuitive. Therefore, in order to not stray away too much from what I have in mind and align myself with the suggestions of my fellow classmates, my name, for the time being, will be "navigate." I think this name will make my target audience understand my purpose much better, while at the same time not being too basic by just naming it "travel" or "wanderlust."
In addition, they also suggested to me that I change around some of the elements of my cover page so that all of the elements of the magazine come closer into place. For instance, they had told me to align my cover lines toward the left of the page and to make sure that all of the titles are neatly aligned, not in the sloppy way I currently have them. they also said that I should remove the large text that I have in the bottom left of the cover page because that title is not really providing any real value, rather it's more of a filler. In addition, they had also told me to move my selling line to on top of the title, where more people can see it. I actually really agree with this critique since my selling line needs to be
Not only did they give me constructive criticism, they also provided me with some helpful tips for when I proceed with the rest of the magazine. For instance, my group members were telling me that I should not worry too much about the table of contents and what titles I put in place, but rather I should be focusing more on the layout of the two-page spread, and most importantly, my actual main story. They also told me that I should definitely do my main article on Trinidad because I know that country better than any other country in the whole world.
They also told me that I should make a full-page advertisement based on a product that will aid travelers, like some comfortable shoes or a headrest. At this point, I don't know if I will have time to fit in an advertisement as well, but we'll see how it goes. They also gave me some helpful suggestions for how I can format the CCR (which I have to start planning next week). Vincente gave me the idea of doing an interview on where an interviewer asks me the questions that I am required to answer at the end. I think I may end up doing something creative like that for the CCR, but again, I'll have to see later a=on how I feel about it.
All in all, I'm so glad that I got to meet in groups again, and now I feel a little bit more confident going on with my magazine, as I now have some tips and tools to help me move forward. Till next time! Adios!
When I showed my group members my cover page, they were all pleased with what I created. They fell in love with the mango-colored border around my cover and how my cover image was edited. However, there were some issues with my headings and my title. The title of my project, navigato, seemed too foreign and confusing to my group members, which I understand. They said that in order to reach my target audience in the manner that I want to, I really need to make my title a bit simpler and more intuitive. Therefore, in order to not stray away too much from what I have in mind and align myself with the suggestions of my fellow classmates, my name, for the time being, will be "navigate." I think this name will make my target audience understand my purpose much better, while at the same time not being too basic by just naming it "travel" or "wanderlust."
In addition, they also suggested to me that I change around some of the elements of my cover page so that all of the elements of the magazine come closer into place. For instance, they had told me to align my cover lines toward the left of the page and to make sure that all of the titles are neatly aligned, not in the sloppy way I currently have them. they also said that I should remove the large text that I have in the bottom left of the cover page because that title is not really providing any real value, rather it's more of a filler. In addition, they had also told me to move my selling line to on top of the title, where more people can see it. I actually really agree with this critique since my selling line needs to be
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| What I gotta change, more or less |
Not only did they give me constructive criticism, they also provided me with some helpful tips for when I proceed with the rest of the magazine. For instance, my group members were telling me that I should not worry too much about the table of contents and what titles I put in place, but rather I should be focusing more on the layout of the two-page spread, and most importantly, my actual main story. They also told me that I should definitely do my main article on Trinidad because I know that country better than any other country in the whole world.
They also told me that I should make a full-page advertisement based on a product that will aid travelers, like some comfortable shoes or a headrest. At this point, I don't know if I will have time to fit in an advertisement as well, but we'll see how it goes. They also gave me some helpful suggestions for how I can format the CCR (which I have to start planning next week). Vincente gave me the idea of doing an interview on where an interviewer asks me the questions that I am required to answer at the end. I think I may end up doing something creative like that for the CCR, but again, I'll have to see later a=on how I feel about it.
All in all, I'm so glad that I got to meet in groups again, and now I feel a little bit more confident going on with my magazine, as I now have some tips and tools to help me move forward. Till next time! Adios!
Thursday, April 5, 2018
editing pictures and VSCO
Hey guys! Today I’ve been working hard to edit so,e of the shots that I have taken within the past few weeks. I want to share with you guys what I have edited so far. I am currently using an app called VSCO on my phone. VSCO has been a quick, easy, and thorough way for me to edit my photos in the manner I want. I highly recommend this app to anyone who is relatively new to somewhat professional photography and editing such as myself. One aspect that I like about VSCO is that VSCO allows for me to change the intensity of certain colors in a picture, called HSL. For instance, if you took a picture of a beach and the sun overpowered the photo, making the ocean blue hard to see, you can use HSL to adjust the hue, saturation, and lighting of the color blue to make the picture more vibrant. I am finding this tool to be very useful when I edit the photos because it gives me more control of my photos. Here are some examples of the images I have edited so far:
First off is the cover image I think that I will be using for sure. It features a scene in Times Square, which is a very touristy and photogenic spot in New York City.
In the edited image, it does not really seem that I had edited the image too much. However, when it is placed on the cover page, the edited image looks like this:
Next is my picture for the first page of the table of contents:
As you all can see, this image has been SIGNIFICANTLY transformed by all of the edits I had done. In this image overlooking Tobago from King George's Fort, I had changed the HSL for green and blue to be lighter, I had increased the clarity and had reduced some of the brightness in the photo.
First off is the cover image I think that I will be using for sure. It features a scene in Times Square, which is a very touristy and photogenic spot in New York City.
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| Before VSCO |
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| After VSCO |
In the edited image, it does not really seem that I had edited the image too much. However, when it is placed on the cover page, the edited image looks like this:
Therefore, I think the editing I had done for the image looks like everything is in place, as the orange in the top left corner pops out in with the surrounding background, and everything in the image seems much brighter. For this image, I used an au5 preset.
Next is my picture for the first page of the table of contents:
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| Before VSCO |
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| After VSCO |
I have a multitude of other images I'm currently working on right now, but I will feature them in another post when I am finished with them. Adios!
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
change of plans part 2???
Hey guys! So I’ve been sifting through different travel articles online and in my sample travel magazines at home. I’ve seen a wide variety of different ideas that I can do, from a discussion on culture in a certain country to the top ten things travelers should do when they visit a certain country. The article doesn’t only have to be based on a certain country, however. The articles I’ve seen can also refer to a geographic region, different climates, urban vs. rural, and or based on the level of costs. Therefore, one of the headings for my table of contents can have titles such as "Things to Look Out for In Cold Weather!", or "What Not to Do in Southeast Asia." The possibilities are endless.
In addition, looking through the articles, I realized something. New York City might just be too popular of a location for my travel magazine to be based on. The main goal of my travel magazine is to open up my viewers to the real world and all of what it has to offer. Therefore, even though I captured some neat shots of the city while I was there, I think I will have to shift my main focus to another destination/ topic.
During Spring Break, I also visited my home country of Trinidad and Tobago, a twin island country in the Caribbean Sea, just seven miles off the coast of Venezuela. I was born and raised in Trinidad until I emigrated to the United States when I was seven, and I visit there every year. Therefore, I think it would be a really neat opportunity to share so,e of my personal knowledge and wealth of information about the country of my roots and where I call home.
Doing Trinidad also gives me an opportunity to use the pictures that I took on my visit last week. When I went, I went everywhere, from the city to the countryside. I saw a great number of sites in Trinidad, and I can use what I know in order to bring out the beauty of the country I love. I don't have access to all the pictures right now as my phone is dead, but I will definitely upload a bunch of pictures from my recent visit so that I can start making a decision on what post I should use.
In addition, looking through the articles, I realized something. New York City might just be too popular of a location for my travel magazine to be based on. The main goal of my travel magazine is to open up my viewers to the real world and all of what it has to offer. Therefore, even though I captured some neat shots of the city while I was there, I think I will have to shift my main focus to another destination/ topic.
During Spring Break, I also visited my home country of Trinidad and Tobago, a twin island country in the Caribbean Sea, just seven miles off the coast of Venezuela. I was born and raised in Trinidad until I emigrated to the United States when I was seven, and I visit there every year. Therefore, I think it would be a really neat opportunity to share so,e of my personal knowledge and wealth of information about the country of my roots and where I call home.
Doing Trinidad also gives me an opportunity to use the pictures that I took on my visit last week. When I went, I went everywhere, from the city to the countryside. I saw a great number of sites in Trinidad, and I can use what I know in order to bring out the beauty of the country I love. I don't have access to all the pictures right now as my phone is dead, but I will definitely upload a bunch of pictures from my recent visit so that I can start making a decision on what post I should use.
Sunday, April 1, 2018
ideas for the two page spread.
Hey everyone! I'm just about to get right into the meat of the table of contents and the two-page spread. Honestly, I feel like I'm quickly running out of time as we speak. Even though I have been progressing with my magazine over the past few weeks, I'm truly not where I should be by this part of the process because I didn't end up having as much time during Spring Break as I thought I had. ( By the way, I went to some pretty amazing places other than New York, but I won't get into that right now). I've come to a point where I really need to push myself in these next few weeks and truly get as much done as possible in this upcoming week so that I can finish up the magazine during the weekend and revise it the week after and take care of the CCR.
On that note, I realized that I have literally done nothing about my two-page spread as yet, so I started drawing up ideas and brainstorming the themes. Due to the fact that this magazine spread is supposed to attract a somewhat younger audience, I would like to cover the technological world with my magazine spread. This would include putting in QR codes so that users can look up extra information on their phones on a certain topic in the article. Also, I have been thinking of adding a feature where if users use SnapCaht to scan the page, they'll get access to their very own 3-D filter, which they can use and share with their friends. Maybe I'm being too over my head right now, but I definitely know that I want to do something different with my magazine spread. Something different that shows that this magazine is aware that it needs to buddy-up with technology in order to survive.
In general, I know that I would like to make this magazine about New York City, but as to what specifically, I have no clue. Maybe I'll do something like a top 10 things to do or what are the cheapest things to do in the city. I'll come back to you guys on what I decide later. Deuces my friends!
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Legitness
Hey guys! This week I've been doing some serious work on my cover page and I'm pretty happy with what I've come up with so far.
First of all, I have been searching through different fonts on Canva and I have seen a great number of fonts that I really do like. However, I think I might end up doing using the Aileron Heavy font on Canva because this font type is smooth and attractive, which is appealing to my target audience. Also, the Aileron Heavy Font has a level of thickness that I personally like because I feel like it gives the magazine depth.
Also, I think I've been playing around with the different colors of borders on Canva and I didn't really like any of the colors while I was trying them. Green seemed too playful, blue blends in too much with my cover image, and yellow is always a yellNO in my books. However, when I came to find the orange border, I thought it was perfect. To me, it seemed playful, but still had a warm vibe that still gave off the level of substance that I'm looking for. In addition, the border fits in with the cover image, giving the magazine cover an aesthetic vibe that I really want to harness.
It's halfway finished and I hope to finish the rest of the cover after I finish my table of contents so that I can place the secondary cover lines and the main cover lines into their right spots. Then, I can rearrange the current subheading tiles and rearrange them so that they are in the format I want them to be. I will also have to move the sell-line to the bottom of the cover page (or I might leave it slightly above the title if it doesn't look as aesthetic as I want it to look.)
Also, I think I've been playing around with the different colors of borders on Canva and I didn't really like any of the colors while I was trying them. Green seemed too playful, blue blends in too much with my cover image, and yellow is always a yellNO in my books. However, when I came to find the orange border, I thought it was perfect. To me, it seemed playful, but still had a warm vibe that still gave off the level of substance that I'm looking for. In addition, the border fits in with the cover image, giving the magazine cover an aesthetic vibe that I really want to harness.
It's halfway finished and I hope to finish the rest of the cover after I finish my table of contents so that I can place the secondary cover lines and the main cover lines into their right spots. Then, I can rearrange the current subheading tiles and rearrange them so that they are in the format I want them to be. I will also have to move the sell-line to the bottom of the cover page (or I might leave it slightly above the title if it doesn't look as aesthetic as I want it to look.)
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
NAVIGATO
Hey guys, so I've FINALLY come up with a title name for my magazine. I have been searching all online for inspiration and I sifted through literally over a hundred titles to go with. After almost giving up on looking up for titles, I found a website that had some really good names. When my eyes crossed paths with number seven on the list, I instantly fell in love with the name: Navigatio. It's perfect because it has a deeper meaning than just the name itself since it means 'voyage' in Latin. Also, it just sounds really cool and I think the title will sound attractive to my target audience, ranging from 30-60 years old.
However, I think I would like to edit the name a little bit. Instead of being 'Navigatio', I think I prefer the name 'Navigato' more. The reason for this change from what the website is suggesting is because 'Navigato' is easier to say than 'Navigatio'. Also, for some reason in my head, 'Navigato' sounds like a Japanese word such as 'arigatou', which means "thank you" in Japanese. This name therefore roots the magazine more into the global and world scale of travel by juxtaposing multiple cultures and traditions in to one magazine. Also, if someone is well travelled, they are likely to make a connection that these two words are synonyms to one another, so therefore, I think it will be a great idea to make the name 'Nagivato' as opposed ot 'Navigatio'.
However, I think I would like to edit the name a little bit. Instead of being 'Navigatio', I think I prefer the name 'Navigato' more. The reason for this change from what the website is suggesting is because 'Navigato' is easier to say than 'Navigatio'. Also, for some reason in my head, 'Navigato' sounds like a Japanese word such as 'arigatou', which means "thank you" in Japanese. This name therefore roots the magazine more into the global and world scale of travel by juxtaposing multiple cultures and traditions in to one magazine. Also, if someone is well travelled, they are likely to make a connection that these two words are synonyms to one another, so therefore, I think it will be a great idea to make the name 'Nagivato' as opposed ot 'Navigatio'.
Thus, from this point forward, the blog will be called 'Navigato" instead of "Azhar's Portfolio Product", so that I can keep the focus of my magazine as a work of art rather than just some assignment that I am trying to get out of the way. I am currently working on the cover page as I speak, so tune in later to receive my updates about the cover! :)
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