TOC Original Content

TOC CONTENT SELECTION AND EDITING                                             02/17/2022

During blog #10 I will be explaining the reasoning behind certain decisions regarding my content. I will be talking about why I chose specific photos and how I edited and placed them on my layout. I will also be mentioning what I decided to name my articles, heading, subheadings and what I decided to include in my descriptions. As I learned in blog #4, it is important to place an emphasis on the TOC because it can easily make or break your entire magazine so throughout this blog you will witness all of my careful considerations and the reasons behind my precise decisions. Once again I wanted to state that I used Canva for most of the actual editing though the original images were cropped and stored in Google Picture Editor. Both design tools are very easy and simple to use and will be showing screenshots of my unique work, step by step.

Editing Tools:

Canva: Before I begin, I want to briefly mention Canva. Canva is a digital design tool that can be used by people worldwide, from students to CEO's, in order to create professional-looking and visually appealing designs. I personally used Canva for my drafts and mockups as seen in blogs #5-6 and I really enjoy implementing its tools into my own designs because they are so simple and it takes a lot less time and effort than it would without it. Canva can be opened on google or can be downloaded in the google store as a chrome extension but when you open it the menu will pop up like this:

Afterwards, you can click on one of the premade templates which was what I did (I chose classroom poster) or you can click on the box in the top right corner that reads create a design and personalize your own design from the very start. 

Now, all you have to do is copy and paste your picture into the template and start designing with the wide range of tools provided by Canva. Google Image Editor is very easy to use and later on in the blog I will be mentioning how I used it. It basically functions in the same way that your phone's photo editor works as in reality it is an add-on to the photo app itself.

Selected Original Images: I picked 4 main photos as possible candidates for my table of contents' images. Each has a number of reasons why I picked them and I will now elaborate on my choices in this section. To be more specific I chose 3 drafts during blog #9 and I will apply all 4 of my edited images to the first 2 drafts in order to see how they look with the TOC as a whole.

Original Image #1: 

I chose this image for a number of different reasons, the first of which being because the photo was shot live during a soccer match. Consequently this gives the reader a perspective into the match and deeply engages them into the content. It is also framed at a respectful distance since it is framed in a long shot that gives the audience a life-like representation of the players. I also selected this image above the rest because it is very similar to the cover image so the connection is evident and makes the magazine appear consistent. In addition, the athlete's costume also perfectly matches the current plan for the TOC so it develops a sense of unison between all of the key aspects in the TOC. Lastly, the background is outdoors which in turn causes the picture to appear more beautiful in relation to nature and happy which are ideal feelings that I desire my magazine to associated with.

Original Image #2: 

The first reason why this image was selected is because it is a very heartwarming and passionate image that shows the brotherly love between teammates as well as the overall love of the game as a whole. This then helps the magazine grow closer to the audience and make themselves more friendly and relatable. The image is also very diverse in its subjects so in no way is the image boring yet it is still not at the point where it becomes overwhelming. Additionally, there is a kind of symmetry in the way that the people are set up and their costumes that then leads to a formal tone being formed which contrasts with the more relaxed and joyful tone I mentioned earlier. Furthermore, this contrast was something that I thought would make my magazine successful because it is essential to find the balance between sophistication and comfort. Lastly, the warm colors contrast very well against the green/cool color natural background which allows the viewer to focus more on the individual subjects instead of on the entire image.

Original Image #3: 

I chose this image because it is framed in a mid shot which is at a respectful and professional distance from the viewer that automatically conveys that tone. The image also has a beautiful landscape that is visually appealing and captivating because it shows how realistic this magazine really is. The image is also related to the content because the star of the main image is one of the main focus points of the magazine and so is the trophy that he is holding since the magazine is a preview for this tournament. The image also perfectly exemplifies all of the key aspects of sports, fun, the outdoors, playing with friends, and of course winning in a very relatable way. Furthermore, there is a lot of negative space which makes the cover look more open and free. What's more, the image has the conventional warm and neutral colors that are commonly found in sports magazines. These colors place an importance on the magazine such as how they symbolize its goodness and power.

Original Image #4:

I mainly chose this image because it slightly bent the common conventions of sports magazines. This image does not include an athlete as the subject and instead chooses to focus on the beautiful landscape of a sports complex that is visually appealing while still reminding us of what the magazine is about, sports. The image can also be easily manipulated in a number of ways and cropping it slightly won't hurt it in any way. The text elements would also work very well with the image since I want to use warm colors as my text which will nicely contrast against the cooler colors in the image itself. The last good thing about this image is that it gives off a certain calm and formal feeling that is associated with the beauty of nature in this image and that will combine with the warm colors to convey a sense of power.

Rejected Original Images:

Original Image #1:

I personally did not like this image because first of all it is too skinny. Then, even if I crop it to be smaller the image itself is not that high quality and the subject would still be too small for it to be emphasized in any way. The background is also not ideal with it not being a neutral background or a natural one so that the background looks slightly crowded and low quality. The image also includes way too many colors for my liking and even though it creates a connection to sports there are a lot of elements to focus on, thus overwhelming and distracting the audience.

Original Image #2:

First of all, the background and floor are both very unappealing with a very bland and boring color as well as a design that gives off a low quality and unprofessional vibe. Secondly, the shoes certainly feel out of place in this image dominated by neutral colors which unfortunately causes them to be the center of attention instead of the subject's face. In addition, the immense utilization of neutral colors means that the image lacks contrast and loses a bit of its life with no real and satisfying colors to look at. The last thing was that this image had very poor lighting that made the image way too bright and caused the subject to not appear very detailed and clean. All in all, this image is not very good in any way.

Editing Process:

Original Image #1:

The first step I took regarding the editing of this image was to, with the help of Google Image Editor, crop all of the extra unnecessary space around its edges to make it look more clean and precise. Thus, I mostly cropped out the bottom but I also slightly trimmed the top and sides of the image inward to put the focus more on the duo.

Next, I put Canva to good use and enhanced the quality and overall feel of the image to make it look more engaging and sophisticated. The first thing that I did was that the image felt too white and bright so I tinted it blue and brought the warmth down to -100 so that it looked cooler and calmer. At the same time I wanted to make it energetic and immersive so I increased the x-process, brightness, and contrast all up to 25 in order to do so and partially create a balance between the coolness and the warmth. Then, to finally counter the coolness completely I increased the saturation to 50 which also made the red uniforms stand out more, therefore putting the focus back on the main subjects of the image. Lastly, I decreased the blur to -25 to heighten the quality of the image in a manner that made the subjects more crisp and clean.

Original Image #2:

Once again I utilized Google Image Editor to crop the image in a way that would allow it to easily fit not only on a Canva template but also in my TOC. Just like for Image #1 I decided to take out all of the negative space surrounding the central image and chose to limit the background so that the audience's eye should be directly on the team being shown.

Afterwards I went to Canva and set to work on making adjustments that would make the image more visually appealing and unique. Surprisingly the more I edited the worse it got so I simply decided on just a couple changes here and there but for the most part I left the image the same since there were so many people in it to consider how they would look with a certain edit on. The image was just a bit bright for my liking but I only dropped the warmth down to -25 as the image is a very happy one that coupled with the small trace of warmth gives off an appealing feeling. I then decreased the blur also to -25 to make the image more detailed and lastly I increased the contrast to also help with the general viewing experience. I did not touch the saturation because the red shirts would have become too overwhelming and a bit ugly if I added it. In the end, the image was near perfect without the edits I ultimately added.

Original Image #3:

I first cropped the image down a lot because the background was too tall which would make it hard to fit in the TOC and would distract the audience from the main subject of the image. I decided to leave the sides the same width and chose to crop the top and bottom edges inward to the point that the shot is a very close mid shot which makes the photo more personal and happy.

As you can see, the tint was a bit too warm which caused the image to not look very clear. Also the text was not easy to read when the image was like this, so I decided to change the image slightly via Canvas and their amazing design tools. I first increased the saturation of the image up from 0 to 15 in order to make the image stand out more. Afterwards, I made the image more distinct and detailed by decreasing the blur from 0 to -50. Next, in order to balance the effect of those two adjustments and the original problem with warmth in a satisfying way I decreased the warmth from 0 to -100. Unfortunately, I still had a problem with the readability of the text so I decided to add a blue tint to the image so that the warm colors contrasted more with it so that the words became clearer and to simulate a calm and peaceful feeling for the magazine that also contrasts greatly with the energetic side of the magazine as well. And for the placement I simply used Canvas to help me line it up directly in the center while for the size I increased it evenly until there was no space left, length-wise.

Here's a picture of the settings that I applied:

Original Image #4:

I first needed to crop the image in a manner that would allow it to fit properly into the magazine so I basically trimmed the side with less of the sunset to the left a little until it fit evenly and I decreased a lot of the sky. I then placed it right in the center to make it look balanced and formal.

I then decided to make the image look stronger and clearer by increasing the contrast from 0 to 50, the clarity from 0 to 25, and I decreased the blur from 0 to -25. Afterwards, I wanted to stylize it even further by tinting the image green so that it contrasted even better with the text/background and so that as I found out in blog #3, a calming and prosperous atmosphere would be created. Then, to counter and balance this I put the warmth and saturation at 100 instead of 0 so that the sunlight in particular stood out more and a happy as well as an aesthetic feeling was produced.

Final Images and Layout:

Here I will only be mentioning how and why I placed my final images in their respective positions on my two favored layouts.

Out of all of my images I truly believed that this one could stand strongly on its own in this layout as it was one of the widest and brightest ones. In other words, the brightness would help it contrast well with the background and connect with the rest of the text. I decided to place my image in the center of the top third of the page because in that position it becomes the most visible and one, if not the, very first thing that the audience sees. It also helps keep the rest of the layout in the correct order that includes a perfectly straight invisible edge that allows for more negative space along the edges. 

In this layout I applied the remaining 3 pictures in order from most important to least important depending on the article it is directly related to. I, for one, believed that the dynamic duo article would be the most important then followed by an exclusive interview with the cover star and lastly the unconventional story on a venue instead of the usual athlete story. This allowed me to be unconventional while making sure it was not the first thing people would see. I also placed them small on the left hand side to leave space on the opposite side for more content because my magazine is meant to be detailed and extensive while still being fun and to the point. Lastly, I left space in between each instead of stacking or lining them up while touching to appear more professional and to leave space for more content. It also would look really messy if the images were in a kind of collage and it really is not traditionally found in my genre.

Written Original Content: Each of the following article and descriptions directly correlate with one of the images that I talked about above in the exact same order, so article #1 is related to image #1. On the other hand, the heading and subheadings are separate but still somewhat connected to the content as they are the overall summary of the information and let's people know what content is considered what.

Heading:

Lineup

Explanation:

I chose this to be the heading of the TOC because Contents feels too boring and common while the heading Lineup will automatically make us more distinct from the competition. The heading should also convey the fact that this is truly a sports magazine and by implementing this title in particular, I can make the connection to sports a lot easier and become more relatable in the process. Last blog I also found out that even though this is not common, it is beginning to become conventional with brands like Sports Illustrated using it as well so it shows how the magazine is modern and progressive.

Subheading #1:

ECNL League Review

Explanation:

The first subheading explains to the audience that some articles will be recapping events that occurred during the league season. This is very conventional as many sports magazines are published as a result of the end or start of a certain competition. The subheading also acts as nice kind of context for both article #1 and #2, both of which are placed underneath this subheading due to their information being related to it. Subheadings such as this one also help organize the articles together in a chronological way so that they are easier to understand and connect with one another.

Article #1:

GSD's Dynamic Duo pg.3

Description #1: 

Leonardo Gonzales and Daniel Rodriguez have given GSD a much needed attacking threat and they have broken many records on their way to helping GSD clinch their first ever league title. 

Explanation:

First off, this article obviously connects with image #1 as that photograph depicts two players, Leonardo and Daniel, which in this case turn out to be the main idea of this article. The magazine's cover main image also appears here so the magazine is brought together thanks to this article. I chose this to be a topic for one of my articles due to the fact that it reflects on the concept of sports analysis in general which I stated from the beginning is a big part of what I am striving to include in my magazine by diving deep into how two specific players performed and how they are predicted to perform in the coming weeks as well as months. The description also provides the audience with some more context on who the duo actually is and what they did while simultaneously leaving out key details in order to entice them into reading the full article.

Article #2:

ESSA's Home Winning Streak pg. 4

Explanation:

For this article it explains the team in image #2 and how they were able to maintain a very impressive win streak throughout a good portion of the season which thoroughly establishes the connection between them and the article. I also chose this article because it combines both the news and analysis portions of my magazine into one story because it mentions how they played in the game in great detail and the actual news about it almost breaking a record. The story is also very interesting and one that the audience should love as it refers to a true underdog story as they narrowly avoided relegation as a result. Last but not least, I chose this article as a way of me connecting the cover to the TOC as this article appears in both.

Subheading #2:

Demetri Cup Preview

Explanation:

As aforementioned, I learned in blog post #1 that most sports magazines are published leading up to or after a major sporting event so this subheading not only fuels the hype for the event but also teases the reader to read the articles under this section in order to prepare themselves for the actual event. Basically, my logic behind this subheading is the exact same as my last subheading.

Article #3:

Reigning Champions want the Repeat pg. 9

Explanation:

This article will be an exclusive interview with the cover star so in reality it should be the main reason behind people reading this magazine in the first place as they saw him on the front cover as well as on image #3 holding a trophy to further cement his dominance. This article will help make the magazine more distinguishable and unique so that is the main reason behind my choice for this. Not to mention how it relates to the common conventions of sports magazines, most of which include exclusive content that came directly from the cover star him/herself.

Article #4:

New Sports Complex's Debut pg. 12

Description #2:

The home of this year's Demetri Cup is none other than the newly opened Ed Starkey Sports Complex which includes state of the art turf fields, quick and easy drainage, and much more.

Explanation:

I wanted to end the magazine off with a bang, an unconventional one at that. So I decided to focus an article on the venue of the sporting event in order to further inform the audience on what to expect and in order to subvert their expectations on what a sports magazine includes. The beautiful photo for image #4 not only relates nicely to the topic but it also gives the audience more motivation to read this article that sets my magazine apart from others in the same genre.

Conclusion:

To recapitulate, the image and overall content that I selected here today all compliment one another in multiple ways to build one amazing TOC. Although most of my content is conventional, certain aspects are quite rarely found in sports magazines. For instance, the appearance and absence of descriptors varies from publication to publication with some including them with all of their articles while others lacking them completely. Subsequently, I selected to add a description to only half of my articles so as to appear balanced in my content and in my genre. I also added descriptions to the longer stories that I want to draw attention to due to their creativity and uniqueness. Overall, I will be trying to stay in 3rd person in my analysis of games and when mentioning recent news events so that I appear as a credible and professional source of information. On the other hand, for my exclusive interviews I will be taking a more relaxed approach because that is where I can connect with my fans and the star athlete so I will be using 1st person only there. This helps me keep my target audience interested as they are expecting detailed, objective analysis of news and games as well as a fun and passionate approach to stories that call for such an attitude. I am making a semi-formal magazine so by alternating between these two POV's I will keep my audience engaged and happy. What's more is that I will also try to imitate the way that a commentator would talk, when I am typing my articles and descriptions. Although the article on the venue would be very interesting as it is very unconventional, I think I am leaning towards the article on the dynamic duo. This is mainly because it directly relates to the cover and is something that I teased from the very start so it would be rude not to explore it in depth. I also chose this one over the exclusive interview because this edition requires a more sophisticated attitude which makes this story concerning the analysis of these two players' season ideal. Lastly, by focusing on two athletes instead of one I will be reaching a larger audience and I will be able to dig deeper and really interpret all of the statistics regarding both players to make a valid response on their season as a duo and as individuals. For your information I will be talking about my written content in regards to my layout in the next blog that is all about mockups.

Tools and Resources Utilized:

• https://www.canva.com/.
• Rodriguez, Daniel. Daniel Rodriguez - AICE Media Studies, Blogger, 27 Jan. 2022, https://danielrodriguez111106.blogspot.com/.