Final 2-page Spread Revisions and Peer Feedback

FINAL 2-PAGE SPREAD WITH EDITS AND REVIEWS                               03/25/2022

In this blog I will be concluding my work on my 2-page spread as a whole by publishing the final, complete version of it. Throughout the past couple blogs I have gone through my entire production process with you guys. Everything that I have done has led to this very moment where I will be finalizing my article. Here you will find all of the feedback I got from my classmates and from myself about my final mockup from blog #15. Afterwards I will choose to implement or ignore certain suggestions depending on how they turn out and of course I will once again be explaining my reasoning behind each and every decision. For instance, if a suggestion is bad I won't just go over it, instead I will try it out and show/explain why I personally believe that it is truly wrong, at least for my particular magazine. The last part of this blog will be a simple conclusion that sums up my design one last time and then I will of course end this blog as a whole, not the post, with one last post containing my CCR and the entire magazine put together into one, the cover, TOC, and 2-page spread will combine to show all of my hard work over the past couple of months. But before then I will now guide you guys, with the help of Canva who I would like to thank for all of their help, through the final portion of my creative production process.   

Final Mockup:

Feedback:

Overall the main piece of feedback that I received had to do with my font size, more specifically for the size of the article's text. They suggested that I try to increase the size so that the readability would improve. Furthermore, some said that if I ran into complications when trying to fit the bigger text into the layout I could just cut down on the total amount of content because it could appear to the reader as slightly intimidating and boring. In addition, certain peers mentioned that the size of my subheadings could also have been increased so that they gained some more attention and importance. Here and there people noted grammatical errors but very few and not enough to impede the communication of the particular message. The last part I wanted to touch on was that some of the text features that I added had not so desirable aspects in the opinions of my peers. For example, the text bubble around the pull quote was not exactly clean or formal which I too realized afterwards. Another suggestion concerning the table talked about how it was a bit large when you take into consideration the amount of information that it actually holds, which in reality is quite a small amount. I even criticized my mockup by not only agreeing with many of the valid points that my classmates made like the pull quote bubble, but I also saw that many things weren't ideal for my specific magazine and the desired outcome that I wanted. Some examples include the signature at the end that I deemed unnecessary as a result of the inclusion of a byline at the very start of the article. I also maybe thought about changing the font of the subheadings completely to Alfa Slab One to place an emphasis on them because at the moment they lack it. Lastly, I thought that to really cement the magazine's status as a professional I might add italics here or there especially in quotes to highlight specific pieces of content.

Before I forget I also wanted to elaborate on some of the positive reviews that I received such as the cleanliness and sophistication that my color scheme, font choice, and general layout conveyed. Not to mention that many praised the professional tone in the written language itself as well as the basic fact that my paragraphs were spaced out in columns with small breaks in between each to have a more open setup.

Ignored Ideas:

First off, although I attempted to try out most of the suggestions, I was unable to test the one regarding the font size of the text even though it was the most popular. Before starting I consulted my teacher who saved me a lot of strenuous time and effort because as it turns out the not only ideal size but also the recommended, conventional, and most professional size ranges from 10-14. Just to let you guys know my text was already at the maximum as I put it at size 14. Therefore, even though this suggestion was truthful, in the end it might have caused more harm than good so I chose to ignore it while referencing it here. Now, as usual most of the suggestions are very helpful and beneficial so this section is typically quite short which is the case here as you will soon see. The only suggestion that I tested out but I thought worsened the overall quality of the spread had to do once again with font size but this time involved the subheadings. As shown below you will see that I tried to increase the size of the text but in my eyes the subheadings now seem to be out of place and odd when compared to the rest of the layout. What's more is that I believe that by just bolding and capitalizing the subheadings, the audience's attention will automatically go to them. It is also conventional for the subheadings to be similar in size to the rest of the text with a slight difference. In other words, I think my original idea does the job well enough, though I did decide to add something to them in the end as illustrated in the following section which ensured that they were emphasized more than before.

Chosen Ideas:

First of all, I decided to reread my article and not only place italics on certain words or phrases that I wanted to highlight, but I also did this so that I could fix any of the spelling/grammar errors mentioned by my peers. As aforementioned, I then changed the subheadings somewhat but not in the original way, instead of making them larger I simply changed the font to a bigger and bolder one that has featured in all of my other works called Alfa Slab One. This seemed to convey the intended message so I was satisfied with my decision. I chose this one specifically as in blog #2 I learned that it symbolizes power yet also elegance, both of which are associated with sports. Afterwards, I changed the pull quote in two ways. The first one involved changing the font to Alfa Slab One for the previously mentioned reasons but I also swapped the quote bubble out for a square that adds a deeper layer of formality and cleanliness to the total aura of the spread. It also looks a lot more organized and keeps the contrast and color scheme very nicely. The last edits that took place are located at the end of the article with the deletion of the author's signature at the end because it was just an unnecessary distraction that added no value whatsoever and the act of decreasing the size of the table and its text to mirror its overall importance in the grand scheme of things. To rephrase it, I made the table smaller so that it fit better on the page and so that it would stand out but not too much where it becomes annoying.

Final 2-Page Spread:

Now, since I wanted to have a better understanding and visual of the spread as a whole, I decided to place my images side by side as seen below to get a better look at the bigger picture. This made me realize that certain parts of the design weren't even or balanced before so I was able to step in and fix them to create a very satisfying feeling.

Conclusion:

To recapitulate, a lot of thought and work went into each and every step of this production process. All of it was worth it in the end to develop such a clean, professional, and informative 2-Page Spread that follows most conventions while still purposefully bending some in order to appear more unique and convey a distinct theme. I have already gone into immense detail over the course of the past 3-4 blogs on the reasoning behind my decisions, so I will be briefly covering the main points here one last time. The color scheme is very conventional as I mentioned in blog #3, as warm colors are being combined with neutral ones to create a combination of joy and professionalism that mirrors the world of soccer/sport very well. The fonts that I selected all have their own purpose which I learned about in blog #2. Oswald is very straight and modern, thus making it perfect for statistics and other legal/objective information like bylines, captions, etc. Next we have Droid Serif which signifies a sense of history and fanciness that goes very well with other more relaxed aspects so that it creates a balance. The last font is Alfa Slab One and it is meant to place an importance on the text and demonstrate its power and masculinity. Another key part of this spread is that the layout is quite similar to some of the professional magazines that I explored in blog #13 since my layout is spaced out in small paragraphs and text features that spread across pages so that they also break up the text to keep the audience as calm as possible. The elements are also all in their typical positions like bylines, titles, page numbers, etc. Lastly, the actual written language remains formal and in the 3rd person for the most part with maybe one exception at the start when I was introducing the article but that's it. I utilize statistics very well to appear more credible and the quotes help the reader better understand what's going on and slightly humanizes the magazine by making the story relatable. The only unconventional things that I could think of are the table at the end and the drop cap at the start, both of which are, nowadays, becoming more common. These two elements are also strategically placed because by putting them in their respective locations I can start and end the article with a bang that will be remembered by readers and make them realize how unique and special this magazine truly is.

Motivation:

Here are the professional magazines that I studied in blog #13 that had the greatest influence on my final 2-Page Spread.

Tools and Resources Utilized:

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