front cover image process

I have taken a picture for my front cover and would like to show the changes I have made to it.

Here is the original image. As you can see it is a picture of a longboard. I took the picture from right at the end of it so that I could get a nice shot of the board. I personally really like this image because of the camera angle and because of the colours. I feel that the colours of the board contrast nicely with tire in the background. Another thing that I like about this picture is the fact that the board looks like it has been used which adds to my rugged style layout ideas. I chose to do my picture like this instead of the way I had planned it because of 3 reasons. Time, availability and personal preference. I needed to get a picture taken quickly so I took a picture of something which did not require much effort. I could not find the right time to get a picture taken on the beach and the weather was not perfect which took the availability away. I also personally did not like my original idea that much and wanted to come up with a new idea, but i could not think of anything, so i looked at some pictures online and I saw one with a different camera angle so I used that idea to tai my own picture.

experience

My name is Josh and I have been longboarding for around 7 years now. This is my experience with longboarding.

I first started longboarding when I 10 or early 11. The reason why I started longboarding was because of my dad. He bought a giant longboard and it was amazing. I was and still am a small person and having a giant longboard would not fit me that great so I got a small one for my birthday. It was nothing great, it was just a cheap one from the shop, but it worked for me. I used that longboard for 5 years and then I started to upgrade it when I began to earn money. I love that board just because it’s so long and nice to cruise on.

It was on this board I met one of my now best friends. This is one of the main things I love about longboarding. The people. The community of longboarders is a great one, but I have always noticed that there are “fake” longboarders. These are the people who use longboards for fashion instead of fun. I don’t mind it, but it can be very annoying when you see people with about £200 worth of longboard and not using for its designed purpose. The board I have at the moment is worth a bit more than that, but I use my board every day for fun, transportation and social meets.

Besides the social side of longboarding there is of course the physical side of it. I have had a few close calls in my longboarding life, but I have also had a few crashes. The first time I crashed was because a car turned without indicating and I panicked and fell off my board. Nothing majorly painful happened, but I was angry about the irresponsible driver. My second crash was my fault. I used to have big chunky shoes which I could not walk properly in because I am small. I was going to work on my longboard and I went to push, but my foot stopped my board and came straight off my board. This has happened to me quite a few times, but I never ended up face planting the floor and getting “road rash”. It’s also my fault that I was not wearing any protective gear.

Longboarding is great fun. All you need to do is stay well protected and you won’t get hurt if you fall off. I learnt that the hard way. Protection is key to staying safe when on a longboard. I personally don’t wear protective gear all the time because I don’t need it some cases like transport. I use it when I am trying to go fast or when I am trying to do tricks. It may not look cool (I think it does), but in the end it will save you the trouble of breaking an ankle or giving yourself a concussion. Just need to keep in mind that you should be protected.  

content for magazine

The Trick

To successfully pull off a 180° Powerslide you will need to block out the fear of falling over.

After getting over that step, you will need to practice turning to find out your preferred way to turn. I personally like to turn left and then right to slide because I stand goofy on longboard.

After getting used to the positioning, you should start to practice the slide. All you have to is turn one direction and then quickly turn the other way, but you have to lean far backwards or forwards. You also have to put most of your body weight on your front foot so that you bring your other foot along with the board which causes you to slide.

The only thing you have to make sure is that you keep your balance right and when going to slide you must lean backwards because you will fall off otherwise.

Another tip to do this trick is to start doing it on a flat surface. You don’t need to put lots of pressure into it because of the angle. By doing it on a flat surface it will allow you to build up your confidence. Also you should put your hands up so that you can gain some additional balance. It never hurts to wear protective gear as well whilst doing this.

You now have the recipe to start doing tricks on a longboard. The 180° Powerslide is one of the main tricks people do on a longboard. After mastering this freestyle trick you can move on to the harder or more “professional” tricks.  

Update

Today I have done more work on my FMP practical things. I have started to put my front cover together and I have also nearly completed one of the spreads. All I need to is add a picture to the front cover and I also need to add the company logos to my picture spread.

Logo finished

I have created my my final version of my logo in todays session. Here is a picture.

I have changed my idea quite a bit after my first design. I have got rid of the old font and replaced it with this new one which I personally feel suits my target audience more acutely and looks better. I decide to change my idea because I did not really like my old one and it did not not look very professional and so I decide to go with a more simplistic idea. I also like the way it fits my colour scheme nicely. 

Rough images

I have taken a few "rough" pictures to get an idea on what I will use in my magazine. They are rough because I dont have a camera to take a high quality picture and when I needed to take the pictures all the cameras were booked so I have to wait for a better camera. Here are some pictures.

I would like to use some pictures like this within my magazine because they look nice and they are good for catching eyes. I will take higher quality pictures when I get a better camera. I will use pictures like these to take up a page and a quarter because they are bigger and the scenery adds to the drama of the picture.

Sketches

These sketches are of some basic ideas that I had. They are not detailed sketches, but they do kind of show some ways I will layout my small magazine. I will use most of these ideas in my FMP because they are alright and I need to start creating my my magazine properly instead of doing little bit now and then.

Progress update

I have created my final design idea for my font And I'm that pleased with it because it does not fit my design idea very well. I have also created my magazine layout on InDesign and I am now ready to start the practical work for the majority I think.