L04: Evaluation

The brief that I received from SPH asked me to produce a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a new magazine targeted towards a Sheffield audience. Based on my own hobbies, and communities that I know of in Sheffield, I chose the genre of tabletop role-play games. Fitting to this genre, I decided to produce the Adventurer's Guide magazine. A magazine which intends to provide valuable and simple to understand information on getting started with tabletop role-play games. The content of the three pages I was asked to produce are as follows:

The front cover is dominated by a photo of a TTRPG player, Michael Hearne. I have presented Michael as an ideal self (Carl Rogers) by using an eye-level camera angle. The masthead is in the font, Typo Draft and is in a light blue colour, it also features 6 dice outlines in alternating blue and red colours. There are also be puffs that contain information and references to pages in the magazine. They are red/ orange and have golden yellow borders, the text within them is in the font, Rosewell. 

The contents page provides a list of the different articles/ sections throughout the magazine as well as showing a sneak peak of what is in that section. The contents page heading is in the same font as the masthead, Typo Draft. The following sections are referenced on the contents page, ‘Nat 1’s of the month’ which previously would have been accompanied by a image of a 20 sided dice in a dice jail but this made the page looked cluttered, ‘Death of the month’ which is accompanied by an image of a gravestone with a character's name on, ‘Free One-Shot: Quest for Thunder,’ ‘Nat 20’s of the month,' ‘Roleplay Games for Beginners' and 'Equality in TTRPGs.'

The double page spread is the ‘Roleplay Games for Beginners’ section as this allowed me to interview TTRPG experts and provide tips and tricks for beginners. Furthermore, it allowed me to reference Patriot Games and show that they are a welcoming community and provide information about their TTRPG game nights. This page has a brief summary of TTRPGs which explains the basics of what TTRPGs are. Furthermore, at the bottom of the right page, there is a semi-large puff that provides details about Patriot Games and will no longer contain an image of the manager, Salliee Anya as this would have made the page seem cramped with images. Most of the right page contains the interview and tips and tricks. The left page and part of the right page is dominated by an image of the TTRPG expert, Elijah Mangnall who is shown in an eye-level shot to show the equality between a new player and an expert, and to connote the welcoming nature of the TTRPG community.

Contents Page

As the brief requested for me to target my magazine towards a Sheffield audience, I managed to get in contact with Jim, the owner of a local games shop (Patriot Games Sheffield). From this, I gained the permissions to feature Patriot Games in the magazine, and to take photos there. Doing this not only allows me to relate the magazine to a Sheffield audience, but it also means that I would gain help from patriot games in stocking the magazine as it would act as an advertisement for them.

The main way that I featured Patriot Games in the magazine is in puffs. On the contents page, I have added a puff with their logo on. I created this puff using the shape tool and overlayed it with a red colour. To be continuous with the front cover, I added a yellow/ gold outline as this colour combination connotes treasure and danger. On top of this I have place a picture Elijah Mangnall, a TTRPG expert who plays regularly at Patriot Games, next to the logo as this will help to promote Patriot Games.

More so, on the double page spread, I provide the address of Patriot Games and details about their TTRPG night. This furthers the targeting of a Sheffield audience by redirecting the readers of Adventurer's Guide to Patriot Games.

While the majority of design choices were made to allow the layout and colour scheme to suit the TTRPG genre, I had to keep in mind the target audience I had stated in my proposal (17-25 year olds, mostly male). To target this audience, I used stereotypically male colours such as blue and red in a way that also match the genre. This works well as red connotes danger which is commonly associated with males. Furthermore, the jagged shapes I have created using the shape tool not only denote the shape of dice, but the also further the connotations of danger. In the target audience section, I also make it clear that the younger of those interested in TTRPGs most likely work low paid/ minimum wage jobs and, with TTRPGs already being an expensive hobby, I didn't want this magazine to be a major setback financially for readers. Hence the small number of articles, and it only being a monthly releasing magazine.

Throughout the production of the Adventurer's Guide Magazine, I didn't use a massive range of tools simply due to the nature of the magazine. I have included a run down of the different tools I used, how I used them and what they were used for.

For images like these, I used a combination of the magnetic lasso tool and quick selection tool in order to remove the background neatly.

To do this, I would select a rough area around the model with the quick selection tool to remove the majority of the background by pressing CTRL+X. I would then clean up any bits that the quick selection tool missed using the magnetic lasso tool.

The Patriot Games logo I used originally had a white background. With it being an image with a lot of straight lines and distinct colours, I was able to quickly and easily select and remove the background using the magic wand tool, and then cleaning up any missed bits using the magnetic lasso tool.

Heading/ Page Title and Background:

I chose the background colour as it has a similar colour to parchment, this is due to TTRPG's usually taking a theme of ancient eras where parchments would have been used, furthermore, it is a more accessible colour to dyslexic people/ people with vision issues.

At the top of the page, I wanted to have the page title, 'Contents' very visible, this is why I chose the red colour. Furthermore, I wanted to include the masthead at the top of the page.

Even from the beginning of pre-production, I wanted this magazine to represent the community and communicative aspects of TTRPG's. In order to achieve this, I decided to run a photoshoot in which I took photos of people playing Dungeons and Dragons an put the best one at the top of the contents page.

Although, I realised that having the page go straight from image to plain colour didn't look great, so I added a gradient. Furthermore, the image made the masthead and title difficult to read, so I also added a black gradient to the top of the image.

Main Puff and Side Puffs:

In order to tease the articles, I decided to add some puffs, I wanted to keep the continuity by using the same design as the puffs on the front cover.

In the bottom puff, I used another photo of the TTRPG expert in order to show his significance to the magazine. Furthermore, unlike the front cover, this puff doesn't require any additional text in it, so I used the full Patriot Games logo.

As one of the main purposes of this magazine is to inform the audience of the benefits of playing TTRPG's, I wanted to capture a photo of a TTRPG player in their first session, looking happy. This would allow me to engage the audience more and make the magazine more effective in meeting its purpose.

Articles and Page Numbers:

As dice are the most well known convention of TTRPG, I decided that I would put the page numbers on the faces of dice. 

For the different sections of the contents page, I will be including the article name in a larger font, and then the article teaser text in a smaller text underneath this.

As the brief requested for me to target my magazine towards a Sheffield audience, I managed to get in contact with Jim, the owner of a local games shop (Patriot Games Sheffield). From this, I gained the permissions to feature Patriot Games in the magazine, and to take photos there. Doing this not only allows me to relate the magazine to a Sheffield audience, but it also means that I would gain help from patriot games in stocking the magazine as it would act as an advertisement for them.

The main way that I featured Patriot Games in the magazine is in puffs. On the contents page, I have added a puff with their logo on. I created this puff using the shape tool and overlayed it with a red colour. To be continuous with the front cover, I added a yellow/ gold outline as this colour combination connotes treasure and danger. On top of this I have place a picture Elijah Mangnall, a TTRPG expert who plays regularly at Patriot Games, next to the logo as this will help to promote Patriot Games.

Double Page Spread

Making the Heading:

I wanted the heading to reflect the themes created throughout the rest of the magazine but still create uniquity. To do this, I used the polygon tool to create a polygon. I then set its colour to dark blue, and added a yellow stroke. For the heading text, I used the font, Typo Draft as this matches the Masthead. I set the heading text on the left to yellow to connote treasure (to show that this article is exclusive and special), and I set the text on the right side to red to conform to the previously established conventions of my magazine.

Creating Puff and Adding Page Numbers:

The next stage was creating a puff to go in the bottom right corner. The purpose of this puff was to advertise Patriot Games' Weekly TTRPG nights in the hopes of promoting the community aspects of TTRPGs. I had already made multiple puffs throughout this magazine, and I wanted to create continuity, so I used recreated one of the previous puffs and altered the dimensions to suit the size of the page. The only difference in this puff is the yellow divider. To create this, I colour picked the yellow from the outline of the puff, and used the line tool to draw the line.

In my contents page, I had already assigned the page numbers, and created the page numbers, so I simply copied them across and positioned them appropriately.

Subheadings and Page Content:

The subheadings were simple to add. I used the text tool to add the text, and then changed their colour to red and positioned them where I wanted them on the page.

The rest of the page content is just text.

Image of TTRPG Expert:

I took this photo on a plain background, so that it was simple to remove the background. To remove the background, I used the magic wand tool.

Image of people playing D&D:

It was important to make this image stand out as it connotes the community aspects of TTRPGs and shows that the TTRPG community is friendly and willing to help. So I added a yellow border as this connotes exclusivity.

Adding Final Touches:

I found that the blank space above the image of people playing D&D made the page look tacky and incomplete, so, in order to relate the the rest of the article. I added some beginner TTRPG products into that space.

More so, on the double page spread, I provide the address of Patriot Games and details about their TTRPG night. This furthers the targeting of a Sheffield audience by redirecting the readers of Adventurer's Guide to Patriot Games.

While the majority of design choices were made to allow the layout and colour scheme to suit the TTRPG genre, I had to keep in mind the target audience I had stated in my proposal (17-25 year olds, mostly male). To target this audience, I used stereotypically male colours such as blue and red in a way that also match the genre. This works well as red connotes danger which is commonly associated with males. Furthermore, the jagged shapes I have created using the shape tool not only denote the shape of dice, but the also further the connotations of danger. In the target audience section, I also make it clear that the younger of those interested in TTRPGs most likely work low paid/ minimum wage jobs and, with TTRPGs already being an expensive hobby, I didn't want this magazine to be a major setback financially for readers. Hence the small number of articles, and it only being a monthly releasing magazine.

Throughout the production of the Adventurer's Guide Magazine, I didn't use a massive range of tools simply due to the nature of the magazine. I have included a run down of the different tools I used, how I used them and what they were used for.

For images like these, I used a combination of the magnetic lasso tool and quick selection tool in order to remove the background neatly.

To do this, I would select a rough area around the model with the quick selection tool to remove the majority of the background by pressing CTRL+X. I would then clean up any bits that the quick selection tool missed using the magnetic lasso tool.

The Patriot Games logo I used originally had a white background. With it being an image with a lot of straight lines and distinct colours, I was able to quickly and easily select and remove the background using the magic wand tool, and then cleaning up any missed bits using the magnetic lasso tool.

Front Cover

Choosing the Main Cover Image:

Out of all the photos I took of Michael Hearne, I decided that these were the best two. They both show him looking happy, and give a general idea of what a TTRPG player looks like. However, the first image shows him to look a bit more serious, and I don't want this to come across as intimidating, so I opted for the second image as it shows him to be more happy and calm. Furthermore, it shows off his minifigure which further represents the conventions of TTRPG's.

Adding a Masthead Shadow:

Although I like the way the front cover is started to come together, I noticed that the masthead had begun to blend into the main cover Image, so I decided to add a shadow in order to make the masthead stand out a bit more. To do this, I double clicked on the masthead text layer to open the 'layer style menu, and then I enabled the 'drop shadow' option.

I adjusted the settings to try and make the drop shadow match the shadows in the main cover image so that it doesn't look out of place.

Creating the Main Puff:

This will be the main puff, and its purpose is to direct the readers attention to the main article of this magazine (Role-Play Games for beginners), as this section will feature and interview with a TTRPG expert, Elijah Mangnall.

With all of this considered, I began putting the puff together, using the shape of a hex grid map (which is commonly used in TTRPG's). I used the red colour as it connotes danger and excitement, and the yellow colour as it connotes treasure by denoting gold. I used the polygon shape tool to create a hexagonal shape for these puffs. In most TTRPG's, a hexagonal grid map is used to show the overall world that you are playing in, and as these puffs show the overall theme of the articles they are referring to, it seemed fitting.

After this, I added the details about the article (including the title of the article, and the page number), as well as the logo of the shop that is mentioned throughout the article (Patriot Games). This shop is also where the photoshoots and interviews were held.

Creating the Barcode:

I wanted to keep the barcode on this magazine very simple. To do this, I created a white rectangle and added the barcode on top of it, to the left. 

I also added the date of release, the issue number, and the price next to this.

Creating the Compact Puffs:

I wanted these puffs to keep to the same theme as the main puff, so I decided to use the same colours, alternating between them. Furthermore, I wanted these to be simple and straight forward, so rather than adding any graphics to them, I simply added the titles of different articles. Once again the polygonal shape is to represent the hexagonal maps generally used in TTRPGs.

Creating the 'Special Content Puff':

The purpose of this puff is to show the special/ limited content that can only be accessed through this issue of the magazine. I chose to make this puff look like a sticker that is peeling away to connote that the limited content is nearly gone.

To begin with, I created a circle using the shape tool, and cut the bottom left portion of it off, and pasted it onto a new layer.

To show that the sticker is 'bending upwards,' I added an inner shadow.

I then added satin in order to give the back of the sticker some texture, and to make the inner shadow more visible.

To make this effect more realistic, I added a grey/ silver colour overlay to the back of the sticker. And, to bring the inner shadow back into visibility more realistically, I added a gradient overlay.

While there are a few assets that have this cut out section, I used the same tools to make them. The first step is to create a rectangle using the shape tool and size it. Next I created a triangle which I aligned with the corners of the rectangle. I used the magic wand tool to select the triangle. With the triangle still selected, I selected the rectangle layer in the layers panel and pressed CTRL+X the create the cut out. I then deleted the triangle and added the text using the text tool.