Critical Reflection Questions

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After Several Hours on End of Editing - We're done!

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Website.. Check!

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Poster Preview

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Researching Our Way Through the World of Documentaries

Rotem and I have been setting aside a lot of time for our documentary, so we decided to take sometime and focus on our website. We have looked through several televised documentary websites which lead us to noticing the similarities between these websites. They usually all have a page where they show full episodes of old documentaries, a main video on their front of their latest documentary, time and dates as to when their documentaries are televised, and a contact page. Because we have seen a couple of dateline episodes in order to gain knowledge as to how documentaries are filmed and edited together, we are also using their website as a model for ours.

Poster Girls

     Now that we have a idea of what we want our documentary to be about my partner and I started thinking about our website and our poster. 
     For our poster, we definitely want to incorporate some sort of visual including a person being defined because of the passport he or she owns. We feel like this would be a great way to show the viewers what the documentary will be about while still leaving them intrigued. Rotem and I both agreed on having the passport cover the person in the picture's face, this will show viewers that these people are being defined by where they are from. We want the person in the picture to be a teenager in order to show that this documentary is about the immigration struggle kids face versus the normal adult coverage adults get. 
     We started playing around with the text and we thought that making the text red white and blue will add to the theme of the documentary as well as make the poster more visually appealing. 

A Slight Change Of Plans

At firs, my partner and I thought it would be a great idea to capture the struggles of the college application and acceptance process. During that journey we found a deeper story which still touches upon the collegiate process- the story of two siblings who cannot apply to the college of their dreams, despite their almost perfect grades and involvement in extra curriculas, due do the fact that they do not have their green cards. 

We thought that a great story would come out of covering how the status of being an illegal immigrant affects kids in their journey of growing, learning, and applying to college. Because we were able to find two siblings that were okay with telling their story, we knew that the raw emotions that came from their stories and experiences were going to take our five minute documentary in the right path. 

Our five minutes will act as an extract from the documentary due to the fact that introducing the characters and what the documentary is about would take too much of our time. We would much rather have quality raw emotions about their experiences than an introduction that would take away from the story. Since it is a television documentary we will be starting after a commercial break and we will have an extract from what was previously showed before the break. We want to do this in order to show other things we would of included in our documentary with out actually having to include it and take time away from our five minutes. 

Creative Critical reflection questions

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Magazine Project status- DONE

Front page 
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Table of contents
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Double-page spread
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Double-Page Spread Story

      Pack your bags and get ready to fly. T-48 hours until you sit back and relax in a first class direct flight to Paris with a mimosa in your hand and a cashmere blanket on your legs. 
      What might have been a hypothetical “what would I do if I won the lottery” thought, just turned into a worry free, hassle free and all-round free possibility, all thanks to the Editor-In-Chief of thepointsguy.com, Brian Kelly. 
      What started off as a one man blog turned into a team of of staffers who dedicate their time to writing about all things travel from new ways to earn and redeem miles to must see destinations. The website’s main function, however, is to show readers different ways to maximize the points they earn from their credit cards by providing them with information on which credit cards to use when purchasing different items, such as gas, groceries or flights. 
       “Now a days, most frequent flier miles are actually awarded through credit cards and through shopping, not actually from flying so it’s really important that that people that want to travel are smart about which card to use in order to earn the most frequent-flier miles and TPG [The Points Guy] helps people with that,” Kelly said.  
       The TPG To Go application is an extension of the website that monitors what an individual usually spends money on and sends out push notifications on deals before they expire, due to the fact that some deals only last several hours. 
      “I have 25 credit cards and even though I know I’m on the extreme side of the equation, the app will actually tell me when to use each card,” he said. “Even an expert forgets that certain cards have certain benefits.”
      Kelly accumulated millions of miles a year due to the frequent work-related trips he took during his time working for Morgan Stanley, a leading investment firm specializing in wealth management, investment banking, sales and trading services in Wall street. The more he traveled, the more his understanding of the points and miles system grew. 
      “I was able to travel around the world in style, even when I didn’t have any money,” he said. “I was going to London in first class and Hawaii on the weekends for fun because of the way I learned to manage and manipulate 
and miles.”
      After months of traveling around the world, his family and friends convinced him to start sharing what he knew about points and miles to the public. 
      “I started a small blog and a year from my first blog post I quit my job and pursued it full time,” he said. “Now we have a million and a half unique people that come to the site every month and it’s been doubling in size every year. It’s truly been a dream come true.”
      Although not all points and miles are the same, due to the fact that they have different rules and regulations, kelly said one should think about them as a type of currency. Depending on the credit card and how the points or miles were earned, they can be used as cash back, transferred airline miles, or gift cards. 
      “We cover most of the major programs and in terms of the programs I think we have over 2,500 loaded in the system so pretty much every credit card, even ones that are no longer offered,” he said. “You can tell us what cards you have and we will tell you what cards to use to get the most benefit and value out of them.”

Eye Opening Tour of Allure

      During the few days I was in in New York, I was able to get a private tour of Allure magazine’s new office in the One World Trade Center. Although Condé Nast owns about 20 floors in the building, my tour consisted only of Allure magazine’s floor, the 31 floor. 

During the tour they showed us the programs they use to lay out their pages (which made me very happy when I realized they use the same program I am using, InDesign), ways to  benefit from lighting when taking pictures of clothing and other items, their beauty closet (I know, a whole closet), and techniques to keep in mind when taking pictures of makeup. 

Not only did I leave “the big apple” a little bit wiser, I also left inspired and excited. 

Inspired- I saw people using the same tools I am learning to master for this project in order to create real magazine covers and layouts. The experience I am gaining and the tools I am learning to manage due to this project are being put to use everyday by different publications. To think that I am 17 years old and I am already familiar with them baffles me. 
    
 Excited- Although I have been excited for this project for a while because I genuinely enjoy the process of laying out and designing, after this tour I became excited all over again to use my newly attained knowledge and create something from a magazine, literally and figuratively.

Research has Never Looked this Good

     The further I get into working on my project, the more magazines that seem to pool around me, and I could't be happier. Not only is this an excuse to buy more magazines, but it is also a way into the minds of the people that create these magazines. I now appreciate the layout, fonts, and colors that are used on a page, whereas before I simply flipped, read, flipped, read, and so on. 

     I have developed a fascination with the layout of different outfits on a page. It is something that looks like it was thrown on the page and has a natural flow but I can tell you from experience, it is not just thrown on the page, it has a meticulous layout and absorbs hours of ones times.  Even though I am fairly new at this, I decided to try this technique out on my page.  I have studied several magazine layouts of this technique and I am in the process of getting my page to resemble that of a real magazine. 
   

In the Works

Table of contents
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A very successful interview with Brian Kelly

Mr. Kelly was finally able to take 30 minutes out of a conference he is attending in Vancouver in order to answer some questions about his website and smartphone application, The Points Guy. He was an extremely professional yet amicable guy and was super eager to answer all of my questions about his website, his journey to becoming The Points Guy, and how his website can help those looking to earn points on their cards. 
Now, I can start writing the story about The Points Guy, which I am very exited about, for my double-page spread with the information I was provided with and the great quotes about The Points Guy he gave. Everything is slowly but surely coming together. 

Two weeks in: my life has become a series of command Z

Soon after I started taking pictures of the items I want to include in the double-page spread and table of contents, I transferred them into photoshop in order to edit, undo, redo, cut out, and erase. It seems as though trial and error has worked to my benefit given the fact that I have become a photoshop pro and enthusiast. Not only do I have a majority of my pictures and icons edited as well as cut out but I have also developed a deep respect for people who photograph for magazines because well, it is no easy task. 

Although I mastered the arts of Photoshop, my photography skills, or lack-there-of implemented frustration in the process of my project. After decorating a corner in my house with white poster boards, I laid out my items and started my photo shoot, however, the lighting was strange, the clothes looked wrinkled, and the angels were making my items look disproportional. I rubbed my temples, took some deep breaths and started all over. In the end, I was very pleased with my results and how they look on my pages. Now I am trudging on along with the layout and the process of putting my ideas on paper, so far so good. 

New Project, New Ideas

        I am starting to feel really good and confident about my ideas for the magazine I’m creating. However, leaving the A level documentary package I am also responsible for, on the back burner will do no one any good. As my partner, Rotem, and I were brainstorming ideas for the topic of our documentary, our conversation took a turn for the worst. Our frustration got the best of us which lead us to talking about college decisions. After about 20 minutes of pure venting, we figured it out.
        We decided that since the college application and acceptance process was something we both felt passionately about and knew enough of, creating a documentary solely based on the process and emotions that go into it was a fitting idea. Not only do we feel passionately about this topic, but we also have all of the tools one could possible need (1,500 college bound high school seniors) around us every day. I feel like we can capitalize on all of the people at our disposal that have gone through this procedure this past year and make it into something that students everywhere can relate to, as well as something adults can learn from. Allowing adults to see the strain students are put under will allow them to be able to relate to them on another level and bring awareness to the stress that we experience during our last year as kids.
     I am hoping that finding students who are willing to be in our documentary and speak about their journey will not be too time consuming or problematic, and that we will be able to allot a substantial amount of our time into honing in on student's raw emotions. This will hopefully allow us to make the documentary as well done, captivating, and raw as we can.

After Several Sessions of Intense Brainstorming..

Due to my love for lists, I have compiled several of them regarding my ideas for the table of contents, double page spread, and font page. I racked my brain for a couple of days and came up with some ideas that will allow me to start playing around and creating. These ideas are in no way set in stone and are most likely going to be tweaked. 

Story Ideas

Travel Themed Stories:

• No vacation days, no problem 
• Drink this not that: What to order, where 
• Guide to traveling with a new boyfriend 
• Stay slim while you swim 
• Sparkle under the sun
• Travel size everything: Pack it all and leave room 
• Stay connected: Find wifi anywhere
• Instagram etiquette: travel edition 
• You cant sit with us: best excuses to get an airline seat switchwed
• 52 ways to stay of top of your job while you’re under the sun
• 15 must have travel apps 
• Capture the moment
• Go on your trip with out a chip: 10 steps to keep your nails looking fresh 

Reoccurring Stories/ non travel-themed stories:

• This months interview with the cast of: Scandal 
• Balance work and play in one outfit 
• Managing your family as well as your in-laws
• Editor-in-chief tells all 
• Drop and give me 20: flat stomach, fat wallet 
• Styling tips: stay trendy 
• Whats your mirror telling you 
• Dermatology 101
• Braid it like Beckam 
• Cut him out of your life for good
• Get the lashes you deserve 
• No more stains in the rim of your glass: lipsticks that stay

Front Page-

I am making the front page image relate to cocktails and fitness because I felt like that option would be more of a visually appealing one for my target audience, rather than doing a visual about ways to earn credit card points. When readers see a girl around their age, enjoying cocktail at the beach, they will want to read the magazine in order to see what they can do to also be on vacation sipping a drink, which will make the magazine's demand rise. Not only was this option more appeasing to the eye, but it was also a way to market the magazine to our audiences 

• Girl at the beach holding a dumbbell in one hand and a drink in the other (something fun like drinking from a coconut) 
• Cover lines- 
• Major Cover Lines
• stay slim while you swim 
• drink this not that:  what to order, where
• Smaller Cover Line 
• learn how to earn the most points during your travels

Double Page Spread

• Story
• Learn how to earn the most credit card points and miles when you travel
• Layout Ideas 
• credit cards all pilled up 
• big letter to start of text (lower the opacity)
• top right of text put two passports, an iced tea, and an iPad

• Visual tied into the story:

Turn the points you earn into gift cards and shop for trips year round 

• Fall 
• Maroon jacket 
• black pants
• beige shirt
• Marc Jacobs watch 
• black flats
• brown nail polish 
• Winter
• blue coat 
• Nordstrom scarf 
• dark lipstick 
• maroon pants 
• earmuffs 
• Spring
• Flowery Skirt
• Blush (Pink)
• cotton on shirt
• Big forever necklace
• sandals 
• Summer
• pink bathing suit 
• Tory Burch flip flops 
• Marc Jacobs purse 
• Sun block all dripped 
• romper
• sun glasses
• hat

So Far, So Good: Double-Page Spread Story Research

     As soon as I decided the target audience and theme my magazine is going to comprise of, I started brainstorming content ideas for my double-page spread display. Because my target audience, women from the ages of 18 to about 30, are working individuals and manage the financial aspects of their lives, I decided to have my double-page spread story touch upon the ways one can travel without breaking the bank.

     As I researched ways others have traveled the world with thick wallets I came upon the website  Thepointsguy.com where I became more familiar with the concept of strategically purchasing hotel rooms and flights in order to maximize points and miles. This website allows it's users to fill their credit card information in and takes them through the process of turning the points they can earn into money they can get back. 

     Making my way through the site, I reached the "about" tab where I was introduced to Brian Kelly, the founder and editor-in-chief of the website. I was able to get in contact with Mr. Brian as well as land an interview with him during this upcoming week. I am so exited to start my story which will provide my readers with the resources to travel for less, essentially making my magazine, which includes the do's and dont's of traveling, more useful to them.  

Shapes of Inspiration

As I researched magazines’ table of content pages, I found myself intrigued by idea of using octagons in order to show visuals that represent the stories inside the magazine. I think it would be a visually appealing and interesting way to show what’s inside of the magazine, as well as a way to introduce this magazine as a fun and decorated one. These were some designs that caught my eye as I was researching layout techniques and designs. 

Ideas and Thematics explanations

The how's and why's behind my magazine ideas.