Front Cover Research & Development

Here are some Motorcycle Front Cover Page Research

Based on my research, the contents page for motorcycle magazine has conventions of using: white colour masthead, banner at the bottom, using buzzwords (new, top-end), puff (circle with information inside), barcode, main cover image of a motorcycle, putting coverlines at the top, and not using skyline, dates, and strapline.

 Here are a few sketches and pictures of possible front cover ideas that I'm going to use for my magazine

 5 Thumbnail Sketches

Sketch #1

Pictures #1

Reflection: The photo looks better than I imaged it to be. I believe the use of the low angle was a great way to help increase the intimidation look which I love. I feel as though there could be something under the main cover line such as more coverlines or more pictures perhaps.

Sketch #2

Note: I wanted to make the subject look like it's leaning over with the motorcycle but this is what I did without overcomplecating the sketch

Picture #2

Reflection: Eventhough in my sketch, I put my main coverline on the bottom half of the page, I change my mind and positioned it on the top half because I felt it looked better. Looking at this again, I believe the use of borders and more coverlines to fill up the empty sapces ,on the bottom half, would make the cover more alive looking.

Refining

Reflection: I tried adding a banner to the bottom half of the magazine to fill up the space and I think it doesn't look that empty now. I feel like the picture on the bottom is slighty off since I wanted to use a photo where the audience can see the wheels of the motorcycle but that's the best picture for now. I also changed the typeface of the headline which I like since it suits the theme of the magazine. Futhermore, my teacher told me to move the main cover line to the right side since he said that it is too close to the headline which I understand (so that the viewers attention doesn't focus entirely to the top left but to the whole magazine). The main takeaway is that, I love the addition of the banner since it doesn't make the cover look monotone but I dislike the picture ,on the bottom, so I'll find a better one in the future.

Reflection: I like how it turned out, just needs a few more adjustments and feedbacks from my teacher and friends. I would like to change my colour choice since I believe it's abit too bland (black and white), and I might add more colours such as red because the side claw like marks are red. Then, since my main cover image is low quality in the beginning, I used an image enhancer website to increase the quality. Also, I'm not sure where to put my main coverline because it covers the claw marks on the side (I'll have to discuss it with my teacher) - but so far so good.

Reflection: Based on the feedback that Ireceived from my teacher and friends, they said that my main coverlin was covering the motorcycle too much so I decided to move it to the bottom left. I like this design even more. Then, I change the picture on the bottom right to show some variety and different story. Also I remove the big banner and replace it with a small one so that it looks more professional. Additionally, the buzzword (new) inside the puff (cicrcle) adds some colour so that the front cover doesn't look boring. Lastly, I'm still not sure what to put for the 'features' in the banner so I use 'touring with homies' for now - I'll probably change it when I find a better phrase.

Magazine Layout Tutorial

 In this post I will demonstrate some basic design skills that I learned in class

1) I started by sketching. I didn't like this because I'm not good at drawing but I discovered that the drrawing doesn't need to be detailed as long as I brainstorm some magazine cover ideas.

2)  Then my teacher told me to experiment with some default layouts. They look very bad.
This is some images and texts that my teacher provided:

My first attempt

My second attempt

3) Next, my teacher taught the class about:

+ borders 

+ hierarchy of type

+ typeface

+  colour

With the help of these, I made my front cover slightly better

                                                BEFORE                                                 AFTER

Reflection:

I enjoy experimenting the different layouts of magazine covers. I prefer experiementing the layouts in the computer because it is easier to do but I also like the freedom of drawing on paper. I would do sketch more often on paper if I my drawings are better. By doing this activity of sketching and improving it, I get to see what I did wrong, learn from my mistakes and make each cover better than the last. 

Location Scout & Risk Assessment

 These are pictures that I have taken for my magazine and it's risk assessment

 LOCATION #1 

Turning Point on the road at Teras Ayung Residence #1
Purpose of the shoot:	To take the background picture of my motorcycle magazine cover so that it would confrom to the convention of a motorcycle magazine and to make my subject (ZX-14r motorcycle) look in a favorable way.
Media Language:	sunny, clean roads, outdoors, empty, asphalt road
Pros of Location:	+ Rarely any other cars or motorcycles passing by + Easy access (near to home)
Cons of Location	- Cannot control the lighting  - Cannot control weather
Alternative location:	On the main road (outside of the residence), in the garage
RISK ASSESSMENT
Potential Hazards	Cars, motorcycles, & bicycles passing by  Pedestrians  Animals (stray dogs, cats)
Evaluate Risks	Since it is a road, cars and motorcycles will pass by and might cause a crash to happen It could put pedestrians at risk since they might not know a motorcycle is coming their way Animals would be a nuisance to the photoshoot since some might run after the motorcycle which will ruin the picture and cause harm to the animals themselves
Control Measures	Check the surroundings of the location to make sure no one is near the turning point
Implementation Timeframe	The next 2 days, I'll do the photoshoot

Location #2

Turning Point on the road at Teras Ayung Residence #2
Purpose of the shoot:	To take the background picture of my motorcycle magazine cover so that it would confrom to the convention of a motorcycle magazine and to make my subject (ZX-14r motorcycle) look in a favorable way.
Media Language:	sunny, clean roads, outdoors, empty, asphalt road
Pros of Location:	+ Rarely any other cars or motorcycles passing by + Extremely close (near to home)
Cons of Location	- Higher chance of cars and motorbikes passing by since it's the main road of the residence - Cannot control the lighting  - Cannot control weather - The house in the back is my neighbour, so if motorcycle is too loud (when doing the photoshoot), my neighbour will get mad at me
Alternative location:	On the main road (outside of the residence), in the garage
RISK ASSESSMENT
Potential Hazards	Cars, motorcycles, & bicycles passing by  Pedestrians  Animals (stray dogs, cats)
Evaluate Risks	Since it is a road, cars and motorcycles will pass by and might cause a crash to happen It could put pedestrians at risk since they might not know a motorcycle is coming their way Animals would be a nuisance to the photoshoot since some might run after the motorcycle which will ruin the picture and cause harm to the animals themselves
Control Measures	Check the surroundings of the location to make sure no one is near the turning point
Implementation Timeframe	The next 2 days, I'll do the photoshoot

Reflection: My location choice are all similar so the risk assessment and its contents is basically the same. I can see why this activity can be useful for bigger projects in the future since analysing the risks of the location can prevent any unecessary injury when doing the photoshoot. However, I feel like this location scout and risk assessment acitivity is just common knowledge and I would subconciously be aware of the risks without making a table about it. 

Magazine 1st Draft Article

Here is my first draft for my article magazine 

Topic: Interview/Review about a ZX-14r Motorcycle

Tone: Informal, easy going 

Direct/Indirect: indirect because research shows that their article is like that

Who is the author?: Dodi, a 28 year old motorcycle collector also an experience interviewer who is asking the questions

Headline: Sandoz's Views on ZX-14r Hyperbike

The master collector, Mr. Sandoz, known for his countless hyper bikes in his garage, has given his thoughts and opinions about the brand-new ZX-14R hyperbike that he has recently acquired. The ZX-14R Kawasaki hyperbike is well known for being a former world's fastest bike and is a popular rival to the Suzuki Hayabusa hyperbike. It's also famous for being the king of the Quarter Mile with its most eye-catching features being: a motorcycle that has a gigantic 1,441cc engine; has a maximum of 208 horsepower; and has a weight of 269 kgs.

What was the process and reason for purchasing this Hyperbike?

"I got it from a motorcycle dealership from my friend in Jakarta. I got this bike for the sole reason that it is one of, if not the fastest motorcycle in the world, and I mean, who doesn’t want that if given the opportunity to, right? It is also painted deep black with claws on the side that have a bright red accent, to create a sense of predator appearance which I personally took a liking to."

What is the highest top speed you have gone with this beast? Can you share your experience, what did you feel?

"Well, well, this moment is one that can never be forgotten and will be one of the memories that I will permanently treasure. Here is how it started, it was a Sunday afternoon. I called up my friends to go on a sunset ride across the Bali highway and I decided to choose the all-new ZX-14R as my vehicle. One by one, we all arrived at the destination and started preparing for our ride together. At first, it was a relaxing drive along the highway while enjoying the beautiful Bali sunset. However, one of my friends, Tom, was signaling to start a race, and without me realizing sooner, he quickly pulled the throttle back more and left me in the dust. I accepted the challenge and responded back.

My speedometer read was 89 km/h to 130 km/h. In this stage, I was head to head with Tom, I glanced forward making sure the road was clear, and this was the sign to go all out. I pulled the throttle again, now with the highest intensity that I’m willing to go, and before I knew it, my speedometer read 242 km/h. This speed accompanied with how deafening the engine was, was truly remarkable. This was my top speed with the ZX-14R hyperbike. As I slowed down, I came to a realization that some parts of my vision were blurry, my ears were ringing, and that sensation, that top speed, felt like I was going faster than the speed of sound - truly an unforgettable scenario."

How would you describe the overall riding experience on the ZX-14R, especially on long rides or challenging terrains?

"Did you know despite it being 269 kgs, the faster I go, the more comfortable it is to ride. For me, when I was touring around Bali and heading to Singaraja which was a 2-hour journey from my house, I actually enjoyed the time spent on the road. The smoothness of the ride, the comfort from the wide seat, and the stability of the motorbike combined, made a 2-hour drive feel like a 30-minute drive.

However, I ran into a few instances where it felt weird to go through challenging terrains such as steep roads that go up and down. A reason for this may be that the ZX-14R is not optimal for terrain like this because the position where you have to ride the bike is different from an adventure bike. For example, the ZX-14R is shaped in a way that you’re basically lying chest down to the bike so that you are almost parallel to the ground, however in an adventure bike, the shape is made so that the rider sits up straight. This difference in positioning makes it more or less comfortable for the rider to go through these types of roads. Other than that, my opinion about the journey stays unchanged." 

Sum up

In conclusion, the ZX-14R is a hyperbike that is only meant for experienced motorcyclists. Its enormous 1,441cc engine, which can generate a top speed of 300 km/h, is not meant to be taken lightly. Its predator-like design, coupled with comfort for long journeys, are the unique features of this bike. This is going to be one of the top motorbikes in my collection. Now, let me ask you, are you worthy enough to handle this beast?

Fact Sheet

Engine 1441 cc

Power 200 PS

Torque 158.2 Nm

Mileage 12 kmpl

Kerb Weight 269 Kg

Reflection

I learned that making an article is very time consuming and I had to ask an AI, ChatGPT, to give me ideas about what questions are typically asked in a motorcyle magazine interview. I find it easy to make the intorduction as it is the general and most appealing features of the ZX-14r motorcycle and I find it challenging to reach a word count of 700 words. Also, since my dad has this motorcycle, I can ask him about his experience of using it and base my answers from it rather than do research in the internet. This saved me alot of time and made the overall process of making the article easier.

Technical Skill (online)

Here are my online technical skills that I learned throughout my magazine production/research process

Problem 1: I didn't know how to put my statement of intent (google docs) into blogger and when I tried, it becomes a small box when I view it

Solution: Watch youtube video about how to fix it

1) Download statement of intent as a pdf

2) Upload it to google drive

3) Click the pdf

4) Click 'share' on the top right

5) Change 'restricted' to 'anyone with the link'

6) Change it to viewer

7) Copy the link

8) Make a post in blogger.com

9) Go to HTML view

10) paste the link

11) delete the phrase ' usp=sharing '

12) type 'pre' on the left side of the word 'view'

13) paste this code <iframe src=" " width="640" height="480"></iframe> below it

14) Copy the link on the top 

15) Paste it into the code between the " " (speechmarks)

16) Delete the link on the top 

17) Click publish/update

Reflection:

This problem made me research in youtube on how to fix it. Even if I can just screenshot the statement of intent table, put it in my blog post and save myself time, when I try to view it, it doesn't look as high quality - so I did it this way. This also helped me to keep my posts organize and tidy. This skill is useful to know because I can implement it when I want to upload another pdf into my blog in the future and I will not run into any difficulty. While the challenging part for me is to put step by step prossess into my blog as I have to rewatch the youtube video again and it is time consuming to do.

Problem 2: Text doesn't fit inside table

Solution: My friend Russell helped me

1) I give him the link to the google spread sheet

2) He clicked to the table that I want the rest to look like 

3) Then clicked the paint format icon (next to the printer icon in the top left)

4) Pressed the table that has overlapping texts

5) Do it to the rest of the table 

6) The table changes to how I want it to look like

Reflection

I want to make the table to be organized so that it is easier on the eyes and because this was an assignemnt that my teacher told me to do which is the analysis of 2 double page spreads. Even though it is not mandatory to make it look like that, I just did it anyways to tidy it up. All of this happened because my friend Russell, that joined IT, helped me while we are in a call. I learned that organizing the table is simpler than I thought it would be and I find it difficult to screenshot my progress of how I learned the technical skill since I have to restore an older version of the google sheet and screenshot the problem before it was solved. 

Terminology

Here is all the terminology that I learned about magazines

Reflection
When I first get introduced to these key terms, I felt overwhelmed as it was all new to me. However, as time pass and as my teacher talked about it over and over again in class, I got the hang of it and understand the key concepts of the terminology. By knowing all these terms, I learned to identify it in my magazine research and analysed its effect on the audience. I find it easy to identify the features in a magazine but I find it challenging to remember some definitions of the terminologies (such as skyline, boxout, strapline). 

Double Page Spread: Research + Development

This is my research and development for my double page spread

Reflection

I learned that magazines have features such as pull quotes, mode of address, and it's layout to convey a certain message to the audience. Such as using a direct mode of address makes the reader feel more engange and more immersed in the article since the text is using words such as 'you' or 'your'. I find it easy to input the magazine name, issue, publisher, and genre since I just have to find it in the cover; while I find it difficult and time consuming to write what the article is about and what I can implement ,for my project, from the double page research.