Decision Day

 I’m confident in my choice to do the magazine project. After spending time with tutorials for both Adobe Premier Pro and InDesign, I feel much more comfortable with design software such as Adobe InDesign and Illustrator. As an art study, and prospective Visual Arts major, I feel it would be beneficial for me to background with Illustrator and graphic design with this project.  

However, while playing with Premier Pro and reading an article about the power of storytelling, I did have second thoughts about doing the movie project instead. Learning and experimenting with video editing software is something I haven’t put much time into and therefore don’t have a developed skill set in. I also love telling stories (90% of what I say is from something that happened to me or someone else). With that combination, I felt I could potentially create an impactful movie opening, but I ultimately chose the magazine because of its alignment with pre-existing knowledge that took years to attain. 

Neither Premier Pro nor InDesign are easy to master, not to mention the short time frame in which we’re given. I enjoy challenges, and hope to one day have the opportunity to really learn the features of Premier Pro, but in order to create the best possible project, I’m going to create a magazine using primarily Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. Additionally, creating a magazine also allows me to write on the topic of my choosing, which, as a creatively driven person, gets me very excited.  

Specific features of InDesign that I was drawn to include the pen tool, gradient feature, and text designs. As a visual person, I enjoy creating shapes, both organic and inorganic, that were easily accessible. The gradient feature is another one of my favorite features because it has the ability to add shading to graphics and also incorporate more colors into a design. Additionally, the various features accessible through the text tool were very intriguing. With pre-downloaded and a separate library of fonts, there are so many options to make the minimal text on the cover stand out. An article about the need for support in the literary magazine industry explained how people just aren’t buying issues anymore. It expressed its growing need for readers. In this day and age, initial impressions are everything. My goal is to create a vibrant title page that stands out and is eye-catching at first glance, but also shows articles that people care about reading.  

Now that I have chosen which project and software I’m going to move forward with, I need to begin research topics that are current societal issues. My initial thoughts on this matter are to focus on intriguing topics that are based on things people over look or can genuinely say they’ve never thought about before.