Indesign - Analysis

I chose to use my touch project for one of my double page spreads. This is because I have more interest in downhill biking than retirement. I looked at several magazines to do with downhill biking such as Dirt Magazine (http://dirtmountainbike.com/#6cAWTUPWxGfYupzf.97) and Im Bike Magazine (http://www.imbikemag.com).

I took the majority of my inspiration for my layout from Dirt Magazine. After looking through many of their pages online and in their magazine I noticed a continuous trend being simplicity. Most of the pages are very simply laid out with a white background. Since I have not used Indesign much in the past I thought it was a better option to aim for a simplistic design and do it well as opposed to doing a  complex design badly.

Through lectures and inductions I begun to gather a simple understanding of how to use Adobe Indesign. From that I could start using simple features such as guidelines to make my pages look professional and neat.

One of the main aspects I struggled with was reducing empty space and making images and text fit together well. I found I was running out of images or text in order to fill gaps. The way around this was to space the images and text out more from each other but line them all up. This gave it a very professional look and didn’t make it look sparse.

I found this image whilst looking generally at double page spreads online. I really liked the simplicity of this one so decided to analyze it and see what features I could replicate.

-          The whole layout and colour is very simply and minimalist. This shows the reader that it is a sophisticated magazine that may be to do with fashion based upon the picture where the woman is wearing very modern clothes.

-          Text is small and in Sans Serif. There are no additions to the text which could prove to make it a less interesting article to many readers. It gives the impression of a magazine for a well educated reader who is happy to read a larger quantity of text. The word, "follow" is written in an unusual combination of upper and lower case, with 3 letters being superscript. This is technically incorrect and gives an artistic feel to the page which fits well with the choice of black and white and the large amount of white space.

-          The title/main heading of the page, ‘Self Obsession’ is intriguing and does not give much of an insight to what the pages are about. Therefore the reader may be inclined to read on to find out.

-          The entire double page spread is in black and white which adds another element of sophistication to the pages. This could seem a boring feature to many. On the other hand it could prove to be rather intriguing to others.

-               The whole top half of the second page is blank which could seem like a waste of space and could have been used to blow the text up a few sizes. The designers may have decided that the blank half page looked classier without some, perhaps, irrelevant images or text.

This double page spread is more linked to my double page spreads of Joeseph Walker, the music enthusiast. I have done the same with this spread as the last, analyzing it in order to take small features from it.

-          All in Sans Serif which makes it bolder and stand out to the reader more.

-          An entire page is filled with a medium close up of an artist. This shows importance and makes the double page more interesting to look at.

-          Very large, exciting title that draws the reader in and means there is less space for text which may appeal to lots of people.

-          Question and answer. This will appeal to fans of the artist because the questions are likely to tell the reader information about the artist that they did not already know, which makes it interesting. It also gives an intimate feel as if they are talking to the artist themselves.The answers are lengthy which could put some people off. This shows that the double page spread is aimed at true fans of the artist who want to find out more about him.

-          The questions are in larger text with a white background which makes them stand out. This helps the reader scan through the text and pick out questions they would like to read. This means that, although there is a lot of text which may not appeal to some people, it can easily be scanned for interesting sections and small bits can be read whilst it all still makes sense.

-          The top left of the double page spread has a caption saying, ‘News’. This makes it easy for the reader to flick through the pages and see what is on each page. It also shows that the page contains something new which readers are unlikely to have heard before.

-          The border is representative of stage lights which are bright and stand out. This being around the edge of the two pages could help the page stand out to the reader. It also reinforces the idea that the person in the photograph is a "star".

-               The page is simple which gives it a professional feel and is particularly effective for a wide audience.

The final double page spread I looked at was also related to music and again I have done the same analysis for the same reasons.

-          Lots going on in terms of colours and contrasting titles and texts.

-          Very modern looking band with a complicated background that draws the reader in. The background and surroundings of the group may hint at their social status, genre and band personality.

-          The page of text has lots of different colours and sizes of font. This keeps the reader interested visually although it could be a little bit confusing.

-          There are 4 other smaller pictures on the page with text, which breaks up the text making it more interesting to read and perhaps more informative.

-          Only half of the right hand page is about the group featured in the large picture. The other information is about 3 other artists. This is a contrast to the previous double page spread I analysed and you could argue that it makes the page a bit confusing.

-            The other pages were completely dedicated to the one artist. Having more than one artist may prove to be a more popular option because it will still draw interest from fans of, ‘The Teenagers’ whist also supplying information for fans of the other 3 artists, ‘Asobi Seksu’, ‘Crystal Castles’ and ‘The Rascals’.

After looking at the analysis of these images I decided I wanted to include these few simple features in both of my double page spreads:

• Minimalist
• White Background
• Black Text
• Pull Quotes
• Modern, classy overall look
• All in the same font

I used what I have learnt from researching magazines and my ever developing skills using Indesign to create 4 simple and professional looking double page spreads.




This is the my first double page spread for Touch:

I achieved exactly what I wanted with this double page spread. I kept it very simple and not cluttered by ensuring everything was spread out evenly and there were clear gaps between each body of text and image.

I noticed a small feature on a lot of the double page spreads I looked at. This is that they use a slightly greyed by line. I tried this on this double page spread and thought it worked really well so kept it.

I don't have an particular bad points on this page. I think the only thing that I could pick up on is that some could find it too simplistic. I asked a few photographers what they thought of it and they agreed. Having said this, the simplisticness was the look I was going for, therefore I didn't change it.

This is the second double page spread for Touch. I included 2 more images in this one than the first one. I wanted to show more visuals to ensure I kept interest. It took me quite a while to organise the text and images in a way that didn't look random and unprofessional. I ended up with this layout which I think works well with the information and images I had.

The downside of this double page spread in my opinion is that I would have like to have kept the text together. When trying to do this, I either had too much dead space or the photos didn't fit around each other without looking disorganised.




This is the first double page spread for my interview about Joe Walker.

I used almost an identical technique with both of the double page spreads of Joe as I did for those of Ben Moore.

One of the main features I added to this double page spread that I didn't have on the previous one is the two simple lines above and below the heading and by line. I saw this on a couple of different magazines when researching so experimented with them myself on this simple design. I tried putting them right at the top and bottom of the both pages and around the text. After trying multiple different options I decided that this was the most effective and helped to give it a professional feel.



This is the second double page spread for Joe Walker.

Again, I added 2 more photos than I had on the first double page spread. This is because if the reader has gone on to the next page after seeing the first, they want to know more, not just through text but also through photography.

In this spread I added just one pull quote because I thought it was quite powerful and since it was quite short another one could have made it less noticeable. Also, I added 3 lifestyle shots in this DPS, this is because the first DPS shows Joe in a very musical scene which establishes the article. The article is all about the lifestyle that goes with a passion for music and this is something I wanted to also show through the imagery.

The only bad point in this spread was that I could have possibly included at least one more photograph directly relevant to music. I had my reason for not doing this as stated above, but after talking to others about it, I think this may have improved the DPS.

Research - SDA - Coasteering

This image was shot by Extreme Coasteering, a coasteering company based in Newquay, Cornwall. I really like this image because it clearly shows the main attraction to the sport, being jumping off cliffs. It shows a large jump with very few distractions which really draws the attention of the viewer in. Also, the image is shot from below the subject to make it look even more exiting and extreme.

When shooting, I found it very difficult to take images of people jumping without having cliffs in the background. This meant that they blended into the cliff making the image less informative. This image is an example of what I wanted. The man is completely against the sky so stands out really well over everything else and can not be mistaken as the main subject of the photograph.





This image is taken from Red Bull Cliff diving of, Dean Treml and he jumps off a 27m platform.

One of the main aspects of this image I really like is the symmetry used by the photographer of the structure with Dean Treml framed perfectly in the centre of the image. I think that this, coupled with the back lit sort of effect making a silhouette of Dean Treml and the structure makes for a very aesthetic image. Often a very aesthetic photograph can lack information, but I think in this case all the information that needs to be there is. We can see exactly what is going on and see the crowd showing that it is an event.

I have looked at all of the cliff diving photograph on the Red Bull Cliff Diving website and taken a lot of inspiration form them. They are all extremely aesthetic and informative which is what I try and show in all of my own photographs.









This is another image from the Red Bull Cliff Diving series of Blake Aldridge from the UK walking back up to the platform looking very focused.

This image is along the same lines as mine (shown here) where two 'jumpers' are shown to be very focused making their way back to the jumping spot.

They are a contrast to one another due to Blake being a professional and the other man from Elemental not but both I and the Red Bull photographer have shown their focus which I think is very engaging in both instances.

I really like the composition in the image. Showing the whole way down the wall in the left of the frame and slowly dropping it out of focus. The fairly shallow depth of field, coupled with neutral colour of the wall helps to draw the focus to the main subject and add aesthetic interest making the photograph very strong.

Final 6 Images

I chose this image for my final set because I thought it was a great establishing image. It shows the close relationship of the group and also clearly shows their activity. Also, every person is very clear in the water, there are no distractions such as rocks.

Having said this, after speaking to a group of other photographers, we came to the conclusion that having rocks/something else relevant to their activity in the shot may add to it, especially for an establishing image. As it stands, we decided there may not be enough context in the frame to make it a really good establishing image. After this further thought, I still really like the image and with a strong caption, I think it would still work well as an establishing image.




I really like this image due to the action. I took this photograph when Simon, the leader went down to check whether it was safe to enter the water at this point. As he got down there a large wave broke onto the rocks and sent up a big spray, this made for a dynamic and exciting image.

I think this photo shows a side of coasteering which people do not often think about, the traveling from one jumping spot to another, therefore it is informative which is very important.

The only part of this image I would change is possibly cropping the man in the left of the frame out. I don't think his presence adds to the image, therefore he is just a distraction from my main subject right in the centre of the frame.

This is another image that could be an establishing image. After looking at my set, I decided it was more of a transition photo that should go in the middle of the set. This is because the image shows the group walking, climbing from one jumping spot to the next.

I saw this shot when walking with the group and allowed them to get in front in order to take it. I used an out crop of rock that they had passed in order to create a frame within a frame.

At first I shot the image in this way simply for aesthetics. Whilst going through my edit, I noticed a more 'story telling' feature of it, being the transition from one place to the other which I the main reason why I included it in my final 6 images.

I really struggled to find a jumping shot that I was pleased with and had to work really hard to get one at all during the shoot. The whole idea of coasteering is jumping off cliffs into water. The conditions on the day I shot were very rough as you can see from the set. Therefore, the group were very limited to how much they could jump in. This is the only spot where they could enter the water but it was still quite dangerous so only a few jumped. This meant I had a very limited number of chances to get the shot I wanted.

I chose this photograph over the others similar because it shows 3 aspects of the sport in one. The main subject is clearly the man jumping off the rock into the water. On the right of the frame I included the other people waiting to jump in and dropped slightly out of focus in the background is someone swimming after jumping in. This makes this image very informative and tells us a lot about the sport which is what I was aiming to do.

This is an image of 2 of the instructors doing a practice save. The boy wearing the blue helmet had jumped in, faking a shoulder injury. The boy in the black helmet was assisting to get him out of the water.

I love the action in this photograph of the clearly very rough conditions that the boys were practicing the rescue in. This makes it dramatic and exiting, therefore engaging for the viewer.

It took me a lot of experimenting to decide whether to crop the image tighter than I had. I decided against it because I wanted to include lots of the environment around them to show how extreme the situation was.

This is the final image of the set. I felt it added closure because the man is climbing back out of the water, to show the end of the activity.

It took me several attempts to get the shot I wanted here because the group were doing an exercise where they were working as a team to help people out of the water. I had to quickly try and work my way between people to get a shot and then back out again before I got in the way. I had to do this several times before getting an image where my subject wasn't obstructed by other members of the group.

Having said this, the only part of the image I do not like is the hand in the right hand side of the frame. Despite what I said further up, I found it almost impossible to get a completely clean frame. This was the best out of my attempts because my subject hasn't been obstructed but I still feel that the hand is a slight distraction.

Surfers - Relationship - Contact Sheet

I met a couple of local surfers, James Heslington and Brieuc Bonduelle and joined them on a day trip to find a working surf spot in Cornwall. After driving for well over an hour we ended up at Porthcurno where they were the only surfers out.

SDA - Coasteering

For my self directed assessment I chose to cover a local company called Elemental who do water action sports in Cornwall. I spoke to Simon who runs the branch at Swanpool beach in Falmouth and arranged to shoot their staff training of coasteering on the cliffs on the right of Swanpool.

The conditions on the day were very rough meaning there was very little in the way of jumping in. Having said this I tried to use the exiting conditions to my advantage and hopefully managed to get some interesting shots.

Below is the contact sheet.

Relationship - Surfers - Research

Joni Sternbach shot a series of photographs of surfers in 2006 showing relationship between surfers and also between surfers and their connection to their sport and nature. He shot the images on both coasts of the United States: Montauk's Ditch Plains and Rhode Island on the East Coast as well as Malibu, Del Mar and Rincon beaches in California. In early 2011 Sternbach traveled to Byron Bay, NSW Australia to continue the series.

"Sternbach captures the spirit of community that unites surfers, but also the differences that make each surfer distinct."

This is one of the images that stood out to me.

It is a photograph of 4 brothers shot in 2007. The main part of this photo I really liked was the family relation the boys have which is something they cannot decide on but also the fact that they have another relationship through surfing with one another that they do choose. This is likely to make them even closer and I think this is shown in the photograph.

When I was planning my shoots for relationship I hadn't thought about staging any of this photographs like this one has been. This was because I felt that a more natural photograph where the subjects were no aware of the photo being taken would show a more accurate and informative relationship. Having said this, the feeling I get from this image, although it is staged, still feels very natural. Sternbach may have built a very good relationship with the boys meaning they were comfortable with him being there and photographing them, therefore acted very naturally and didn't change how the behaved due to a camera and a stranger being present.



Morgan Maassen has always been a great inspiration to me due to my love for surf photography. This image is a great representation of relationship that he shot of a group of surfers from underwater.


The group can be seen to be sat close to one another on their boards in the ocean. Maassen has shot the photograph in a way that makes it seem like there is nothing else around them, just the ocean and each other. I think this makes it a very powerful relationship shot.

The aesthetics are clear in the photograph, the vibrant blue of the crystal clear ocean makes for an almost hypnotising look that draws the viewer in.

Final - Surfers - Relationship

This photo really stood out to me from my contact sheet as being the strongest in terms of showing relationship which was the aim from this shoot.

As described before the lighting wasn't the best due to it being failing natural light on a dull and overcast day. Also, the path they are running along had fairly large trees either side blocking out even more of the already low light. I was shooting with a large zoom lens due to the nature of the sport and therefore it was difficult to compensate for the low light with a high aperture which is what I would usually do. Therefore the photo is quite flat but an image does not have to be technically brilliant to be informative and show a deeper meaning such as relationship well.

The pat on the back in this image shows the close friendship the 2 surfers have developed through their passion for the same sport which is why I have chosen it for my final 8x10 print.