HOT DESKING FEEDBACK

WHAT IS ‘HOT DESKING’?During the hot-desking process my cover page was shown to a number of my peers. Their feedback was based upon 4 different questions that I constructed in order to gain further opinions on issues that have arisen through the production process. These questions are:1. What is your response to the cover picture, in particular the pose and its

representation?2. Are the cover lines readable (easily), and does the drop shadow help?3. Can you clearly identify the strapline from beginning to end?4. Can you identify the genre from the colour scheme and masthead? If not, how

would these issues be solved?From the information gained, I was able to identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement.

STRENGTHSOverall the image and the colour scheme of the front cover were regarded by my peers as the standout strengths of the piece. The majority believed that the image on the cover clearly represented the genre, especially through the iconography that would be associated to the darker clothing. My remaining peers believed that the model looked more like he was a pop artist with his clothing and young face. One person claimed that “my idea idea of rock is leather jackets, headbands, things like that. My aim with this particular model and (eventually the DPS) is too challenge this visual stereotype and include younger people into the genre. Therefore the feedback has demonstrated that I am beginning to challenge representation and audience perception.The red, white and black colours were regarded as “professional”, the white drop-shadows for example were described as “unique”. This will help it become more identifiable and stand out in the market.

WEAKNESSES AND POTENTIAL CHANGES

There were a number of weaknesses that my peers identified within the hot desking. Some of the biggest, related to the strapline and the cover lines. Although the response of the content and colour of the cover lines was good, it was felt that the font appeared too “soft” of the page and should be made edgier to better relate to the genre. Whilst the strapline should be made bigger or changed in colour to make it more identifiable and separate from the date and issue number which was believed to be over powering it.

In terms of changes, I will experiment with new font styles for the cover lines and also the colour of the strapline. After trying a number of different fonts for the strapline, none of them fit the space I was aiming to fill. Another change I hope to make based upon the feedback, with be the finer editing of the image. In particular where the background meets the skin of the model.