Drafting and planning

After looking into my billboard more, and finding out that there needs to be one prominent image and as few words as possible, I started to create my first draft of my billboard.

In connection to my blog post on Monday 29th February, I have used the software Paint.Net to play around with multiple images to create a busy background for my bill board.

Firstly I imported the image of my cover star:

One I did this, I used the magic wand to deselect the black background behind her. Then I used the eraser tool to get rid of anything else that the magic wand couldn't. Next, I used the feather option to soften out the edges, so we could more or less only see the hairline of the model.

Then I imported an image of Brindley Place:

I positioned it behind the model. This is because I want the model to become the prominent picture. I left this image nice and bold, it was to work as a base image. I chose this as it presents the city as beautiful, varied and traditional.

Then I imported a picture of Selfridges:

Also positioned behind the model. This is one of Birmingham's important landmarks because of the unique architecture of the building. I then selected the opacity option to make the image more transparent so that the Brindley Place image could shine through.

After that I imported a picture of Central Library:

I used the same method as before. Seeing this part of the process made me realise I needed a picture of the Bull Ring, to add a prominent figure. 

I imported a picture of the Bull outside the Bull Ring:

I thought that this actually looked quite effective. Yet the image as a whole all together seemed pretty dull. I remembered I had taken a picture of the canal and lights at night, so thought it was best to see what colour it could bring to the billboard.

I imported a picture of the Canal lighting:

After doing so, I made sure that it was beneath the layer of the Bull Ring to provide the Bull with a better stance. I think the reflection of the lights work well here, not only because they make the city seem vibrant and welcoming but because the orange tones could potentially work well with the colour scheme exhibited within the magazine.

I then saved my image as one and imported it into PagePlus:

I took the masthead from my magazine and the selling line from my magazine and imported them on top of the image. I think this looks quite effective. The use of multiple images shows that the billboard promotes a magazine that is full of life and different elements of the region. Not only that but the colours work really well and compliment one another. I included the social networking logo's on the billboard to show that the magazine and info about it can be found on different platforms. 

I am very happy with my first official draft of my billboard: