Today I was thrilled to learn that I had won a prize from Blue Friesian's Facebook Page. They are running a fabulous prize draw everyday until Valentine's Day to win a personalised glossy magazine cover. So pop across, check out their competition tab and see if you can get lucky too!
I approached Blue Friesian to ask if they would like me to write a review of my prize and was very happy to be offered an upgrade so I could create two different magazine covers for the purpose of my review. Without hesitation, I headed to the website. I am a bit geeky. I love using the computer to produce photo gifts so I was quite excited to check out the Blue Friesian site and have a 'play'!
The site is really user friendly and appealing. The covers and magazines are displayed so you can see exactly what you can create with a just little time and effort. The designs are stylish and authentic looking and there is a theme to suit anyone young or old. Pet lovers, parents, sportsmen, boys, girls, music fans or newly weds can find something to suit them. You can make your friends, family or loved ones the stars of the show and create your story instantly.
The software allows you to overwrite text and upload photographs into the templates. The number of images and amount of text you can add varies, but the scope to personalise is very generous. You can see exactly how your changes look as you go along by updating your creation, so you can rework the cover or magazine to get it just right. You have to make sure your photos fit into the spaces as there is no cropping or resizing option on the templates themselves, but this didn't pose any problems. You can crop your pictures and save them onto your PC before starting the project. There is flexibility in choices of colour on some of the covers so you can create the perfect piece to suit your needs.
There is helpful advice and prompts at every stage of the process. I really enjoyed making my covers, it was a fun process that I found quite straightforward.
The first cover I made was a music magazine 'EMN'. It was a simple template using one large photograph and overlaid text. It was very simple to create. The second cover was 'Girl Alert' which was slightly more complicated as it had four smaller photographs each with captions, on top of the main picture. This took a little longer as I had to try a few pictures to find which ones fitted best. I was delighted with both finished results.
You can opt for a digital version of your artwork to print yourself at home, or you can order a high quality printed version from Blue Friesian using their state-of-the-art digital printing presses. If you want multiple copies, there are great value reductions to be had. Turnover is between 5 and 7 days.
As part of the package, you are sent an email with an image of your finished magazine cover artwork or a link to a digital version of your magazine. You can share these on Facebook or email them to your friends so they can share your creation. I think this is a very thoughtful extra. I'm looking forward to receiving my covers which I intend to frame and put into my daughters' bedrooms. They are going to love them. When they arrive I'll let you know what I think of the finished product. I'm sure they are going to be wonderful...I can't wait to find out!