I approached these two tasks slightly differently as they were two completely different genres of society and lifestyle, which were the student life and a music magazine of any kind. Approaching the preliminary task of a school/college magazine was a lot easier as I am a student and I am surrounded by many other students so it was a lot easier to construct and process the preliminary task. In addition to this, it made it a lot easier to gather feedback and survey from, what was, essentially my target audience. Approaching the main task was a lot harder as it was a wider field of work. The word music brought a lot more ideas and areas into my head. It also required me to think more critically about the choices I made as it was no longer a student magazine aimed at students it was a music magazine aimed at its fans. Although it was harder, it was slightly easier as well as I already had the feedback from the preliminary task which helped me through the approaching and processing my main task as I knew not to make the same mistakes I did in the preliminary task.
A key area of magazine development and any type of production is the time management behind it. In order for me to keep up with my work a created a plan of the objectives I was going to do by a certain deadline and the things I needed to do in order to meet those objectives. This allowed me to be a lot more organized and tidy with my work because it changed my frame of mine to be more disciplined me throughout the course of these tasks to do things by a certain deadline. When I found myself in situations where I knew I wasn’t going to finish by a certain deadline I would leave that certain task and go back to it when I had free time on my agenda. As well as managing time, I had to manage to equipment and other resources I was using. This meant me asking permission to use the school cameras and permission to print etc. Furthermore, for the main task managing my models was needed as I needed them to pose and look like what I instructed because I am ultimately the editor of the magazine and these decisions are thought about carefully for the success of the task.
Most of my creative problems came with the preliminary task. One of the problems that occurred whilst I was developing my ideas was that my initial ideas for the front cover didn’t work and I had to go back to the drawing board and came up with a layout that was suitable for the front cover of my school/college magazine. My initial ideas loads of students dressed up as if they were in different jobs did not work as I did not have the right resources or costumes for the idea. I didn’t really have any major problems with the still photography as the photos came out at a high quality and were taken in a clear environment. One of the big problems in the main music magazine task was always linking every little detail to the main theme and genre of the music task, this was very important and was done, but was very difficult to always bare it in mind whilst constructing. There was a minor problem with some of the photos taken, and that problem was the lighting. The lighting was a minor problem in some of the pictures as when the chosen pictures for the front cover were put together on the front page it didn’t look like the picture was one as I intended it to be, instead it looked like each picture was taken in a different environments. I managed to fix the problem with some editing with desktop publishing software, however one of the photos was unfixable as the lighting looked odd compared to the rest of the images on the front page . Another idea that didn’t go together was warping 4 different faces into one. This didn’t work as it wasn’t a very suitable image to place on the front cover. I didn’t really have any problems with the printing of both tasks production as it came out at a high quality. As I trialed my work amongst my peers and teacher I was picked up on a couple of problems which was easily amended. Although for my music magazine I had to keep changing minor things to make it the best it could be. Linking back to the still photography was the limitation of locations and if I could do the tasks again I would probably vary the locations
I believe that I organized my human resources very effectively as I managed to use them to get the best possible photos. For my preliminary task the models used were very kind to let me photograph them for my coursework. For the environment pictures I had to direct the students to pose the way I wanted them to, to give the right effect for my magazine. For the images if the front cover I organized a photo shoot session with 4 models and took a medium close up of each of them and directed them appropriately to suit my ideas for the front cover. For the pictures on the contents page I got two popular and distinct characters and took a long shot of them and made them into the head boy and head girl of my magazine. I made them wear poppies as a apart of the issue month and part of the theme of the month issues which was ‘remembrance day’.
For my main task, I used one model to create a twin effect. For this I organized a photo shoot on a weekend as for the main task and my twin sister band it required the day to get together outfits and props for each of the characters ‘Sam’ and ‘Izzy’. I had to be careful not to instruct my model to pose offensively or oddly, as it wouldn’t be suitable. Although I had to sail very close to the line because they had to come across as rebels for my music magazine which was centered around punk music. Also the costumes make up and props had to be different for each of the characters as they were two different people. I got my model to pose in many different ways and I had to action match each picture with the other character so it looked natural when the pictures were placed together and so they looked like the picture was taken with both of them in the shot. The two outfits also had to be distinct as each twin has a different style. This showed that I managed my ideas around my model very carefully and decided what looked good on my model for the suitability of the shoot. For the posing I gave my model information about each character so she could incorporate her feelings and personality based on the information into the pictures.
Overall, I was very pleased with the models chosen and the way the applied those in the photo shoot. I also believe that the photo shoots went very well and were very productive. The photos also came out to a very high quality. In a nutshell, I think my managing of human resources was very organized and effective
Throughout the two tasks I found that design drafting was very important as it is always available to refer back to when you are stuck on any problems with the current layout. By having draft layouts, you can adjust the layouts and adjust problems that have been pointed out and are not part of industry conventions or magazine ‘norms’. In addition to this, my preliminary task draft layout designs were completely different from the final outcome as many changes were needed to improve. After learning the mistakes of my preliminary task I managed to stick to my draft designs for my main task quite accurately as I thought about many different designs before coming up with an actual draft layout for my music magazine.
Monday, 28 December 2009
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
EVALUATION: Working with existing forms and conventions- Reworking the familiar
One of the most important parts of my coursework was the research behind each task as it allowed me to see the frequent conventions and industries ‘Must’ when creating a magazine, especially the layout of it all.
I believe my school/ college magazine is quite an accurate reflection of not only a professional magazine but is based around the industry conventions such as the placement of titles and taglines and the basic layout of what it should look like. I also felt that the pictures taken where all fit for purpose and iconic in their own light, which is important as you do not want to give a wrong impression to a target reader when you were not intending to.
Through my research I also believe that my music magazine came out a lot better than I ever planned for it to turn out. By looking at different music magazines I gained the knowledge and understanding to construct a very accurate piece of work that tied in with many of the industry conventions but yet had my own originality to it. This is important as I wanted my magazine to stand out because I learnt that all magazines follow the same conventions but they all have something that makes them unique to each other, even though their target audiences are different. For example, you would never find the title at the bottom of a page. All those things are basics of the layout for any magazine. This I made sure was evident in my coursework. Another I found out about was the pyramid layout, where there is more writing at the bottom of the page that the top so the bulk of the image is clear and stands out. Linking with this the colour schemes are essential as that is one of the factors to why cover stand out. I chose a black and red and white colour scheme as I think that they complement each other perfectly and create a stand out effect when utilized correctly. I also made sure that the layout of all my pages were correct and fitted all the boxes of the media conventions for magazines
Throughout the course of both the preliminary and main tasks I have learn a lot about mode of address and use of imagery used by magazine to appeal to their target audience and what they want their target audience to get out of their pictures. For example, through research I found that mode of address is very important to capture the target reader. Gossip magazines have a more informal mode of address and more exposed pictures of celebrities are iconic where as a magazine like SAGA is more formal and the pictures are aimed more for the target reader. I found the same thing with music magazines of different genres. Rock/heavy metal magazines will use raw language whilst still maintaining the right level of formality and mode of address. The pictures in most music magazines are of famous artists and therefore the pictures are generally iconic as the images are showing off that person. The images in music magazines also have directed poses and the celebrity in that photo all coordinated right down to their clothing and props. This lead me to learn that every little micro as well as macro element of magazine designing is all thought about and tested. I put this into practice by taking iconic photos of my models the leave an impression that they are all what is said in the picture. Also by reading other interviews in different magazines I wrote mine as a very free flowing story conversation as I thought it was fitter for purpose than doing a scripted interview. Overall, my research was essential as it aided me in the sparking of ideas and in the the basics of do's and don'ts in the industry conventions.
I believe my school/ college magazine is quite an accurate reflection of not only a professional magazine but is based around the industry conventions such as the placement of titles and taglines and the basic layout of what it should look like. I also felt that the pictures taken where all fit for purpose and iconic in their own light, which is important as you do not want to give a wrong impression to a target reader when you were not intending to.
Through my research I also believe that my music magazine came out a lot better than I ever planned for it to turn out. By looking at different music magazines I gained the knowledge and understanding to construct a very accurate piece of work that tied in with many of the industry conventions but yet had my own originality to it. This is important as I wanted my magazine to stand out because I learnt that all magazines follow the same conventions but they all have something that makes them unique to each other, even though their target audiences are different. For example, you would never find the title at the bottom of a page. All those things are basics of the layout for any magazine. This I made sure was evident in my coursework. Another I found out about was the pyramid layout, where there is more writing at the bottom of the page that the top so the bulk of the image is clear and stands out. Linking with this the colour schemes are essential as that is one of the factors to why cover stand out. I chose a black and red and white colour scheme as I think that they complement each other perfectly and create a stand out effect when utilized correctly. I also made sure that the layout of all my pages were correct and fitted all the boxes of the media conventions for magazines
Throughout the course of both the preliminary and main tasks I have learn a lot about mode of address and use of imagery used by magazine to appeal to their target audience and what they want their target audience to get out of their pictures. For example, through research I found that mode of address is very important to capture the target reader. Gossip magazines have a more informal mode of address and more exposed pictures of celebrities are iconic where as a magazine like SAGA is more formal and the pictures are aimed more for the target reader. I found the same thing with music magazines of different genres. Rock/heavy metal magazines will use raw language whilst still maintaining the right level of formality and mode of address. The pictures in most music magazines are of famous artists and therefore the pictures are generally iconic as the images are showing off that person. The images in music magazines also have directed poses and the celebrity in that photo all coordinated right down to their clothing and props. This lead me to learn that every little micro as well as macro element of magazine designing is all thought about and tested. I put this into practice by taking iconic photos of my models the leave an impression that they are all what is said in the picture. Also by reading other interviews in different magazines I wrote mine as a very free flowing story conversation as I thought it was fitter for purpose than doing a scripted interview. Overall, my research was essential as it aided me in the sparking of ideas and in the the basics of do's and don'ts in the industry conventions.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Constructing an interview and the interview pages
For the double page interview, the first thing I decided to do was to create the layout with the pictures for the interview to go on So I decided to make the background of the pages black and white. I did this as i feel that it conforms with the rest of my magazine and are two colour that suit my magazine so well. i added some effects to add some impact on to the page to make it more appealing to look at. I also wanted the top left quarter of the first page to be the area where the title of my story 'Living the Dream' would be placed and a picture of my band, including their logo. Linking back to my contents page, where it says 'STAGE Exclusive' I placed the same text in a bar at the top of the page so that it stretches along both pages. I did this to show the link to the contents page and that I haven't forgotten about it and it all links together. I chose the two pictures of Sam and Izzy doing hand signals as it is the perfect iconic image to welcome the reader onto the page and read the interview. It also shows some character for these two people. Another Choice i had to make was about putting another image at the bottom centre of the page so the text can be flow around it. I thought this was a good choice as it brings attention to the page of the two band members posing, baring in mind they are the same model I thought that I had to pick two similar pictures. Every Band has a manager and I thought it was only fit to include an image of their manager, Gaz, on the far left centre of the page. Another thing that I learnt I could do to motivate my images more was to add an anchor to the images I felt needed them. I put one next to Gaz and the picture on the bottom centre of the page. Furthermore, I took the image of Gaz as if the camara was looking up. I did this because he is the manager and has power of the band. In addition to this, to make my pages look professional i thought that the inclusion of the page numbers at the bottom was important as i shows the magazine convention and is the correct number that is shown on the contents page.
After creating the basic layout, all that was left was to write the interview. I didn't want to write a very robotic interview that was just full of question and answer. I wanted to write more of a story interview that was written in some parts like a dialogue and had a running commentary with it. I also wanted to write it in such a away where it never got boring and was full of interesting facts and stories about the band. I also chose a couple of interesting, fruitful quotes from the interview and enlarged them. I did this as it seems to be one of the conventions in interview writing for magazines.
After receiving Constructive criticism on my work i went back and adjusted. One of the problems with my work was the layout. I was advised to set the second page out in columns as it followed the idustry convention also I was told to move some images and add some around to make it look less wordy. Finally, I added who the article was by and who did the photography (which I missed out first time round). After tweeking it this was the final result:
After creating the basic layout, all that was left was to write the interview. I didn't want to write a very robotic interview that was just full of question and answer. I wanted to write more of a story interview that was written in some parts like a dialogue and had a running commentary with it. I also wanted to write it in such a away where it never got boring and was full of interesting facts and stories about the band. I also chose a couple of interesting, fruitful quotes from the interview and enlarged them. I did this as it seems to be one of the conventions in interview writing for magazines.
After receiving Constructive criticism on my work i went back and adjusted. One of the problems with my work was the layout. I was advised to set the second page out in columns as it followed the idustry convention also I was told to move some images and add some around to make it look less wordy. Finally, I added who the article was by and who did the photography (which I missed out first time round). After tweeking it this was the final result:
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Plan for 14/12/09
For the last couple of weeks of this project i have decided to focus on the interfview pages as i believe it is the hardest and most complex out of all the pages.
Construct interview pages- Constructing the interview pages involves me choosing other images for the phtots taken and also producing a rough mock up of the layout with the pictures and colours spo there is room for my interview.
Write up interview- Writing up an interview will be quite difficult, but through my research of looking at magazine articles and interviews in such magazines as Classic rock and reading interviewws like Jimi Hendrix, Jay Z and Dizzie Rascal it shouldn't be too complex.
Proof read interview and whole production- This willl involve me fixing any little problems on all ofn my pages and seeing if everything is right and accurate. Also, Proof reading my interview will allow me to see if there are any spelling or grammatical mistakes.
Construct interview pages- Constructing the interview pages involves me choosing other images for the phtots taken and also producing a rough mock up of the layout with the pictures and colours spo there is room for my interview.
Write up interview- Writing up an interview will be quite difficult, but through my research of looking at magazine articles and interviews in such magazines as Classic rock and reading interviewws like Jimi Hendrix, Jay Z and Dizzie Rascal it shouldn't be too complex.
Proof read interview and whole production- This willl involve me fixing any little problems on all ofn my pages and seeing if everything is right and accurate. Also, Proof reading my interview will allow me to see if there are any spelling or grammatical mistakes.
Monday, 30 November 2009
Contructing the Contents page
After constructing my Front page I then had to produce a contents page. One thing was for certain, and that was that it had to link to my front page. This could be achieved by using the same colour scheme. Also I used a different font to that of the title, I used the same one as the tag line. One of the things I was criticised for in the preliminary task was the that my fonts looked too similar. So this time around I used a clearer and distinct fonts. For the background of the contents page I added effects to give it a Punk/Gothic look to it. I divided the page into two. The bottom half contained the magazine exclusive and it took up the whole of the bottom half of the page. I placed a picture of the band and added some lighting effects and out glows. I also wrote the words 'STAGE EXCLUSIVE' in clear lettering so it was obvious what the main story was about. I also placed a picture of the band as articles normally have a picture next to them about showing who it is about. I decided to place the word Contents in a slanted position in the top left hand corner and bigger than the rest of text as it is the title of the page. In the rest of the top half of the page i put other stories and articles that would be included in this magazine.
After receiving feedback on my contents page I then made some minor adjustments to it. For example I made 'Stage Exclusive' in even bigger lettering and I also added some more text. One thing that I haven't mentioned is the the reason for the choice of font colour. I chose to do white on black and white on black. I did this for the obvious reason that they are two contrasting colours and stand out.
After receiving feedback on my contents page I then made some minor adjustments to it. For example I made 'Stage Exclusive' in even bigger lettering and I also added some more text. One thing that I haven't mentioned is the the reason for the choice of font colour. I chose to do white on black and white on black. I did this for the obvious reason that they are two contrasting colours and stand out.
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Constructing the front page
The very first thing I did for my front cover was to think of a colour scheme that would fit the theme of my magazine which was, punk rock. I was thinking about what colour go well and when put together stand out. After thinking about it for a while I thought that two complementary and suitable colours for my magazine would be black and white.
Although, one thing I had to be careful with was not to over use these colours as they can sometimes come across as quite dull. After thinking of the schemes I then thought about the positioning, font and colour of the font. 'Stage' was my title and I decided to make my title black with a white outer glow to make it leap off the page and noticeable. When I was happy with how my title looked I then had to add the tag line to it which was 'Where music is expressed'. I played around with the positioning of the tag line and thought it would be a good idea to place it on top of the title and made it white so it contrasted with the title and was also noticeable. In the top right hand corner I put the price and issue number. After my research of existing magazines I Put the price of my magazine as '3.20'.
Other features I included in this top quarter of the front page was the issue number and price of the magazine. Once I created the top quarter of the magazine front cover, I introduced the pictures form my photo shoot. Another reason why I chose the black and white colour scheme was that my model, were wearing black and white so I thought it would be appropriate to choose the colour scheme that I did.
After, choosing and editing appropriate images of my models, I placed them so they took up most of the page. I also added effects to the pictures, so that they looked like they were part of the front page. After adding my models to the page I then put the band name and logo on it. The top half of my magazine was now pretty much finished and then i has to work on the bottom half. One of the first things I did on the bottom half of the front cover was to create an 'also inside' bar. I made it glow at the top so it was noticeable and faded it a bit so the bottom half of the models could be seen faintly.
Free poster, Exclusive and also inside have all been written in very magazine cut out like writing. This was done as it fits in with the genre of my magazine, Punk rock and they are big and stand out as the main things that dominate this issue of my magaizne. I've decided to choose about 3 or 4 different fonts to use on my front cover as , form my research, it seems to be the magazine convention to use different fonts for differetn purposes. My front page also Contains the pyramid formation as the bulk of the magazxine is at the bottom magazine, leaving the top half quite textless as form research again seems to be another convention of music magazines.
After some feedback on my original front cover I made ammedmends by making the tagline clearer and making Exclusive and Free poster clearer.
Although, one thing I had to be careful with was not to over use these colours as they can sometimes come across as quite dull. After thinking of the schemes I then thought about the positioning, font and colour of the font. 'Stage' was my title and I decided to make my title black with a white outer glow to make it leap off the page and noticeable. When I was happy with how my title looked I then had to add the tag line to it which was 'Where music is expressed'. I played around with the positioning of the tag line and thought it would be a good idea to place it on top of the title and made it white so it contrasted with the title and was also noticeable. In the top right hand corner I put the price and issue number. After my research of existing magazines I Put the price of my magazine as '3.20'.
Other features I included in this top quarter of the front page was the issue number and price of the magazine. Once I created the top quarter of the magazine front cover, I introduced the pictures form my photo shoot. Another reason why I chose the black and white colour scheme was that my model, were wearing black and white so I thought it would be appropriate to choose the colour scheme that I did.
After, choosing and editing appropriate images of my models, I placed them so they took up most of the page. I also added effects to the pictures, so that they looked like they were part of the front page. After adding my models to the page I then put the band name and logo on it. The top half of my magazine was now pretty much finished and then i has to work on the bottom half. One of the first things I did on the bottom half of the front cover was to create an 'also inside' bar. I made it glow at the top so it was noticeable and faded it a bit so the bottom half of the models could be seen faintly.
Free poster, Exclusive and also inside have all been written in very magazine cut out like writing. This was done as it fits in with the genre of my magazine, Punk rock and they are big and stand out as the main things that dominate this issue of my magaizne. I've decided to choose about 3 or 4 different fonts to use on my front cover as , form my research, it seems to be the magazine convention to use different fonts for differetn purposes. My front page also Contains the pyramid formation as the bulk of the magazxine is at the bottom magazine, leaving the top half quite textless as form research again seems to be another convention of music magazines.
After some feedback on my original front cover I made ammedmends by making the tagline clearer and making Exclusive and Free poster clearer.
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Plan for 30/11/09
Choose and edit pictures- I have to choose the pictures i want to use for my magazine and edit them to satisfy myself and to be appropriate and gives an impact on the page for the construction of the production.
Construct front page- Using Desktop publishing I will merge all my ideas and create my front page. Once I've chosen appropriate images I can then create a front page. Also, I need to keep in mind the magazine conventions and research.
Construct contents page- Same applies for the contents page. I need to come up with other stories that I can include on the contents page. Also choosing appropriate fonts, font sizes and photos are also important.
Ask for feedback- Asking for feedback after my first attempt is important as it allows me to improve and receive constructive criticism to make my work better. Also it will allow me to see if I've met my own personal objectives, such as quality.
Make amendments- After receiving construct e criticism i can edit my pages based on what I have been told I can do to make it better or what isn't clear.
Of course apart form this I need to blog all my findings whilst I'm doing this.
Construct front page- Using Desktop publishing I will merge all my ideas and create my front page. Once I've chosen appropriate images I can then create a front page. Also, I need to keep in mind the magazine conventions and research.
Construct contents page- Same applies for the contents page. I need to come up with other stories that I can include on the contents page. Also choosing appropriate fonts, font sizes and photos are also important.
Ask for feedback- Asking for feedback after my first attempt is important as it allows me to improve and receive constructive criticism to make my work better. Also it will allow me to see if I've met my own personal objectives, such as quality.
Make amendments- After receiving construct e criticism i can edit my pages based on what I have been told I can do to make it better or what isn't clear.
Of course apart form this I need to blog all my findings whilst I'm doing this.
Monday, 16 November 2009
Photoshoot...
The pictures for my coursework had to be original, which meant that I had to take them myself. So, this being a music magazine and all I had to take pictures which related to my music convention genre, Punk rock. For ,my photo shoot I had to make sure the models I was using dressed up to look like a Punk rocker. I chose a girl for my photo shoot and asked if she could dress and look like someone who was part of a punk band. I was using the same person to make a twin band but each character would be dressed differently and would have a different style, this is key as they cannot look identical as it wouldn't show much diversity. For my first character, Sam ,my model dressed up in a black and white clothing which included high heels, a skirt, a black top and a black and white stripy tie, she also had very glamorous make up as Sam is the more glamorous out of the two sisters. For this photo shoot I had to graphic match both of my characters so every shot i made with one character I had to match it with a similar one for the next character. For my second of the sisters, Izzy, I made my same model dress up differently by making her wear jeans, a cross, blazer and her hair and make up were messy and looked slightly Gothic. This was done purposely to make Izzy look like the tough one out of the two. One thing that was crucial to this photo shoot was that my model put herself int he shoes of my characters as it would allow the best quality pictures to be produced.
Sam
Izzy
These are the pictures I am going to use for my magazine. I'm not going to do any hard editing on these photos. I am probably going to take away red eye and airbrush them. The reason that the background is so plain is so it is easier to crop the picture out of the frame so it looks cleanly cut around the edges.
Sam
Izzy
These are the pictures I am going to use for my magazine. I'm not going to do any hard editing on these photos. I am probably going to take away red eye and airbrush them. The reason that the background is so plain is so it is easier to crop the picture out of the frame so it looks cleanly cut around the edges.
This photo shoot was very productive as I managed to take enough photos for the production of my magazine.
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Considering OBJECTS, SETTING and FIGURE
After looking at theme, colour and lighting we then had to look at the objects, setting and figures surrounding our magaiznes. In a nutshell, we had to think about the mise-en-scene of the images we choose for our magazine.
Again, my photo shoot was the perfect chance to consider and to put into practiuse all these things:
Objects- What objects could be in each shot?. This can include from jewellery to guitars, every single thing in the shot shot be noticed. I was thinking more along the llines of wearting symbolic things like a cross and wearing objects of identity such as make up
Setting- What is the set going to look like? It could be plain or be have a realy busy set. I was thinking of not having such a busy background as it will draw attention away from he model.
Figure- How are my models goign to pose? This is important as their poses will say alot about them and will also allow interpretation of their expressions and body language. I want my models to pose wildly and free spirited as it would allow genuine photos to be produced.
Also considering semiotics and my photoshoot i wanted most of my pictures to be iconic so they show exactly what they show and they are what they represent.
Again, my photo shoot was the perfect chance to consider and to put into practiuse all these things:
Objects- What objects could be in each shot?. This can include from jewellery to guitars, every single thing in the shot shot be noticed. I was thinking more along the llines of wearting symbolic things like a cross and wearing objects of identity such as make up
Setting- What is the set going to look like? It could be plain or be have a realy busy set. I was thinking of not having such a busy background as it will draw attention away from he model.
Figure- How are my models goign to pose? This is important as their poses will say alot about them and will also allow interpretation of their expressions and body language. I want my models to pose wildly and free spirited as it would allow genuine photos to be produced.
Also considering semiotics and my photoshoot i wanted most of my pictures to be iconic so they show exactly what they show and they are what they represent.
Considering THEME, LIGHTING and COLOUR
In today's lesson our group were split into groups of three and looked at an article from a music magazine. After skimming through he magazine article we had to look at 3 different things: Theme, lighting and colour.
The magazine my group given was Classic rock and we focused on the main article which was on 'The mysterious death of Jimi Hendrix'. First of all, my group looked at the dominant colours of the article, which were black, whites, greys, purples. Jimi Hendrix was written in multicolour which could have been done to show the charisma and personality that Hendrix had. There was also suttle reds throughout the article.
In addition to this, the pictures in this article were very iconic images and the majority of them were in black and white, showing that Hendrix was from a past time era and the lighting on each of the photos focused on his face. Another reason to why the photos might of been edited and presented in this way links back to the main issue in the article, 'the mysterious death of Jimi Hendrix'. Although there are dominant black and white images right at the end of the article is a coloured picture of the rock star, suggesting that we should remember him for his true personality and nature instead of all the negative vibes and conspiracies that surround him.
After this task, individually we had to go through the same process for our task, thinking about ideas for our front covers and what colours to use. Also when having the photoshop, thkning about the lighting. Overall, after thinkning of these things the most important thing of all is that it has to link to the theme of our magazines. The theme of punk rock so baring this in mind i had to use my photoshoot as a chance to think carefully about the colour and lighhting of the photos.
The magazine my group given was Classic rock and we focused on the main article which was on 'The mysterious death of Jimi Hendrix'. First of all, my group looked at the dominant colours of the article, which were black, whites, greys, purples. Jimi Hendrix was written in multicolour which could have been done to show the charisma and personality that Hendrix had. There was also suttle reds throughout the article.
In addition to this, the pictures in this article were very iconic images and the majority of them were in black and white, showing that Hendrix was from a past time era and the lighting on each of the photos focused on his face. Another reason to why the photos might of been edited and presented in this way links back to the main issue in the article, 'the mysterious death of Jimi Hendrix'. Although there are dominant black and white images right at the end of the article is a coloured picture of the rock star, suggesting that we should remember him for his true personality and nature instead of all the negative vibes and conspiracies that surround him.
After this task, individually we had to go through the same process for our task, thinking about ideas for our front covers and what colours to use. Also when having the photoshop, thkning about the lighting. Overall, after thinkning of these things the most important thing of all is that it has to link to the theme of our magazines. The theme of punk rock so baring this in mind i had to use my photoshoot as a chance to think carefully about the colour and lighhting of the photos.
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Thinking about a band...
For this music magazine one of the crucial elements was to come up with a band that would be included on the front page and be the basis of my magazine (interview etc.)
After storming up ideas in my head i thought of a unique and different idea. I decided to create a twin sister punk rock band. Now that I got the basis of my band I had to generate a story behind them, this is key as I am compiling and interview as well. Before I created a story behind my band I had to create a name for it, this was very tricky. I wanted a totally original and unique band name. After, looking at a thesaurus and dictionary for a very long time I came up with a name, 'Sacramental liaison'. After creating a story I then created a bit of a story.
My band are made up of twin sisters that are rebellious, young, revolutionary Punk rockers that have been through a lot and have seen it all. their journey to the top has truly been a roller coaster ride. They've done drugs, kicked a band member out and were kicked out of their house, their lives have been filled with violence. They were found at a young age by a legendary Punk rocker/ Manager , Gaz. Sam and Izzy are the two members. Sam is the more glamorous and neater one of the sisters. Izzy is the tough nut, messy sister that has a short temper.
I am hoping to express all this in my interview and show their characters and personalities through the photos i take in my photo shoot.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Templates...
Here are the templates of what I hope my magazine layout will look like. I will try and stick to them as accurately as possible as they look like quite professionally laid out pages, in accordance to my research and music magazine conventions.
Monday, 9 November 2009
Coming up with a title and tagline...
Coming up with a title for my magazine was probably one of the hardest tasks in this coursework, and along with the title has to come a punch line. From my research i found that one thing for definite was that all titles link with the genre and style of the magazine. For example, Classic rock is the title of a famous rock magazine, terrorize is the title of a heavy metal magazine. So they all link in with their themes and styles. As I was thinking of a title I also made sure that the title is very clear and does what it says on the tin. The title I thought of in the end was 'Stage'. I chose this because music and bands are normally expressed or presented on stages. This then lead to me thinking of the tag line :'Where music is expressed' as it links in with the title and complements it very well. Below is the design for my title and thought it was appropriate to make it black with a white outer glow as it makes it clear and stands out, through its size that it is the title of my music magazine. I have chosen this messy, splattered font as I feel that it lets off a very 'Punk' feel to it and is clearly fit for purpose. However, one thing I was criticised for was calling a heavy punk rock magazine 'Stage'. My reason for choosing this title was purely because my magazine is a generic punk magazine that covers different areas of 'Punk'.
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Magazine theme...
For the theme of my magazine i have decided to do a punk rock magazine as i believe it is open to imagine about what punk is. Also, using existing punk rock magazine and punk rock bands will allow me to build around the genre with my ideas.
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. They created fast, hard-edged music, typically with short songs, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY (do it yourself) ethic, with many bands self-producing their recordings and distributing them through informal channels- Wikipedia.org
This is the definition of punk rock and i have to make sure this is reflected in my production of this project. I am aiming for a rebel, energetic, modern punk rock magazine.
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. They created fast, hard-edged music, typically with short songs, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY (do it yourself) ethic, with many bands self-producing their recordings and distributing them through informal channels- Wikipedia.org
This is the definition of punk rock and i have to make sure this is reflected in my production of this project. I am aiming for a rebel, energetic, modern punk rock magazine.
Picking an ideal reader...
This is Stacy Goldman, a typical 16 year old rebel that doesn't like to do what she's told and just for being her, she will do the opposite. Stacy attends a normal typical state school in London, where she also lives. She lives with her Mum and Dad and older sister. Her perfect Friday night is to sleep round her friends house and drink to the early hours of the morning to Punk music. Her other interests include hanging around with friends in parks and hanging out with her boyfriend, Robert. She never comes home before 10, she hates staying indoors, especially being indoors with her annoying older sister who always criticises her for her 'different' style. She has a very distinct and unique way of dressing because she IS a very unique character. Her favourite place to shop is Camden and Soho. She is a very social person. She enjoys watching and listening to Music channels such as Kerrang! as she shares a passion for punk and rock music, she loves singing along to these channels. Her favourite bands are the sex pistols, The Ramones and Bullet For My Valentine. She watches programmes like Miami ink and loves horror films like paranormal activity as she loves the feeling of knowing that your going to get scared. She is a bit of a rebel and has been kicked out of a school before for having a very vicious fight. She hates going out with the family and wants to be left in her room with her music. In a nutshell, she is a cocky rebellious, young teenager into her music.Saturday, 7 November 2009
Plan for 13/11/09
As I began on my main coursework task I first needed to become
-Research magazine covers online- The is the basis of my task, researching magazine covers will allow me to get a feel around the topic of music magazines. Researching magazines of different genres and components will allow me to devise ideas and think about what will go into my magazine.
-Come up with ideas for layouts of front cover, contents and interview pages- Compiling layouts of all components of my magazine will be vital as it will guide me into how my magazine will come together and look like.
-Come up with title ideas for magazine- Come up with different titles for my magazine and survey titles to see which one packs more of an impact. Afterwards, I will have to do the same process for my slogan/punchline
-Come up with an ideal reader for my magazine- I will need to distinguish the 'ideal' readership for my magazine, so I could build around it to make up the contents of my ideas around this information.
-Plan photo shoot and choose models- This will require me planning out what type of photos i want and the different shots i want to be included in my magazine. Also choosing colleagues for my photo shoot will need to be done as well, to create my own made up band.
-Research magazine covers online- The is the basis of my task, researching magazine covers will allow me to get a feel around the topic of music magazines. Researching magazines of different genres and components will allow me to devise ideas and think about what will go into my magazine.
-Come up with ideas for layouts of front cover, contents and interview pages- Compiling layouts of all components of my magazine will be vital as it will guide me into how my magazine will come together and look like.
-Come up with title ideas for magazine- Come up with different titles for my magazine and survey titles to see which one packs more of an impact. Afterwards, I will have to do the same process for my slogan/punchline
-Come up with an ideal reader for my magazine- I will need to distinguish the 'ideal' readership for my magazine, so I could build around it to make up the contents of my ideas around this information.
-Plan photo shoot and choose models- This will require me planning out what type of photos i want and the different shots i want to be included in my magazine. Also choosing colleagues for my photo shoot will need to be done as well, to create my own made up band.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Introduction to coursework and music magazine research
In this double media lesson on Thursday 5th November. We began to look at the areas needed for our main task of the coursework, Creating a music magazine with a contents and two page spread interview.
Our first task was to look., in depth, at certain readership and how the can say a lot about the type of person who reads a particular type of magazine. We were put in pairs and given a magazine between us to answer particular questions on. I was paired with Jake and we were given 'Junior' magazine. The questions we answered were:
What does this reader eat for breakfast?
What car/ mode of transport do they use?
What accommodation do they live in?
What do they drink?
What music do they like?
What sport do they play or watch?
Where do they go on holiday?
Are they married or single?
After answering these questions we gave feedback to the class about the magazine we were given. After this brief discussion we then researched existing music magazines, baring in mind these questions. Junior magazine seemed like a magazine that is aimed at couples with a lot of money that live in a house and have a fancy car. Also this magazine is aimed at people that go on expensive holidays and spend a lot on the image of their children.
The music magazine I researched was Classic rock magazine and found that the main article was on Metallica. I only assumed this from the front cover of the magazine and it had an iconic picture of the lead guitarist, and I was right. In addition to this, the title was in big, white, bold lettering and stood out form the page. The font of the title is very Also, around the bottom of the page it had other stories that were in the magazine and. The choice in colours with the black and whites and golds are used brilliantly to show that everything is clear and thought about carefully with a purpose. Another thing I noticed was that the top half of the page is left pretty bare, in comparison to the bottom half, creating a pyramid shape. There are about 3/4 different fonts on this page sand they are all used for different things. The other fonts are used for article titles, tag line, and freebies.Everything on this front cover is also appropriate to their ideal reader and genre of music. Everything on this fornt cover screams out rock: memorable title, snappy tag line, Iconic rock image, relevant rock articles and stories. From my research I found that the conventions of a music magazine are very clear. Everything from the title to the positioning images and texts are all thoguth about and done on purpose by the editor to make the magazine appealing.
Our first task was to look., in depth, at certain readership and how the can say a lot about the type of person who reads a particular type of magazine. We were put in pairs and given a magazine between us to answer particular questions on. I was paired with Jake and we were given 'Junior' magazine. The questions we answered were:
What does this reader eat for breakfast?
What car/ mode of transport do they use?
What accommodation do they live in?
What do they drink?
What music do they like?
What sport do they play or watch?
Where do they go on holiday?
Are they married or single?
After answering these questions we gave feedback to the class about the magazine we were given. After this brief discussion we then researched existing music magazines, baring in mind these questions. Junior magazine seemed like a magazine that is aimed at couples with a lot of money that live in a house and have a fancy car. Also this magazine is aimed at people that go on expensive holidays and spend a lot on the image of their children.
The music magazine I researched was Classic rock magazine and found that the main article was on Metallica. I only assumed this from the front cover of the magazine and it had an iconic picture of the lead guitarist, and I was right. In addition to this, the title was in big, white, bold lettering and stood out form the page. The font of the title is very Also, around the bottom of the page it had other stories that were in the magazine and. The choice in colours with the black and whites and golds are used brilliantly to show that everything is clear and thought about carefully with a purpose. Another thing I noticed was that the top half of the page is left pretty bare, in comparison to the bottom half, creating a pyramid shape. There are about 3/4 different fonts on this page sand they are all used for different things. The other fonts are used for article titles, tag line, and freebies.Everything on this front cover is also appropriate to their ideal reader and genre of music. Everything on this fornt cover screams out rock: memorable title, snappy tag line, Iconic rock image, relevant rock articles and stories. From my research I found that the conventions of a music magazine are very clear. Everything from the title to the positioning images and texts are all thoguth about and done on purpose by the editor to make the magazine appealing.
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Feedback on premiliminary task
Today I was given feedback on my preliminary task and I got a chance to see what it could have done better on my preliminary task so I could make sure I could develop and avoid any problems in my main coursework task. For my preliminary task School/College magazine I got 42/50. I was given both positive and constructive criticism for my magazine cover.
Firstly I will start with the positives of my final product. I was told by my teacher that the colour schemes on the front page were good. The mix of blues, blacks and whites fitted the purpose of the task. Also, the highlighting of the title and images on the front page was effective and created an impact. Generally, the actual task itself was produced to a satisfactory level. However, there were minor faults in my work that were highlighted in order for me to know so i didnt commit the same faults in my main task. One fault was the Lack of variation of fonts and font sizes. They were very similiar and it was clear that it did not follow the industry conventions. Also, for the pictures, there wasnt a variation of shot distances and types. Tghis is something important to include and adjust in my main task to get the highest mark possible. In a nutshell, my layout and text choices for my main task have to be thought about very carefully and constant surveying of my work has to be done to ensure everything is spotted and for my work to be the best it can.
Firstly I will start with the positives of my final product. I was told by my teacher that the colour schemes on the front page were good. The mix of blues, blacks and whites fitted the purpose of the task. Also, the highlighting of the title and images on the front page was effective and created an impact. Generally, the actual task itself was produced to a satisfactory level. However, there were minor faults in my work that were highlighted in order for me to know so i didnt commit the same faults in my main task. One fault was the Lack of variation of fonts and font sizes. They were very similiar and it was clear that it did not follow the industry conventions. Also, for the pictures, there wasnt a variation of shot distances and types. Tghis is something important to include and adjust in my main task to get the highest mark possible. In a nutshell, my layout and text choices for my main task have to be thought about very carefully and constant surveying of my work has to be done to ensure everything is spotted and for my work to be the best it can.
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Prem coursework- Preliminary task evaluation
Throughout this preliminary task of my coursework I have come across some challenges but the task itself has been quite straight forward, with the hard work and effort put in. When i was given the task, I must admit, it was quite hard to come up with an idea for it as I didn't know whether or not to make it a focused on a department magazine (like the exemplar shown) or a more generic magazine. It took me a good week to finalise my idea after discussions with my teacher and weighing up the pros and cons. I found that if it is more generic you can include a variety of things, whereas if it was focused on one department it would require accuracy on what is written as it cannot be off the main focus.
Throughout my front cover production I came across some problems that were not too hard to cross. Ior example, I found it quite tricky to change the lighting on the faces of the front cover. It required alot of playing around on photoshop for it to finally look retouched and slightly more professional than my first go. Also another problem encountered with the front cover, that was mentioned by peers was a spacious area that was empty. This made me have to think about what could go in this space and after a while I came up with an idea for it. These, I guess, were quite minor problems as I managed to overcome these problems.
For the production of my contents page, ideas for layouts was my main problem as I didn't know how to lay out my contents. I eventually came up with an idea after visualising and playing with areas of the contents page and pictures to compile my contents page. I also had to be accurate in trying to link my contents page with my front cover so they complimented each other.
On the other hand, I found that this preliminary task went quite smoothly and I did not encounter any big problems that could not be overcome. I believe that my product was a success as I kept to deadlines and did everything to the best of my ability and with he resources provided.
If I had a chance to re do this preliminary task all over again I would of probably would've taken more exciting pictures and I might of changed the topic of the magazine. other than this I do not think I would have changed much.
I hope that the problems I encountered are Something i later to hope on to improve and consider spending detailed time on when i do my main coursework task.
Throughout my front cover production I came across some problems that were not too hard to cross. Ior example, I found it quite tricky to change the lighting on the faces of the front cover. It required alot of playing around on photoshop for it to finally look retouched and slightly more professional than my first go. Also another problem encountered with the front cover, that was mentioned by peers was a spacious area that was empty. This made me have to think about what could go in this space and after a while I came up with an idea for it. These, I guess, were quite minor problems as I managed to overcome these problems.
For the production of my contents page, ideas for layouts was my main problem as I didn't know how to lay out my contents. I eventually came up with an idea after visualising and playing with areas of the contents page and pictures to compile my contents page. I also had to be accurate in trying to link my contents page with my front cover so they complimented each other.
On the other hand, I found that this preliminary task went quite smoothly and I did not encounter any big problems that could not be overcome. I believe that my product was a success as I kept to deadlines and did everything to the best of my ability and with he resources provided.
If I had a chance to re do this preliminary task all over again I would of probably would've taken more exciting pictures and I might of changed the topic of the magazine. other than this I do not think I would have changed much.
I hope that the problems I encountered are Something i later to hope on to improve and consider spending detailed time on when i do my main coursework task.
Friday, 30 October 2009
Prem Coursework- Contents page
Firstly, I had to come up with an idea for my contents page and how it will compliment and tie in with the front page of my magazine. So one thing I decided on from the beginning of my thoughts is that I would keep the colour scheme the same. Once I decided on the colour of my contents page (black and blue) I could then build on it. In addition to this I thought of places of where the title of 'Contents' could go and at first I tried putting along the right hand side of the page so that it went vertically, but saw that it looked slightly odd on the page and went for a more traditional position for it, which was at the top of the page.
For the text on my Contents page I decided to use the same font as the front cover and made the font big enough for the main stories and articles so it stood out. I used a similar but notably different font for the description of each article/story as I thought that it made the main topic stand out with the description of it also standing out. The colour white was again utilised for the fonts as it works really well against the black and darkish tone of blue.
For my contents page, instead of repeating the stories of my front page onto my contents i thought of placing the a minimized image of my magazine front cover on the contents page and then indicate what pages each item is on.
After building the text of my contents page, I needed to decide on what images I was going to include and since the main story on the front page was about being a head boy/girl, I thought it would be a great idea to take pictures of two people (one a girl and the other a boy) and using their pictures as the current head boy and girl. I thought of this as it would relate to the front page and go with the magazine perfectly. I've decided to place both my head boy and head girl opposite each other to allow room for the text to fit and so it fits in with the main story about the race for the next pair of heads. I also had the head boy wear a poppy so it tied in with the remeberance issue of the month.
For the text on my Contents page I decided to use the same font as the front cover and made the font big enough for the main stories and articles so it stood out. I used a similar but notably different font for the description of each article/story as I thought that it made the main topic stand out with the description of it also standing out. The colour white was again utilised for the fonts as it works really well against the black and darkish tone of blue.
For my contents page, instead of repeating the stories of my front page onto my contents i thought of placing the a minimized image of my magazine front cover on the contents page and then indicate what pages each item is on.
After building the text of my contents page, I needed to decide on what images I was going to include and since the main story on the front page was about being a head boy/girl, I thought it would be a great idea to take pictures of two people (one a girl and the other a boy) and using their pictures as the current head boy and girl. I thought of this as it would relate to the front page and go with the magazine perfectly. I've decided to place both my head boy and head girl opposite each other to allow room for the text to fit and so it fits in with the main story about the race for the next pair of heads. I also had the head boy wear a poppy so it tied in with the remeberance issue of the month.
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Prem Coursework- Plan for the 30/10/09
As before, for my front page, I have decided to come up with a plan to create a timeline for my contents page and to create deadlines for the different stages of it. By Saturday 30th October I hope to:
Come up with ideas for my contents- This meaning to come up with mental ideas of what I could include on my contents page and also to think of a layout for my contents.
Take any additional pictures for my contents page- Take pictures that are necessary to my contents if that means taking more pictures I will have to do that at some point.
Come up with other stories to include in the magazine- For this I will have to brainstorm and jot down other ideas to put on my contents page that will make my magazine.
Construct contents page- Constructing the contents page will require a lot of time as i need to carefully produce the page making sure everything is accurate. Whilst doing this, I have to keep in mind how I am going to link it to my front page.
Make any adjustments (if needed)- After constructing the contents page I need to fine tune it and make sure there aren't any problems with it and that there are no mistakes and everything is accurate.
Come up with ideas for my contents- This meaning to come up with mental ideas of what I could include on my contents page and also to think of a layout for my contents.
Take any additional pictures for my contents page- Take pictures that are necessary to my contents if that means taking more pictures I will have to do that at some point.
Come up with other stories to include in the magazine- For this I will have to brainstorm and jot down other ideas to put on my contents page that will make my magazine.
Construct contents page- Constructing the contents page will require a lot of time as i need to carefully produce the page making sure everything is accurate. Whilst doing this, I have to keep in mind how I am going to link it to my front page.
Make any adjustments (if needed)- After constructing the contents page I need to fine tune it and make sure there aren't any problems with it and that there are no mistakes and everything is accurate.
Monday, 19 October 2009
Prem Coursework- Presentation of Front Cover and Comlpletion
After creating an initial front cover for my school/college magazine I presented it to my class, using them as a focus group. I explained everything I did and explained why I did it....
After receiving my criticisms and evaluation on my magazine front cover I went back to the drawing board and edited the things I needed to change to make my front cover better, more appealing and overall more professional. I added lighting effects to make the pictures look like they were part of the page and I also created an outer glow around them to make them stand out. I decided to keep the font I chose as it went for my informal approach to this task.
However, whilst editing I couldn't decide on what could go in that big empty space on my page. At first I thought of a badge, then it hit me that since it is an November issue and it is a time where remembrance Sunday is celebrated AND schools normally sell them I thought I could design a poppy there and alert everyone to buy one now to remember the heroes that died in honour of their country.
This is the final product of my magazine cover:
After receiving my criticisms and evaluation on my magazine front cover I went back to the drawing board and edited the things I needed to change to make my front cover better, more appealing and overall more professional. I added lighting effects to make the pictures look like they were part of the page and I also created an outer glow around them to make them stand out. I decided to keep the font I chose as it went for my informal approach to this task.
However, whilst editing I couldn't decide on what could go in that big empty space on my page. At first I thought of a badge, then it hit me that since it is an November issue and it is a time where remembrance Sunday is celebrated AND schools normally sell them I thought I could design a poppy there and alert everyone to buy one now to remember the heroes that died in honour of their country.
This is the final product of my magazine cover:
Friday, 16 October 2009
Prem coursework- Survey
Today, I took a survey of 30 people in my common room about my potential title ideas and slogans to see which one was more preferred and would inevitably be my title for my magazinediv>
Title survey
100% student: 2
The Student mag: 18
3:30: 7
Your Future: 3
Slogan survey
Be one step ahead: 22
100% student material: 2
Too cool for teachers: 6
For my photos I didn’t want to take a survey as I thought it was the editors choice of what photos to choose and I already had an idea in mind about what I was going to do and I didn’t want to survey the photos.
Title survey
100% student: 2
The Student mag: 18
3:30: 7
Your Future: 3
Slogan survey
Be one step ahead: 22
100% student material: 2
Too cool for teachers: 6
For my photos I didn’t want to take a survey as I thought it was the editors choice of what photos to choose and I already had an idea in mind about what I was going to do and I didn’t want to survey the photos.
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Prem Coursework- Magazine ideas
One of the first things I did after being briefed was to think about a title that I could work around and would suit the theme and style of the magazine. So firstly, I brainstormed ideas for potential titles for my magazines:
After surveying my title ideas I found that ‘the Student mag’ was favoured and I agreed as it is snappy, simple title that ‘does what it does on the tin’. Also, as it has to be a school/college magazine and is aimed at students I wanted the title to have a certain level of informality as students tend to get bored with straight up formal magazines.
After choosing a title for my title for the magazine I decided to come up with a slogan/catchphrase for my magazine that can be associated with the magazine.
I found that that ‘be one step ahead!’ was a popular one amongst my peers as it was short, memorable and snappy.
After creating a title and slogan, I could then work around it and build a look around it and the other areas of magazine production which are:
· Content
· Colours
· Style
· Font
Content: For the contents of my magazine cover I decided to include pictures of students working in different areas of school life and subjects. For example, people on computers, people in lessons etc. I was also thinking of putting a collage of photos that I will be taking. In order to acquire the photos I am hoping to go into lessons around school, with permission of teachers, and take photos of the learning environment. However, I wanted a main big picture in the middle of the front cover and my idea for this was a picture of a student with their head split into four and have different genders and races in those four sections. For my contents page I was thinking of having a collage of the photos taken.
Colours: For my magazine I also had to come up with colours to put on the front cover and colour schemes and I thought of using a range of aquatic, calm colours: A variety of blues, whites, reds and greys and blacks. I am choosing these colours as I believe it will complement the pictures, title and theme of my magazine and make it look attractive to my target audience. I am hoping that the blues and whites would be dedicated to the front cover and the greys and blacks to the background to make the contents of the page stand out.
Style: For the style of my magazine I approached it with a ‘less is more’ attitude. I decided to do this as I found, from my research, that having less things on the page is more noticeable than a front page being crowded for this particularly magazine anyway (school/college). However, having less things on a page means that the actual contents of the page has to be powerful and get the right message across.
Font: From what I learnt during my research process, I found that Fonts play a very big and important part in magazine production and everything has to be done for a purpose. So I will try a trial and error with my fonts and then survey the titles and see which one appeals to my target audience. One thing is for sure that I have to do is make sure every title I produce has to compliment the front cover and stand out.
After surveying my title ideas I found that ‘the Student mag’ was favoured and I agreed as it is snappy, simple title that ‘does what it does on the tin’. Also, as it has to be a school/college magazine and is aimed at students I wanted the title to have a certain level of informality as students tend to get bored with straight up formal magazines.
After choosing a title for my title for the magazine I decided to come up with a slogan/catchphrase for my magazine that can be associated with the magazine.
I found that that ‘be one step ahead!’ was a popular one amongst my peers as it was short, memorable and snappy.
After creating a title and slogan, I could then work around it and build a look around it and the other areas of magazine production which are:
· Content
· Colours
· Style
· Font
Content: For the contents of my magazine cover I decided to include pictures of students working in different areas of school life and subjects. For example, people on computers, people in lessons etc. I was also thinking of putting a collage of photos that I will be taking. In order to acquire the photos I am hoping to go into lessons around school, with permission of teachers, and take photos of the learning environment. However, I wanted a main big picture in the middle of the front cover and my idea for this was a picture of a student with their head split into four and have different genders and races in those four sections. For my contents page I was thinking of having a collage of the photos taken.
Colours: For my magazine I also had to come up with colours to put on the front cover and colour schemes and I thought of using a range of aquatic, calm colours: A variety of blues, whites, reds and greys and blacks. I am choosing these colours as I believe it will complement the pictures, title and theme of my magazine and make it look attractive to my target audience. I am hoping that the blues and whites would be dedicated to the front cover and the greys and blacks to the background to make the contents of the page stand out.
Style: For the style of my magazine I approached it with a ‘less is more’ attitude. I decided to do this as I found, from my research, that having less things on the page is more noticeable than a front page being crowded for this particularly magazine anyway (school/college). However, having less things on a page means that the actual contents of the page has to be powerful and get the right message across.
Font: From what I learnt during my research process, I found that Fonts play a very big and important part in magazine production and everything has to be done for a purpose. So I will try a trial and error with my fonts and then survey the titles and see which one appeals to my target audience. One thing is for sure that I have to do is make sure every title I produce has to compliment the front cover and stand out.
Monday, 12 October 2009
Prem Coursework- Experimenting
Task 2- building a front cover and experimenting with Software
For this task it allowed me to be creative and design a front cover for any magazine. This allowed me to put everything I researched into practice and allowed me to get a feel of the basic software that is used to make magazine covers (e.g. Photoshop).
The first thing I did once given this task was to think of a certain style magazine. After looking at some pictures I decided to do a modeling magazine and chose a picture of Tyra banks as she is a model icon and since modeling is aimed at women is would be appropriate to have a female model as my main image.
After choosing my idea I then opened editing software and began to edit and experiment with my picture of Tyra banks. I airbrushed her hair and added more shadows to make it look very glamorous. I also tried to make it crisp and tried o make the picture part of the page instead off it.
When I finished editing my picture I then began to build around it to construct the front cover of my modeling magazine. To begin with I thought of a title and came up with ‘MODEL magazine’ as it clearly does what it says on the tin without taking the risk of being clever with a title that people might not get. I made the font Arial (black) at size 50 so I took up a quarter of the page and made it stand out and caught the eye. All the other text on the front cover I made to stand out of the page and I used pink for headlines and black for the text underneath it.
After finishing the contents of the page I polished it and made it look as professional as possible. I decided to have my main picture as the focus of the page and so it had to take the whole page up.
In this lesson, I learnt about the elements of a magazine and how they should be placed effectively to give the sufficient impact. After I created the front cover I was also given feedback on how it looks and whether it gives the right impact. Also it was a startin point to think of some ideas for my magazine cover.
Comments given:
‘The picture is very impactful and the appropriate’- Fellow student
‘Colour schemes are wisely chosen’- fellow student
‘Title is a bit blocky and not what you would associate with modeling. Good use of pictures and headlines’- Teacher
Final product
Note: the picture of Tyra banks was used for experimental purposes only
For this task it allowed me to be creative and design a front cover for any magazine. This allowed me to put everything I researched into practice and allowed me to get a feel of the basic software that is used to make magazine covers (e.g. Photoshop).
The first thing I did once given this task was to think of a certain style magazine. After looking at some pictures I decided to do a modeling magazine and chose a picture of Tyra banks as she is a model icon and since modeling is aimed at women is would be appropriate to have a female model as my main image.
After choosing my idea I then opened editing software and began to edit and experiment with my picture of Tyra banks. I airbrushed her hair and added more shadows to make it look very glamorous. I also tried to make it crisp and tried o make the picture part of the page instead off it.
When I finished editing my picture I then began to build around it to construct the front cover of my modeling magazine. To begin with I thought of a title and came up with ‘MODEL magazine’ as it clearly does what it says on the tin without taking the risk of being clever with a title that people might not get. I made the font Arial (black) at size 50 so I took up a quarter of the page and made it stand out and caught the eye. All the other text on the front cover I made to stand out of the page and I used pink for headlines and black for the text underneath it.
After finishing the contents of the page I polished it and made it look as professional as possible. I decided to have my main picture as the focus of the page and so it had to take the whole page up.
In this lesson, I learnt about the elements of a magazine and how they should be placed effectively to give the sufficient impact. After I created the front cover I was also given feedback on how it looks and whether it gives the right impact. Also it was a startin point to think of some ideas for my magazine cover.
Comments given:
‘The picture is very impactful and the appropriate’- Fellow student
‘Colour schemes are wisely chosen’- fellow student
‘Title is a bit blocky and not what you would associate with modeling. Good use of pictures and headlines’- Teacher
Final product
Note: the picture of Tyra banks was used for experimental purposes only
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Prem Coursework - Magazine Research
In today’s lesson I researched and studied the main attributes for a magazine cover and thought about the decisions made behind magazine covers and the way they are. I looked at: Font, Style, Contexts and colors and how the convey a magazine cover. In addition to this, I looked at how different magazines are aimed a different people and genders. For example the way that Console magazines are aimed at gamers and mostly males.
For this task I researched different magazine covers and answered 4 questions:
What is the style?
What is the context?
What are the colours?
After researching different magazines I decided to do an evaluation on three contrasting magazines. Classic rock, PC pro and NOW magazine.
What is the STYLE? First of all I distinguished type of magazines they both were. I saw that PC Pro was a very formal, informative magazine which fitted it purpose perfectly as it is a computer magazine and needs to be formal to get its information across as it has to be accurate. Classic rock was a very entertaining, medium level formality magazine. Classic rock aims at music fans and the front cover wasn’t too formal as it had punch lines. Now magazine is a very informal gossip magazine that has a very ‘mum’ feeling to it is a gossip magazine that includes celebs that looks like it would appeal to mothers. With styles also comes an age range and gender affiliation to which the magazine aims at. By looking at the front cover of the magazine cover only I came up with a 20-45 year old range for PC pro magazine which is aimed at men. Classic rock is aimed at men of about 18-40 years old and Now is aimed at woman ranging between 16-50.
What are the COLOURS? Next question I answered looked at the colour used on the magazine fronts. I saw that PC Pro used a very bright coloured background and used contrasting colours to make everything clear on the page. A range of whites, blacks, reds and yellows were used. Classic Rock used more dark colours like black a greys and was contrasted by gold’s and whites and yellows which made the text and title stand out. Now magazine used a range of bright quirky colours such as purples, reds, light blues and yellows. I also noticed that these colours were very feminine reinforcing that it is aimed at woman. All the colours used for the magazine covers made the image of the magazine very attractive and appealing.
What are the CONTENTS? For this I looked at everything that was one the front covers of my chosen magazines. PC Pro had an image of many laptops clearly showing what the topic of the magazine was. Also the text was clear and I noticed that the title was in a box at the top left hand corner of the magazine. The Font used was very blocky and compliment the style of the magazine. Classic Rock had its title in gold lettering at the top of the page and had an iconic picture of a rock star which was the main focus of the magazine around it the text was based and contrasted the dark lettering with brighter colours. Now magazine had pictures of celebrities and very easily recognizable people which were deliberately used to catch he attention of people. Also the title of the magazine was big and covered the top of the page. also all the fonts around it was big clear I found out that now uses a Helvetica font which is very clear and bold, which catches the eye.
In this lesson, I purely looked at the magazine covers and learnt that everything on a magazine there is meant is done on purpose for a purpose. Even size, for example, is all done on purpose.
Task 1- research task
For this task I researched different magazine covers and answered 4 questions:
What is the style?
What is the context?
What are the colours?
After researching different magazines I decided to do an evaluation on three contrasting magazines. Classic rock, PC pro and NOW magazine.
What is the STYLE? First of all I distinguished type of magazines they both were. I saw that PC Pro was a very formal, informative magazine which fitted it purpose perfectly as it is a computer magazine and needs to be formal to get its information across as it has to be accurate. Classic rock was a very entertaining, medium level formality magazine. Classic rock aims at music fans and the front cover wasn’t too formal as it had punch lines. Now magazine is a very informal gossip magazine that has a very ‘mum’ feeling to it is a gossip magazine that includes celebs that looks like it would appeal to mothers. With styles also comes an age range and gender affiliation to which the magazine aims at. By looking at the front cover of the magazine cover only I came up with a 20-45 year old range for PC pro magazine which is aimed at men. Classic rock is aimed at men of about 18-40 years old and Now is aimed at woman ranging between 16-50.
What are the COLOURS? Next question I answered looked at the colour used on the magazine fronts. I saw that PC Pro used a very bright coloured background and used contrasting colours to make everything clear on the page. A range of whites, blacks, reds and yellows were used. Classic Rock used more dark colours like black a greys and was contrasted by gold’s and whites and yellows which made the text and title stand out. Now magazine used a range of bright quirky colours such as purples, reds, light blues and yellows. I also noticed that these colours were very feminine reinforcing that it is aimed at woman. All the colours used for the magazine covers made the image of the magazine very attractive and appealing.
What are the CONTENTS? For this I looked at everything that was one the front covers of my chosen magazines. PC Pro had an image of many laptops clearly showing what the topic of the magazine was. Also the text was clear and I noticed that the title was in a box at the top left hand corner of the magazine. The Font used was very blocky and compliment the style of the magazine. Classic Rock had its title in gold lettering at the top of the page and had an iconic picture of a rock star which was the main focus of the magazine around it the text was based and contrasted the dark lettering with brighter colours. Now magazine had pictures of celebrities and very easily recognizable people which were deliberately used to catch he attention of people. Also the title of the magazine was big and covered the top of the page. also all the fonts around it was big clear I found out that now uses a Helvetica font which is very clear and bold, which catches the eye.
In this lesson, I purely looked at the magazine covers and learnt that everything on a magazine there is meant is done on purpose for a purpose. Even size, for example, is all done on purpose.
Prem coursework- Plan for the 18/10/09
To help me to stay on track with my preliminary coursework task I have decided to blog what I hope to achieve by Sunday 18th October. I have decided to keep a plan for my coursework as it will help discipline me to keep to my own set deadlines.
By this Sunday I hope to have:
Done a bit of background research to the topic- This means me researching magazines and looking at the different things that compose a magazine cover and why it has been done in that certain way.
Experiment with software- experiment using magazine editing software such as Photoshop
Come up with basic ideas for my magazine front cover- Think of potential titles, slogans and layouts for my magazine front cover. This is where my research comes in to help.
Surveyed potential items- Survey amongst my peers my ideas and see which ones they prefer to include on my front cover.
Taken photos- This meaning that I go around my school taking pictures that I believe will be suitable for my front cover.
Update blog- Update all my findings and show evidence of it.
Created a front cover to show to a focus group on Monday 19th October
By this Sunday I hope to have:
Done a bit of background research to the topic- This means me researching magazines and looking at the different things that compose a magazine cover and why it has been done in that certain way.
Experiment with software- experiment using magazine editing software such as Photoshop
Come up with basic ideas for my magazine front cover- Think of potential titles, slogans and layouts for my magazine front cover. This is where my research comes in to help.
Surveyed potential items- Survey amongst my peers my ideas and see which ones they prefer to include on my front cover.
Taken photos- This meaning that I go around my school taking pictures that I believe will be suitable for my front cover.
Update blog- Update all my findings and show evidence of it.
Created a front cover to show to a focus group on Monday 19th October
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