Main Task

Here I have posted a picture of my magazine front cover that I created using both Photoshop and paint. I followed my hand drawn draft as I liked the way it looked, however when I came to creating it on the computer I had to make a few changes.

 

Final Front Cover

 

The changes that I made from my draft

I have taken screen shots of the process used when changing each section of my magazine and discribed the reason for the change using microsoft word.

selling line:

Barcode Position:

 

Price & Date:

 

Graphics

 

Colours

 

 

 

Main Task

I then went on to analyse my draft front cover to explain the reason for each feature and to show all of the things I have included, as shown below:

 

I have also print screened some research that I got from Google to help me decide on the name for my new artist, I searched up Thai names as the model that I used for my front cover is Thai

I chose the name Lalana as I thought it was the catchiest out of all of the others, I also think that it is a pretty name and something that you would expect a pop star to be called.

 

Main Task

 

Now that I have decided on the image, the font and the colours that I am using on my front cover, I have now come to the stage of making a draft copy of my final piece.

 

Above I have posted a picture of my hand drawn draft for the front cover of my magazine.

I have included a masthead, a main image, graphics, a selling line, competitions, top tips, interviews, gossip and the price and date of the magazine.

 

Main Task

Now that I have decided on what image I am using for my background I was able to experiment with different colours for my font to see which one was the most effective and fitted it best with the picture.

I think that the colour that stands out the most is white because the picture is quite dull in colour and it also contrasts with the black hair on my image. I decided to experiment with the colours above as most of them fit in with the image and the audience for my magazine. For example the red goes with the lips and nails of my model, the green goes with her shirt and the grey goes with the background of the image. I also experimented with pinks and purples as they are known as female colours and I wanted to try to appeal to my audience. However the white completely stands out as it the only white feature on the page which makes it look bright and eye catching.

Main Task

Now that I have decided on the image that I wanted to use I roughly edited it in different ways so that I could get a better idea of what looks better so that I could edit it properly later.

The first edit that I made was changing the colour of her nails. I done this as I thought it would look more professional and like a real photo shoot if they were coloured as you don’t see many celebrities that don’t have nice nails as they care so much about their appearance;

From looking at this edit I was indecisive on what image I preferred I thought they both looked equally affective, although I think the red nails kind of take the attention of the face I also think that it completes the photo so I am going to keep the red nails now for my front cover image.

The second edit that I made to the photo was flipping it the other way round as I weren’t sure on which way would look better;

I then realised that the original way is better for a magazine cover as I had to remember that the most important part of the magazine cover is the first third as that is what people see first when it is on the shelf in the shops. If I stuck to the original picture the first third would have an eye which will be effective as it will catch the readers eye, whereas if I was to use the flipped version they would see a hand which wouldn’t attract them to it at all. I have created an illustration on paint to explain what is meant by the most important third;

I then edited the background to see if the white background would make the image stand out more;

 

From looking at this edit I have decided that I prefer the original grey background as the colours work better together.

 

 

 

Main Task

 

I have decided that the picture I want to use for my front cover image is;

I have decided this because I think that it looks very well acted and I can visualise it on a real magazine cover. I did have doubts on using this as my front cover main image as the hand covering the face could be seen as unusual or not open enough for a main image. However I then took another look at other magazine covers and realised that it is quite common for hands to be in the image such as;

I think that the hand covering the face could suggest a lot of expression and/or a mystery as the artist looks as if they have a closed personality which means that you will have to read inside to find out and meet the whole person opened up.

Main Task

I have created another Prezi presentation to show some of my potential images to go on the front cover of my magazine. I have selected 6 out of all of the photos that I took in my photo shoot as I took a lot and I didn’t like some of them.

Main Task

Once I had decided on the type of font I wanted it then lead me to think about the colour that I wanted it to be. However I couldn’t decide on a colour until I knew what colour my background was going to be. I realised that a lot of popular magazines dont tend to have coloured backgrounds as they just have the main image as the back ground and then place the cover stories, graphics and font on top of that. Because of this I decided to do the same which meant that in order to choose my font colour I would need to decide on the photo that was going to be my background. Below I have posted the pictures that I have taken so far for my magazine.

Photoshoot

 

 

Main Task

Now that I have analysed various magazines and have done research on the type of style and celebrities that I am going to use to influences my work, I now need to start on the production of my magazine.

I have decided to start with the masthead of my magazine, now that I have decided on the name GLOSS I just need to decide on which font I want it written in.

Here are some potential fonts that I could use;

 

From looking at this table that I have created I came to a decision that I am going to use the font-Bodoni MT Poster Compressed for my masthead as I think it looks most professional and I could visualise it on a real magazine in the shops. I think that it is easy to read and will stand out compared to the other font on my front cover. It is important that I choose the write font for my magazine as the name of my magazine needs to stand out to my readers and for it to be memorable so that when they see it on the shelf’s they will immediately recognise it.

 

 

Main Task

 

 

Above I have posted a YouTube video that I created showing pages such as the front cover, contents pages and double page spreads from Q magazine. I selected these photos in particular to be in my video as I like the layout of all of them and I would like to use some of them to help influence my own magazine when I come to creating it. The main reasons that I like Q magazine is because you can easily see the house style throughout the whole magazine and I think that it is eye catching and effective. It also features artists in it that I like myself and it also relates to an older audience which is what I planned for my own magazine to have.

I decided to show my research of Q magazine on YouTube as I wanted to experiment with various Medias to present my work. I think that presenting my research through websites such as YouTube and prezi makes my work stand out more and look more effective.

 



Main Task

Now that I have analysed real magazine pages I have a better idea of how I am going to make mine look. However I done some further research on magazine covers as that is what I am going to focus on creating first of all. Although I have already looked at magazine front covers I researched pop magazine covers as they would be able to influences me better than the magazines that I have looked at that focus on a different genre of music such as Kerrang! and NME.

From looking at these images on Google images I realised that these are much better to relate to for my design, especially as they mostly look like they are aimed for a female audience like my magazine is. When looking at this range of magazines Q magazine stood out the most to me as I thought it was the most effective and looked the most professional. This helped me to go into further research focusing on Q magazine as this is the magazine that I am going to use to influence my work.

Main Task

 

I have chosen three magazines to analysis so that I can get a feel of different types of magazines. I have analysed the magazines; Q which is a mixture of all music genres, Kerrang which is a magazine focused on rock music and finally NME which focuses on indie music.

I have used prezi to show my analysis of these magazines. I have never used prezi before but I was excited to try out and use different types of media, I like the way that prezi presents my work allot neater and in a more effective way. My prezi consists of 3 different magazine front covers, contents pages and double page spreads.

The reason that I analysed magazines was so that when I came to make my own I will have more of an idea how to make it look more professional and how to lay everything out to make it look as effective as possible.

Main Task

Now that I know what genre of music and what type of images I am going to be using to help influence my own magazine, I have now started to plan other areas of my magazine, such as;

Genre- as I have previously posted, I have decided to focus my magazine on pop music as I prefer it myself and therefore I will enjoy creating a pop magazine and I will be able to put more into it as I am more aware of this genre. I also think that my magazine will attract a large audience as pop music is very popular as it is the main genre of music in the charts now days.

Weekly/monthly price- I have decided that I am going to be selling my magazine on a monthly basis at the price of £3.60. I have decided to sell my magazine monthly rather than weekly as I do not expect my audience to spend on their money on my magazine every week as they may not be able to afford it. I also think that if I do a monthly magazine it will give me a chance to find out more gossip and information so that when the time comes for a new magazine it is filled with interesting information that my readers will love.

Audience-as pop music is popular and very well-known both male and female would enjoy reading my magazine. However as I am basing my magazine on female artists my magazine is going to consist of fashion, gossip and maybe beauty products so it may fall onto a female fan base over male. My magazine is going to be targeted at people from the age of 15-30. This is because any younger than 15 would prefer to look at a magazine with mostly pictures and I am planning on having a lot of text throughout my magazine so it may not be to their taste. I also find that the younger audience prefer to read about the new hot boy bands and as I am focusing on female artist I don’t think that they would be as interested. people over the age of 30 seem to fall into a different category of music as they would have chosen the genre of music they like when they were younger and followed through with it rather than staying up to date with all of the new songs and artists. My audience is going to mainly be people of the working to middle class.

Audience profile- my audience is going to want to know that latest celebrity gossip and the new upcoming artists and songs so my magazine will provide them with this. My target age group would also like to know the dates of concerts and festivals that they can attend as well as where to be for a meet and greet with a pop artist.

Name- as I am focusing on female artists I am going to have lots of gossip and fashion photos and advice so wanted to try to come up with a name that fell into each category. I decided on the name GLOSS for my magazine as it can be associated with lip-gloss as a beauty product and also a mixture of gossip which fits into it. I like this name for my magazine as it is short but catchy and also very relevant for my target audience.

House style- I am not sure on what colour and font that I want my text and background to be yet as I haven’t experimented with any. However I do know that I want to have my font large so that it stands out and becomes a well-known name.

Images- for all my; front cover, contents page and double page spread I am planning on having a; large image with text on top of or around it. I think that this looks effective as it helps to attract my readers and it also helps to show them which artists are going to be inside the magazine. However I am not sure on what camera shots or poses that I am going to have on my magazine yet.

Double page spread- I am planning on basing my double page spread on an interview with a new pop artist in the charts. I will be interviewing them and asking them interesting questions so that my readers can get to know them. I am not sure on what I am going to be naming this artist yet as I have not came to a final decision.

Inducements- I am going to have an inducement on the front cover to attract my reader’s attention. I am planning on using competitions such as winning concert tickets and meet and greet sessions. Throughout the magazine I could also advertise free music downloads for certain artists so that my readers are satisfied with my magazine.

USP- the unique selling point of my magazine is that I am going to have exclusive interviews with celebrities that no other magazine has had the chance to meet. I am going to constantly keep them up to date with all information that they will want and need to know about their favourite pop stars.

Main Task

Below I have posted print screen photo that I got from Google images showing my favourite celebrities in the pop music industry (Rihanna, Beyonce, Katy Perry & Nicki Minaj). As you can see I am going to be focusing on female artist’s as I will be able to relate to them better and I find them more interesting.

 

The main feature that stood out to me when looking at these 4 print screens was how many different hair styles and colours they each have had. I have realised that most females in the pop music industry change their hair on a regular basis in order to be different and stand out. To me this seems interesting and maybe something that I could use to help influences my own magazines when I come to taking my own photos.

Main Task

From the research that I have done on all of the different types of music genres I have decided that I would like to focus on pop music. I decided this as I mostly listen to pop music myself and I am also more likely to read pop music magazines, so I feel that it will be more interesting and effective for me.  Although I thought the photos that I took for the metal music genre were better than the others I took, I still decided to stick with pop music as I know I will enjoy focusing my project on that genre more than I would with any other genre.

Main Task

 

From looking at my spider diagram of music genres it helped me to narrow down the number of genres that I could focus on. I decided that the main 4 genres that interest me the most were;

· Pop music     · Metal     · County music     · Swing music

However I was still unsure on what genre of music my magazine was going to be based on and I wanted to make sure that I chose the correct one before I started to work towards my final piece. I then done some further notes based on the four genres of music that I was considering to help me decide on only one.

 

 

As you can see from my notes above I have researched popular singers that fall into each genre of music that I am considering using. On each note I have written why I was considering each genre, what celebrities I have chosen to look at and I have even taken my own photo to represent each genre. I took my own photos that fell into the different genres so that I could get a fill of what type of image I liked the best as I will need to be taking my own photos to go on my magazine soon anyway.

 

 

Main Task

Now that I have finished my preliminary task, I started to think about what I wanted to base my main task on. I weren’t too sure on what genre of music I wanted to base my magazine on so as you can see below, I created a spider diagram of the genres of music that I could consider using for my magazine

 

Preliminary Task Complete

 

Below I have posted a picture of both my front cover and contents page of my school magazine. I think that it is easy to see that each page is related to the same magazine as they both have the same house style.

 

 

Preliminary task

 

As you can see from my preliminary task I have stuck to the same idea the whole way throughout my work. I was able to do this as I had previously made a plan on how I wanted my school magazine cover and contents page to be based on. The plan that I made to follow was as follows:

Who is the target audience? - My target audience was students at St Mark's school along with their parents of the students.

Images-I planned on using students from St Mark's to be in my pictures for my magazine as they would be in the correct environment. I chose to use medium close up shots as they help to clearly show that is happening in the image and help to add to the effectiveness.

Language-I chose to use simple language as I knew that the students of the school wouldn't be interested or maybe struggle to read the information if I had used difficult and very formal language.

Content- I planned to reach my audiences expectations by only focusing on important information about St Mark's.

How would I attract the target audience- I planned to attract my target audience by using interesting and eye catching images and cover line stories so that they would want to read more. I also made sure that I used large images and smaller text as I believe that images would grip my target audience’s attention better.

Format- As I have just mentioned I planned on having large images so that the readers see the photos before they see the text. I placed the appropriate text on top of each cover line so that it was easy to understand what image was representing. However for the main cover line story I used larger text to show that that was the main story.

Iconography- I carried my idea of basing my magazine on St Mark's school the whole way through my preliminary task had to be based on school. I did this by using appropriate stories and images to relate well to the school environment.

House style- On both the front cover and contents page of my magazine I have used the same colour back ground and coloured font so that the audience could easily see that they were connected.