Research and planning; my completed magazine

Evaluation question 7:Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

  

When I made my college magazine, I was very new to Photoshop and I think this is made very clear in the difference between my college magazine and music magazine. Both of the magazines required me to cut out the image of my model however the way I have done it in my college magazine is very messy and has jagged edges whereas the music magazine has smooth edges and you can barely tell it has been cut out.

  The photography on my music magazine looks a lot more professional than my college magazine. The lighting on the photo on my college magazine has an orange tint to it. I also didn’t do any styling at all on the model, I literally just took the photo in college. Whereas my photograph for my music magazine is very styled as I knew exactly what style I wanted my model to be. I also really focused on getting her personality to shine through by using very specific poses. I made sure the lighting was good so that the models features are captured in the way you would expect to see on a professional magazine cover.

  The font that I used on both were quite similar as I really like the bold look however the size of font I used on my music magazine was much bigger so that it caught the readers eye and looked modern whilst sticking to the genre.

  The font, colours and photographs I used on my magazine were all specific to my genre of chart music. Although I wanted my college magazine to appeal to college students I feel t looks more like a poster than a front cover and the colours I used were probably more suited to a younger audience.

  The layout of my music magazine looks much more professional than my college magazine. There are lots of gaps on my college magazine cover therefore it doesn’t look like a magazine cover and looks more like a poorly put together poster. Whereas my music magazine has barely any gaps and each of the parts of the cover attracts the audience in its own way.

On my college magazine contents page I used InDesign to make it and for my music magazine I used Photoshop. Although I used different technologies to make each of them there is still a clear progression from the college magazine to the music magazine.

  The photography on my contents page is a simple picture of the outside of the college. On my music magazine The pictures are fit well around the text.

  The font on the college magazine is all the same and not the kind of font you would see in an actual magazine. It is also very large. The font on my music magazine is more professional serif font. The font sizes are very different as the titles are bigger and the page titles smaller.

  The layout of my college magazine is very simple and leaves the page looking very empty. The layout of my music magazine leaves the page looking full and the picture fits around the text.

Evaluation question 6: what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I used blogger throughout the process of making my magazine. I used it during the research and planning of my magazine and also during the production of my magazine. At the end of each lesson I would post on my blog what I had done each lesson.

I have used Prezi during the Production and evaluation of my magazine.

 

I used Photoshop to create my cover, contents page and double page spread f my music magazine.

 I used iPhoto to upload images from my camera to my computer to use on my music magazine.

I used flickr in my magazine evaluation.

I used an SLR camera to take the pictures for my music magazine.

Evaluation question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product? Why?

I have drawn this person which is a representative of the type of audience that would read my magazine. She is 19 so she is in the age range of my target audience (17-22), she is a student so the magazine would be in her price range. She enjoys fashion and works in a clothes shop part time so she will be interested in the fashion pages in the magazine. She likes FUN. and Ben Howard which are both in the chart and therefore in my magazine.

Evaluation question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

Click on photo to be taken to Flickr



Click on photo to be taken to Flickr

Evaluation question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Posture/gesture: Both women are facing the side and looking over their left shoulder. Although the model from my magazine is not making eye contact and the other is they are both using a similar facial expression which is quite vacant and relaxed.
Angle: Both models are facing the side and looking over their left shoulder, the camera is taking the photo from the front.
Shot type: Both shots are a medium close up which allows the audience to see the top half of the both in detail. The audience can see the models hair and make up and gives them an idea of the genre of the artist.
Lighting: Both of the photos have good lighting however the lighting on the model on the right is more high key and therefore makes her skin look more flawless and makes the colours look brighter.
Costume: Although my model is wearing a long sleeve shirt and the other model is wearing a short sleeve dress they are both bright colours which really stand out, this represents the younger audience that my magazine is aimed at as they are most likely to wear bright clothes like these.
Expression: Both models have a similar facial expression which is quite relaxed and vacant, both models have their lips parted which is again quite relaxed. However my model is looking away from the camera which makes her look a bit disconected.
Hair: Both models have the same style of hair however my model has hers over her right shoulder whereas the other model has her hair over both shoulders and her fringe on the opposite side. They both have different colour hair. Their hair style represents the younger audience that I am aiming for as they are more likely to have long wavy hair like this.
Make up: Both models have quite similar make up and they are both wearing quite neutral tones. My model has heavier eyeliner and darker lips than the other model. They both have a similar pale skin tone.
The majority of the pictures in my magazine are of young stylish women which gives the magazine the look that it is for women, the fashion pages also reflect this. Overall, my magazine represents young people in an independent, carefree and cheeky way.

Evaluation question 1: In what ways does your magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Layout- USE: The layout of my front cover is very similar to the layout of the Billboard front cover. Both mine and Billboards cover have a large masthead at the top of the page with cover lines and a barcode going downwards on the left had side and the name of the artist in the bottom right. I chose this layout because I feel it looks eye catching and tidy.It also makes everything very clear to see/read. Some magazines I looked at had the model as the focal point as the cover whereas I feel my cover shows every feature.
CHALLENGE: My cover has a tag line above the masthead whereas Billboard doesn't have one at all. I chose to give my cover a tag line because it just summarises what is on the cover and tells the reader that the magazine is the number one in the UK.
Colour- CHALLENGE: I used tow different colours to Billboard which were purple and grey, I feel this gave my magazine a modern and stylish look and also is suitable for my genre.
DEVELOP: I used white like billboard in my masthead and some of my cover lines, however whereas Billboard used white for all the coverlines I alternated mine between white and purple. I also used purple for the name of my artist whereas Billboard used white.
Photographs- USE: Both my cover and Billboard use a close up picture of the artist. I feel this draws the reader in more and allows the models personality to come through.
CHALLENGE: My models and Ke$ha are both doing very different poses. Whereas my model is doing a cheeky wink, Ke$ha is giving quite a serious glare. This is because the character that I have created as my artist and Ke$ha are both very different artists with different music and different personalities although both still in the same chart.
Fonts and font sizes: DEVELOP: Although my coverlines are in the same place as Billboards the font and font size is very different. My font size is very large and bold and all the same whereas Billboards is smaller and changes the font on each coverline, some of which are bold like mine.

Layout: USE: Both mine and vibes contents page have the layout of title and text on the left hand side going downwards and the model on the right hand side. DEVELOP: However my title is bigger and my headings are bigger with a bar behind them therefore my text takes up most of the left hand side whereas the vibe contents has gaps at the top and bottom.
Colour: CHALLENGE: My contents page uses the same colour as my cover which is grey, white and purple, I have also added black as it makes my text easier to read.
Photographs: DEVELOP: My contents page uses a female model whereas the vibe contents page uses a male model, they also look like they are from different genres of music.
CHALLENGE: My models pose is a medium long shot showing her looking over the shoulder and not making eye contact with the camera, this may make it feel as though there is no connection with the reader however I feel that the models styling suits the contents page and that the colours tie in well with the colours of the page so the lack of eye contact isn't really relevant.
CHALLENGE: My contents page contains an additional photo with a page number to show the artists and what page they would be featured on. The vibe contents only has the one picture.

Layout: CHALLENGE: My double page spread has the title on the right page above the text whereas the title from Flavour is on the left page next to the model. I chose to put the title on the left page because the only thing I wanted on the left page was my artist and a quote from her as I feel it is more personal to the artist.
USE: Both mine and Flavour's double page spread have a picture of the artist on the left page.
Colour: DEVELOP: Like Flavour, my story contains two different colours, mine being black and purple and Flavour being black and pink.
CHALLENGE: My magazine and Flavour use completely different colour schemes. Mine is black, purple and white whereas Flavour is black white and pink. The dark colours of my double page spread are quite dark and reflect some of the dark points of my story.
Photograph- DEVELOP: Both photos show the model with her hand on her hip however my photo is straight on and a long shot with the model looking down whereas Flavour's is a medium long shot looking over the shoulder and making eye contact with the camera.

research and planning; progress

Research and planning; Progress

research and planning: progress

research and planning; my double page spread story

Dixie Q: Nocturnal
From the dark and dangerous streets of inner Manchester to the number 1 spot on the charts each week, Dixie Q is proving that hard work and ambition can get you from rock bottom straight to the top.

  Growing up, Dixie may not have known where her next meal was coming from or where she was going to sleep, however she knew that one thing was for sure, she would be at top spot in the charts one day. Even searching on YouTube now, we can find plenty of videos of her half naked working in the strip clubs, singing her heart out for the punters who had no interest in her voice, so we're now speaking to her to find out just where this diamond in the rough hit her big break.

So, Dixie, thanks for talking to us. How does it feel to finally be where you have always dreamed?
'Its amazing! Its such a relief knowing that all the s*!t I went through has actually paid off.,'

Speaking of going through things, are we right in saying that you ran away from home the age of just 14?
'Yeah, thats right. I was living in hell, my parents were really horrible people to live with back then, I decided that I would be better off just starting fresh on my own.'

Wow, that must have been awful! You were so young, how did you cope?!
'Well, the first year was bad, I got hypothermia living on the streets and was in a pretty bad place for a while. After that though I met some friends that stayed in hostels and so I started to do that, dont get me wrong it was still bad but at least I had some company and a roof over my head.'

So how did you manage to get from that to where you are today?
'When I turned 16 I managed to get a job in a strip club, I just told them I was 18 and that I could sing and they hired me on the spot, so I worked there every night and managed to rent a room in one of the girls houses that I worked with. She was and still is like a big sister to me, I wouldnt be where I am now if it wasnt for her. I used to sing in the club every night and little did I know that one night she arranged for a scout to come and watch me and he loved it and the rest is history, ha!'

Wow, whats next?!
'Well Im in the studio at the moment working on my debut album and will also be touring in april so im a busy busy bee haha! I guess i've always been nocturnal, famous or not!'

Yeah thats true! Well Dixie, thank you for talking to us and we wish you the very best for your year ahead!
'Thank you so much'

research and planning: second podcast

This is my second podcast, it shows my progress from December to January and also what I still need to do.

Research and planning; contents and double page spread analysis

Research and planning: Progress to date

Today I have worked on writing my double page spread.

Research and planning: Progress to date