Friday, 30 March 2012

Evaluation: Question 7




Question 7 Script.

Skills Audit:
Looking back on the skills audit taken initially I had some strong skills to build upon when using the new programs like InDesign.  I have previous experience with Mac computers however in the beginning I wasn’t as confidant as I am now with using the programs.

*Show the skills audit*

By producing the preliminary task it allowed me to have the chance to develop the skills to transfer to InDesign.  I created flat plans like I would in the final piece which helped my view my magazine before producing it.

Research and Planning:
Although the preliminary task was only a ‘rough’ front cover and contents, you could tell the first task wasn’t planned as efficiently as the final piece. The target audience could have been clearer and this could have given me the chance to find out what would have liked to have seen feature on and in my magazine.

*Screen Shot of Blog on Task Five and then planning for final piece.*

Here is the example of the only research tasks I had done to produce my preliminary task compared to the vast difference in planning for the second piece.

Improvement through Photography:
In the preliminary task I started to build skills in editing imagery, for example the South Downs in the imagery and the student magazine have been removed.

*Show the changes*

With my new photography I considered all aspects, the pose, image styling and how the image would work in each section of my work. For example I knew the double page spread layout therefore I had taken photos using and expanding on that plan. After producing the preliminary task I have developed upon these skills so I could achieve the image of the magazine I was looking for.

*Compare poster and girl holding the book*

I have also taken skills from my student magazine for example the book in the student magazine and the cigarrete, although the second prop is controversial the prop matches the styling of the magazine. The skills develop would be from the PhotoShop and it has been apparent in my final piece.

Improvement through Colour Schemes and Font:
In the first attempt at a magazine I have produced the colour scheme has been roughly taken from the imagery, however doesn’t seem to link and flow onto the contents page. The use of the font is a little bit scattered and doesn’t consider the technicalities of sans serif and serif font.

*Show Student Mag Clearly*

The final piece has developed those evaluative points and developed them onto a following well linking product to produce a professional product. Also working closely with the conventions and forms of a music magazine. The skills I have developed in InDesign are also apparent through experience in using the program.

Improvements through Layout:
*Showing the student and final*

When comparing the layout in the first and the second task you can see the clear demonstration of improvement, with the cover it is less cluttered and placed with care. The contents page layout from the student magazine is safe and conventional and in the final is experimental and busy, however carefully thought out making the combination work.

Improvements through Linking Genre:
The improvements in my music magazine include how I have communicated my genre and target audience. In the student magazine the genre was wide indirect with taste and style as student life covers many different people, whereas the music magazine covers a particular style, genre and target audience.

*Show magazine behind me*

Conclusion:
In conclusion I think I have developed and progressed well to create the full product. The progession from the preliminary and final clearly shows a stronger sense of the media product and its industry through production and construction.

Evaluation: Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In the world of publishing, most peoples understanding of software they might use to develop their final product may be complicated and expensive however they use the Adobe programs available to any member of the public and this is where the independent distributors get their clients from. The programs used over the whole period of work included; Blogger, Prezi, Slideshare, YouTube, Microsoft Word, InDesign and PhotoShop. 

The importance of publishing I strong passion of mine being a media student, I enjoy the media industry from all angle however publishing is the foundations of where the industry came from. For an average person the media is everywhere in different forms, that you may not even realise. The technology being rapidly produced means that the ‘old fashioned’ publishing industry is considered to be slipping away. However the advantage to this technology means that you can reach information at any time, whether it’s an app on your phone or an article on the internet. The disadvantage to technology may mean that people are not buying the actual published product. In my opinion I think that the publishing industry will not go down without a fight and will take many years and many leaps in technology to make it become extinct.

In this project I used a number of new programs however the most key program would be from Blogger; this is because it is the basis to all my work that I have completed in this unit. The technology wasn’t very difficult to master as being a teenager I have grown up around technology and have learnt to adapt. This program has been very user friendly and allowed me to display work that I have created in completely new way.
Another new technology I came across was in Adobe’s InDesign and this was from my student magazine which allowed me to produce a high quality design work for my student magazine final piece. When using this program it took a longer time to adjust to as it was different to other programs like Microsoft Publishing, which I had been using at school. To create a text you had specifically click on the ‘T’ and change to the arrow, this was a complicated concept to adapt to. However with the rough test run with the student magazine, it gave me the skills I needed and could develop upon for my final piece. It was important for me to adapt to this more advanced technology as it is always changing along with the progression of the media industry.

When editing my imagery, a key part of the project, I used familiar software and this was PhotoShop. Previously, I used this software to school to edit photos in different software and this gave me the opportunity to expand on skills that I used within this project. PhotoShop is a great program and I enjoyed working with it as it is used in the media industry today as the program is brilliant program. By using a program significant to the media industry this gave me the opportunity to understand the media world itself and the technologies they have used.

Also for my other evaluations and research I used YouTube to help me display my work in different ways. Previously I already had a YouTube account therefore I didn’t find expanding my knowledge the extra bit complicated, and this allowed me to produce work faster. YouTube also became helpful to help me develop skills in PhotoShop and InDesign through tutorials of skill I didn’t possess, as previously mention in an earlier post. YouTube is key for the media industry and for my music magazine as on a website to a magazine, like nearly all magazines have, to show the bands featured in live clips and maybe live interviews etc.


Prezi and Slideshare are both ways to display presentations. Prezi is different and allows you to become more creative in the layout of your work and Slideshare allowed me to add a PowerPoint presentation to my blog. Prezi was initially complicated however after a short time playing with its controls became easy a new extremely interesting way to display work. Slideshare was simple however in my opinion isn’t at the same level that Prezi is because it moves along with new technology whereas Slideshare allows old technology work in new technology with no comparison to my Prezi presentations.

Evaluation: Questions 4 & 5.

Evaluation: Question 3.


The audio couldn't be displayed in any other way because of it's format.

Monday, 26 March 2012

Friday, 16 March 2012

Music Magazine: Final Pieces.


Music Magazine, Double Page Spread: Development






1st Day- Photo Editing
Whilst enlarging the image and changing it to black and white the image bacame blurred and unfocused the original is focused on my artist with a blurred background as I intended however to stick with the theme I couldn’t change the image to colour. Here is the image without editing. Although the image wasn’t as clear as propsosed I liked the vintage look the blurr gave the image. Also  ‘Q’ black and white double page spreads seemed to have a similar theme to this.


  2nd Day –Adding Text
I added the article and created boxed to go behind the text so I could have the text in white. This was a long process because of the individual boxes I had placed behind each text, later finding out there was a highlighting tool. Furthermore I looked at tutorials and asked my peers for help with any complicated skills I needed to use.

3rd Day –Scanning logo

When adding the scanned item for the created logo for a variation in font, I have had to find out about how to scan to a Mac. Through photoshop I managed to do this. After I began creating the title for this page. 
4th Day -  Finishing touches.
Adding the final page numbers, website links and adjusting colours to have my final double page spread.  I am happy with the final piece of design work and think it fits in with the target audience to my magazine along with following the convevntions of this certain media product.

Music Magazine, Double Page Spread: Inspirations

This double page spread inspired my final piece its simple, classic and effective. To develop this forum into my final piece I had to use imagery that suited the layout and therefore this was the template to my final piece.

Music Magazine, Contents: Development


1st Day- Title, background and imagery. 
Firstly I created a heading titled with 'L' linking to 'Liberty magazine and also added 'contents'. I scanned in a lined paper page with my own handwriting with the title 'Liberty' to created a new font to feature on my page with an alternate background to the text I will add on top of the background challenging a conventional media template. I placed the imagery, the poster was already edited from its feature on the cover and added the other imagery I had edited in PhotoShop.


2nd Day- Adding text.
Here I added text from the cover lines and also added text indicating other features within the magazine. Also I have created captions to imagery and so far not needed to find any further tutorials on this piece of design work. 

3rd Day -Finishing touches.
Finally I have spell checked this piece and edited mistakes, I have also added page numbers and other features to create a contents that looks like a professional/conventional contents page. 

Music Magazine, Contents Page: Inspirations

The conventions of this contents page inspired elements of my contents page, the busy contents page entices the reader and is alternate from the cover of my magazine. 
By contrast the banner at the top of the magazine isn't busy therefore I have been influenced by both of these contents pages and used them to develop upon my own ideas. 

Music Magazine, Front Cover: Development

Diary, Front Cover 1st Day.
When editing the main cover image I had to find out how to change the whole cover to black and white other than a colour on her lips. Editing the photo on PhotoShop to use its specialist tools to develop the image I want. To learn how to manipulate the image to use colour and black and white combined I used a tutorial on YouTube.

Front Cover 2nd Day- Poster and Cover Lines.

Positioning the poster was difficult as tilting the image made it blurred and jagged therefore it was repositoned and changed back to being straight. The hardest part about the cover lines was to think about was the font colour and sizing. The wording was the easier bits, much to my surprise, I enjoyed adding the cover lines because it gave me chance to be creative with the layout. Also I made sure this had a link to my contents and double page spread. 

Front Cover 3rd Day - Finishing touches. 
In this allocated time I added a puff and made sure my colours links and clear to read. The finishing touches included spell checking and using adjusting colours, similar to what I did with the double page spread.

Music Magazine, Front Cover: Inspirations

This imagery has inspired my cover and I have taken elements from this cover and created my own version of this page. Her positioning has given her an vulnerable but dominant and mysterious look and this has been taken into account for my cover. The classic use of colouring has inspired my colour palate, however I would like to developing the cover to have my own take on the ideologies of a music magazine front cover with a strong influence on the forms already established.

Monday, 5 March 2012

Draft Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread

Experimenting with layout and colours, finding the correct size of font for the masthead. To try and create an effective collectors addition of my magazine means that the style of my magazine will have to be classic, therefore shape and size will have to link with the conventions of a music magazine.

Finding the correct imagery and experimenting with backgrounds and colours in the image. However I think I need to find the correct theme and for the other images on my contents page.

Using the scanner to create the logo for the double page spread fitting in with the imagery in the background. The text from the article also isn't clear therefore I need to find the correct background to suit the theme, by looking at magazine will help me with this.

Final Photography

Examples of Own Photography








Project Proposal



After profiling and doing questionnaires with people that I considered being the target audience, the ideal reader would be an indie teenager interested in music going to gigs and interested in fashion. Also the reader would be interested in looking at new bands in the indie or indie pop music genre. The target age for my magazine would be 15+ this is because at school this is the age when the average teenager starts going to gigs and getting interested in different music genres away from main stream music.
 My music genre I have chosen for my magazine is indie and indie pop. This includes existing bands like Florence and the Machine and where the music genre started and a large majority of bands influenced by The Beatles.  Fashion and image will link to the genre and the character profiles for the target audience. The magazine will be about new artists, gigs and other successful artists from the genre.
 The title for my magazine will be Liberty because the meaning of liberty the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life. When this type of music first became well known it was for people going against the ordinary ‘pretty boy’ music. It would also be for artists wanting to get away from the normal perceived virgin pop music. Liberty is to highlight the meaning of freedom and choice of opinion to be who you want to be and listen to what you think is good music and what music should be about.
 The font style I have decided to use would be combination of classic used throughout my blog posts (Times New Roman) and contrasting sans serif font to make sure my magazine is non-bias towards a the certain class that fonts are aimed at.
Some magazines decide to use a tagline to make there magazine memorable though a catchy phrase to illustrate the magazine and what it’s about. However I have decided that I will not be using a tagline as this could either come across too cheesy or too serious and I would like a music magazine passionate about music movement but to be to heavy and serious and not tacky.
The first issue of my magazine will be in December, around the Christmas period when people have more money to spend and could be stocking fillers for teenagers finding their music taste. The colour sample will be classic and tasteful but also outlining what the other issues will look like, although it will be released in the run up to Christmas the magazine won’t include the normal Christmas themed symbols therefore can appeal to all audiences with particular religions and therefore is available for everyone to buy and you can sit and read the magazine on a cold winters night looking forward to the new year and the new acts.
The image on the front cover will be of a female front woman of a band, as usually there is one member of the band on a cover. She will be styles to fit the genre of my magazine and her make-up and hair will be styled with a classic clean look inspired by the Madonna Rolling Stones cover I looked at in my research.
The magazine will be released monthly, unlike a pop genre the audience will want to keep up to date with the charts and gossip, whereas the indie genre are looking for good music and larger size magazine. Also I plan on charging a premium price as I would consider a luxury product and for students affordable over the month’s period.
The colour scheme that will be used on the cover, contents and double page spread will be black and white and red. I will manipulate the imagery to have these colours stand out upon a black and white image on the cover. This will be the main theme on the contents but like other music magazines will include other imagery and delicate changes in colour to keep the other stories linked.
My magazine will be priced at £3.50, which is slightly more expensive than most music magazine however will be distributed monthly at a luxury quality (as previously mentioned). 

Double Page Spread for Final Magazine

This is the final plan for my double page spread, this can be adjusted however my magazine will be structured by this flatplan.

Conents Flatplan for Final Magazine

This is the final plan for my contents, this can be adjusted however my magazine will be structured by this flatplan.

Cover Flatplan for Final Magazine

This is the final plan for my cover, this can be adjusted however my magazine will be structured by this flatplan.

Similarities in Music Magazines






These images were on a PowerPoint slide however the file was too large for slideshare, therefore I had to screen shot the pages on the PowerPoint.

Monday, 20 February 2012

Wednesday, 15 February 2012

Double Page Spread Analysis

Contents Analysis

Music Genre

Cannot Rotate

To define target audience in my own terms would be; a certain group of people in which a product or service is aimed at, and the entire product has been worked upon to achieve the needs of this particular group. To establish your target audience you will look closely at a number of factors including age, gender, image and many more. Getting your target audience correct to match your product/service is essential to sell the product or service and to keep a constant demand, then eventually expanding your audience.

The genre of music I have chosen to use for my magazine is indie and indie pop. Indie fashion and style have strong links and both statements are individual and controversial, I would like my magazine to be bold and cause people to talk about the content. From changes in music and style throughout a period of 50 years, music has been combined and influenced by different genres from the 60's rock to 80's hip hop. For my magazine I would like look at new innovative music who are finding fame by going against the 'chart music' style of music, acts that are well known for unforgettable live performances and acts that have a strong style influence from high end fashion.

Reader Profiles


Name: Rose Delanie.
Age: 19
Style: Wears classic English vintage with a twist (e.g. leopard print skirt), edgy hair style and is strongly influenced by high end fashion. For this girl, fashion and music go hand in hand.                                                                                                                   Music Interests: Indie (Any types), Rock and Funk.                     
Other Interests: Going to live gigs, festivals, reading magazines and fashion.
Bands: Florence and the Machine, Foals, Jack Penate, Lana Del Rea, Guns and Roses and Lucky Paul -too name a few.
Music Life: Reading classic music magazines like RollingStone and NME, collecting Rolling Stone for 4 years and reading NME online. To know who the newest talent is and to remember the legends that started all the sound that started today. Music that is new and excited with that classic sound mixed all together makes the ideal band.

Style Notes: Personally, I like to keep my look classic but punk-like with a modern twist.. A lot like the music I like too. 

Name: George Smith
Age: 21
Style: Vintage brands from vintage shops and charity shops and dads old wardrobe. When it comes to hair just wake up and let it be, whatever it wants to do just go with it. If I like it, I’ll wear it, pretty relaxed about style.
Music interests: Indie and Folk.
Other Interests: Partying, going to gigs, playing gigs, festivals and finding new brilliant bands to listen to.
Artists: Laura Marling, The Libertines, The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys, The Beatles, Arcade Fire,  Mumford and Sons- to scratch the surface.
Music Life: Use an app and NME to find gig tickets and venues to play. Going to pub finding out what everyone’s listening too/have seen. Collected NME since 14 followed on from parent’s collection, recently started buying Q as new bands have featured the cover.

Style Notes: Wear ya’ dad’s clothes, love vintage. Don’t take it too seriously, or is that just a bloke’s opinion?

Cover Analysis