Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread Completed

Music Magazine Front Cover and Contents Page Plan

I haven't yet completed my cover lines and the price of the magazine as of yet.

I also need to add another picture to the bottom right, finish the news and reviews section and organise the sections correctly. Also need to add a different colour so that it appeals.

I haven't yet typed up my DPS.

Flat Plan

Contents Page Photography

Some of the photography taken for my my music magazine contents page. 

Music Magazine Proposal Presented

Illustrator Tutorial Lesson

Today we were taught step by step several ways to change the type of font to help our music magazines become different from one another. 

It was beneficial as I learnt how a certain font represents a genre of music well and also the unique ways of attracting the readers with the use of colours and designs. 

Magazine Proposal Complete

Photography Induction Notes

White back drop- 

Flash kit (lights) - highlights, low lights- shadow

Captures everything in complete focus 

Lights are off- digital terms it's different and can effect the photograph 

Grey ish colour 

Being close to the background 

5/6 feet away 

3 model lights 

Trinity flash heads- 

+ and - ( down to one) - lowest flash( light) 6 highest flash 

Test- all 3 lights

Godox- delicate, battery operated switch off

Sends signal to the camera 

Soft boxes- 2 

1 has a grid- distributes light evenly

snoot- hair line light ( it seperates the subject from the back drop)

 3/1 ratio 3 times brighter than the other ( 1st one) 

fill light- knocks the shadow out 1.5

3 point lighting 

Key light - one of the soft boxes( main light that lights the subject)  has a shadow

Range of different camera angles

Nikon dslr- d1000 18 megapixel (17 million) 

Set to black and white

18-105 lens ( auto mode ) 

M and A

A- Appature control dept of field ( group photos)

S- shutter, jumping/ movement 

Shallow dept field- getting rid of ears - foreground in focus, background is out of focus 

Reflectors - gold- silver - white 

Click menu

Sd colour 

Monochrome- black and white 

Research Task Magazine Stand

In class we were all instructed to find news stands which had music magazines. This would help us analyse the different factors of distributing magazines and how they are presented in public. For this picture that I took I went to Whsmiths which had a huge variety of music magazines which was quite beneficial. The mastheads were perhaps the first thing that caught my attention because of the use of bright colours help attract the reader immediately. Then the other conventions of the media magazine are visible such as the skyline, use of images or image, barcode and the price isn't as visible because it is placed differently.

Distribution of magazines:
Applications on our phones could be beneficial as its easily accessible.
Helps extend into gigs and other events which will help the magazine gain a larger audience as its interacting with a large amount of people.

Preliminary Task- LSC Magazine Evaluation Front Cover and Contents Page

  




































During this task we were told to specifically use InDesign and Photoshop as they're more professional then paint or any other source at this stage. With the help of our previous knowledge on InDesign and Photoshop this task was slightly easier as we were able to design college magazines and utilise our feedback from the previous task to perfect this task. Additionally the tasks we were set in class ( working in groups to highlight the key features of a magazine and the effects) was very effective in this task as I was able to use the main features of a magazine in my own work such as : 3 colour scheme, Masthead, skyline, pull quotes etc..
This evaluation will outline what went well during the process of designing the magazine and what I need to improve on.

We were told to use Photoshop for our front covers. 
The photography was quite difficult as I couldn't find an ideal lighting in the college building  ( clear white background or black) and alternatively had to use the outside of the college building to ensure that the cover stars features were clear and bold to see.
The location of the picture wasn't perhaps the best as the colour of the font had to be visible against the background and I had to make sure that the colours didn't clash so I used the colours that the model was wearing and it worked well to an extent.
However the colours weren't as visible against some parts of the background and despite being aware of this I couldn't change the colours of the font as I was trying to stick to the 3 colour scheme.
The shot type is a medium close up displaying the model smiling and looking at the camera which gives a positive vibe and helps interact with the readers as they feel as if she's directly looking at them; making them feel more involved. The cover star holding a folder shows that she's perhaps organised and keen to learn which might encourage readers to do the same.
I didn't really use any photoshop tools to edit her facial features as there wasn't much to change but I increased the brightness just so that her features stand out.
I wanted to stick to the basic magazine structure of having a black, white and a bright colour scheme but I wasn't able to as the colour black blended with the background which would've been a problem so I had to change it to a more suttle colour which was a sky blueish colour.
My target audience was originally a young audience that are interested in the events of the college.
I think that the masthead worked well as it was a vibrant red and attracts the eyes of the readers and the theme of college- red indicating being more alert!
I also liked how my skyline was below the masthead as it's very different amongst the rest of the magazines and it's broken into two short motivational sentences " work hard" and " aim high"
Furthermore I had a variety of different font sizes as I wanted to make sure that I used the space of the page effectively and also to highlight the importance of each topic.

Feedback from members in the class:

"Your magazine is good you have good pictures your layout is really good your front cover could be more colourful as this is aimed at teenagers and some of the writing cannot be read easily because of the background of the picture - Abul Hasnath Al-Azad

"First of all I like how your front cover is pretty simple as it draws all the attention to the cover star. Having said this you could have had a cover line that was an article that linked to the cover star. I like the strange way you have places the skyline, "work hard, aim high". Instead of having it about the masthead where it normally is in magazines you have placed it underneath the masthead on one side and it actually works really well. It's clear that your colour scheme consists of white, blue and red and they work really well with each other but they also are simple colours making it harder for attention to be drawn to a certain bit of text on the cover. To improve I think you could have had a bit more texts relating to articles on your front cover and bolder colours to catch the readers attention."- Yaa Appiah

"From looking at your cover page, the use of a 3 colour scheme is evident. The colours blue, red and white. The colour red which is the masthead stands out from the background, making it eye-catching and appealing. Furthermore, the cover star has eye-contact with camera, as if she is looking at the reader. Also, the use of a barcode and price is evident in the bottom right corner. There is also a skyline which is a typical feature of a magazine. However the price is placed oddly and the colour blue does not stand out as much." Cengizhan Sen

"The cover page is very good as it is eye catching because the picture of the girl shows that she is smiling intriguing the reader. Your cover has all the right conventions for a cover. The layout of the text is good as you are not blocking the image as much. The masthead is eye catching too. However the downside is that the colour of the text is a bit bland and doesn't stand out much" - Rohan Rama's 


I agree with the criticism about the colour scheme effecting the targeted audience and an improvement would be to make sure that I use a wise colour range in the future.
Also making sure that I have allocated a better place for the price and stick to the same font size to show consistency.
Additionally trying to use more photoshop tools to produce a well structured magazine.








































We used InDesign to create our contents page as its suitable to use for an actual contents page and it helps us think a similar way to the actual magazine creators. I tried making my contents slightly different and I changed the headline so that it was displayed vertically on the left instead of the top of the page. With the help of InDesign I was able to use various tools; I used text boxes to organise my sections appropriately which were also organised with headings to make it clearer for the readers to acknowledge whether they're reading regulars, features or extras. I also labelled each topic with a page number so that the readers have an insight on what the magazine has to offer as a whole.
I stuck to a two colour scheme in the contents page pink and black which In my opinion worked well against the white background and compliment the images well.
I used a simple font as I didn't want my piece to come across as overly done or unsophisticated and wanted to portray a sense of simple and effectiveness amongst the readers.


I used a minimal amount of images for my contents page which I don't think was a good idea as the pictures don't describe what the magazine is about specifically and perhaps a variety of images would've completed that.
The images were to indicate that the college is a multi-cultural college and doesn't neglect any individuals.
Also the pictures individually were taken for different purposes ( top left) model is holding a file to show she's studious and hard working, (Top right) model is looking at the computer shows that he's concentrating and shows interest in his work- comes across as positive amongst the readers however the picture isn't quite clear as I distorted the image slightly and the models head is enlarged.
(bottom right) models are smiling and carrying work sheets to suggest that they're in a hard working college environment and surrounded by a friendly atmosphere.
 I stuck to a simple structure whilst creating my college magazine as I wanted it appeal to the readers as well as not look overly done.
In my opinion my use of wording worked well for the targeted audience;- young pupils that are interested in their education and are in the process of making a UCAS portfolio.
One of the main reasons I stuck to a simple use of vocabulary is to ensure that not just the targeted readers are prioritised and that it encourages the other pupils to be keen in what they're studying.

Feedback I received:

"As for the contents page , it also has a colour scheme of pink, black and white. The colours black and pink  contrast from the white background. There are also many images which catches the reader's eye as people find  images more interesting instead of a whole page dedicated to text. The articles have been organized in  categories, so the reader can find the desired article with ease! Overall good job!" Cengizhan Sen  "The contents page has a good layout as it is easy for the eye. the columns are well placed also making the  layout better. The images are high quality and are relevant to the context. The subheadings are different colours  again making it clear for the reader. Overall your college magazine is of a high standard with few errors but still  very good." Rohan Rama "your contents page could be more consistent with the front cover like the colours but your layout is really  professional"-  Abul Hasnath Al- Azad

I agree with the criticism about sticking to a colour scheme as I've changed the colours from the front cover and added two different colours which initially has effected the consistency of the magazine.

Producing music magazine improvements:

In order to prevent clashes of colours I need to make sure that I take the pictures of the models at a suitable location or make a wiser choice with the variety of colours so that the readers can read with ease.

To show my knowledge in magazines I need to show a little more understanding by self-advertising e.g Logos and additional links for more information about the magazine.

Also trying to make everything clear by organising the numbers in chronological order and labelling the pictures on the contents page with page numbers so that the readers are aware of which page they should visit.

Sticking to the 3 colour scheme is essential and it shows a sense of consistency so I need to make sure I make a wise choice again with the colours.

Research Task 5

We were instructed to do the following tasks to ensure that we're up to date with everything.

Adobe Illustrator Attempt

First attempt on using Adobe illustator

Leyton Sixth Form Magazine

Classic Pop Double Page Spread Analysis

Double Page Spread Analysis:
The colour scheme of the double page spread is simply black and white. The colours black and white compliment each other well and help to make the article eye pleasing and easier to read.

Majority of the double page spread is a picture of the Spandau Ballets and the writing is written on the left side of the double page spread in one column which is slightly slanted and can be a problem if a person doesn't like tilting their head.  There's a range of font sizes for different purposes: the headline is an introduction of the artists and the article itself is written in a smaller font whereas the other two headlines are bigger and bold to entice readers. 

Both the images show the two different phases of the artists. 

The article is about how the group emerged back after a period of time and are showing how they are willing to come back to the eyes of the audience to maintain the fan base. The article uses advanced vocabulary such as " unrequited" which suggest that it's probably targeted at a slightly older age group also the year they started 1981 suggests that an older age is most likely to have known their music than a younger audience who aren't as aware. 

There is a conversational tone as well of the artists to keep the readers reading.

Classic Pop Contents Page Analysis

Contents page analysis:

Double page spread for a contents page which is quite unusual.

The title for the contents page is bold, big and white but it's slanted and perhaps harder to find if passing through the magazine. Theres a variety of pictures of the artists which have all been labelled with page numbers. The font of the contents page title links with the writing on the images. The features, regulars and reviews are belows the images and are divided into topics that each section has to offer.  

The colour scheme for the contents page consists of black except the contents title and name of the magazine. I think black was an appropriate colour to use as it's against a white background and often other colours can become different to read. 

Editorial features include: The sections in the contents page are in columns and are aligned which shows that the contents page is quite organised. making it easy to find the chosen article. The images are nicely presented and use all the blank spaces appropriately. 

Classic Pop Front Cover Analysis

Front Cover Analysis:

Although the Masthead is written in the same colour font the boxes around them are coloured differently to perhaps differentiate the genres. Both the colours black and red are quite aggressive and are quite sharp to the eye. The main cover stars are indicated with the enlargement of their name " Spandau ballet"

There's a 3 colour scheme of white, yellow and black which are bold and eye pleasing. Cover stars are dressed in smart wear which shows that they are professional perhaps.

Cover stars are also smiling to show a sense of joy which help to link to the heading ' reunited!'.  without baring her teeth, making her look calm.

Cover stars pose: 2 of the artists have their arms to their side and body to one side, 1 of the artists has his arms crossed with a smirk on his face to show a sense of superiority that the group holds and the other two have their arms in their pockets.

It's a full body shot of all the artists probably backstage as the coach in the background highlights that.
The Cover lines are at the bottom of the Spandau ballet group which is larger than the other featured articles.
To add on to that the cover lines also show the other articles inside the article " interviewed" " Duran Duran" etc.. The fonts of the cover lines are all in caps to help the article stand out. There's also a barcode at the bottom ride with the issue date beside it.

 

Jazzwise Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis

Double page spread analysis:

There's a 3 colour scheme of the double page spread which is a navy blue, purply blue and black. There's no colour coordination from the front cover.
Everything is written on one side of the double page spread and it's presented differently, there's a large passage underneath the headline and below the passage the rest of the article is divided into 3 columns which are widely spread. There's two different font sizes the passage is written in larger text whereas the column writing is smaller.Theres a drop caps at the start of the first column to help entice the readers to carry on reading and although the text is written in smaller writing it still shows as much importance. There's two images on the double page spread one in the middle of the colums and there's one on its own on the other page. Both the images one of Diana Krall performing and one of her laughing on a side display her love for music Which link to the white pull quote " I don't want to abandon jazz and swing music and all the thing I love" which shows that she's deeply in love with music and specifically jazz. The pull quote also helps give us an overall idea about what the main purpose of the article. The article starts off with praises to Diana Krall complimenting her journey of success and then moves on to an Incident she had whilst meeting a legend. 

There's a conversational tone at the start of the second paragraph to interact with the readers and uses appropriate language until she displays anger by using taboo language " fucking" which suggests that this article is targeted at a young age group. 

Jazzwise Magazine: Contents Page Analysis

Contents page analysis:

There's a two colour scheme for the contents page which is black and red on a white background which helps it stand out. There's one large image in the middle of the page of a person which I'm not quite sure who he is as there's no enlargement of font to indicate he has a large importance. He's wearing black sunglasses and his armed crossed to show that he's casual which also links to how he dresses with a vest and jeans. 

There are two sections on both sides of the model which are titled regulars and features, regulars consists of the information about music and latest news whereas the features include information about the artists. Also there's two different font sizes the features are written in slightly larger text and their page numbers which are on the left side are larger too. Both sections are In columns. And there's also a website of the magazine at the bottom to advertise it.

Jazzwise Magazine Analysis- Front Cover

Front cover analysis:

-The use of the colour white helps the Masthead stand out from the grey background. The masthead is a combination of two different words 'Jazz' the type of genre and 'Wise' containing a a sense of knowledge. The use of the abbreviations in the masthead give us and indication that the magazine is probably designed for a younger audience.

The magazine has a 2 colour scheme instead of 3: White and orange which helps attract the eyes of the readers. The cover star Diana Krall is wearing a black dress instead of a bright colour to stick to the theme of Jazz which mainly consists of dark colours and she's also wearing a rustle jumper around the bottom part of her arms displaying a layed back look perhaps. Position of the cover star: arms to one side and first two fingers inter- locking, medium close up.

Cover star face: direct eye contact protesting a sense of dialogue that perhaps it's a link between her and the readers. There's also a darker side to one of the sides of her face which shows that she's serious. 

Cover lines: There's a plus cover like at the bottom left which includes the other artists that will be featuring in the magazine. However Diana Kralls name is in bold writing and slightly bigger which a protrays a certain importance that she has in the magazine compared to the other artists featuring. The cover lines also tell us what sort of articles to expect in the magazine.

Skyline: "The Uk's biggest selling jazz magazine" Depics that this genre of music is known nationally "Uk's", also the superlative used "biggest" shows that the writer tries to exaggerate it and intruige more readers. 

Bar code in the bottom right corner.

The issue date and price is at the top right above the Masthead.

Front Page Analysis

  The use of the colour red for the masthead is very vibrant and eye catching although the font is quite plain the size and the background help to compliment its simplicity.
The model is a college student and is purposely presented to give the readers an insight on how the students in the college feel, the picture shows her smiling which immediately helps make assumptions that the college is a friendly environment to be in and the students enjoy being there.
The costume depicts that the dressing code isn't strict in the college and the colour red contemplates with the red masthead also the location shows that the college has a lot of greenery indicating love for nature.
The cover lines don't seem to stick to one font type which may come across as unprofessional but give us an understanding of what the magazine is going to be about but they could have used pull quotes to draw in the readers and brighter colours of the text make it easier to read however they have stuck to a two text colour scheme.
The issue date is displayed at the top right underneath the masthead so its visible for the readers as well as the barcode is displayed at the bottom right so its easier for the readers to know the price of the magazine.

Class Work- Different Types Of Conventions To Use

Today's lesson we went through the type of conventions that are in a contents and DPS and roughly why they are used so we understand the importance of them in a magazine when we were design our own music magazine.

Today's lesson also helped outline a major difference in the two ( DPS and contents page) so that we don't misinterpret how we are supposed to layout the two. 

Magazine Structure Lesson

 

Today lesson was of great use as it helped display what we have to do in order to create a successful magazine. As the image above clearly states what areas we have to concentrate on to make sure that we have used a variety of techniques and stuck to the basic template of a magazine.

 

DPS ( Double Page Spread ) - Class Work

Contents Page- The Group Work Set In Class

Evaluation

Evaluation:

In AsMedia we were given the instructions to write an article about the changing face of our music industry, music piracy and file sharing as a way to help develop our journalism as a whole. With the help of our recent knowledge on InDesign to produce a template for our written pieces. I will be trying to attempt to discuss all the procedures I've been through whilst creating my magazine and with the help of my journalism and InDesign techniques.

In order to create my own article one of the key factors was research: factual evidence, opinions, statistics and quotes from various artists to help back my thoughts and ideas on the topic and helped make guidelines about what my article is going to be about. However I decided not to mention any celebrities or artists as I didn't think it applied to the audience I was targeting so I had to exclude it. As a result I used spotifyartists.com and whatculture.com which weren't reliable resources as the articles weren't recently written but the spotify website did have statistics that I didn't use which unfortunately made my article come across as unreliable. Subsequently I tried to use my knowledge with the help of the lessons in class and the debate session that I was apart of to ensure that I had arguments for and against to include in my article. I personally feel that I should've aimed the piece on an audience that is most likely I read a piracy article as they are able to relate to it and it would've had some relevance to them. 

In my written piece I chose to target a sophisticated audience and I tried to stick to 3rd person to make sure that my arguments didn't come across as biased on one specific individual. Ensuring that I have argued for both sides equally and it also allows the audience to make assumptions according to what thy have read. I tried to restrict my target audience by aiming it specifically for Uk citizens that are slightly older and perhaps aren't as aware about the music industry. In order to do so I was trying to receive the information about piracy in the same perspective as the audience by placing myself In their position. The tone of my voice is perhaps hard to analyse as I was using a variety to make sure that I wasn't pressurising the audience to feel a certain way and If I did intend to do so it's an extent and it was mainly used to make the readers feel as if they were a part of the article; examples of this are the use of rhetorical questions. Overall I think I changed the format of my writing from a newspaper article to an essay as I wasn't aware of how to maintain a newspaper structure and I was in a habit if writing in an essay style layout due to English assignments. Which is why one of the things I need to improve in is learning on how to write according to the the type of text structure.

We used InDesign as a template for our magazine article to make it as identical to an actual magazine. Also with the help of InDesign I learnt various techniques to apply to my work such as: making columns and text boxes by using tools in InDesign, selecting objects such as images with the selection too, changing the size of the text to make it eye catching and bold so it's visible and clear for the readers. I'd also learnt how to export my work info a JPEG, add headers, captions, drop caps and colour to the text. Overall I found that InDesign was quite difficult and I struggled in presenting it in a suitable format for my work on my own but with the help of a peer I was able to apply some of the techniques.

Finally we had to blog our articles and I didn't like the sound of this as I haven't had any experience to this but blogging wasn't as a hard as I thought and I enjoyed blogging my first task as it's an easy process and time sufficient. Not only is it a good way to utilise your time but it doesn't have to be targeted at a specific audience as it's accessible to audiences globally. I didn't have much to write about my first blog as I didn't know what to write but I feel that I'll be able to write detailed posts within time and lots of practice.

The audience feedback was very constructive and it helped me reflect on the mistakes I made which were to focus on the layout of my work; columns (sizes) as they didn't differentiate whether my piece was a magazine or a newspaper article and I will take the criticism into consideration by making amendments using InDesign and focusing on how magazines structure their articles.

With the help of the Criticism I'm also able to help myself set targets according to it. 

Firstly, to use other journalism pieces as a guide/ template for my actual piece as it will help me have a wider grasp on what I should include in my own piece. 

Secondly, to work on my presentational skills to make sure I've kept it eye catching for the audience.

To add on to that I should've used images to make my work eye pleasing for the readers and encourage them to read more.

Lastly, my target audience wasn't clear enough as my article had a variety of language tones and perhaps the wording wasn't used correctly and I need to focus on using appropriate language to change that.

Induction Journalism

First attempt on an article using indesign, definitely need more practice.