Magazine draft

 

Double page spread image

Here is an image of before and after editing my image - I felt this use of image would be extremely effective for my double page spread as I wanted to use a photo which stood out but also would fill the whole page for my double page spread. The sophisticated dark lipstick on my model stands out and catches the eye of my viewer, as my model looks away from the camera it creates more effect and creates an overall more effective interesting photo. The clothing worn helps create the image of my music magazine - indie pop, whilst the classy eye shadow and dark hair blend together nicely. I used Adobe Photoshop to edit the photo in order to make it look more professional and better on the eye. I wanted to get rid of the dull/grey effect that the original photo had. In order to do this I played with the saturation and the brightness until I was satisfied with the appearance. I also wanted to get rid of the shadows and dark marks on her face, therefore I used the patch tool to lighten these parts. I also used Surface Blur in order to smooth out the image and improve how professional it looked. Overall I believe the outcome of the editing has helped make the photo brighter and clearer for my readers.

Contact sheet

Here is the selection of photos in which I took for my photo-shoot, there is a variety of selection of photos as I wanted the photos to create excitement and be different from the others. Some high angles, mid shots, close ups. As my music genre is indie pop my model dressed to the suitability of this genre and also through the style of photos I took of her facial expressions helped blend in well with my music genre.

 

Draft Question 7

Back in September when we made our plelimiary tasks it was clear to me during the process of making it that I had no clue how to use indesign or how to arrange a front cover/contents page – I have only been use to Photoshoot before and even that I found challenging so this was a big task for me to take on. In comparison to Photoshop Indesign have a lot more tools and techniques in which you can use to make your magazine more professional and classy.  
 

Indesign is an automatically quicker method of making magazines, there are quick shortcuts you can use to make sure your house style of fonts and colour follow through throughout your whole magazine, you can add swatches and by doing this it saves your chosen colour into a tool bar on the side ensuring you always have your house style colour on the side able to use. As for the fonts you can design your own ‘paragraph’ settings, so whenever you want to make a title the font comes up in the chosen size every time as will subtitles or articles which you chosen. For the images, the quality of them was much better and easier you click in the chosen area choose the picture and it comes through – my overall magazine looking back now is of such a higher quality and design in comparison to my plelimary task where no real house style or design was used. I feel I have learnt an awful amount, before I never new about the short cuts or the different designs you could use which I have learnt about. In comparison to my GCSE work too the change is unreal, It’s made me realise if you know how to work a programme well it will all fall together in itself and look great.

 

 The image quality used in the plelimiary task was not up to a good standard, the back grounding of the photos was just taken in a random place with a non professional camera where as now the photos were taken professionally with a high tech camera using props and thinking clearly about the mise en scene of the magazine.

Draft Question 6

Throughout my experience of this unit of making our magazines I feel as if I have learnt a huge amount from the jump at GCSE level, the professional software we have been introduced too have been a massive benefit towards the final product of our magazine. The benefit I feel I had was the experience of using Photoshop from GCSE level this gave me added information on the software ensuring I felt more confident when making my edits from my Photoshop - however, before I didn’t know the full depth use of the software however this time learned how to turn edits black and white yet change certain features to a natural colour, for example turning an image black and white but making my models lips red. Having the power to change around the colouring and lighting of photos meant dark photos I could bring to life and highlight my models facial features. The patch tool that Photoshop provides gives you a chance to blemish your models face and remove anything on the image in which you feel would make it look un-professional this is a huge benefit when editing close up photos for the front cover and you want the photo to look as clear as possible.

Moving on to the new software I have been using - Indesign. Indesign is a brilliant software when creating your magazine as the tools you are using ensure a professional appearance to your product, my favourite element of the software was the paragraph styles you can use, this allows you to use a specific font, size and colour and repeatedly use it whenever you want meaning the text style will always be the same throughout the magazine helping to hold the professional house style. When making my contents page I found this element of the software particularly helpful, it is important that throughout the contents page everything looks similar and using this tool enabled me to do this, it meant I could create my magazine a lot quicker and ensure no errors. Another benefit of Indesign which I loved was when pressing 'W' and 'shift' you are able to see columns on the magazine highlighting if all the images are on the same line and length this ensured nothing was wonky or unprofessional. When adding your article onto your double page spread I found it particularly easy and quick as you just add the text where you want it to go and click a button and it text wraps the writing around the chosen images for example.

The photos you choose to use in your magazine play a massive role on the final product, however this is dependent on how good the photos are which relies on how good the camera and lighting quality are. The camera that we used to take the images where on a canon camera with a white drop background behind with lighting which went off every time you took an image, ensuring it was easy to edit photos and meant the model stood out in particular for the front cover image where I feel it is important that there is no other detail on an image other than a close up of the model.

Draft Question 5

The main way in which i want to attract my audience is through the main images and sell lines that i will use, this is because it is eye grabbing and tells a story to my readers without them having to know my artists full background. My music genre is already a popular high selling genre and to be able to ensure i can contain it sells i want the content inside to be up to a high quality, some magazines don’t bother ensuring the article inside is interesting and exciting because they feel they can rely on the images - this isn’t how i want my magazine to come across. If someone has already purchased your magazine due to the exciting front cover displaying famous artists and exciting sell lines the article will only ensure the readers carry on buying the magazine. The bold title in an italic funky font backed up with the bright turquiose blue with crystal white colours ensures catching the attention of my readers.

 

I can ensure my magazine will sell to my readers as there are several different ways in which they are able to purchase it, my online website which they can go through articles online and be interactive with the magazine, through social media twitter and facebook and being able to subscribe each month with the magazine, this all helps to ensure a sell of the magazine through the wide variety of ways in which they can access it. Social media is the key to success in today’s industry - the high demand on the media which teenagers hold, most teenagers don’t have the money to buy magazines and therefore rely on the media to access information which my magazine holds. The reason why my magazine holds such a unique and original feel to it is because of the detail and thought which has been put into the website, rather than spending all time making so many final details to the print magazine so that i can focus time on ensuring the online website provides just as much detail and excitement.

 

  My front cover is powered by the extremely interesting close up of my model Ella, the bright lip stick and classy make up brings a unique and interesting appearance to the magazine, this helps widen the amount of readers my magazine has. Clearly this would appeal to female readers as it is a role model women who they may choose to look up to but also male readers as it could appeal to be quite sexy to them.
 

The front cover expresses a quote in which Ella states during the article, being the most overwhelming quote it will help to give my readers as inside view to what’s going to be in the article. Listing some of the most well known artist in the music genre down the side of the magazine front cover with a sell line of how they will be involved in the magazine will also help ensure sells of my magazine - this is because some readers may not want to read the magazine for what it is but are massive fans of Rihanna for example and therefore will want to purchase the magazine to read about her. 

  

The contents page is focused on expressing what the magazine is involved in, giving inside information to the topics that are in my magazine. Subtitles of gigs/festivals, features and regulars - this gives the article title to the reader without them having to flick through the whole magazine to what they’re looking for, ensuring they find the article they want get the page number and can go straight to that page. The list of all the artists involved on the side demonstrates the Varity of famous music artists that are involved in my magazine increasing the amount of people who want to invest in my magazine, as it gives my reader a good feel to the magazine as such a large amount of artist are willing to be involved in it. The wide choice of images used on the contents page ensures the good appearance and interest of the magazine.

 

 

Backstage of my Photoshoot

 

Yesterday I had my photo-shoot, I used Ella Noonan as my model as I feel she is a good representation of my music genre - urban pop. Ella will be my main model and I will use her for my front cover, double spread and some smaller images on my contents page, I feel my magazine was successful as I have gathered together a variety of photos which represent different camera angles and positions of my model, some of her looking away from the camera some laying down some sitting down, all of this will create effect in my final piece of magazine. My model changed what she was wearing several times ensuring creating effect, a change of lipstick colours and hair styles meant creating an effective use of individual photos.



Behind the scenes - Video

Draft Question 4

My audience is aimed at teenage girls aged 14-18 however I have tried using different techniques within the magazine to widen my audience to teenage boys too. The reasoning for my choice of age group of 14-18 is any younger I believe wont be able to afford my magazine, it is unlikely 13 year olds get pocket money every  week and are able to get themselves to the shop to purchase my magazine which is my main reasoning for starting the age group from 14, you may argue 18 year olds are too old to buy magazines but a massive part of my magazine is about winning concert tickets and talking about gig guides – you have to be 16 and over to be able to go to concerts and at this age concerts and gigs are a key to a teenagers summer and a chance of winning free tickets I know will be very  appealing to them. My music genre is indie and pop and therefore could have both female and male genders follow up on my magazine – due to the high amount of famous music artist too which both genders would listen too my magazine in this prospect could be open up to both genders. However, due to the vast amount of images being girls and the context of the article being about Ella becoming famous it would suggest that more females are likely to be interested in my magazine.

 

 The social class of my audience will be ABC1 – I don’t want to base my social class on group A only as then people from lower social classes wont be able to afford my magazine weekly, being this social class means I can attract people from a higher social class but also from the working class and higher incoming workers as the cost of my magazine costs £2.70 a week people need to be able to afford it but also actually take an interest in music itself, and this tends to be the social class in which does.  If the pricing is too low it may come across to my audience that my magazine is of a low profession and that there is a lack of detail to the magazine so pricing it right in the middle would suggest that it isn’t too expensive but still is off a high quality.

  The social habits of my target audience who I aim to target for my magazine are teenagers who go out quite often and have part time jobs, those who keep up with checking up on their favourite music artists and enjoy going to gigs and concerts. Due to the aspect that my magazine costs £2.70 my target audience need to have the social habits of being out and being involved - my typical reader would be a teenage girl who lives in Camden, goes out often with her close friends shopping and going out for meals, earning £150 a month from her Saturday job and always keeps up with her favourite celebs on her iPhone.

Draft Question 3

It is very important that a company distributes my magazine - however it is more important that the company distributing my magazine doesn't already have of a similar magazine as the competition within this music genre category is too high for competition. I would choose for PLC to distribute my magazine as IPC media distributes massive branding of magazines such as Q and NME - due to the massive similarities of magazines from mine and Q magazine I want to keep away from IPC media as the competition would probably out go my magazine due to such high demand of readership for Q magazine.

Future PLC seem a positive investment for my magazine, not only the high demand of readers do they share but have been named 'digital publisher of the year' and 'media company of the year' suggesting the great success in which the company clearly hold. Due to such the high reputation in which they hold I feel confident my magazine would sell well within Future PLC. From information gathered about them they have no similar magazines out right now which they are distributing putting my magazine top ranking for my audience to get involved in. Future has one of the most highly-respected music portfolios in the world and continue to lead the market through print and digital innovation as they look to target more musicians on a global scale. Magazines which they distribute are Total Guitar, Rhythm and Guitarist. The company will hopefully like my magazine as they should feel engaged through the sense of similarity, as instruments play a role in my magazine both indie and pop music highlights the importance of instruments throughout the music which my genre tells.  In my opinion when choosing on a distributor for your magazine it is important that your target audience is of a similar type, if a distributor was aiming at 40 year olds that would be convenient for my age category however Future PLC have a target audience of 16+ and therefore would not be risk taking when choosing them for my distributor, my magazine would fit in well with the other magazines of what they distribute through the age category of my magazine - as Future PLC has a target audience rating for higher readership of men I need to ensure a good balance for my magazine to ensure I can still reach out to the female readership which I feel strongly about completing as the high demand of readers for my music genre that I have. My magazine will be half print and half online due to the huge platform of Future PLC having of successful online I also feel confident that my online will sell just as well as my print.

Draft Question 2

My magazine represents the social group of teenagers, the music genre of ‘pop’ and ‘indie’ is most listened too by this social group which is the main reason for choosing it. My magazine is aimed at the social class ABC1, which is a very wide audience, however it means that it attracts mostly middle-class people who are interested in attending gigs and festivals and also love reading and getting involved with their favorite artists and bands. I have tried to attract this social class by the use of my model and her surroundings, props and costumes as I have been able to create a story of model through the representations I have created of her.

Within my music genre I have famous well known artists across the world with name titles such as Rihanna, Eminem, Ellie Golding and Arctic Monkeys the reasoning why I believe its so important to have a strong group of well known artists involved in your magazine as it widens your target audience range. If fans of these artists know they are being featured in your magazine it widens the likely hood of them investing into your magazine. The way you represent your artists through their appearance and facial expressions also help to represent the particular social – the make up my model Ella wears is a vibrant dark purple lip stick and red, these colors signify a classy yet unique person. The clothing in which you wear should also signify your audience as it tells a story about a person and the genre of music they listen too, the stereotype of what they wear gives an impression off about a person. For my music genre it would stereotype that you would wear typical ‘hipster’ clothing – in this my model wears clothes such as denim jackets, dresses with the collar showing over, funky bright colored jackets and a range of boots and trainers creating an ideal stereotype of the typical girl who listens to this type of music.

Facial expressions are also key, they help to tell a story about the character you’re writing about and also express their views in the faces they pull – my model Ella uses a variety of facial expressions to ensure keeping my magazine interesting and exciting – almost like not knowing what’s coming next. The use of looking away photos, to smiling, from looking up to Ella seeing her looking down on the camera to photos which are close ups where my model doesn’t even need to pose for the camera as her own facial expression tells its own story.  The mise en scene in magazines is so important if you want to represent your social class within the magazine – you cant put a 40 year old woman on a pop magazine dressed in baggy trousers and a vest and expect your social group of 18 year olds are going to be able to engage in the magazine. By using a Varity of clothing and facial expressions I have been able to reach out to a wider Varity of people. Rather than just using the same facial expressions repeatedly mixing them up has shown my magazine has more than one side to it rather than just being boring and plain.

Props used play a big role in appealing to my target audience, I want them to see through the use of props what type of magazine mine is. In the smaller images on my contents page and double page spread I have used props such as a microphone and a stall, this helps to create the whole music theme of magazine and suggest the genre being indie and pop and these use of props and generally found in this genre of music.

My front cover speaks for itself, an extreme close up of my model suggesting a unique and classy facial expression yet an unknown face wearing dark purple lipstick backed up with big hair and sophisticated make up helping to attract my target audience through the use of the bold photo.  It is important your readership feel like they have a relationship with the artist which is why using close ups help to do this – from a viewers perspective its almost like you’re seeing into their lives.  If my reader feels like they have a relationship with my artist then they can begin to use them as a role model which is the whole idea in which I want for my magazine – using less smiling facial expressions and more faces which look like they’re is a untold story behind will help create uncertainty between the artist and reader.

It is important to keep up a general house style throughout the magazine to ensure a professional look. Using colors of a turquoise blue black and white as these colors are the most associated with pop and indie music. I don’t want my magazine to be full of blacks and blue as I can feel the black comes across as a heavy and angry color that’s why adding white throughout the magazine shows the innocence to the magazine.

Draft Question 1

At the start of this task I had a rough idea of what form I wanted my magazine to have but the ideas where limited, in order to help gather some ideas together I began conducting some research on other magazines with the same music genre – doing this I looked at magazines such as Q magazine however I found the best form of research on magazines was looking at students as I felt this would give a better idea of what is realistic that I could produce and here I got an idea that I wanted to use a blue turquoise colour theme and I wanted the music genre to pop/indie. I wanted my magazine to look professional and not full of tack, something in which the Q magazine brand follows, this was a good guide line for me while producing my magazine.

 

Using a close up shot of my model Ella for my front cover was used for my front cover, all successful magazines such as Q always use close ups and always come out the most effective. I believe it helps create a personal relationship between both the model and the reader due to the aspect that an extreme close up helps enable to tell a story about the person, drawing attention to my magazine on the shelves. I believe close ups are the most professional and classy approach to the front cover main image. Moving on to the masthead used the bold font in my house style themed colour turquoise blue, it stands out through the increased size of it not only did I want my masthead to stand out being big but I wanted the font to tell a story itself about the type of music genre my magazine is, I feel I done this well.
 

Moving on to the house style used, colours of white black and turquoise blue. I knew I wanted to include the basic colours of white and black as, as boring and frequently used they may be they stand out over many other colours and are a nice colour to mix with your main colour. My main colour of turquoise blue I choose due to the fact I felt it went so well with my music genre, when you think of the colour you would associate it with hipsters. I named my magazine ‘radar’ as I felt it was a name which would catch people’s eye and signified the genre of my magazine. The masthead itself followed the house style of blue while the slogans around it where white and black which I believed outlined the importance of the masthead. Sell lines play a huge importance on a front cover, they give away cheeky lines about the insight to the magazine and also determine a sell of the magazine, if someone likes the look of the magazines front cover there is a higher chance of them purchasing. Including the main quote of my article on my front cover above introducing my model Ella this helped to introduce the article and what my main story line would be about. After researching into magazines similar to mine it was obvious including a list of artist that where being featured in my magazine would be a key aspect to success, evidently audiences of this genre were interested in hearing gossip about a lot more than one artist.

 

 Throughout my contents page I want to demonstrate the conventions of real media products, I have been able to do this through the way in which I express a large number of artists on the side of the page - this would suggest to the audience the genre of my magazine whilst attract a wider audience through demonstrating well known artists. Whilst engaging my readers to get involved through subscribing online I am demonstrating to my audience i have understood their needs from the print industry as due to my target audience not wanting to go out every week purchasing the product they have the opportunity to still be involved within my magazine whilst not having to make any effort - this helps to balance the users of online and print. Although still promoting twitter/facebook on my contents page to ensure my audience know i have met the needs of the teenage market. Throughout my contents page i have ensured sticking to the same house style of turquoise blue with the same fonts and sizes throughout keeping the appearance professional.

The start of my double page spread stars in promoting the artist herself to the magazine, an extreme close up helps to create emotion and suspense - the image itself can create enough for a viewer to want to read about it, if you feel connected to the artist its likely you’re going to be more interested in the magazine and get involved in the article. Whilst the main image takes up the whole page a small section in the corner starts the magazines article off, highlighting key words from the quote describing the most dramatic words. Most successful magazines such as Q use this style of double page spread to introduce the artist as a sense of importance of them.