Monday, 11 January 2016

Draft question 7

Cover: This is a comparison between my college magazine cover and my final music magazine cover. As you can see I have changed many things. I have thought and changed the positioning of my cover lines in order for it to look more professional but also for it to fit my genre. The colour scheme is also improved because I have thought more about the colour contrasting between the background and the cover lines. It is now a lot more put together than my college magazine was. I played around with photoshop when creating my music magazine as I already knew what improvements I had to make from my college magazine, and how to use the features in order to make it more appealing.
The cover lines on my college magazine were boring and not appealing whereas, I have changed this in my music magazine and made it more interesting and catching. The colour scheme of my college magazine was not great because the colours were not bold enough and it was hard to read the cover lines. However, for my final product I chose a colour scheme which was easy to read and it was bold enough to stand out and attract the reader.
There are clear improvements on the mast head. The college magazine mast head was boring and was made in photoshop, it didn’t look professional or appealing. Whereas, the masthead on my music magazine was made on Illustrator and it was customized In order to make It look like a real magazine and it was much more appealing and fit my genre a lot better.
Contents: There are also clear improvements from my college magazine to my music magazine contents page. However, I kept a very similar layout because I think it looks professional and it was well structured. Even though the layout was the same/similar, I have changed the positioning of the images in order to make it look more put together and go well with my magazine. The colour scheme is very bold and simple but it looks professional and it looks well thought about. The bottom of the page was changed from my college magazine to my final product as on the college magazine there was a lot of empty space and it looked unfinished. You can see that I have added stuff such as the social media logos in order to make it more attractive and to avoid any blank space. The images on my college magazine were stretched and it made it look like an amateur magazine, whereas, I have changed this in my final product and the images are not stretched and better positioned.

Overall, I have made many improvements from my college magazine to my final product which was the music magazine.

Draft question 6

The camera: I had to take pictures in the studio room with a backdrop and also professional light boxes, in order to make my pictures look professional. I also used a DSLR camera which was a Nikon camera. Before my shoot I had a studio induction where I learned how to use the cameras but also how to position my model and how far from the backdrop she should be in order to avoid shadows in my pictures. In addition I learned about the features of the three light boxes and how to adjust the brightness of them in order to get the best lighting and image possible.
Photoshop: This was the first time I was using photoshop. I used this in order to create my front cover. I learned how I can edit the photos, and things like adjusting contrast and brightness but also how to add effects to the image. It was easy to work with photoshop in order to create a professional front cover. The practice lesson helped me a lot, and I found out how to move images, crop them, add text and edit it and lastly how to change the size of things.
InDesign: I used indesign in order to create my double page spread and my contents page. I used this to also create my college magazine and therefore, had some more experience and already knew how it works and how to adjust the text and images (and crop them) which was an advantage as I worked faster and the end result was a lot better. The software has a lot of different editing facilities and therefore, it was quite difficult to work with at the beginning but I learned a lot through making my college magazine. I learned how to change the size of the picture and how to position it. I also had the ability to change the font and colour in order to make my contents page and double page spread look as professional as possible.
Illustrator: I used illustrator to create my mast head. Illustrator allows you to create a very unique mast head and really personalise it as you can change the font however you want to. I had a tutorial on how to use the software as it can get quite difficult to use due to all of the features it has. I learned how to change the colour of the font and how to use outlines to manipulate each part of the letter individually in order to create the mast head the way you want to. I also learned how to zoom in and out of the page.

Blogger: This is the first time I am using blogger. It was very easy to learn how to use it as it does not have any difficult features. Using blogger made it really easy for me to upload my work and also do work from home, straight from my phone or computer. It has features which not only let you upload things but it also allows you to embed stuff such as videos or presentations. This is useful because for my media work I have been working with many different technologies not only text. It is fun using it because it has the facility where you can customize your page and make it really personal. This made it more familiar. 

Draft question 5

The photography used in my magazine played a big role in attracting my audience because it represented the idea and genre of the magazine through meaningful and eye catching pictures. The images used throughout my magazine where taken in different locations to make it more appealing to the audience and make it look more professional. I edited the some of the pictures with filters to make it look more attractive to the reader and make my pictures personal. The photography reflects my genre because of the clothing my model is wearing and the colour scheme, also the positioning of the models. The model shows confidence which also attracts the reader.
The colour scheme used also attracted and appealed to my reader because they were bright and contrasted well together. The colours were bold and contrasted with the text and the images and it was easy to read and understand. The red used was eye catching. Using specific colours will make the audience remember the magazine and the layout because it makes it memorable. My inspiration came from the other case studies I have looked at such as Kerrang and Rocksound because these rock magazines also use a similar colour scheme.
The language I have used throughout my magazine and my article is mostly informal but there is also some formal language, this appeals to the reader because it makes it easy to read and understand and my target audience would be familiar with it and therefore, would enjoy reading the magazine. The layout of the article on my double page spread was a Q&A which allowed the reader to follow the text easily and also understand who is speaking when. In addition the reader would know what the artist is speaking about in each paragraph before they started reading it.
The fonts used throughout my magazine were consistent and bold, but also easy to read as they were not too funky, yet they still looked appealing and professional.

Draft question 4

The reader:
18 year old girl in her second year of college studying music, photography and sociology. She is from London where she lives with her family. She spends her free time listening to music and drawing. She enjoys taking photos that have a meaning behind it.
Likes: rock music (metal and also punk), likes to be around a small amount of people at once, she like horror and mystery movies, her fashion style is inspired by halsey and other rock artists, she likes animals more than people.
Dislikes: rap and hip hop, dislikes crowds of people, dislikes romance movies, dislikes bright colours, dislikes urban clothing that rap artists wear,
20 year old boy works part time in a music store and studies psychology in university, he is from Basildon where he lives with his girlfriend. He spends his free time skating and making music (plays drums)
Likes: rock music, spends time with people close to him, likes oli sykes and bring me the horizon songs, has a simple style and skinny jeans are his best friend
Dislikes: drake and his music, dislikes baggy jeans and tight tshirts, hates biking, dislikes romantic comedies.

More about the audience: between 16-22 years old from the Uk mostly from and around London. They enjoy small groups of friends and going to concerts every time they have a chance, they are laid back but also sociable when they find people similar to them and when they feel comfortable around people. They spend money of music and gigs because they are truly passionate about music that has feeling and emotion.

Draft question 3

Doomed magazine is based on different types of rock music. The main audience of my magazine will be young adults who are most likely white British as they tend to like this genre of music (found out in my research).
The publisher that I think should publish my magazine is Bauer Media. Bauer Media is also the publisher of Kerrang magazine which is one of my case studies which focuses on the same genre of music as my own music magazine. This publisher manages a portfolio of more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations around the world. This means that their company is very well known and also very successful, therefore, it would know how to publish my magazine and distribute it in the appropriate way in order to successful.
Magazines published by Bauer media: Kerrang, Q &Empire
Bauer Media also uses social media in order to distribute news and other information about magazines and other products. This means that my magazine will not only be distributed through the paper but also through some of the most popular social media apps such as twitter, Instagram and facebook. This will results in a huge number of people finding out about the magazine and a bigger audience will be attracted.
The distribution of magazines by Bauer Media is very conventional for different types of people. The magazines are distributed to shops and newsstands and people who prefer to go and buy it themselves will have this option. However, for the people who don’t like or don’t have time to go out and buy there is an option of subscription where they can get the magazine delivered to their doorstep. The technologies used by Bauer media are very well known and my audience will be very familiar to them and would be easy for them to use

Draft question 2

The social group that I intended my magazine to be for is people who are in their late teens to early twenties (16-22). I wanted my magazine to be both for male and female readers which will mean will attract more audience and readers overall. A example of an audience of the magazine is showed on the front cover, double page spread and on the contents page.
The language used in my article and throughout my magazine had to reflect my magazine and the target audience. The language used is simple and urban, it is not formal. This means that my relatively young audience will be able to relate to the language and the way it is portrayed through the words used. The use of informal language relates more to my audience and creates a more familiar vibe and connection between the reader and the magazine.
The cover star and model also reflect the audience and social group im trying to attract. My cover star is a teenager (young adult) which is what im trying to attract and people with a similar age will be more attracted to buying the magazine if they see someone young as the cover star. The model can attract both male and female due to her fashion, youth and neutral position. The audience can form a more relatable connection with the model. I decided that my model should be a girl because it will attract boys, but also girls who would want to see her style.

The clothing that my cover star is wearing reflects the genre of the magazine. She is wearing black and dark colours which are usually associated with rock music therefore, it links the cover and the genre together very well. The audience who listens to rock music will be able to also relate to the style of the cover star because it would most likely be quite similar to their own style and fashion. Fashion on the cover star plays an important role in attracting the audience because young people care about their appearance and about style and would be attracted by someone they can get inspiration from.

Draft question 1

Question 1: Front Cover
My magazine ‘DOOMED’ challenges and develops forms and conventions of a real magazine. Firstly, my front cover follows some of the conventions of my case studies, both ‘KERRANG’ and ‘ROCKSOUND’. My magazine has a similar layout to the layout of Kerrang magazine, as both my magazine and my case study includes a puff in the right side of the front cover which has different posters on it. Also, the main cover line of both the case study and my own magazine is in the middle of the page in front of the artist, and there are other cover lines around on the sides of the artist. In addition, they have a ‘win’ section at the bottom of the magazine in the left corner of the page. All three magazines include posters to promote the artists and attract the audience as they are getting something free that they will like. The colour scheme of my magazine Doomed and Kerrang are very similar as they both use red, yellow, black and white, both of the headlines are red and are at the top of the page from one side to another.
My bar code, price and website are all placed in a very similar place as my second case study Rocksound ( bottom left corner of the page).
The photography of my front cover is quite similar to the one of Rocksound magazine as both are a mid-shot and both of the cover stars have their hands in front of them lifted up.
I have taken conventions, features and layouts from both of my case study in order to create a magazine that follows the genre of Rock music and make a unique and professional magazine cover. Both case studies were very inspiring and helpful as I picked out different parts of the magazine from my case studies to create something fresh.
Contents Page
As for my contents page, it has been inspired by Rocksound magazine. The layout of the subtitles were an inspiration to my contents page. My Doomed magazine also has the ‘hit us up..’ section at the bottom of the page as in the Rocksound magazine, it is very similar and it has the different social media where we can be found with a image of the logo of the social media app. Another similar thing is that there are three images on the right hand side of the page.
However, one thing that my product challenged is that my contents page is only one page, whereas, the Rockshound magazine contents page is two. I was inspired by my other case study of Kerrang magazine as their contents page is also only one page instead of two.
The colour scheme of my contents page was influenced by the colour scheme of my first case study Rocksound, as both consist of black white and red. The colours used are the same I used on my front cover in order for it to be consistent and flow.
DPS
My double page spread was inspired by my Rocksound magazine case study, I have a similar layer to it as the image is on the left page and the article/interview is on the right page. I also followed to structure of Rocksound of the interview as I chose to do a Q&A to make it easier for the audience to follow and make it for interesting.
However, my product challenged some of the conventions of the double page spread of Rocksound because the dps of my own magazine Doomed has the title and a pull out quote if the middle instead of at the top of the page. This in my opinion attracts the audience’s eye quicker and I also made it really bold to make it even more eye catching.
The colour schemes are also different and opposite, as Rocksound magazine has a black background and white text whereas, Doomed has a white background and black text.
I decided to use the same colour scheme as my contents page and my front cover because it will make it all link together and make it flow as it will all be similar. This challenged the colour schemes of both of my case studies as both of their double page spread were a different colour scheme to their contents page and their front cover.
Overall
Overall, my house style, layout and colour scheme were all inspired by both of my case studies, in particular by Rocksound magazine.