For the preliminary task I need to get a feel for taking photos in medium close up because that is the shot that the preliminary task has to be in.
- I first decided that I wanted my target audience for this school magazine to be sixth form so I concentrated on taking photos of them because that way the photo is appropriate for that audience.
- I went round school to take pictures for school magazine for preliminary task, photographing a range of studends in medium closeup in different places and experimenting with different angles and backgrounds for a wide choice of photo for cover.
- I then picked three photos and experimented on photoshop with cropping and resizing, adding text and other images overlapping the larger one.
- After experimenting, I picked the photo that I liked most to use for my magazine.
- Having picked my cover, I thought of a range coverlines that would be suitable for a sixthform magazine before narrowing them down to the ones that I finally used including 'pros and cons of sixth form life' which is appropriate because my audience was sixth form girls
- I used A3 paper to sketch out what I wanted the magazine cover to look like, trying out a number of titles, fonts and colours, placing the coverlines that I was thinking about using in different places and in different sizes so that they overlapped the image in different places.
- In a similiar way to the front cover planning, I sketched my contents out on two A3 sheets of paper with two different designs on them including different number of colomns, pictures and pages etc...
- When I was finally happy with the rough designs of both the cover and contents of my magazine, I started to make them on AdobePhotoshop on the computer.
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Making Cover and Contents for Preliminary Task
With my designs in rough, I begun to start designing on the computer. The programme that I used was AdobePhotoshop for the cover.
STAGES OF MAKING THE COVER
- I picked a picture that I liked and cropped it to elimiante unnecessary background in the frame.
- I then added a masthead which was 'Level A'. I called it 'Level A' as it is aimed at sixth form students who are doing their A Levels, so it was really a play on that.
- After inserting the masthead, I added the cover lines that I had previously decided on, placing them around the page where I thought looked best.
- Once I had placed all the coverlines and the masthead on the page, I begun to resize them and recolour them to suit the page colour scheme.
This was the final cover for my preliminary task.
STAGES OF MAKING THE CONTENTS
- For the contents, I did a template of what I wanted on Microsoft Word first because I found that much easier to use than Adobe, however once I was happy with the result I then transfered the data and completed the contents on Adobe.
- For the contents, I did a template of what I wanted on Microsoft Word first because I found that much easier to use than Adobe, however once I was happy with the result I then transfered the data and completed the contents on Adobe.
- I did was put the title in a large font in the top left hand corner followed by a large picture of sixth form girls (my target audience) underneath it.
- I put three coloums in the bottom half of the page and started to fill them up with text. The titles that I included were 'Features', 'Fashion and Beauty' and 'Reviews'. For the topics that were on my front cover I put a star around them and a small 'on the cover!' text box above them. Also, underneath the titles of my items I included a small explanation about what that particular article was about.
- Having finished the text for my contents, I added images that corresponded to the titles and included page numbers superimposed on top of the picture itself.
- I also included a smaller picture of my front cover image in the contents because there was an article about sixth form life and it is a sixth form magazine. All of my images were original images taken my me.
This was the final contents page for my preliminary task
Evaluation of Preliminary Task
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challange forms and conventions of real media products?My magazine cover uses conventions of real magazine covers by having:
- A masthead
- Cover lines around the main picture
- A coverline anchoring the cover picture
- Only using two types of font so the cover isn't busy
- Sticking to a colour scheme
My magazine cover goes against conventions of a real magazine because:
- The masthead is over the face of the person on my front cover when it would normally be behind
- There is no bar code or price
- There are no puffs, or anything that really stands our on the page
- There are no institutional details, nothing to show that it is a school magazine
My magazine contents uses conventions of a real magazine contents by having:
- Categories for the content clearly set out
- Continuity to the front cover, same colour scheme and font
- Indication to which pages the cover lines are on so they are easy to find
- Pictures of what is included in the magazine in the contents
My magazine contents goes against conventions of a real magazine because:
- I copied the cover image and it was too big, looking unprofessional
- There was some overlapping of image onto text
How does your media product represent particular social groups?- There is a teenage girl on the cover and the magazine is aimed at teenage/sixth form girls
- The content inside is about fashion, music and sixth form life- my target audience
- It represents teenage girls as happy because there are pictures of them laughing
- It represnts teenage girls as intelligent because there are chances to give their views and opinions on certain topics
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?A school would distribute my product because:
- It is a school magazine
- It has sixth form information inside, relevent to schools
What would be the audience for your media product?- Teenage girls aged between 16-18, in sixth form
How did you attract/address your audience?- By putting a memeber of sixth form on the cover, people might recognise her and be more inclined to buy it if they know her
- By putting topical issues that teenage girls are interested in on the front- fashion, celebrities, makeup, sixth form life etc...
- I addressed my audience with informal language, almost slang, with a friendly tone
- I used 'you' a lot to directly address the audience to include them
What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?I have learned how to use Photoshop much better than I was previously able to- e.g.
- Cropping and moving images
- Adding text after cropping images
- Editing sharpness and colour on the image
The things that I struggles with on Photoshop were:
- Tyring to get text behind the image
- A masthead
- Cover lines around the main picture
- A coverline anchoring the cover picture
- Only using two types of font so the cover isn't busy
- Sticking to a colour scheme
My magazine cover goes against conventions of a real magazine because:
- The masthead is over the face of the person on my front cover when it would normally be behind
- There is no bar code or price
- There are no puffs, or anything that really stands our on the page
- There are no institutional details, nothing to show that it is a school magazine
My magazine contents uses conventions of a real magazine contents by having:
- Categories for the content clearly set out
- Continuity to the front cover, same colour scheme and font
- Indication to which pages the cover lines are on so they are easy to find
- Pictures of what is included in the magazine in the contents
My magazine contents goes against conventions of a real magazine because:
- I copied the cover image and it was too big, looking unprofessional
- There was some overlapping of image onto text
How does your media product represent particular social groups?- There is a teenage girl on the cover and the magazine is aimed at teenage/sixth form girls
- The content inside is about fashion, music and sixth form life- my target audience
- It represents teenage girls as happy because there are pictures of them laughing
- It represnts teenage girls as intelligent because there are chances to give their views and opinions on certain topics
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?A school would distribute my product because:
- It is a school magazine
- It has sixth form information inside, relevent to schools
What would be the audience for your media product?- Teenage girls aged between 16-18, in sixth form
How did you attract/address your audience?- By putting a memeber of sixth form on the cover, people might recognise her and be more inclined to buy it if they know her
- By putting topical issues that teenage girls are interested in on the front- fashion, celebrities, makeup, sixth form life etc...
- I addressed my audience with informal language, almost slang, with a friendly tone
- I used 'you' a lot to directly address the audience to include them
What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?I have learned how to use Photoshop much better than I was previously able to- e.g.
- Cropping and moving images
- Adding text after cropping images
- Editing sharpness and colour on the image
The things that I struggles with on Photoshop were:
- Tyring to get text behind the image
Planning for Music Magazine (cover, contents and double page spread)
Before I started the design work for my magazine, as a class we researched existing music magazines. Magazines we looked at were:
Kerrang
Q Magazine
We also completed an analysis of magazine covers, for example:
As a class we looked at the websites of the music magazines which allowed us to see what types of articles feature in them to help with our double page sperad too.
I mostly looked at the 'Kerrang!' website as I was planning on having a similar target audience- aimed at youths, and those interested in alternative music.
Through looking at the websites and annalysing the 'Kerrang!' cover, I learned the codes and conventions of music magazines to help with the design of my own product.
In addition to researching the websites and covers of magazines, we researched insitiutions that distribute magazines. For example, Bauer Media Group.
Designing the product
CONTENTS PAGE
Similarly for the contents page I included original images of artists that I had recently seen in concert including Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber.
Kerrang
Q Magazine
The Word
Mojo
We also completed an analysis of magazine covers, for example:
As a class we looked at the websites of the music magazines which allowed us to see what types of articles feature in them to help with our double page sperad too.
I mostly looked at the 'Kerrang!' website as I was planning on having a similar target audience- aimed at youths, and those interested in alternative music.
Through looking at the websites and annalysing the 'Kerrang!' cover, I learned the codes and conventions of music magazines to help with the design of my own product.
In addition to researching the websites and covers of magazines, we researched insitiutions that distribute magazines. For example, Bauer Media Group.
Designing the product
The first thing that I did when planning for my music magazine was to make a mind map for what I wanted to do for the cover. I used this mindmap as a guideline when planning the cover for my magazne and I think that I mostly stuck to the ideas on this page when making my magazine.
I thought of names, ideas for the cover and the audience so I had something to work towards when making the magazine.
For the cover I knew I wanted someone holding a guitar to make it clear that it was a music magazine so from there I wanted a name that linked with guitars and began to come up with names that I could use.
I then had to think of current and relevent story lines for the front cover of my magazine. I wanted my audience to be sixth form girls, so from about 16-18/20 so had to think of musicians that are in the chart now and that already have a lot of public attention so that people would want to buy the magazine.
FRONT COVER- The next thing that I did when planning for my music magazine was take pictures for the front cover. I wanted to have someone holding a guitar so I got my friend to pose with one. I took a lot of pictures and then chose about five of my favourites. Some of these pictures included:
- I then picked the one that I thought would work best as the front cover overall and added a masthead 'Chords' because I thought it linked in with the picture of the guitar well.
- I then began to add cover lines that were appropriate to my audience such as cheap concert tickets and artists that are in the charts at the moment such as Taylor Swift and JLS.
- I did a puff in the sweetspot and added a gutter at the bottom of the page. I also included some free posters in the bottom right hand corner using original pictures that I took myself at concerts that I have recently been to. - I also added a strapline 'strum your way to new music' again linking in with the guitar theme of the magazine.
- I used the same font for the whole of the cover and used a white, red, blue and black colour scheme
- To make the main article stand out, I put a red box around it so it was more prominant than the other coverlines
The final cover looked like this:
CONTENTS PAGE
Similarly for the contents page I included original images of artists that I had recently seen in concert including Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber.
- I split the contents page into three coloums 'Features', 'In Every Issue' and 'Events' so it was easy for readers to find what they wanted.
- I also highlighted using a red box around everything that was included on the cover so that readers can easily find the coverlines they are interested in reading inside the magazine
- I included a montage of images at the bottom with page numbers superimposed on them to show which story they corresponded to in the contents.
- I included a montage of images at the bottom with page numbers superimposed on them to show which story they corresponded to in the contents.
- I used the same font and colour scheme from the front cover to the contents page to show continuity of design in my magazine.
The final contents page looked like this:
DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
After the cover and contents of the magazine were made I began to make my double page spread. The first photos I took for this included these:
After the cover and contents of the magazine were made I began to make my double page spread. The first photos I took for this included these:
However, after putting the double page spread together, my teacher and I found that it looked very similar to the cover and contents and there wasn't much variation with the photos.
Another problem I had with the first double page spread was that although I used the same size font on both pages, one came out larger than the other.
The first double page spread I made looked like this: 
I decided that it would be better if I were to re-do the double page spread. I redesigned the double page spread and set about taking new pictures that would give the image I wanted to create. I think the second version works much better as a double page spread and looks much more professional.
The second double page spread I made looked like this:
This double page spread looks more professional because it has page numbers, the title goes across both of the pages and all the text is the same size
This double page spread looks more professional because it has page numbers, the title goes across both of the pages and all the text is the same size
feedback for cover of magazine
To get feedback for the cover of my magazine I designed a questionnaire and gave it to six people in sixth form to fill in so I could get an idea of what people thought of the magazine and whether I had designed it well enough.
Here are three examples of the questionnaire that members of the sixth form girls filled out:
QUESTIONNIARE ONE
What age group do you think this magazine is aimed at?
10-12 13-15 16-18 18+
What gender do you think this magazine is aimed at?Girls Boys
Do you like the look of this cover? If Yes, why? If no, why?
YES because it looks professionally put together, the colours are not conventional colours for a girls magazine but they do work well and it is not jam packed with articles that are in the magazine- very tastefully done
NO+ reason
Do you think the cover looks professional? If so, why? If not, why not?
YES because the head of the model is over the title so she is not blocked which magazines tend to have and the main story has a background which makesit stand out so I can see what is the main story
NO+ reason
Do you think the cover image is effective for a music magazine?
YES NO
Would you pick up this magazine from the newsstand? If so, why? If not, why?YES because the 'exclusive' banner was the first thing I saw so if it was something I knew I wouldn't get anywhere else I would definately buy itNO+ reason
QUESTONNIARE TWO
What age group do you think this magazine is aimed at?10-12 13-15 16-18 18+
What gender do you think this magazine is aimed at?Girls Boys
Do you like the look of this cover? What do you like?YES I like the look of this cover because the girl on the front is about the same age as me which is good because I know that the things inside the magazine will be appropreate for me to read and I really like the red and blue colour schemeNO+ reason
Do you think the cover looks professional? If so, why? If not, why?YES because the strap across the bottom with the 'plus!' is usually on magazines and also the title behind the head makes it look professionalNO+ reason
Do you think the cover image is effective for a music magazine?YES NO
Would you pick up this magazine from the newsstand? If so, why? If not, why?YES because I like the people the cover mentions- Taylor Swift and JLS so the cover appeals to me and also like I previously said, the girl on the front is about my age so I feel that what is inside will be appropriate for me to read
QUESTIONNIARE THREE
What age group do you think this magazine is aimed at?10-12 13-15 16-18 18+
What gender do you think this magazine is aimed at?Girls Boys
Do you like the look of this cover? What do you like?I like the pose the model is doing with the guitar, I think it works well but I think too much of her is covered by writing and the blocks of the 'exclusive' so I don't really like that
Do you think the cover looks professional? If so, why? If not, why?YES although I don't like it, I do think the cover looks professional because of the barcode, price and issue number and the 'free posters' and strip across the bottom all make it look professionalNO+reason
Do you think the cover image is effetive for a music magazine?YES NO
Would you pick up this magazine from the newsstand? If so, why? If not, why?NO because the artists mentioned aren't really the sort of people that I am interested in, this magazine is more pop music and I like rock so because of that I would not buy itYES+ reason
As you can see from these three questionnaires, I have managed to design the front cover accurately for sixth form because all of these examples went for the 16-18 age group and all thought that the magazine was aimed at girls which it is
However there were been mixed reviews about liking the cover, but the majority of people seemed to like the look of it and like the cover lines, so I think that I have been successful in creating a cover and coverlines that are appropriate for sixth form girls.
Even though some people did not like the front cover, all said it looked professional and a number of factors contributed to that- the model being over the masthead, the barcode and issue number, the gutter and free posters.
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