My final products

My Front Cover

 

 

 

 



My Contents Page

 My Double page spread

Question 7 of Evaluation

7)   Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Yes, I feel that I have come a long way since the start of the year when I completed the preliminary task of making a new college magazine. I felt I didn't know much about using Photoshop and how to make a magazine or much about the common conventions of a magazine but as the year has gone on I feel that I have progressed in a positive way.

After the completing the preliminary task I realised that my skills on making a magazine needed a lot of improvement as I only achieved a grade E for the task. One of the main problems being I did not know how to use Photoshop to create the college magazine for the task. So I decided to watch tutorials on how to use all the tools on the program of Photoshop. I learnt a lot, and as you can see the improvement between my first ever preliminary task of creating a college magazine and to now when I have just recently finished creating my music magazine.


My front cove for the first task:


As you can see I havent really stuck to the conventions of a magazine, there page is really bland. The picture isn't really eyegradding and i haven't used any tools on photoshop to iprove the image as i didnt know how to use the tools in the correct way. I also used an IPhone 5c to take this photo, it was just taken on the stairs of my college. There was no use of props or costume and to be honest it was a last minute, hence why there was a very good outcome.

Now, my finished front cover coursework of my music magazine:

As you can see I have used a lot more of the common conventions that you would see on the modern music magazine. I have used a lot more techniques using the tools on Photoshop, such as plaster tool for perfecting Jades skin, getting rid of any blemishes on her skin, also liquefy tool that I have used to enlarge Jades eyes and lifting her brows which has created a more perfected look that you would see on the cover of a magazine. I took this photo with a Canon camera, in a photography studio. I told Jade to come dressed in a dark red top to fit with my colour scheme of my magazine. I also brought some dark red lipstick to fit. A prop I used was the nose ring you see Jade wearing, this is fake, it was bought from a shop by me to fit with the indie/rock style that my magazine in representing. A facial piercing really gives off that rebel sort of look that links to indie/rock.


Contents Page
 
Here is my frist task at my contents page for the college magazine that i did at the start of the year:

As you can see there is no use of images and the page comes a arcoss as being very boring. This is becoause I did this at last mintue so to be honest that contents of this isnt really finished. The magazine is meant to be weekly so thier should be about 60-70 pages to it. This only has 19.
 
What I lerant from this;
I lerant to give myself more time to complete task and to complete them at a higher standard then this.

Heres my finished contents page for my Music magazine:

I gave myself the time I needed to complete task and to complete them at a higher standard as you can see this is a massive step up from my frist task. I added images and more content to the page making is more exciting and interresting to the auidence. I also added a letter from the editor which persoanlly adresses the auidence making the auidence feel a personal connection to the magazine, making them buy the magazine agian.

Question 6 of Evaluation

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

 

Software I used to create my media product:

•       Apple iPhoto by using my IPhone 5
•     Adobe Photoshop

Hardware I used to create my media product:

•    Computers (Macbook, PC)
•    Camera (Canon 600d and iPhone)
•   Mouse, Keyboard

 

Camera
I used a Canon 600D camera to shoot most of the pictures on my magazine, although I did use my iPhone camera for some of the test and live shots. I found that the main problem I had during the photo shoot was not getting the lighting right, I'd never used photography lighting before.

Here are the shots I took via the Canon 600D camera ....

 

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All of these images where taken in a photography studio with strobe lighting shaining form the top left hand corner of the studio. All these images came out really well as the lighting was set to the right brightness and I really like the use of the grey backgroup that I chose, the dark red top that Jade is wearing really goes well with the grey backdrop.

 

 However i do not like this picture as you can see the writting on Jades hands and it did not work when i tried to reamove this. Also Jade is not in the centre of the picture it seems that she is place more to the left hand/bottom side of the picture. I did want this so i havent used this image in my magazine products.

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I also did used my IPhone 5 to take some shots that do appear on my contents page of my magazine. As I don't have my own camera, I used my handheld smart phone to take some live shots at The 1975 Gig that I attended. I learnt that these shots work as little images and not as big front cover/main images as I found that they were pixelated when zoomed in. However I did get some really good shots that work well on my contents page.

 

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All of these images where taken by my handle smart phone which is an IPhone 5. They were taken in dark lighting and from a distance. But i feel that they really capture the atmosphere of being at a gig. However these images were not suitable for a main large images as they become pixelated when enlarged. However, they do work well on my contents page as shown below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I took these photos before I shot my cover, contents and double page spread photos. As I learnt that I would not be able to take all of my photos for the work on my IPhone because of the problems I discussed above.

PhotoShop: I used Adobe Photoshop to edit my pictuers of Jade my model, I used the liqufily tool to enlarge her eyes to make them stand out more....

   this is the full length image that is untouch by Adobe Photoshop.

 

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The Canon 600D features and why I chose to use it instead of my iPhone 5..

Sensor Resolution	18.0 Megapixels	The high megapixels means the photos can be printed out largely and not lose any detail or quality. They can also be cropped down and still be printed at the highest resolution the printer offers. It's also easier to Photoshop high quality, more detailed photos. This is better than my iPhone 5 camera, which is 8.0 Megapixels,. I have used my iPhone 5 for smaller images as it shoots in lower megapixels.
Lens	3 x zoom lens - 18-55 mm - f/3.5-5.6 III Canon EF-S	I used the 18-55mm Canon kit lens to shoot most of the photos on my magazine. I chose this lens because it has a good focal length, can view up to a 74 degree angle - which is ample for the shots I wanted - and has +3x optical zoom. Unlike my iPhone 5 lens, the Canon lens's focus can be manually adjusted. My iPhone lens doesn't have an optical zoom, so I didn't use that my phone as much as zooming in would mean decreasing quality.
View Finder	Optical	The Canon 600D has an optical view finder, this means that even in high light situations, I can still see what the photo is going to look like, unlike on the iPhone where the light would make it hard to see what's on the screen. The canon also has a digital screen that can allows you to view my taken photos and what I'm about to take, meaning it beats the iPhone again

improments to my contents page for 3rd draft

Question 5 of Evaluation

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract my audience I have used a technique that is commonly used within the magazine editing industry; this is that I have made my model Jade look almost perfect, by perfecting her skin; airbrushing all of her spots and blemishes away. I also enlarged her eyes; which seem as though they are making a personal connection with the buying of the magazine; this can also persuade people to buy my magazine. The reason I chose to take a mid-shot close up of Jade (my model) for my front cover as this allows the buying to feel attracted to the magazine as they can feel a personal connection with Jade. This happens because her eyes are placed in the centre of the front page, this draws attention as it seems as though Jade is looking straight into your eyes. 

 

 

 

I used the "C" in Culture to attract the buyer as it stand out and people read from the left first. This "C" is very unique to my magazine and therefore would stand out if it were in a magazine rack in a shop. I got this idea from Q Music magazine. They use the same sort of idea

here it is shown:

 

 

 

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I have also used direct audience address within my contents page. I have done this buy adding a Letter from the editor that personally addresses the audience. This helps the audience to feel a personal connection with the magazine and therefore will buy again.

 

 

 

     

Question 4 of Evaluation

4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

My music magazine is aimed at older teenagers to middle aged adults, as its of quite of a mature style. My magazine is also aimed at thoese who like Indie/ Rock music. I added elemts to my magazine to make clear links within the cosutume and look of my model to suggest my magazine to be for that of a indie/rock nichie auidence.
 Here is a picture i took of jade that shows all of these links:
Heres the image that I took ideas from: This image is of a female Rock artist

Heres the reserch I took to create Jades Final indie/rock look:

 

 

As was reserching i came across  this image.....

 

 This is an another image where I took ideas for my own front cover image. The idea I took from this was the idea of a nose piercinging, I wanted Jade to have the sort of look. I desided to buy a fake nose piercing ring, as I felt that this really captures that Rebe sort of look that Indie/Rock artists go for. 

Question 3 of Evaluation

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My music magazine is based mainly around indie/ rock music and is aimed at a classy, mature audience. I took inspiration from the music magazine `Q'. But the institution of Q would not sell my magazine names 'Culture` as I took ideas from Q. This would mean that if the two were distributed by the same company the would compete within sales against each other. I would go and ask an institution that did not sell a product like mine tom ensure i would not be in compaction with another magazine within the same company as me. As my Magazine is based around the genre of Indie Rock I would go to a institution that distributes Pop magazines an example of company that makes and distributes Pop music magazines is We Love Pop.

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A comparison to show the difference between my magazine and 'We Love Pop': 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see this magazine is really bright and it over populated with pictures plastered all over the front cover. This magazine is aimed at girls between 9-16 years of age. It is based around the music genre of Pop.

 

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Here is my magazine as you can see it is has more simpler /clean look to it as there is not lots of pictures and writing all over the front cover. My magazine is aimed at older teenagers to middle aged adults. My magazine is based around a completely different genre to 'We Love Pop' as my magazine is aimed at an audience that like Indie/rock music. Therefore 'We Love Pop' would sell my product as it would not compete against their pop magazine.   

 



Question 2 of evaluation

2)   How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My music magazine represents the more of the sophisticated/mature type groups. As my magazine is of a clean design in the sense that for example my cover doesn't have lots of typing and images plastered all over as a pop music would have.
I took inspiration from the popular music magazine `Q'. Q's readers are as of which mature readings aging between 19-35. Also helping to suggest that mine is a mature magazine is that I have used simple colours. Not colours that are bright and garish which for example a pop music magazine that is aimed at aged 10-17 year olds. the colours that I chose for my magazine was red, grey and black which are classed and linked with indie/rock music which my magazine is aimed around.


Taking my inspiration from 'Q' magazine here's their reader profile that I found whilst reaching...

 

taking this information from Q and their readers I decided to aim my magazine at a similar audience as I took most of my ideas from 'Q' as there magazine is based around the same sort of genre as mine.

Question 1 of Evaluation

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Firstly I have edited my models face using the "liquefy" editing tool on Photoshop, which is very conventional. All big magazines such as Q use this. I have edited Jade's eyes, by enlarging them to a natural big sized, still looking in proportion with her face. This is a tactic used by Q to draw audiences to their magazine, increasing the sale rate. I have also airbrushed Jade's skin on her face to appear as jades skin is flawless this is also used by many big named magazines. I have also lifted Jades brows and pulled in her chin and her cheekbones to make her face appear thinner. I have done this all by using Photoshop on every single picture of Jade that I have used in my magazine, this includes the picture of her on my front cover, I have made sure that I enlarged her eyes a little bit more on the cover, making sure to draw the audience to my magazine and helping the audience more attracted to my magazine and helping audience member to feel a connection to jade instantly just by looking at the front cover this also features on my double page spread of Jade. I didn't edited the picture of Jade that appears on the contents page as much, I only Airbrushed her skin as you cant really see her eyes of brows in this picture as she is looking upwards to the stories that are showing in the contents, I used this to draw the audiences attention to the main stories in the magazine as Jade appears to be looking up to them.

I have also used most of the common convections of a music magazine throughout my music magazine. Here is a professional cover of a music magazine (Q) and here's mine just to show the conventions that I have used to create my own music magazine. I also chose Q magazine as its the same sort of genre to mine. So i could collect ideas and add them to my own.

 

 

Evaluation questions 1- 7

Evaluation questions

1)   In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

 

2)   How does your media product represent particular social groups?

 

3)   What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

 

4)   Who would be the audience for your media product?

 

5)   How did you attract/address your audience?

 

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

 

7)   Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

2nd draft for my final

Draft 1, contents page and double page spread (all products together)

Double page spread changes

changes to the size of Jadies eyes and added corrections and chnages to the 3rd draft front cover

First draft for my Double page spreed

This is my first attemped at my double page spread. I am not yet happy with is as it needs the text adding into columns. So that it is easier for a auidnce to read. This would not be appling to the reading auidence so i will be making changes to this. however, I am happy with the photo for my double page spread. I have photoshopped this my inlarging jades eyes and lifting her brows also plumping up her lips. This makes jades apperance more appealing to the auidence.

Picture of Jade has been photoshopped and edicted (3rd draft idea)

I have inlarged Jades eyes using photoshop to make her photo come across as being more dislarable to an auidence, but i feel as though her eyes are actually to big infasct so i will be making changes to this to make them a little smaller.

 

I have also photoshopped her skin, lifted her brows and lumped up her lips so that her photo comes across as being flawless. This also makes jade seem more disarble to an auidence, it helps to draw an auidence in to buy the magazine as well

spelling corrections and added features to my 3rd draft at myl frount cover

 

3rd draft for my contents page

Contents Page + DPS Guidelines

Contents page: things that should appear and things to add

-Multiple images

-Reflect the stories from my front cover

-Elements to include- subscribtion offer

-A letter from the editor

-Divide the contents into sections.

-Contents page may be 2/3 pages.

-Largest image should be your cover star

-The same magazine logos and colour scheme

-Page Numbers

- Not all contents are placed on the contents page.

Weekly magazines- should have up to 60 pages

Monthy magazines - should have up to 140-180

-Allow space for Adverts.

Double Page Spreed- things that should appear and things to add

- Sould be set up on A3 landscape
300 dpi, RGB

- Photoshop for Graphics + photos on Publisher

- a Drop Cap

- a Pull Quote

-Columms of Text, no less them 6 words per-line, no more then 12 words per-line

- Paragraphs

- Orignial Article

3rd draft at my frount cover

magazines that influened me with my magazine.

I like the way that all of these front covers are designed in a way that is quite clean. As there isn't a lot plastered all over i.e. lots of sub story lines and plus pictures. All the focus is mainly on the main image. My magazine work reflects this also.

Second draft at my front cover

A change of idea for the mast-head font and change of picture from the first go at my final piece.