Contents Page Mock Ups

This is my first contents page mock up. I have carried the font and colour scheme on from the masthead on the front cover to the contents title on this page. This shows that if I were to use this for my magazine a constant theme would be carried out throughout the magazine making it professional. As well as this on this contents mock up I have included 3 small images of related stories that are shown on the page, and then one large image which is related to one of the main stories. Using images related to stories will interest a reader as it is a visual without having to read any stories. 

For my second contents mock up, same as the first one, I have carried on the font and colour scheme from the masthead. As this pink colour scheme is showing that the audience is going towards women, I thought that having two images of women is showing that there is probably interesting gossip inside, which is something which may attract a girl audience. Also using images to promote stories is again a good way of drawing in the audience.

Front Cover Mock Ups

This is my first Front Cover mock up design. I have based these on what I found out from my audience research with the Masthead designs, and the colour schemes etc. My audience research allowed me to know that the 'Impact' masthead was thought to suit this sort of magazine best, which is the the reason behind why have chosen it for this design. Another important aspect of this design is the colour scheme, and this was also picked on my audience research. As the red and black were chosen as the favourite for the mastheads I designed to keep this going through the design to make it all blend together and look professional and attractive. For the main Image I have chosen a medium shot of a woman, I believe this would look good on my magazine as it looks professional, simple but also effective to attract the audience, also many music magazines use similar photos to this on their front covers. The cover lines and anchorage text are what I want, or similar to what I want on my final design, such as '2015's new best R&B artist'. Here this is showing the genre of my magazine without clearly stating it. Also I will be attracting my target audience as they may get attracted to this.

 This is my second Front cover mock up design. Again I have based the masthead, colour schemes etc on the audience research I have previously done. Through My audience research I found out that the font for this masthead was the most favourite and suited to a music magazine as it looks edgy and different. As well as this, this masthead would work well on a music magazine because it is large and bold and allows people to be drawn to it. With the colour scheme, in the first mock up it is a red colour which can attract a larger audience of both boys and girls as this colour is not specifically associated with one gender. However, in this mock up I have decided to use a pink colour which would attract a girl audience, this is also the audience that I have chosen for my R n B magazine, which explains why I would pick pink over a dark blue colour for example. Also with the main image I have gone with a woman again, but this time I have allowed an opportunity for the audience to see the costume which the model has been put in, as this magazine is attracting the women gender, having a fashionable outfit on the front cover can attract the target audience of young women. Even though it is not a fashion magazine I can still use this to my advantage.
       

Researching Main Image

I have started research of main images for my magazine, and I have done this by starting to look at already established music magazines, this can help me to consider things such as shot types, lighting, mode of address, poses, costume etc. On these example of main images, every single image is showing direct mode of address, both men and women. This could be suggesting that all magazines want to draw in the audience using this technique, as these are all popular celebrities and having them basically looking at the audience will hopefully draw people in. Another convention which runs throughout these examples is either Mid shots or Close ups. These shot types may be used rather than long shots etc. because they want the audience to clearly be able to see the facial expressions, make up, costumes and more. Because if a long shot was used it would be hard to see all the close up  detail which the magazine want us too. When a Mid shot is used though, this can be because they want to show the full body of an artists, for example the bottom right image uses a mid shot, and as we can see her full body you can argue that this is to attract the male audience. Another convention that is shown in some of these images are the poses that are shown. In the top right image and the 2 of Beyonce they are posing like they are in power, the way that he is rubbing his hands together, and she has her hands on  her hips and a fist in the air. The reason why they may be suggesting power is because they are hugely successful artists, and confidence looks good. Doing this research on main images will make my final front cover look more professional, established and attractive.

Magazine Treatment

This is my magazine treatment, which basically is an overall summary on what my magazine is going to include, who it is aimed towards and also what my magazine stands for. Within this it gives a brief introduction to what I will be putting into my magazine through colour schemes, main images, mastheads, content etc.

However, since I have wrote the treatment I have decided to change my target audience from 15-30 to 15-25. The reason for this is because I believe that by having a smaller age audience means I can focus more on their group needs and wants rather than trying to produce an item for so many different types of people. If I did 15-30, then this is such a big different as people are 15 then 30 are at completely different points in their life but 15-25 are still at different points but this gives us a closer gap.

Layouts

These are my layout designs for my Front cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spreads. I have designed these using the ideas from other established music magazines as this is how I would come up with the most well designed layouts. The reason I have made these layouts is because when it comes to designing my actual magazine I will have more of an idea of how I will lay it out, which will make it quicker and less time consuming. Also, if I wanted I could gain some audience feedback on these different layouts and find out what ones are best suited for a music magazine, this would make the end result more suited to my target audience.

Contents Page Layouts

Double Page Spread Layouts

Front Cover Layouts

Audience Feedback on Masthead Designs

This is the feedback from my questionnaire of masthead designs. The first question 'Which masthead design would suit a music magazine best' resulted in design 1 and 5 being the favourites, which are 'Impact and Rhythm'. Both of these designs are quite plain and simple but also rememberable, this may be why they were both picked as best for a music magazine because it is important to have a bold masthead which the audience would remember and instantly recognise.

The second question on my questionnaire was 'What colour scheme on the mastheads looks the best' which again resulted in both design 1 and 5 being the most picked, however design 1 was the ultimate favourite. Design 1 has a colour scheme of black fading into red, this could have been picked the most due to it being bold and attractive but also how red and black can attract audiences of both men and women. Then design 5 was the second most favourite, and the colour scheme is grey fading into white. This again could attract audiences of both men and women, which may be why it was picked over designs 2, 3 and 4 which are all purple and pink, more designed for a women audience.

The third question was 'Which font do you prefer for the masthead'. The most chosen design for this was design 3 which is a block text, making it look individual and but also quite suited for a music magazine. The other designs chosen in the questionnaire were design 4 and 5 that both had the same amount of people pick them as being their favourite font. Design 4 is quite a common type of masthead being typical bubble writing, this will always look good on a music magazine cover as it will be bold and will stand out. Also design 5 is a plain small bubble writing which would suit many kinds of music magazine covers.

The final question was 'What colour scheme do you think best suits a magazine'. The clear favourite for this question was colour scheme 1 with all answers going towards this. The colour scheme on design 1 is black fading into red. This could have been chosen as the favourite due to red and black being colours that would attract all genders. Also the red and black could have been picked as the favourite due to red having a lot of connotations that go along with it, and people choosing this colour scheme may be choosing it due to the connotations that they associate with the colour red.

Questionnaire

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3KS72CX

This is my questionnaire on my masthead ideas. The point of this questionnaire is that it will help me decide on my final masthead ideas depending on what the audience want.

November Feedback

This is my feedback from the last month of my work. I have understood the improvements that I need to make, like improving my descriptions by adding the reason behind my blog posts. But I will continue to use new technologies for my blog posts and continue to reach 'proficient' for my work. However, I will aim to get excellent in more blog posts and hopefully raise my grade.

House Style - Colour Schemes and Mastheads

Colour Scheme Ideas:











Usually on magazine covers there will be a chosen colour scheme that is carried on throughout the front cover and the magazine. The colour scheme should be eye catching and bold as this will attract and entice the most amount of people to the magazine. Also the colour scheme can almost determine what audience you are attracting e.g. if a magazine cover was predominantly pink, this could suggest that the magazines audience are girls.

Masthead Ideas:

I believe that this masthead would go well on a music magazine cover because firstly it does not specifically target a certain gender, by doing this it can widen my audience. Even though my magazine is aimed more towards women, if it is also attracting a male audience it wouldn't be a problem as the magazine will be doing well. I also think this magazine would suit a music magazine because the colours I have used are bold, and make an 'impact', and this is showing what the music magazine is doing, making an impact. 

This masthead is fun and less series than the first. Using a masthead like this on a music magazine can change the feel of what the magazine is putting across, this can work to your benefit and attract a larger audience as it is giving off a happy feel which is what an audience may want rather than it being serious. The colour scheme that i have used here again can attract either gender audience, however mainly women as purple is usually related to this gender.

This masthead would suit a music magazine as the font is edgy and different and would stand out on a front cover, this is the main idea of a magazine to stand out and attract the customer and draw them in. As well as this on my research for the different masthead designs, this design got voted most for the font which would most suit a magazine. I believe the reason why this got voted to be the favorite is because it is not boring and 

Also on magazine covers there will always be a large masthead, usually at the top of the page. This is one of the ways that the magazine will get most of it's recognition, which is why its important to have a memorable masthead name and design. Sometimes when a magazine brand is established and so recognizable, the main image is used over the masthead, but the audience will still know the brand.

House Style

  
The house style involves the masthead, colour scheme, the positioning of the masthead, positioning of the main image, location of bar code etc. It is where a magazine uses similar layouts and structures throughout their different magazines so that it makes all magazines recognizable to the audience. This is suggested as most magazines will have their mastheads partially covered, this shows that it is already an established, recognizable brand and the audience will still be able to know.

Genre

R&B

Jerry Wexler was a music journalist, record producer and he also worked for Billboard magazine in 1948. He was the person to come up with the term 'Rhythm and Blues' or 'R&B'. Rhythm and Blues replaced the old term 'Race Music' which was used within the black community but was soon deemed offensive. Usually in this genre, R&B is popular African-American music that began around the 1940's. It can be said that R&B is inspired by the already established music genres such as Jazz, Gospel and Blues. Rhythm and Blues can be said to be inspired by gospel and religious ways from the African churches, especially in the southern and mid western regions of the United States. Church members were always told and encouraged to express themselves and freely show their faiths. This gave people the ability to express themselves and personal experiences in songs and melodies of the rhythm and blues style. However, R&B has changed over the years and by the time it had got the year 2000 it was completely different. R&B and hip hop had merged so much that the only way of being able to tell the to types of genres apart was whether the vocals were rapped or sung. And as well as this, R&B artists made the move to being solo artists rather than in groups as the 2000's progressed. For example Beyonce who was once in the group 'Destiny's Child'.

      

Initial Ideas

This is a presentation which I have done on google slide. On this it shows different music genres, what a niche audience is and what genre I am interested in.

Music Magazine Evaluation

Music Magazine Cover Analysis

This is my second music magazine cover analysis. I have used the structure of using denotations, connotations, media language and key concepts. I have also analysed the masthead, cover lines, the main image, anchorage text and the colour scheme.

Evaluation

In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of school magazines?

My media product, the school magazine, challenges the conventions of usual school magazines firstly because of the image that I have used. Normally a school magazine may use a photo of a student or a group of students, however I have used a picture of the school building instead. The reason for this is because a photo of the school building links in with my anchorage text and cover lines so I thought it was appropriate to use the school building. Another aspect of my media product is the masthead. I have positioned the masthead at the top of the magazine because this is where it will be most visible and will be able to attract the most amount of people. This conforms to the conventions of a typical magazine cover due to most magazines having the masthead at the top of the cover to attract the maximum amount of readers. Another part of my magazine cover that conforms to the conventions of a usual school magazine is the colour scheme that I have used. I have used a lot of red, black and white which are all colours which are typical and bold and can be used to attract an audience, but not only to attract people but so that the audience reading the magazine find it attractive to look at. As well as this I have tried to link the colour scheme in with the colours of the school so that the magazine all ties together making it more recognisable. Another aspect of my magazine cover which conforms to a common magazine is the puff text that I have included in the corner of the cover. Magazines will use this kind of text to pull in the audience, and give them more of an incentive to pick up and read the magazine. They can also feel like they are getting something for free which will always appeal to people. Many magazine will use this technique as it is very simple but affective, and usually it is placed in the corner of a cover so that it is clear and will stand out.

Evaluation

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

Evaluation

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I decided that the audience for my media product would be the students, ages 11 to 18. The reason I chose the students as my audience over the students parents etc. was because i believe a school magazine should be aimed to those who are going to be most interested and also affected by what's in the magazine. Also, if I were to aim the magazine at the students, I have a lot more content to put into the magazine which is suited to them, such as revision tips and guides, the new build of the school, help for year 7's starting school etc.

Second School Magazine Design

This is my improved school magazine cover. I have made all of the cover lines and the anchorage text larger so that they are clearer and stand out more. As well as this I have changed the colour so that they stand out more, but also so it stops the confusion of cover lines and anchorage text. So by making them different colours this stops the confusion. Also I have rearranged them to make the magazine look neater and more professional.

Self Assessment

For my self assessment I have marked myself 35, which is a D. I think that the things that went well (WWW) so far is that I used ICT appropriately for the tasks set and also I showed an understanding of conventions and layouts. However that I need to improve my photography skills and also I need to show awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text sizes. I will continue to do my what went wells but will improve on my EBI's to aim to get my target grade of a C.

School Magazine Contents Page

This is my school magazine contents page. I have kept it plain and simple because it is important that the contents page is not confusing as this is where the reader will go to find a certain page or article, so if this page was messy and hard to read, it is not doing the job it needs to. Also as this is a school magazine I have added images which are going to interest the reader 11-18 year old as they are involved with the school and things which are going to affect them so they will be interested.

First School Magazine Design

This is my first magazine design. I have included a masthead, cover lines, anchorage text, puff text and main image etc. My audience for this magazine is 11 - 18 years old, which is all the ages of students. 

September Feedback

This is my feedback from the work that I have done in September. I have understood the improvements that I need to do and I have began to change and improve them e.g. adding a comment to all blog posts and also organizing my blog. Also, I will continue to do my what went well feedback e.g. adapting to the range of new technologies and continuing using media terminology.

Questionnaire

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3ZSRXWJ

This is a link to my questionnaire about my school magazine design.

Final Magazine Design

This is the final magazine design that I have decided to use for my actual one. The reason why I have chose this design is firstly because even though the masthead is quite formal, it is big and stands out, and also the black and red colours I will use will make it stand out even more and entice the audience in. I have also chose this design because I think it has the right amount of cover lines, anchorage text, puff text for one magazine to have. I think if it had anything more on it would look over crowded and unprofessional. Overall I think this is best suited to the audience.

Second and Third Magazine Design

Here I have 2 more designs for my magazine cover. I have decided to stick with the magazines being aimed towards the students rather the parents because I think that the audience will be much larger for the students as they have an everyday interaction with the school and they will be more interested to whats going on than parents. I have also used bubble type writing for the mastheads as this makes it look more suited to the audience of students rather than parents. On top of this I have decided to used black and red for my colour theme as this will go with the Plantsbrook magazine.

Magazine Layouts

These are my layout designs for my magazine. I have included the masthead at the top of each design, the puff, at least two cover lines on each, a tagline, anchorage text and an image on all designs.

First Magazine Draft

This is my first magazine design draft. On this draft I have included the masthead which I have put at the top of the magazine, I have also included the puff, cover lines, a tagline, anchorage text and an image. From this design I am able to make new designs and decide which one is the best to use.

Slideshow of photos 2

Created with flickr slideshow.

So far in photography I have learnt that camera angles are very important when it comes to taking photos. And also I have learnt it is important to consider lighting when taking photos. Depth of field is another factor which should be taken into consideration  when taking photos and more.

Slideshow of photos

Created with flickr slideshow.

Masthead Designs

1) The first Masthead design is the actual School logo which will go along the top of newspapers and letters etc. The reason I have used this design for a possible Masthead on my magazine is because it is recognisable and everyone already knows this sign, which would work well on the magazine because everyone will know what it is for, and usually the more people that recognise this, the more people will take an interest. Also, this design uses the school tagline 'Be the best that you can be', which i thought would be a good feature to use within the masthead.

2) The second design is 'Plantsbrook' in large bubble writing. The reason I have chose bubble writing is because it is large and bold and can attract people into reading the magazine. Also I have used a bright red colour, this is firstly because red is a bold colour, which is another factor which will attract people in. But I have also used red because it is one of Plantsbrook's main colours, which means the masthead will link in with everything else.

3) The third Masthead is similar to the second masthead. The fact that it is in bubble writing, and with the bright red colour, both to entice people into reading the magazine. However on this Masthead I added in the black with the red, this is because these are the Plantsbrook colours and will once again link in with everything else. 

School Magazine Mastheads

All of these school magazine masthead's are quite plain. They don't use many bright colours and have used a plain blue in each. The only masthead which shows a bit more difference and design is the first masthead as it has used a more interesting font than the other two which have stuck to plain fonts. Also on each of the masthead's they have used no images, and the only other part they have added to their mastheads are straplines. Overall, all of the masthead's are very plain and are not very interesting and eye catching.

School Magazine Analysis

This is my school magazine analysis. The analysis is divided up to show the denotations, connotations, media language and key concepts.