Editing And Making Changes To My Publication

The Front Page

I started producing my front page on photoshop. First of all though I made a flat plan of how I wanted my front page to look and where I wanted everything to be positioned on the page. This was useful for reference purposes when I was designing my actual front page.

First Attempt :

The image on the left shows the first stages on my magazine being made. I have roughly stuck to my flat plan initial idea for example the masthead is at the top and the captions are spread around the sides of the page.

Second Attempt :

The image on the right shows how I have progressed in the production of my magazine. The fact that I have now added a main image and a barcode onto the front page makes it look more professional and more like existing magazines on the market already. However as the image creates a black background on the front page, I had to change the font colour of one of the captions. ('exclusive interview with miami' changes from purple to pink in order to show up against the black). I also had to make other alterations such as removing the pictures of lipstick because otherwise their white backgrounds would have clashed against the black background created by the image. 

Third Attempt :

  

The final alteration that I made before I had completely finished my front page was changing the font style of the captions. I decided to change the font from 'cheri liney'  which was more squiggly and fun to 'arial black' which is more generic and plain. I decided to make this change because otherwise it may have been hard to understand  and even though I changed the font to a more sombre and less fun font, I think that my target audience will still be attracted to it due to the fact that my front page already features two other 'funky and fun' fonts.

The Contents Page

I made a lot of alterations to my contents page and didn't follow my contents page flat plan at first as I wanted to experiment with which style worked best. 

First Attempt : My first attempt wasn't so good. I set out the text in big blocks of colour all on the left side of the page. Afterwards I realised that this wasn't very practical as the font size was too big and there would be no room on the page for pictures. Also my contents page didnt look like the contents pages on existing publications.

Second Attempt :

On my second attempt I completely changed the way my contents page was set out. I organised it into colomns and changed the sizes of the lettering. I got the idea of having all the photos on one corner from a magazine that caters for a similar target audience to mine.

Also on my second attempt I decided to follow my flat plan ideas. I purpously chose to make my contents page look very much like my front page because I wanted to keep up consistency. 

Third Attempt :

On my third attempt I developed my contents page further. I changed the font of 'contents' to cheri liney in order to keep consistency with the rest of the publication. I also decided to make the text in line with each other so that it replicated coloumns. I chose to put stars around the background in order to make it not look so empty and not just a plain yellow background but instead feel more girly and lively. There is also a part at the bottom where I have chosen to put a facebook and twitter logo in order to make my publication seem more dynamic, accessible to readers and to incorporate what existing magazines feature.

EVALUATION: Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task, Of Designing The Front Page Of A School Magazine, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Final Product ?

Overall I feel that I have learnt a lot throughout completing both the actual and preliminary task. During the process of this task, I have learnt basic skills in Photoshop and Pages and I have also developed my knowledge further in editing and manipulating photos. Blogging my research and planning is also a skill that I have learnt, from posting simple blog posts to downloading slideshow presentations and fonts I feel that my ICT skills have widened significantly.

From making the transition from prelim to actual main task I evaluated my prelim magazine front page and contents page and assesed the positive and negative points about it. I found out what was good about it and what particular concepts had worked well- ones which I could develop further on my actual main task.

A process that helped me develop my initial ideas further was flat planning. Through the flat planning stages I could experiment what particular styles and designs would work the best in attracting my target audience. Through having a range of flat planned ideas I could evaluate and clearly see where I needed to make slight adjustments.

Through making a music publication I learnt how to take succesful photos which portrayed meaning and insight into my music genre. I also learnt how to manipulate them, giving them greater aesthetic qualities and making them stand out even more. The photos that I took for my prelim task weren't best thought out and didnt include aspects that gave them meaning and thought. For example they didnt portray the right connotations- the models weren't wearing the right sort of clothes to suit the image I wanted to give off and weren't posing in the right way, this was due to lack of time and rescources. However duing my main task I was fortunate enough to have a greater time limit in taking my photos, this enabled me to put some more thought into certain aspects such as location, costume, and poses. This ensured that my photos gave off the right sorts of image which helped connect with my target audience. I feel that my second photoshoot was more succesful due to the fact that I spent more time in planning them and thinking about the effect photos have on the overall publication.

• The prelim task front cover (shine) uses only one font throughout the whole of the page, however on the actual front page (candy) two distinctive fonts are used which clearly allows the separation between the masthead and other text on the page
• The actual front page (candy) features things that are commonly found on existing publications such as a barcode and the price. This allows the front page to look more professional
• There are more puffs on the actual front page (candy) this makes the magazine look a lot more interesting and dynamic and professional
• The colour scheme on the actual front page (candy) is more vibrant and thought out, making the overall design of the front page more aesthetically pleasing and attractive towards my intended target audience
• The masthead on the actual front page (candy) is written in a much more dynamic font and is much larger than the one on the prelim task, making it stand out more and attracting more attention to it. This allows readers to easily identify this magazine

EVALUATION: What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing Your Product ?

presentation 1

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EVALUATION: How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience ?

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EVALUATION: Who Would Be The Audience For Your Music Magazine ?

This mood board gives some information about my target audience such as age, gender, interests and hobbies.

The magazine focuses greatly on new music in the pop scene. The style in articles would be quite informal with using young linguistic colloquialisms such as 'OMG' and 'TTYL' to allow the publication to be inaccessible for older readers but extremely current and cool for teens. The gender of readers would not be mainly female as features like 'make-up tips' and 'fashion' would presumably be more aimed at a  female audience. The lifestyle of the readership would be quite similar all across the country due to the fact that the vast majority would still be attending school, however their lifestyles could vary seeing as they are mostly dependant on their parents and each readers lifestyle would depend on what their parents do for a living. Most readers would share similar hobbies and interests such as fashion and pop music.

The uses and gratifications theory demonstrates how the content would fulfil the audience’s needs:

•     Diversion: The publication provides entertainment through its light-hearted, fun and vibrant articles and features. Also, it encourages its readership to enjoy music, celeb gossip and fashion in the comfort of their own homes.
•     Surveillance: Information about the pop music scene is offered in every issue and information about the latest celeb gossip and fashion is also featured in every issue.
•     Personal Identity: Interviews published in the magazine may affirm the identity of the reader, for example, an artist may mention a particular place they like to hang out (e.g shopping centre) and readers would be able to relate to this, also they may mention favourite fashion designers which might be the same as some readers 
•     Personal Relationships:  Media such as magazines can be used within existing relationships, for instance, friends may discuss the content of ‘Candy’ with each other, also the features in 'Candy' may cause readers to go out and do things together, for example 'make-up tips' is featured and readers may see this and try the tips out on their friends. They could also complete and chat about the quizzes together.

Audience Feedback Evaluation Video

In addition to my evaluation questions, I also asked a selection of people in my media class questions that would accompany my evaluation. I asked them various questions which would indicate whether my music genre and purpose and intentions were recognisable through the overall design of just my front and contents page.

Response

• From analysing my front page and contents page, my peers could instantly recognise that my magazine was aimed towards the pop music scene. They could tell this through the colours used (pink and yellow) as they reflect a girly, innocent vibe.

• They could also tell that my magazine was designed for teenage girls with an interest in pop music through the photographs featured on my magazine. The poses of the artists appeal to a younger audience as they are quite sweet and cute. They dont portray any rough or hard attitudes which would be a common feature on an RnB based type magazine.

• From looking at my magazine people came to the conclusion that the main purposes and intentions of it was to entertain. They thought that the focus on music wasnt as strong as the main focuses of fashion and celebs. They came to this conclusion from the images used and the text on the contents page.

EVALUATION: In What Ways Does Your Music Magazine Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Existing Music Magazines ?

The Features Of Music Magazines That I Have Used On My Publication Are :

• masthead
• strapline
• date
• price
• barcode
• cover lines
• main image
• puffs

Masthead

I have followed the strongly used convention of a masthead in my media product, I have kept my masthead at the top of my front cover down to the fact that this is where the audience are used to seeing the title, it is the norm for my potential audience. On an added note, if my masthead wasn’t at the top of my front cover the title of my magazine will not be seen when they are stacked up in a shop.

Only a small percentage of the magazines are at the front of the shelf, those behind rely on their strong masthead to draw attention.


Puffs

I have used a relatively small number of puffs on my front cover - this goes against many typical music magazines for example this Kerrang music magazine front cover. It shows many puffs lined at the top and bottom of the page, filling the front page with eye catching examples as to why to by the magazine. Whereas my magazine uses less puffs in a more stylised approach, they help to create a constant style across the page - the puffs help make the front cover appear more organised and professional.

The colouring of my puffs also allows to stand out, I have done this with the big, bold bright pink puffs that stand out whn being anchored ontop of a black image. This allows the potential readers to acknowledge the bigger stories in the magazine, the stories that are exclusive to that magazine or just the stories that have more pages dedicated to them.

Main Image

I have used an average amount of images on my front cover, like traditional music magazine front covers I have incorporated the trend of a massive, overpowering main image. I have decided to do this for mainly because it shows the main focus on my artist - a music magazine based on pop has to surely showcase pop acts.
The image I  used help promote the pop music scene that my magazine focuses on, with the image of a  glamorous teenage girl. The main image I have used helps promote a focused and friendly figure.