Final magazine cover, contents and double page spread

Evaluation Q6

Before starting this project my ability to use technology was limited to Facebook, Bebo, e.mail Google, powerpoint and publisher. Since doing this project my technology skills have improved  vastly as my jpeg image created on photoshop shows. I have now also learnt to use computers, camera. voice recorder, Photoshop, blogger, FLICKR and animoto to research, plan construct and evaluate my product.By using this technology I have been able to reach a wider audience through using blogger for views and opinions and by using photoshop the product quality is massively improved because the tools available allows you to cut around images, sharpen images, remove red eye, add shapes and colours and divide into layers. FLICKR and animoto are very useful forms of technology that enable you to present images in a modern way.     

Photoshop
I used photoshop to make my magazine using lots of different tools such as the lasso tool to cut around images,the red eye tool to remove red eye from images I would use,I also used the free transform tool to make images larger and smaller.It took me a long time to learn how to use photoshop because it was something I had never used before, using these tools for the first time was very advantageous because I did not really understand how to use them and made lots of mistakes early on this used valuable time but was worthwhile because if I had not attempted different things with different tools I would not have learnt the programme and improved my own skills, which meant I produced a better product .

Camera
I used the camera to take my images for my magazine I found it hard to take images of such a good quality because I have never done any photography but dealt with this and took lots of different images.Sometimes I couldn't get the conditions of my photos right for the context so I had to brighten them up and cut around them.Next time we have a task like this I will be able to take images in the right conditions such as against white so I don't have to use cutting out tools.

Blogger
I have used blogger lots thought the task and feel like it has help me lots with my research and planing although I can work Blogger properly now in September I found it very challenging because I
had never used a blog before and had no idea what a blog should be like.

Voice Recorder ,animoto and flicker
I used a voice recorder to create a pod cast which was for question 3 of the evaluation.7 and flicker on question 5 I usesd a animoto for question 7.
I felt all three where very adventuress because I would have been a lot more comfortable and it would have been easier putting it on my blog which I have had since September and can work properly but decided to challenge myself as I have found the whole task challenging because of the technology used but decided that these were other types of technology I could try and master.

After using all of these different methods of technology I believe I am more competent and I have learnt lots and lots about new technology and have addressed areas of difficulty. I believe that by using these forms of technologies I have learnt allot because  it has introduced lots of different forms of media that I didn't even know existed and that I would not have used.I believe that in the future I would defiantly use these forms of media.

Evaluation Q7

I have used animoto to answer Q7. My work and ability to use various forms of technology have vastly improved since doing the preliminary task because my skills were limited to publisher and PowerPoint, whereas now I can use photoshop, camera, blogger,FLICKR, anomoto and podcasts. I believe that by completing this task my skills and knowledge of new technologies has improved massively.

Looking at my preliminary task and my final music magazine cover you can see a big improvement I have developed sell lines that could be featured in a magazine and placed them in a realistic way instead of scattering them around the page,I have also leaned not to put them over images.When using shapes I have made them fit the text and have became more adventurous when taking photographs for example getting my models to pose.I have also learnt to take inspiration from other magazines.

Looking at my preliminary task contents page I can also see a big difference because my preliminary task did not have any images which makes the contents page not as eye catching I also used colour in a very poor way where as now you can see I have took inspiration from other texts and developed a realistic looking product that is eye catching.

Evaluation Q5

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelotterson/
I have used FLICKR to answer this Question. Click on the above link to view my posting for my commentry click on each picture.

Evaluation Q4

my target audience would be 16-25 year old most of them will probably be in education or working in lower to middle class jobs.Their lifestyle would involved them doing lots of things with their friends.They would enjoy music and would probably spend their time soicalising ,listening to music and reading magazines.They would also spend alot of time on the internet and social networking sites.When they have money they would probably spend it on going out to gigs,festivals and going to pubs or bars.They would propbably be low earners so would have to buy things that are cheaper.They would like modern music and music that is in the top 40 because they like to be current and up to date.This group would probably go to the cinema on discount nights to see popualr moveis that are out such as horrors and epic films.I think that my target audience would watch alot of music channels on T.V. and watch shows like X Factor and celebrity juice.

This is feedback that I received from people in my target audience about my magazine .This eveidence backs up some of the points I have just made like the fact that alot of people have commented on the price being good and that they could afford to buy it, also that the images were clear it is eye catching for young people.

We Love POP

We love POP magazine Published by Egmont Publishing

Evaluation Q2

Looking at the Mise-en scene of the images,the posture of both women is very similar because they are both leaning forwards  toward the camera and.thy are both standing with there legs together and are both doing hand gestures.Duffy is doing this in a very glamorous sexy way which contrasts with Becca who looks more relaxed and cool, the pose shows strength and cofidence by the subjects. Both Duffy and Becca are looking directly at the camera.If you look at the clothing it shows that Becca is more relaxed because she is wearing a T-shirt and jeans which also reinforces the fact that she is only a young girl,Duffy on the other hand is dressed very provocatively and is wearing an extremely short dress which would draw men into the magazine.Both women have very smiler hair both have long wavy hair that covers aspects of the face.Both of these images are quite bright but not bright enough that you cannot see the image well.I believe that women would find these two ladies inspiring because of these images because they show that thay are both beautiful women that have achieved their dreams and that thay can also achieve theie dreams. I believe the Duffy cover is more suited to the 25-40 yr old  socio economic group C1-B  and the Becca cover to 16-25 yr old Group C1-D. Duffy porttrays a very clean living pop star and could be seen as a role model by the people who buy that magazine. Becca looks young and innocent and down to earth and people could aspire to be her as she has risen to fame from humble beginnings. 

Evaluation Q1

This is the nine frames that I selected from my front cover contents and double page spread.
Looking at the masthead saying"pop"I think that it is very similar to Other music magazines such as NME.One of the main similarity's is that the words are both short which makes the name of the magazine stick in the readers head.I also noticed while doing my research that NME sometimes place the masthead over the top of the models head which is what I took inspiration from,by doing this it creates a sense of importance towards the name of the magazine.The font I used is called Haettenscheller which creates a very bold and eye catching look to the masthead  around my masthead I have used an effect to make it look like it is jumping out at you like many professional music magazines do.The Colour Red is used because it is suitable for both male and female but is also used on lots of professional magazines .

Looking at the Mise-en-sene of the image of Becca on my front cover you can see a young girl posing with her hand on her hip this suggest she has attitude and is full of confidence which would relate to the fact that she is on the cover of a magazine.she looks very Glamorous and is wearing  a pink girly dress and lots of make up.When comparing this to other products I  realised that there are a lot of similarity's between both mine and the professional products because they both show women looking strong,confident,independent and beautiful.Thay are always wearing makeup and posing which attracts people into buying the magazine.I believe that my image relates to the Genre of POP because of the type of the model used which makes you think young,hip and fashionable which would not be a typical convention of for instance a Rock magazine.

the main sell line(Becca) is very Big and Bold it uses the main colours in my colour scheme and really brings the front cover together.It has the Becca extremely large and the bites back smaller which I feel is like an enigma code to tease the audience.underneath yet again is the Sub heading which explains the enigma.similar to professional products the sub heading uses a quote.Becca Bites Back is also alliteration which is used frequently in all forms of media and creates a clever twist on a heading.

Join the Pop club section of the contents is a typical convention of a magazine because most music magazines which I have used to help me with my research have used a similar thing this is to help draw people into buying it.after studying other pop magazines it is normal covention to use various shapes to highlight special offers therefor I have included the use of shapes in my magazine.

looking at the editors comments they create a personal touch and makes you think that the editor is talking directly to you.the text is very informal and uses words like "stuff" which creates a relaxed feel from page one. when comparing this  to other magazines I have researched they do not always use this in music magazines such as NME I believe that this would still be a typical convention because it is a feature of a lot of typical professional magazine products.

If we look at the Mise-en-scene of the image of the band The Lines we see a very conventional image because it is an image of a band performing,it also uses a caption "back and better than ever£ which plays on the fact that most music magazines hype up the fact a band has reformed. The image is used as an item listed in the contents page but is highlighted as a feature on the right hand side of the page. This layout is a typical convention used in many music magazines.

Becca Bites Back Is used again on my double page spread this creates consistency throughout but especially because it is in Red but the title is also used with double meaning as it is the title of the record but also has meaning in that Becca Bites Back at her critics. The title is used at the top of the double page spread to attract the reader to the cover story, the type is red and bold and the font is  Haettenscheller this gives consistency as this font is used throughout the magazine. The written
content of the double page spread is realistic for a story in a music magazine as it is based on an up and coming pop star. The story is also written with a young audience in mind as my research suggested that the audience would be predominantly 16-25 yr olds.  

The purple background behind the writing on my double page spread is in line with  backgrounds
seen in other magazines although the reason I included it in my double page spread is because it looks edgy and different and is quiet controversial as you might like or you might not which is what is used in a lot of music magazine as they experiment with new thing to make people form an opinion. I did however see the uses of  repetition in music magazine's and would say that this was a typical convention an example of this would be NME with Noel Gallagher they use a circle to form the writing and then a Circle to highlight his face.I used this idea when thinking of the purple background because I picked the purple out of the jumper from the image  and used the exact same colour on the background creating a feeling of Consistancy.

mise-en scene you can see Becca  has her jumper over her hands as if she is nervous and is holding it to her mouth,as if to hide it  this creates the impression that she has a lot of opinions about things that she doesn't want to say and is trying to stop any words coming out her mouth.she is looking directly at you which creates the impression that she is not shy but in fact very confident.I believe that an image like this is  a typical convention of a music magazine because they like to use images that have two meanings, an image that you can look at and think is lovely but under the surface has a deeper meaning.

Feedback

This was feedback that I received from the people in  my class about my first attempt at making my music magazine I think that the advice that they gave me really helped me to improve my work and was something that I could keep referring back to throughout the process of making my front cover to help me create something that would be of a better standard than my first draft.

My draft contents page

This Is my first attempt at making my contents page which I am quite  happy with. I like the layout of text but think that the images are positioned wrong and feel like they are quite hard to see so I have decided that I will look into changing this for my next attempt,I also feel that there is a lot of wasted space around the page that needs to be filled.I also have a lot of typos to correct.

This was my second try at making a contents page.I have made lots of changes such as the background colour,putting images in boxes and filling the extra space with things like a web address but Iam still not totally happy with it yet.I do not think that my images are working and feel like I need to Adjust them in some way so I have decided to research the best ways of putting images on to my contents and have decided that I will put two large images down the side with page numbers on them like I have seen in lots of magazines.I will also follow Kaye's feedback and try to change the numbers to reflect a real magazine because I do not have enough pages.

 I have applied all the changes to my contents page and this is the result.I believe that it works much better and is finally coming together and starting to look like a real magazine but Iam not happy with the Image of Becca and feel that it is blurry and of poor quality so I will be changing it for my next draft.

I am really happy with my fourth attempt at my contents page I think that the image of Becca is much better than before.I think that I still have a few small details to add on to complete my contents such as a publishing address in the bottom left corner and moving editors comments into a more appropriate position.After doing so I will have finish my contents page.

My draft double page spread

 This is the first draft of my double page spread.Iam happy with my story but feel that it needs to be a little longer because after doing extra research I have noticed that most music magazines have longer stories.Iam not sure about using a whole page for a image because it means there is less room for other important aspects of my double page spread.I will change this for my second draft.

 This is my second draft.Unfortunately due to my memory stick breaking I have had to start my work all over again which has resulted in it being very different.I managed to increase the length of the story but feel I have lots of improvements to make such as:the image is to bright on the face so I need to get a new one and the text should be in columns. 

 This is my third attempt at making a double page spread.I think that my double page spread is getting much better especially because of the adjustments that I have made.I believe that I still have more to make and Iam still not happy with my image and will try to improve this,Iam not sure if the pink looks right so I will experiment with other colour options to see what looks better.I have also decided that I will take my second image out because after trying several different images I have decided that it will look better with just one main image that is of a good quality rather than an image that is hard to see.
This is my fourth attempt at making my double page spread and is much better than before because I feel I have a strong image and have a good colour scheme which I can incorporate onto my front cover easily, which will create a feeling of Consistency.I have a few small adjustments to make in order for me to be totally happy with my double page spread, I need to remove the drop cap from my kicker resulting In the Becca standing out more, also I will move the writing off  my models arm and add a little bit more red in the heading.

Masthead

 I have decided to put my masthead over the top of my image which I have seen on two versions of NME I think that by doing this My masthead will stand out alot more and immediately let people know what magazine they are looking at.

My draft front covers

This was my First attempt at making my music magazine.I knew it had lots of room for improvements but it was the first time that I had ever used photo shop and really struggled to get to grips with it because I could not work the programme I decided that for my second attempt I would try to improve my image by taking out the background which is very dark.







This is my second attempt at creating my music magazine front cover. I believe that it is an improvement as I used the Lasso tool to cut around the image I also changed the colours of my writing so it stands out on top of the image but this did not work very well.I believe that the image is poor quality so I will try to get a new one.

 My third attempt is much better and finally looks like a magazine front cover. I have changed lots of things like my fonts, image ,writing style and sell lines.I believe that it is much better because I have put more effort in to creating a realistic set up and also my photo shop use is improving.I still think that the masthead is not the right font so I intend to change this.

The next attempt I made shows feed back which I received from Kaye.  

 I have changed the font for the masthead which I think looks much better.But I have added more things on like a extra circle which looks t0o much, I have decided to take off some of the extra things which I have added so that my magazine looks less cluttered,I will also use Kaye's feed back to help me improve my next attempt.

 I have made appropriate changes to my magazine and have addressed the areas which needed improvement.I have also changed my main sell line just to see what it looks like.I felt unsure about my image so I tried adding an image of a different model but I have decided to stick to my original because I have lots of images of her and believe that she fits better for this particular project.I still think that my work needs improving and could look better.

Contents rationale

I have made my flat plan for my Contents Page and have decided to use some features similar to a copy of NME magazine, such as the use of a coupon on the bottom of the page as an offer( join and get a free magazine),I will not have information up the side because I would like to include the Editors views for this month's issue.Instead of having NME Club in the corner I will have POP. Included in the contents will be different ideas to support all my features for cover stories,Reviews etc.

Contents page flat plan

Questionnaire Results

To help me with my research for my music magazine I have made a questionnaire and asked people to fill it out after doing this I put all my results into a tally chart this made it easier for me to convert my finding in to graphs.

My Graphs show that most of the people questioned were in the age group 16-18 this is because most of the people I asked to fill out the questionnaire where in college.I have decided that my magazine will cost £1.50 because of my research which shows that more people would be willing to pay that price.all of the answers to the other questions will help me decide what to include in my magazine.