Just a little Hello!

Welcome to my blog.
When reading through you will find that my blog includes:

• Making the blog
• Learning about photoshop
• A practice task
• The preliminary task
• Loads of front cover and contents page analysis
• Research and planning for my music magazine.
• My music magazine pitch
• My picture choices
• My completed music magazine front cover, contents page and double-page spread
• My evaluation

I hope that my blog is understandable and simple without being dull.

The End...

After all this work, it is finally complete!

Link to my Prezi Evaluation: http://prezi.com/fjywpkz4pdyc/music-magazine-evaluation/

Fnished Magazine!

This is my finished music magazine front cover, contents page and double-page spread, it was hard work and changed from the original plans a few times but it is finally complete!

Picture choices

These are all the pictures I took for my music magazine.

These two pictures were considered for my magazine but in the end just weren't good enough for their intended purpose as they didn't give off a rock type vibe.

These two pictures on the other hand, did give off the right message and so i chose them for my double page spread. I didn't want shadows to be in the pictures so I edited them out in photoshop using the clonestamp tool and cropping. I found these the easiet way for someone who is new to the program achieve what they want from a picture. you can see the difference btween thess originals and the edited versions below.

















Between these two above I chose the picture on the right side because the one on the left has a very funny facial expression which I would not want on my front cover. To edit this picture I cut the people out using the magnetic lasso tool and then by using the rubber tool to sort out any tiny piece remaining. The edited picture can be seen below the original.

These two pictures was done the same way as the first two. You can see the differences to the original on the left and edited on the right.





I could have taken more pictures to get some more choice out of them but essentially all of these pictures make up my magazine.

Magazine pitch

My music magazine pitch:

Name of my magazine: Rock explosion- (I may change it if I come up with something better).
Target audience: Teenagers or early twenties of both genders. Mainly rock, emo, scene or gothic type people though.
My magazine will be weekly at a cost of £2.40, as after some research most existing magazines of the same type cost around the same price.
My magazine relates to my chosen genre because it's 'rock-y', it has rock in its name and has more modern stuff appealing to a younger audience.
Other products like mine on the market are magazines like Kerrang! and Rock Sound.
My magazine will compare with theirs because it will be similar in it's layout but different in its style.
I'm not sure yet if there will be a house style as i would have to remember to use it the whole way through. However the name/logo would be the same everywhere it is seen, so that it becomes easily recognisable and well known. It will have similar fonts and colours throughout though. I am also undecided on the colours, but I know I want big, bright, bold, stand out colours and am therefore thinking of: black, white, red, blue and yellow.
Inducements: My magazine will have exclusive interviews and something free with each issue of the magazine like posters or stickers to try and attract a buyer more.

Planning for my magazine

This is my original planning for my music magazine, most of it din't turn out this way as i kept on changing my mind when actually making it.

Even more Magazine analysis...

Contents page analysis:

These contents pages are both particularly different, in that they don't look similar. Q has more pictures, and NME only really has one on its contents page. The images on these contents pages are big and take up most of the space so that it doesn't become dull and overrun with text. No-one wants tonnes of text when finding out what is in the magazine. The contents pages still stick to the target audience i previously said for their front covers, and the Q contents page even has another picture of it's cover star. Red, white and black are still the main colours with  more yellow on NME. This stick with the house style of these magazines and where yu think it would make it unattrative the red actually helps make it work. The contents pages of both these magazines is listed on one side of the page, , with Q having page numbers on its different pictures also. Yet, NME is divided into differnt sections so if you know what you want to be reading look in the right section to find its page number quicker. For example, its different sections include: news, features, reviews, live, and radar. There is a promotional feature on the contents page of NME about subscribing to the magazine to try and sell more and therefore gain more readers. Both of these magazines have their logo's at the top of the page before the word contents, this makes the most recongnisable part of the magazine visible and just where everyone will see it. All in all these contents pages work well with their front covers to provide attrativeness to the eye and make readers want to buy.

Music Magazine Analysis

Front cover Analysis:

These two magazines are similar in the kinds of music they contain. The magazines would be aimed at the target audiece of older teenagers and early twenty's maybe, because thats who they appeal to and maybe people a little bit older too considering some of the cover articles. But the pictures are more like the age group i already mentioned as the target audience. Both main images are female artists and they both have the same look on their faces and for these two issues of the differents magazines they have gone for the same approach as it is a popular expression to use in pics for magazines. The eyes are wide on the pics and staring right at you as if it is trying to pull the reader in. On the cover of Q, we have Florence from Florence and the Machine, this is because she is a popular woman and therefore would maybe encourage more female readers. On the cover of NME, it's Lily Allen, this may attract more fans of her as readers as she is very popular and well known. The main story for Q: Florence woman on the edge, and NME: Lily Allen takes on the world, both show women as strong people and it's as if they are about to have a fight on their hands which would help to pull the readers in. Both of the music namesare on the left-third like all magazines for the rule of thirds. They also get slightly covered up because they are so recongnisable from a small portion that a reader does not need to see the whole logo to know which magazine it is. Red is used in both of these magazines and I think it helps make them stick out more. The bright, bold colours help to draw the reader in and have been good choices to make. The fonts being used on Q, are quite plain and simple which make them a tiny bit dull, this is the same with NME except for the main article headline as it is in a different font that is in all different sizes making it eye-catching. Booth of these magazines are well made and attracting to the eye and would therefore get good sales, making it a success.

Finished Prospectus

My preliminary task school prospectus is quite simple, this is mainly because i'm still getting used to photoshop and am not advanced enough in it to create a big masterpiece. I think it went well and doesn't look too bad considering how difficult a program photoshop is to work. My front cover and contents pages have both got the same colours included to make sure that there is a style going throughout the preliminary task work. The pictures I used did not require much editing and therefore this task didn't take as long as I originally thought it would. The slanting of the pictures is because I thought it looked too plain and simple with them just on the page all square-like. I also made sure to put the school logo on my popectus because a real one would have it's school logo on too. I only used pictures appropriate for the task including the one medium shot picture we were required to use in the task.

Preliminary task: Picture time... Again.

Wednesday 8th February- Our preliminary task is to create a school prospectus. To do this we had to go out around school in groups and take pictures to do with educational type things. This included getting a wide range of pictures in different shots and angles. The pictures we took were of students in uniform working in lessons, of sixth form students in the library and study room, and of the front of school with the St. Marks sign. We had to take lots of pictures to make sure we didn't end up using the same ones as the other people in our group. For the preliminary task we did have to have a photo of a student in the medium close-up shot, so we took a variety to choose from.

Magazine Contents Page Analysis on Prezi

Friday 3rd February- I had to do an analysis of a magazine contents page in a Prezi presentation. I found this task okay. At first it was a bit difficult but once I had figured out how it works, it was simple to use.

Link to my contents page analysis:

Nature Magazine

Friday 3rd February- Having taken pictures for a nature magazine, I then had to create the front cover. This was to get some practice with photoshop. I find photoshop a confusing and difficult program to use but for my first attempt at using it, I think it went well. However, I admit it could've gone a lot better. I don't think my cover looks too bad but it's not anywhere near something that would actually be found on a real magazine cover in the shops. But then again like I already mentioned, it was to get practice using photoshop before I start on the preliminary and main tasks.

My nature magazine front cover:

Taking pictures in the cold...

Wednesday 1st February- In groups we had to go out with a camera and take pictures of all things to do with nature. We had to try and get as many different pictures as possible while thinking of what may be found on the front cover of a nature magazine. We also had to get a variety so that we didn't use the same pictures as eachother. This meant that although everyones cover was nature orientated, they wouldn't all be exactly the same. If we didn't get decent pictures, then our magazine covers wouldn't be that good.

Magazine Front Cover Analysis

Friday 27th January- Today I was set the task of analysing a magazine front cover. I didn't really understand what to write about and therefore found the task a little bit difficult. In the lesson, I learnt about how a magazine front cover is laid out and the importance of it being a certain way.


Colour: the main colours on this front cover are red, white and black. This is going to be because of the way they are used and set out make things on the cover stand out. These colours are also used because of the nature of the magazine, the type of music is rock and 'emo' and therefore would contain dark colours to go with the theme. It also has small bursts of yellow to make sure those certain parts do stand out as they are likely to help sell the magazine.

Masthead: the Kerrang! masthead is widely recognisable and used for all advertising purposes. It is on the magazine and music channel, whilst also being used to advertise the radio station and Kerrang! tour. The masthead is made up of a font that seems broken, is bold and black. This would also be to stick with the dark theme of the magazine. On this cover the masthead is partially covered by the main image so is well known and doesn't need to be completely seen to recognise it.

Main image: the main image is a big photo taking up most of the page with a few small images around it. This is to not take attention away from the main feature of the magazine which the image accompanies. It would catch the reader because they will see who the magazine mainly involves each week and it will either interest them or not. The smaller images show the readers some of the other contents of the magazine.

Main coverline: this is in big bold font to show its importance in the issue and is situated with the main image between the middle and bottom of the cover. When you look at this cover the main coverline is the first thing your eyes are pulled to, apart from maybe the main image. The font colour is white so it's bright which helps it stand out.

Coverlines: all the coverlines are in smaller font to not take interest away from the main coverline. They are still made to stand out with some in different colours and some in italics, but the reader would still leave reading them until last.

Barcode and dateline: the dateline containing the issues date, is set down with the price of the magazine next to the barcode on the bottom right corner of the magazine. It's well out of the way of anything important so as not to take and attention away from the cover itself.

Left-third: In some small shops, magazine covers aren't completely shown and so the left-third is important in the selling of a magazine. Like I mentioned in the masthead part, it is partially covered, but only on the right hand side so that when it's on display without the whole cover being seen the left-third is completely recognisable. The short coverlines in the left-third would also help to sell the magazine because this is where they would create the first sign of interest in the issue by a reader reading them to see what it includes before picking the magazine up to see the main feature.

Language: the language used on the front cover sticks to the theme of the magazine also. This is to make certain that the whole of the magazine is consistent and to show that the front cover represents the magazine correctly. Words and phrases like ''death' and 'come over to the dark side' stay true to the dark theme of the magazine and fit well with the genre of music.

Prezi link

Friday 27th January- I made a Prezi account. Prezi is a program to make presentations. It's like a better and more modern version of powerpoint maybe? The presentations are definitely better and more interesting, and it's quite simple to use when you try.

Link to my Prezi account: http://prezi.com/user/MarikaClarke/

Photoshop.

Wednesday 25th January- Photoshop tutorial. I missed the photoshop tutorial lesson because I was ill. This put me a little bit behind everyone else and when it came to using photoshop I had no clue where to start. I'd never used the program before and missing the tutorial really didn't have a positive effect but it couldn't have been helped. This meant that I had to research photoshop myself including to read and watch tutorials in my own time, which was a bit time consuming and if i'm honest didn't teach me much. Then, when it came to using the program, I had to try different things and see what works and how it works. When it comes to photoshop, my conclusion is that practice makes perfect and you just have to learn by trying it.

First blog post- making the blog

So... First post woo! Today we made a blog, I have never made a blog before so it's new to me and going to take some getting used to. I think it's okay, just not much to write about at the moment.