useful websites i have used to help make my final product

http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/interface-tutorials/how-to-make-a-highly-textured-site-layout-in-photoshop/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trance_music

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_rock

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_music


I hope you like all of my work and let me know what you think!

My preliminary task- progression to the real one!!

You have probably read about all of the things i have learnt from my preliminary task to my real one but here is the progression that is visual!!

Distribution

www.bauermediagroup.co.uk As i have discussed my distributor throughout my evaluation i thought i would provide the website where i got most of the information from!!

Information can also be found on Wikipedia- when the type in Bauer media group.

My audience

As you have probably noticed i have already discussed my target audience in my evaluation of my front cover. Do you think my magazine has been successful in appealing to the indie rock genre/audience? but also to people those who love trance music? let me know what you think about my special trance edition... thankyouuu!!

I have also used the questionnaire to address my audience which i posted when i first started my preliminary task.. i also looked to this for inspiration.

Evaluation: Final double page spread; Trip Hazard

In this evaluation of my final double page spread I will be answering the following questions:

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

How did you attract address your audience?

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

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

This is my double page spread which features the indie rock band Trip Hazard- you can find them on http://www.myspace.com/

My article starts off in drop capitals, one of the common aspects of all magazine articles, not just music ones. This is so the reader is immediately drawn to the article and the lead paragraph, also a convention of music magazine articles. My article does not challenge this in any way, i feel as though it fits with the normal codes and conventions as i had wanted it to. I have chosen to compare it to the Q magazine double page spread of shakira. As you can see both the articles have a bold headline, mine is in yellow to co-ordinate with yellow the text whereas Q's is in white to match the white text, keeping to a main colour scheme, this is a common convention of music magazine's.

I have noticed that magazine's try not to use too much text and always display a clear picture, this is important to get across the clear anchorage between the text and the picture. My magazine has clear ideology and anchorage as the text discusses four famous teenagers and the picture of them performing live shows this. The same is true of the Q article, the image shows Shakira, the famous singer/artist working in a busy studio/office and the headline reads "danger shakira at work!" and the article also discusses her being hard at work, the image and the text must always co ordinate, so there is no confusion for the reader.

My headline saying "Trip Hazard"! differs to the layout on the Q double page spread as it is placed on the bottom, rather than on the top before the article, this challenges the conventions of music magazine's, as i wanted it to look different and appealing. My article includes a quote which is separate from the main text, this is placed in the gutters. As you can see Q magazine also does this so the article is more eye catching, this is a code and convention of modern music magazines. My article does still match the front cover as mention "Trip Hazard" on one of the puffs, most magazine's always mention the artist/band on the front cover before the article on the double page spread.


Obviously the most important convention is the centre image, mine is a long shot whereas the picture of Shakira is more of a medium close-up. I wanted this effect as so to include the image of the whole band, particularly the female singer as this can be linked to Laura Mulvey's theory of feminism, women are no longer subordinate to males, the female is the dominant lead singer, this shows how things have progressed in the media since the 1960's. I will discuss how i decided on this picture and how i took it later on in my blogging.

The text i have used is in the form of an interview, taking inspiration from articles such as the doves one, and Q magazine's article on Shakira. The interview starts of discussing the band "Trip Hazard", it is in an informal tone just like the articles in Q. The first lead paragraph introduces the band using words such as "one million pound record deal", this explains the fame they have gained and draws the reader in. The article then goes in to an interview, with me being the inerviewer. I use alliteration such as "softly smile" to portray the down to earth nature of the band. The band then get asked a number of questions, by me as the interviewer. This differs to the style of Q as the article is mostly written, with just a few quotes added in to personalise it. This is how magazine's differ in their styles. Mine takes the style of an interview form, i use colloqiual langauage such as "yeah", to give an informal tone. In the gutters between the text i have included two quotes from the band (as mentioned earlier), just as Q magazine does, to personalise the article, this is often a convention of articles, i chose the colour red as this connote "danger" and "warning" this could be portraying what they are saying is important and lair the audience into reading this, i also placed this in a circle to highlight this even more.

I have noticed how the style of language differs in different music magazine's the doves article uses much harder words such as "pound" whereas mine is more relaxed using words such as "softly smile" and "I and Paul had always dreamed of forming a successful band" this draws in the demographic which is mainly young people. Mine portrays the band as being just like typical teenagers. perhaps even representing teenagers. Whereas the doves article is more "hard" and "Manly", with the band being all male, representing that "rugid" look.

The magazine article I have produced requires no prior knowledge as i tell the audience who the band are and what the current situation is. However I suppose you could say this is true as prior knowledge of the artists is always needed as you would not really read about them if you were unaware of who they are, this is common for music magazine's and could be classed as a convention.

As mentioned earlier, this article and picture could be said to be representing teenagers as a whole, throughout the article they are friendly and lively and people may associate teenagers with this, which is a positive image which I feel is always best to get from an article. The colours used are bright and the title of the band is also in bright colours- I wanted this to represent that teenagers and young people have bright personalities and they should not always be compared to "thugs" as this is the image given to them by the media these days.This also represents indie bands/culture as the band performing are an indie band i used a lot of research about indie bands from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_rock

In the process of making my double page spread I have learnt how to actually make it on photoshop. I discovered that the page must be set to A3 landscape, so the full image and text can be seen, this can be chosen by using the settings at the top of the page and by changing the pixels. The text was easy to do as I just typed it into the text box and then chose the font I wanted, which was myraid pro, as I had previously used it on the front cover.

From my preliminary task i discovered the things i have talked about earlier. I will post another blog showing this.


The demographic here has to be indie/rock music lovers! the band is an indie/rock band and the article is an interview with them so it is aiming to mainly appeal to them, using all the conventions and techniques i have discussed, which you can also see i have used!!

I have placed pictures at the top of the article showing where i got my inspiration from for the article, hope you like them!!

Final contents page:

This is my contents page, my final draft that i am very pleased with!

This evaluation covers the following questions:

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

How did you attract/address your audience?

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

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




As you can see i tried to stick to all of the normal conventions of a contents page. I used sub-headings a masthead, a small icon of the magazine in the corner and bold text.

I used the inspiration of the NME contents page i have analysed earlier on, i liked the idea of a centre image with headings placed around it. I have found that headings in block colours are a common convention on a contents page, as they stand out and appear bolder. Here is no different, the headings are on a black background to highlight the gray text. Headings are usually placed down the side, so they look more organised and professional i have tried to keep to this style.

Perhaphs the biggest convention and code of a music magazine is the centre image, the main attraction. Q magazine's main image on one of there contents page's was James Blunt (seen in my blog), so therefore i knew that i needed to have a main image. The image will always reflect the genre- james blunt reflected the image of indie in Q magazine, whereas my magazine is a special trance edition but i wanted to still keep the indie/rock feel. I decided this close up of a microphone would be perfect, it is very indie/rock as this kind of music involves bands and singing, but the picture of the front cover placed at the top would remind the audience that this edition is a trance one, this was inspired from NME magazine, as you can this is one of there conventions and if my magazine where to be published i would want this to become a main convention of mine.

Another popular convention of a contents page- music magazine is a quote from an artist/band usually the one on the front. I have included one on mine to draw attention to the fact that the magazine will still mainly be about trance music, this is a quote from a trance DJ- announcing the comeback of trance music. This is in bold text and is placed at the top so it is easy to see.

Perhaphs my contents page does challenge normal forms and conventions of other music magazine's as it only has one main image, whereas the likes of NME and Mojo often have more and feature images of the band/artist. I thought by not including more images on the contents page i would draw more attention to just the one image, which this makes people want to buy the magazine even more as you have to turn over to see more pictures.

Contents page's usually have a main colour font throughout- NME uses the colours black and yellow on this particular one. I decided Grey and black would be useful as they contrast against the black background, this is just further developing codes and conventions of other music magazine's by using the same, but yet slightly different techniques.

Of course the page numbers are down the side to inform the reader. The page numbers are bolder for the more important parts. The magazine masthead is still present to inform the audience of what they are reading and so this name will stay in their minds. This is a regular convention of contents page's.

Even though the magazine is representing the social aspect of trance music as a whole this particular page seems to represent indie culture more. I have researched indie culture/music as part of my preparation- you can see this on my blog. Indie culture has become very popular and this style is also continued on my double page spread. The contents page often represents what the double page spread will be, mine represents the indie/ rock band Trip Hazard. The mis-en-scene of the microphone i think suggests immeditely an indie band will be featured inside. The microphone could be described as unkempt looking which indie bands are often associated and sterotyped with, as this is there look, also younger people are also associated with indie/rock music so you would expect the magazine to maybe represent younger artists, even though this is very stereotypical. I will discuss the representation of my double page spread later on.

I have already mentioned who the demographic is for my magazine, and i would say the same comes across for this contents page. What do you think? i have posted a blog about "My audience" giving information and asking for feedback. Do you think this contents page allows room for indie/rock fans aswell as trance fans?

Obviously having made my front cover first i did find the contents page alot easy to make as i had got to grips with photoshop. I found it interesting actually how simple it is to just draw a rectangle and then chose the colour black to get the block effect for behind the page numbers, i found most magazine's use this so i wanted to try and devlop this. The image of the microphone was taken after watching a performance from the band i have used "Trip Hazard", i opened the picture up as if it were the background and worked around that. I adjusted the levels of brightness, i learnt that you often do need to brighten pictures but also keep the contrast down to even it out. I also learnt more about the rule of thirds here, using a ruler on photoshop at the side of the page allowed me to line the pictures and the text up evenly, i discovered this by trying out the editing techniques with the icons at the top of the page. I also discovered that if you what they grey text to be placed on the black rectangle you must make sure that the text is placed after the rectangle using the right hand side of photoshop, where it allows you to see each step you have taken. You can lock layers together to make sure they are secure.

As you can see from my blog my preliminary task mock up contents page is completely different from this one. My practice contents page was just basic, using Microsoft Publisher. I have now advanced to Photoshop and learnt many techniques that i have mentioned earlier. Most importantly i have learnt that the contents page needs to be as professional as the front cover as this is what you see when you first open the magazine.

Final magazine cover

In this evaluation of my front cover i will answer the following questions... (extra information may be in a separate blog)

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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

Who would be the audience for your media product?

How did you attract/address your audience?

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

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

This is my final magazine cover, I am very pleased with it after many changes and difficulties making it I am really happy that I have learnt how to use photoshop.

I am going to take you through the decisions i have made for my magazine and how it compares to other magazine's i have previously talked about.

As you can tell form the image of my magazine cover I have went for a completely different image that i had originally wanted. After taking my main photograph i looked at the style of it an thought it still looked rock/indie but would be better to be labeled as a special "trance edition" due to the style of the original image. This seemed better suited but i decided that this would just be a one-off edition and the main article would still have an indie/rock genre to it, other music magazine's often make special editions such as NME's Christmas edition. I will explain all the details of how I found the effect for the picture later on.

First i am going to look closely at the codes and conventions of my magazine in comparison to the coldplay one, which was the genre I was originally going for (indie/rock). First of all the conventions of my magazine compared to Q magazine look completely different at first glance. The Q cover is a lot more subtle with the black and white painted image whereas mine grabs your attention more with the bright colours. My cover also has a lot more puffs compared to the Q one. I try to capture the readers attention by using phrases such as "he dives into the world of trance", whereas Q has a more relaxed feel saying "and now for something completely different...". This is also one of the reasons why i chosen to do a one-off cover for my magazine as it allows the look of it to be different and more unusual looking which is main convention of trance magazine's compared to the contemporary look and convention of indie/rock magazines, as they use more subtle colours and a more relaxed layout/modern.

Some conventions of the two magazines and mostly all magazines are always the same. As you can see a bar code is featured on the two magazines, this is always apparent on every magazine.
The masthead's on both magazine's are in bold: "Q" and "Newbeat", they are usually placed at the top so the reader can immediately see what magazine it is, this is the same here. The text is bold for both the masthead's so it stands out and is one of the main features, apart from the picture. The picture is also a main convention of a magazine, music magazine's always display an artist/band. The Q cover's main image is more natural than mine and looks more relaxed whereas mine looks "posey" and displays a DJ type image, which is obviously a convention of a trance magazine and not an indie/rock magazine which is why the images differ.My inspiration for a trance image came from: http://www.rave180.com/uploaded_images/rave-trance-744824.jpg

Both covers also have a strapline, which most also do. Q's strapline or "sell line" is "Britain's Biggest Music Magazine", whereas mine is "exclusive trance edition". To inform the reader that this edition will discuss trance music. A normal convention of magazine's is that strapline will usually inform the reader, as mine does. The strapline's are usually in smaller text and this is the same of mine, this a normal aspect of a music magazine, and as we deconstruct its conventions this appears to be one.

Perhaps the most important convention of music magazine's is the demographic they try to appeal to. Each one has a different look so it can appeal to its own audience. Obviously, mine has that "dance" exciting look that will appeal to trance music lovers. And Q has the indie/rock appeal but i think the coldplay edition particularly appeals to older people just by the relaxed style of it and there are not many puffs and additional information. I decided to keep the puffs mainly about indie/rock artists/bands so the demographic would still be the original indie/rock audience as well as people who like trance music.

My magazine could be said to represent teenagers. As many teenagers are associated with trance music and known to like it as a lot of it is often played in clubs/bars which are also associated with the younger generation. However, this is just a typical stereotype as i actually know a lot of older people that also enjoy trance music, so my magazine could be said to be representing them also. As my magazine also has puffs that include the indie/rock genre it could also be said that it represents indie bands/artists, it represents how successful they are as in this day and age they are mentioned on most music magazine's around the world. This could be portraying that indie/rock music is becoming a very successful genre, and is not just popular for the younger generation, but for any generation.

I think you could relate my magazine cover to Laura Mulvey's theory of feminism. Even though i did not want to portray this image but it seems my magazine has a domineering, successful male on the front of it. From this we can infer that males are still shown in this way. I did not want to portray this effect as i do not agree that females are passive to males. However i feel this magazine if it were to become a full 30/40 page one, would feature females, and portray that they are equal and as successful as males.

I am sticking with my decision that the Bauer Media Group would distribute my media product. They are a very successful worldwide company, and i would like my magazine to be worldwide. I have previously researched the Bauer Media group and it appears that they own music magazine's such as Q and Mojo. These are very popular magazine's and both appeal to the indie/rock demographic, which is why i have chosen the Bauer Media Group. I also think this "special trance edition" would be a good promoting product for the media group because it suits there style as an indie/rock music magazine but also promotes a one-off style of trance music, which is something different.

Whilst making my front cover i have learnt many different techniques. I started off by getting my picture to take this i used an apple mac book laptop, which has a special editing technique called comic book which create a bright effect that makes the picture look unusual. I then put this into photoshop and edited the picture and changed the brightness levels and the contrast to get the effect you can see on the front cover. At first i found it difficult to move the picture into a magazine size but after practicing for a short while, i soon got the hang of it. Photoshop on the whole was very hard to get used to as i wanted to make my magazine look as professional as possible. I spent quite a few days getting the text right for the masthead and the strapline as i didn't want it to be over the top, it needed to be realistic. I found the text in photoshop similar to use as word, i decided on the text "myriad pro" to make the text quite big for the masthead i needed to type in a larger size instead of just selecting one.

I feel that my I.T skills have developed more as photoshop was different to any other programme i have used before. I learnt that you have to use the tools on the left hand side, these helped me to draw shapes and text. On the right hand side of photoshop there are icons you can use to make borders around the text, which is what i have used for the "DJ JOE T" text to make it extra bold and appealing to the reader which most main titles of music magazine's also do.

When taking my picture i learnt about the rule of thirds, that the picture must be able to equally divide into thirds i have also learnt through research on the internet that this is one of the main aspects of photography, and makes a picture a good one. I have also learnt through others in my class that to take a good picture you must line it up and there must be no bright light behind the picture as this makes it unclear.

From my preliminary task to now i have learnt many things. When creating my preliminary task it was easy as i was using Microsoft Publisher, so i actually liked the challenging aspect of using photoshop. As you can probably see my preliminary task looks completely different to my final magazine cover. I think this is because of the technology of photoshop allowed me to edit the picture (its brightness and contrast) and use more professional text. Most of all i am pleased that my photoshop skills have developed, from starting off learning how to put a picture in to making it look realistic and adding text and puffs.

I found this website useful for learning how to use photoshop: http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/interface-tutorials/how-to-make-a-highly-textured-site-layout-in-photoshop/

Let me know what you think of my finished product!!

What kind of media institution will own my media product and why?

I think i am going to go with Bauer media group, which is an institution owned privately by the Bauer family. I have come to this decision as this company is very successful and operates in 15 countries, this would ensure that my magazine gets worldwide coverage. I also believe that this institution will fit the genre of my magazine as it deals with magazine's such as Mojo which is mainly indie/rock based and Q, which is also mainly indie/rock but features a mixture of artists. I would like my magazine to have a similar house style and genre to Mojo and Q, so the Bauer media group would understand how i would like the magazine to be presented as they have prior knowledge and are already successful.

Double page spread Q magazine!

For my next double page spread analysis i have chosen an article from Q magazine as has a mixed genre ranging from indie/rock to pop/R&B. So it will be interesting to see how it differs from Mojo's article.

What first grabbed my attention here was the long shot of Shakira, the setting makes her look like a normal working girl, and indicates to the audience that this will be the main theme of the text, it is the achorage between the text and the picture. There is also another picture of Shakira which is a medium close up which is more "done up" than than the main picture, perhaps this is to show Shakira as a normal everyday girl at work and then later looking "glamorous". The picture suggests that the demographic is Shakira fans and mainly more females than males. Is this suggesting that we now live in a world where females are considered strong working women? This was a concern for theorists such as Laura Mulvey who thought that women were being overpowered and dominated by men, but this picture could be suggesting that women have now eventually won there right to be a strong working figure and are not subservient to men.

The headline is "Danger Shakira at work", we could relate this to the theory of Cohen's moral panic, the headline is trying to portray a moral panic situation. Headlines would read similar things in a real panic situation. The white headline contrasts against the picture used as the background so it is easily seen. The picture is a good size and is laid out nicely on the page so it looks as though the text is readable and there is not a ridiculous amount, which could put the reader off.

The article starts with a drop capitals, as most do as this is a main convention of articles and double page spreads. The text immediately starts with information about Shakira at work in the studio. You then begin to know that the text will be about her music and particularly her new song "she wolf". This requires a small amount of prior knowledge of the singer but not a lot as the article introduces what she does and gives information. If we deconstruct the text we realise the mode of address is very informal, like the article is interacting with everyday people, and particularly teenagers and Shakira fans. The article also sells Shakira as an artist; "she wolf the album is due for a 5 October release - will contain two songs recorded in both English and Spanish", this informs the reader and even impresses them to make them want to know more about Shakira and buy her album. The article discusses Shakira's recent work but then also includes quotes from her, to add a personal touch, it is not a full interview but is made to look like one, with things such as; "I used to be a shy girl", this lets the audience into her personal life and is more intriguing, this happens throughout.

A stapline is also used near the gutters; "I now go after my desires in a predatory way- with teeth and claws". Again this is a quote from Shakira the mode of Address is very informal this lairs the audience into wanting to read the article as many straplines also do.

The colour red is also used to indicate important parts, such as the writers name, the release date of her single and it is also the colour of her shoes. An average working girl would know that the bottom of her shoes being red probably means they are "Christian Laboutin" shoes and this could also connote that the target here is females/teenagers.

There is a small caption under the smaller picture of Shakira, "wouldn't you know it her clothes have fallen off again", this adds a hint of humor and could portray that Shakira is not just all work she also likes to "play".

Doves two page spread article!

I have chosen this doves article to analyse as part of my preparation for my own article. The text that immediately grabs your attention is the headline reading "Two Nights In Bird Land". Not only is this headline in Bold black writing on a bright yellow background it is also a pun on words- the band is called the doves (also a type of bird) and the headline uses the word "Bird land". The imagery used is realistic but uses unusual colours. There are three main close up pictures of the band members, they are in black and white with a white edging frame to catch the readers attention. The pictures are so realistic they could be compared to prison pictures, they are really close up and give you a realistic image of the band member's faces.

The main centre picture in my opinion looks like a low angle shot almost like someone is looking up at the band, they are the successful ones that we should look up to. The lights used in the background are dramatised even more. The colours of the lights are made so they stand out, particularly the yellow which is used throughout as a main colour. The bright lights make the picture look more exciting and eye-grabbing rather than just a normal picture of the band. When making my double page spread i will also edit my picture to make it look more dramatic. The colours here look "electric" and the picture looks alive.

The article starts off with a lead paragraph in bold as most articles do, it informs the demographic- (which could be said to be lovers of rock music/Doves) of what the article is about. In this small paragraph the writer uses the word "pound" a very powerful word to be used straight away, this language could suggest that the doves are also a very powerful successful band.

The magazines mode of address is very casual, like the writer is talking to a close friend, it is quite informal. The first line reads "Doves nominal frontman Jimi Goodwin doesn't smile much on stage". This is informative but yet not too formal and is more colloquial. The text then goes on to describe a gig at the Manchester Academy, the text is very graphic using many verbs such as pumping, pounding. The article then goes into an interview with quotes from members of the band, it does this throughout. This adds a personal touch to the text and allows the audience to connect with the band. The text ends with a positive point portraying that the band have a future and more success ahead of them.

You could say the layout of the magazine is the housestyle; the article is from the music magazine "Mojo", the genre of this magazine is mainly rock perhaps also indie. The layout is edgy with bright colours and large pictures showing the band in action, and with informal text, this keeps in line with the indie/rock genre and also the housestyle of Mojo Magazine.

There is a grey box in the right hand corner of the magazine, with extra quotes from the band, like a mini interview for the reader. It involves a lot of colloquial language such as "bloody hell" and is even more personal than the main article, it lets the audience into the world of the doves. The picture next to the grey box of producer William orbit is in very unusual colours, his face is in bright yellow while placed on a blue background, you would not normally see these colours used on an image. However they are used well as the picture stands out and if you where to know who it is you can identify with the image immediately. The blue and the yellow co ordinate with the colours used on the main image.

There is anchorage is the pictures just show what the text says, the text is personal and informal and so are the pictures of the band, but this is attractive to the demographic.

Kerrang Magazine contents page!

After debating over what other contents to analyse i decided to go for one from a magazine i would not normally read; Kerrang! it differs from the contents page of Q because its demographic is mainly just people who like rock music, whereas Q and NME are mainly indie/rock based but Q has elements of POP and R&B and also rap.

The yellow blocks over the straplines and text here really stands out to draw the audience in. I thought that the way the masthead saying contents is in yellow with a black background and the text displaying the pages is yellow on a blackbackground, they contrast nicely. This could be said to connote that the magazine style is unusual and "alternative" as it has different styles from others such as Q and NME. The yellow allows you to distinguish from the normal black text.

I also thought the imagery here was very unusual, there is a central picture of an artist which makes you think this is what the article will be about, but then there are also medium close up's and long shots placed in small frames around the main image. This gives the reader a clue as to what else to expect throughout the magazine.

A picture of the front cover is placed also on the contents page as a thumbnail size. By the look of the front cover the style is kept the same on both the contents page and the front cover. The Background is a grey-ish colour on both and the text is also bold on both. This may be the housestyle of the magazine.

The graphology is what we would expect from a rock magazine, edgy text and pictures in action, unlike pop magazines and mixed genre magazines where the pictures tend to be more "still" and airbrushed.

At the top of the contents there is a quote from Metallica, this is the headline on the front page, it corresponds with the quote.

All of the main coneventions are still present; list of pages and page number, one main focus picture, a quote from an artist and bold text for headlines and straplines.

Smash hits magazine!

I have decided to analyse Smash Hits magzine as it forms a different genre from the others that i have discussed. The demographic here is those who love pop music and this could be said to be aimed at females with typical colours being used such as pink, which often connotes females and "love". The mast head is in a sans serif font to stand out, even on different magazines of smash hits the masthead remains the same as this is a known convention of this magazine, all magazine's also have this known convention.

The main image here is of popstars "pink" and "Avril Lavigne". The layout is created as though it looks like they are in competition with eachother. With the main strap line being Avril V Pink, this is the achorage between the picture and the strapline i.e they are linked, the text displays the meaning behind the main imagery.

The colours used on this front page are very bright, even the text. It differs from magazine you would see today which are oftren more "contemporary" looking with a general colour scheme. The colours contrast against the pink background for a bright "wacky" effect. There are various puffs in bright text such as "AAARGH CRINGE", which will draw the audience into reading the magazine. Also the puff reading "FREE" is in bold capitals contrasting against the pink to stand out, again this would entise readers into buying the magazine. I have noticed that all music magazine's have puffs that include attractive information that will entise readers to buy that magazine; they are usually bold straplines.

The aesthetic here is a required taste, those who like "cheesy pop", this is in my opinion the target audience. As mentioned earlier this type of magazine layout would not be seen today as music magazines have progressed into a more abstract era, and look more proffesional.

The sell line here is "hogging the hits" it is not in really bold text but still can be seen. This could be compared to kerrangs sell line which is "Life is loud" alot more intruiging than "hogging the hits".

Pop music magazines as a seperate genre are not very popular, but music magazines such as Q feature different genre's from indie/rock down to pop including aritcles on people such as Beyonce and coldplay; the genres vary.

I have noticed that music magazines often quote what celebrities have said to attract a wider demoraphic, in pink bold text a quote from britney is "snogging Madonna was cool". This is used to make people want to buy the magazine and read this aritcle, the quote is in pink text to stand out from all of the other text. The colour pink is used alot on this cover, pink is always associated with girls and this is very stereotypical.

Quiz

I currently adding my questionaire to my blog, it is on the left hand side i would appreciate it if you took part in it as it will help me when creating my magazine.... thanks!

Beth Ditto: NME magazine

I chose this front cover to Analise next as it grabbed my attention and it i think it will help me when creating mine.

The first thing you immediately notice on the front on this cover is the unusual revealing picture of Beth Ditto. This is not representing the usual ideology of women. Women are associated with a polite nature other than the one shown here. Which is why we could call the picture a "moral panic". It is unusual to society, particularly to this magazine which is mainly male dominated showing a male artist or group on the front. Laura Mulvey's theory of feminism can also be seen here, Beth Ditto is the domineering female who will not stand to be passive to the male.

The words "Kiss my ass" written on her display her confidence and attitude towards success. The font here looks like it is a serif font, used to grab the readers attention.

The demographic that this magazine is focusing on is women, probably aged 17 upwards. The magazine has a more "girly" feel than usual we can tell this by the font used and even the lipstick marks on placed on her.

The yellow background is contrasted well with her red lipstick and red nails. Red is a theme used throughout so everything matches nicely. If a different colour was to be used it would spoil the cover completely. I have noticed the colour scheme is a main convention of all music magazine's then tend to have one main colour throughout, so it is recognisable as being that magazine. The colour red here may be used to connotate different things. For example red is often associated with love but also anger, or a perhaps a fiery personality we could pressume this is what is being said about Beth Ditto. We should love her for who she is and the "Kiss my ass" banner indicates us that she is "fiery" and lively.

Even though the cover is different to how it usually is, the house style is still present, it still contains the masthead in red writing so we can tell it is still NME, it is not unrecognisable.

The main strap lines are both printed in black this also contrasts with the yellow background, they stand out immediately.

Research about Indie Rock music

As i am going to be using an indie rock band for my magazine i have decided to do a little bit of research about the genre. This type of music originated in the 1980's in the United States and the United Kingdom, this type of music is sometimes released on independent record labels, rather than major record labels. A lot of sub genres are also associated and have an overlap with indie rock such as indie folk and dance-punk. Throughout the 1980's Indie rock was basically the same as alternative rock, well known bands throughout the last 20 years are bands such as Stone roses, radiohead and in this day in age we would call bands such as the Arctic Monkeys an indie rock band.

Analysis of Contents page of Q magazine!

I have decided to analyse a contents page from a typical Q magazine as i have previously analysed a front cover from this magazine.

The first thing that attracted me wen I first looked at this contents page was the text, the logo is red and the text reading 232, matches this, as though it is an important aspect of the magazine, the text at the bottom is also in red to attract the audience. Red can often be associated with warning or danger so it is a risky colour to use, but when it is used well it becomes welcoming and attractive.

The main importance of this page is clearly the close up of James Blunt; he is the main focus of this page, he takes up all of the room. Having studied other contents pages I think this is very unusual just having one picture that dominates the whole page. usually there are a number of thumbnail size pictures, or at least no bigger than a medium close up.

He is the domineering male (according to Laura Mulvey's theory of feminism). He could become an object that we look at voyuristically and fetishistically. This could be offensive to feminists as there are no females present or particularly mentioned on this contents page.

The background is white to keep the main focus as the image as it is a close up. The text showing the main contents is plain still keeping the picture as the main focus. The masthead is the same as it is always, displaying the masthead (logo) on the front cover and the contents page is a typical convention of music magazines.

This analysis will help me when creating the mock up contents page for my preliminary task, but mainly for my final music magazine. I have decided to label the important parts to help me get to grips with the conventions of a typical contents page.

ClICK TO ENLARGE DIAGRAM!

Band for my music magazine!

This the band i am going to be using for my final music magazine cover, i have decided to go for the theme indie/rock as i think this is popular these days and is becoming the new generation of music following bands such as the Kings of Leon and Arctic Monkeys.

I will use my own pciture for the front cover which will be a medium close up, i will also use a similar picture for the double page spread.

Any ideas on the type of picture i could take? colours, lighting, rule of thirds etc?

Q analysis

I will be analysing two front covers of magazines to help me with my coursework, feel free to add anything you think I have missed out when discussing them!

This front cover is a 2008 edition of Q, a popular music magazine which I am sure you have read or at least heard about. I chose this edition as it looks different to the typical Q magazines that are released. The text claiming "and now for something completely different" indicates this and is immediately talking about the band "coldplay", they have something new and different that us as an audience can read about. At the time they were currently releasing their album Viva la vida, so this may also be reffering to this.

Noticabley I am sure you will agree that this magazine is only attracting codplay fans, males or females this is the target audience. They are the main focus of the magazine and the masthead is entirely focused on only them.

We could apply the theory of Laura mulvey to this cover, Mulvey discusses feminism and how males are usually the dominant chracters, here is no different. Coldplay are the male dominant chracters making a "come back" no females are featured on the front of the magazine, nor are they mentioned. However we can also associated this picture with another thing that Mulvey disscussed; the male gaze. This means that males would look at this picture of the band and almost want to be them, to be like them because of their power and fame. Females may look at them and focus on them as an object of attraction or desire.

The image is different to the usual type on a magazine the cover is grey and dull and the background looks like it is western themed, it may be attempting to show that coldplay are out of their comfort zone and have become "different" to what they used to be. The masthead saying "coldplay" is bold but yet not standing out too much from the background, this could connate that the band have changed but deep down not really that much, they are still the old coldplay that fans love!

Q magazine has all the typical conventions of a magazine cover, a bold masthead, puffs, communicating information and the title of the magazine. The name of the magazine is in red as it always is as this allows the readers to immediately know what magazine it is, red is the trademark colour for Q.

feel free to add comments on my progress so far!

Q magazine

I have just noticed another convention off all magazines, although it is not really important- the bar code is usually displayed on the front of the cover, i will also have to use a bar code to make my magazine cover look realistic!

New Front cover (update)

This is the second edition of my preliminary task mock up magazine cover. What do you think of the picture? As you can see it is a medium close up and I think it shows what the text says; there is clear achorage. The text and headline talk about the singer "making it big" and the medium close up of a young pupil jetting off to live the "rock and roll" lifestyle. This portrays the school as being very successful and will hopefully draw in more readers when this picture is seen. I have used publisher to adapt the photo and crop it, when making my music magazine i will use photoshop and Indesign so the software is more capable of making my magazine look more realistic. Also i felt that using publisher and then using in design and photoshop will allow me, as a media student, to notice the progress and developments of media software and how a piece of work in Photoshop and Indesign can look alot more professional than using publisher.

preliminary task mock up

This is my premlinary task, before the big finish! After i have analysed it i will add a medium close up photograph and explain the meaning and conventions behind it. To start off desiging this front cover i chose a border, as you can see, i choose this certain one as it was bright but yet "edgy", i would also like this to convey that the school is bright and colourful, with perhaps an "edge". The colours on the border i have also used throughout the cover as font colours, this was so there was not a drastic difference in the colour scheme and so it is still pleasing to the eye.

The font throughout is Arial unicode MS, i decided this font would be an interesting choice as it is bold and eye catching but yet not too dramatic, just the right type suited to my magazine, this is one of the main conventions of magazine's particularly music one's such as NME; the font is bold and intruiging. The words "GCSE RESULTS EVER" are in red to communicate a bold message. Also the color red is often ossociated with love and happiness the fact that the school acheived the best GCSE reults of all time is a "happy" thing and this colour communicates this. Moreover the heart placed below the mast head matches this and also portrays happiness. This heart is also symbollic of the singer's (picture that will be placed on the magazine) love for music and his happiness that he has reached stardom.

The headline is in black writing so it is extra bold but has an orange border to match the main border, again keeping in line with the colour scheme. The message is that this school is bright and modern and very sucessful and i feel these colours stand out and show this message, it is the connotation. For the masthead I came up with the name "School PAS". This is symoblic and the "PAS" stands for parents and students, there is ideology between the two and the "PAS" shows the connection. I thought this was an intersting idea as it is different to a normal masthead. The font used for the masthead is unusual it is Arial unicode MS, i picked this font as it gave the shcool a "rock and roll" stardom feel. I would like some feedback on this to see if you agree?

The background i kept was white as it adds a clean feel i knew that if i changed it to another colour the picture in the end would not stand out as much as i had wanted it to. Also if the background has been changed to say, black this would connotate the school as dull and dark.

Finally i have added a mock up of what the contents page would look like.

Let me know what you think of my preliminary task so far, i will add any updates, thanks.

Also when adding this picture unfortunately parts of the text moves so the box indicates where the picture should be!

Hi welcome to my blog,

This blog contains all work completed for my As portfolio including all of the preparation and evaluations. I upload all of my work via my blog for you to look at frequently for any updates.

Your are welcome to leave any feedback comments that i could look at and use to improve my portfolio. I will also be including polls and perhaps questionnaires that people can participate in.

I hope you enjoy viewing my work! Melissa