Draft double page spread

This is my draft for my double page spread, i asked one of my peers to assess this so I can improve my work, he said:
"I like the overall plan and layout of the spread as it follows alot of conventions shown in the very popular rolling stones magazines. The only thing you could improve on is by linking the two pages with the large J and/or adding a caption on the main picture linking to the text and adding page numbers to link with contents page and front cover."

Draft contents page

These are two drafts of my contents page. I got my peer to asses my work so I could improve my work, he said:
"The background is very plain on the first draft and the pictures at the bottom are stretched. Although the big main picture is well edited it has no relevance to the contents page. Both of the mastheads are very basic and could be improved by following more conventions."
"The second draft is a little bit better as the background is not as plain but the pictures and font again are not very good and do not link in with both the genre and conventions."

Draft cover page

These are my three drafts of my cover page I will be using for my magazine. I asked a peer to assess my work they said:
"The first two drafts are very basic and lack detail/information, I do not like the star on the first one as a kicker and the picture that is being used as the main picture are not well enough edited and could be better."
"The third draft was much better as there is more detail and the picture is more simple and fits in better. The font the subtitles are in though does not go with the genre and does not follow any conventions shown in existing magazines. The banner/picure are also very basic."

Double page spread mock ups

Contents page mock ups

This was my first attempt of designing a contents page. I asked a peer to review my first attempt and this is what they said:
'You could do with more subheadings from the magazine pages. This is because there are alot more stories in a magazine and you have only listed a few of this, therefore the audience will not no where things are in the magazine.'
'There is also a lot of dead space on this contents page where you could have included more information or pictures to make the page look more professional'
'The font used on the page also needs to be smaller so that more information can be fitted onto it'

This was my second attempt of designing a contents page. I asked a peer to review my second attempt and this is what they said:
'I think that this is the better of your two contents mock ups'
'The picture you have used as the background goes well with a music magazine'
'You need to include alot more information about what is inside the magazine though so that the audience will be able to find things in the magazine which they want to read without flicking through all of the pages.'
' To improve this contents page I think you could change the colour of the blue box where the writing is to a colour which suits and blends into the picture better.'

cover mock ups

This was my first mock up of a cover page. i asked a peer to review this cover and this is what they said:
''There is alot of dead space on the page which could be filled with subheadings and other stories included with in the magazine to improve it.'
'The banner is also placed at the bottom of the page which doesnt stand out to the audience when they look at the magazine. To improve this you could try and experiment with the banner by placing it in different places which would make it stand out the the audience.'

Layout of my media product ideas

This is a brief layout of my cover for my media product I intend to follow. It follows most of the conventions shown by successful media products.

This is my layout for my contents page. Again it follows familiar conventions of successful magazines in my genre.

 

Colour Scheme

These are the main colours I have chosen to use on my final product. I have chose these colours as from the website above I have found that they all complement each other well and represent my target audience, I found this from finding other colour schemes from popular magazines in my target audience.

Image planning

Model:	Callum Morgan.
Camera height/angle/distance:	long shot / straight ahead / approximately 4 metres away.
Location:	Work building.
Lighting:	Nothing added, natural lighting.
Mise-en-scene (including props, costume) :	Modern, casual, informal clothing which is similar to what type of clothing the target audience wear. Large building staircase (blocks)
Attempted connotation:	A feeling of no care and in-formalness, coming from a poor or working class background.
Planned denotation:	Subject posing, looking confident, reflection the life or representation of the target audience.
Contingency (in case of model absence/weather):	If model was absent I would find a different model or wait for my current model to return. The weather will not make a difference other than a lack on natural light in which case a form of unnatural light would be sourced and used instead.
Alternate angle:	I could of used a high angle shot to show the dominance of working class life in an old large building. The angle would show the stairs being above the model representing the height he has to climb to become successful.

Lanuage and Register

This is an article from the rolling stones magazine, I have used this magazine as an example of the kind of lagnuage and register i will be using in my magazine. This article shows how the magazine in its genre appeals to the audience by being both formal and informal at the same time. This is shown by such quotes as "stretch its big feet", this contrasts with the quote "notable artists" as one is a more informal slang metaphor whilst the other being a more sophisticated subsection of artists. I will follow the same language and register in my magazine.

Masthead designs

 

Font research for music magazine cover

I chose this font because it stands out well and will make my title more effective and attractive to the audience.

I chose this font because it will be effective in relating to the genre of music the magazine is showing and will make the title again stand out and look relative to the magazine.

 I chose this font because it relates to the youth of today and the genre of music that could be chosen for this magazine. It relates to the target audience well and reflects the style of the genre.

Primary Research

 

 

I did some primary research to find out what the majority of my target audience of males between the age of 16 and 35 preferred in terms of genre. My research shows that most of my target audience prefer indie music.

 

 

 

 

Target Audience

This is my research for the target audience for my genre of magazine i will be creating. I have got these statistics from the rolling stones official website as that is the closest magazine to mine in the particular genre. The rolling stones magazine will also be the magazine i will copy and develop conventions of. The statistics show that my main target audience will be male adults aged 18-30.

Evaluation of the preliminary exercise.

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a school magazine?

-My magazine uses a medium close up image which is very conventional for magazines of its type.
-I used some conventional fonts for the more unimportant information on my cover and contents page whilst using unconventional fonts to highlight the more important information so that they get all of the detail needed.

2) How effective is the front page of your magazine in focusing on the ethos of the school?

- My front cover is effective in focusing on the ethos of the school as it shows as the main picture a student in smart uniform dressed appropriately, this shows the schools strict uniform rules and how they are followed by pupils.
- Secondly the small picture on the bottom left shows a student working hard on a computer, this reflects and focus' on the hard working side of the school.

3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

- One person who looked at my magazine cover and contents page commented on the blandness of the contents page compared to the front cover, I have learned that I need to add more to the contents page so that it does not go from a lot going on to a little going on.
-The same person also commented on the amount of detail used in both pages, I have learned that I need to explain more on points and contents of the magazine.

4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research planning and evaluation stages?

- First of all I researched existing magazines by using the internet and other school websites to see what they have produced this gave me a good idea of what to add in my school magazine.
- Secondy i used fireworks to produce my product, fireworks allowed me to manipulate and create relevant images and shapes in order to complete my product.

                                                          

Preliminary Contents Page

Preliminary Cover Page

Prelim products layout

 

Semiotics

Semiotics - the study of signs and signals. (a way of understanding the literal and possible meanings of images and words).

Denotation - The actual meaning of words

Connotation - An association with a word (emotional)

negative

There are over 2,000 vagrants in the city.

neutral

There are over 2,000 people with no fixed address in the city.

positive

There are over 2,000 homeless in the city.

Another example of this would be the colour red. The colour red is red but gives of the emotional feeling of love or danger.

Image plan

Model:	Ben Simpson
Camera height/angle/distance:	Medium close up / straight ahead / approximately ½ a metre away.
Location:	ICT room.
Lighting:	Room lights above head.
Mise-en-scene (including props, costume) :	School uniform, computers.
Attempted connotation:	Moving around in class room, free, hardworking.
Planned denotation:	School boy in class room wearing correct uniform.
Contingency (in case of model absence/weather):	Use another member of the school, weather would not affect the shoot.
Alternate angle:	High angle making the student look like he is being looked over/after and or being tutored.

Colour Scheme for prelim

In order to produce the right colour scheme for my target audience for my school magazine I took the colours currently used by the school and use Adobe Kuler in order to get the correct complimentary shades.

Colour Schemes for Preliminary task

I have chosen to use blue as the main colour scheme for my preliminary task, I have decided to use this as my main colour scheme as from my research I found that it was the main colour on our school website. This would be a good idea to follow this colour scheme as it would be recognizable and attractiing to the pupils wo attend the school.

Font reviews for magazine cover

 

I have considered using this font on my front cover as it is very attractive and represents hand written text which resembles school work. It is easy to read and could make a very good font for the mast head as it does not loose attractiveness as it gets bigger.

 

 

I have also considered using this font because is stands out alot and could highlight a big story or a section of the cover. The font is very original and will give the cover a look of more class.

 

 

I chose this one lastly to consider to use as my masthead as it represents and old school font and would make it easily recognizeable to the students. The font is a plain black and white colour so that it is easily readable and should blend into any background nicely.

 

 

 

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Typical Cover for school magazine

 

This is a typical school magazine cover highlighting the main events happening around the building. The cover isnt very detailed and the person has used alot of colours and fonts. It has the basic masthead, subtitles, main picture and logo. There is some simple layering with the subtitle and the main picture all in all it is a very simple, basic cover.

Double page spread reviews

 

 

 This double page spread on the hit film avatar uses alot of different fonts and colours to make the spread seem more exciting and appealing. The red and white blends well with the blue and green used for the pictures from the film. The main picture highlights the two main characters in the film and straight away makes you recognize the adverts on the TV. The fonts used are very simple and easy to read, they also blend in well with the house style. The kicker is also used well as is takes up an otherwise usless part of the spread this makes it also more eye catching.

This double page spread is from a music magazine, the artical is on a heavy metal band. The housestyle and colour theme goes along with this genre as the background is dark red and black
other than a side article that is on top of a white box making it stand out more. The fonts used is also very relative to the genre as it is very gothic, this relates to the reader. One page is used for the main picture that is overlapped by the title of the article and the kicker on the left hand side. This spread is mainly picture orientated to interest the reader in the article and very genre based.



 

This double page spread is different to the other two as one side of the spread is dedicated to on person/picture. The picture is a medium close up as you can see his shoulders and face this focuses on the artist not the background. The housestyle and theme of the spread is a more olden days look in the 1900's, the colours are all black and white other than the big "D" overlapping all of the text, this is to represent the name of the magazine.

Magazine contents page reviews

On this contents page the sections are sepereated by different fonts and large number to make it easy for the reader to find the page for the most interesting story. It  keeps the same theme throughout as it makes it more simple and easier on the eyes. The subtitles in bold are followed by a small paragraph that is used to describe the story and draw the reader in to want to read more. The use of red draws the audience towards the main contents on the page. One picture is used for the background to keep it simple, the image is also used to promote a main story in the subtitles.



This contents page from the magazine Vibe uses a more complicated contents page as there is alot going on with the fonts of the subtitles and the jacket being worn by kanye west. The title of "Contents" is a regular and there for can get away with its more complicated layout. The subtitles are in the same bigger, bolder font that is followed by another list of numbered pages to advertise news and stories. The colour scheme used is very plain/grey, other than the red heart over the picture this brings the audience's attention to it.


This contents page again follows a specific colour scheme (black,red and white). The subtitles are
split up into different sections, one in a red box and the other section blended into the background. the fonts used are all the same other than the size and colour which varies from the title, subtitles, the information and the page numbers. The red box is used to attract the audiences attention and to want to read into in this case the 100 greatest albums ever. The background is used as it is very plain and advertises one of the singers in the stories.

Analasys of existing magazine covers of my music genre

The colour, font and size of the masthead show the dominance and power the company believes to have over other magazines. The deep dark colours shown all over the cover link back to the masthead as they are the same colours but lighter shown again the dominance of the title and the company. The fact that eminem is covering the title therefore suggets he is bigger than the magazine and music its self, nothing is shown covering any image of him. The subtitles around the picture and the center of the screen this shows how they are less important than the main story or stories, they are also in a more plain/bland shades than the title. The kicker in the top right of the magazine cover is advertising something else inside the magazine the fact that it stands out from everything else shows how it may be another big thing of the magazine but is not as important as the main story. The whole image created by the picture of eminem and the fonts/colours is that he is a criminal that can not be touched by anyone, due to none of the fonts over lapping him, coming clean. This is shown by the tattoos and black, dark clothing and the facial expression from the long medium shot. The font sizes on the cover vary to the relavance and to the importance of the story, for example the main story linking to eminem is in big bold writing over shadowing everything else. This has the effect of attracting the potential buyer to the story that they will be more interested in.




The mast head in this magazine cover is more simple compared to others of its type, this suggests a simplicity to the stories inside and to the main story about wiz khalifa. The medium close up image of Wiz shows him to be very cocky and confident, but at the same time the fact that one of the subtitles crosses over part of his face in a big, bold font suggest she may not be the biggest story in the magazine. The fonts used on the subtitles are all the same in each section following the same colour scheme, the fact that Wiz Khalifa's name is completely different from the rest shows he is different and important. The clothes he is wearing also suggests a back story is present and there is more to him and the story than what is on the cover. Also the subtitles on the cover are only on one side of the page, the side it is on links with the eye Wiz Khalifa has shut. This suggests there could be two different sides to the story and or even the magazine. Lastly the fonts used on the subtitles are all straight standard fonts which represent a more formal side of the magazine, this is changed when at the bottom of the cover "Wiz Khalifa" is written in a more informal font linking again to the cockyness shown by the picture and mise en scene.



The masthead in this magazine is very poor and blends into the background making it hard to read. This could suggest that the page is not very important and the picture is bigger than the story itself. The fact that the girl in the cover is blowing up a comdom suggests that she is very seductive which aims the magazine more at men than women as their target audience. Also there is no other stories or subtitles other than the small print at the bottom which suggests the magazine could be a special edition. The colour scheme suggests that the magazine is aimed at a younger target audience as the colours are very bright and not very sophisticated. The font the main story is in is spread out, this suggests that it is meant to be big and dragged out.

Introductory Post

Hello, my name is Ryan Scragg and this is an introduction to my AS media study blog. Through out this course I will be researching and designing a musis magazine. To start off with I will create a new school magazine for my school, this will lead me to researching relevant, well known music magazines in the genre I will be choosing to create. I will follow, adapt and create conventions shown in these magazines in order to create my own.

From right to left: Me (Ryan Scragg), Callum Morgan.