My Products

After doing various drafts for my front cover, contents page and double page spread, the above are my complete and final products.

Evaluation Q1

Q1 Evaluation

Evaluation Q2

Evaluation Q3

q3 Evaluation

Evaluation Q4

Evaluation Q5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Questions for feedback (focus group) video?

1. Which existing magazine do you think compares to my magazine?
2. Do you think my magazine appeals to both genders?
3. Would you consider buying/subscribing to this magazine?
4. In comparison with other existing products, does the style of my magazine follow key codes and conventions?

I decided to video my audience to recieve feedback, as it felt it would more to the point than rather writing out an essay. Additionally i thought this was the most reliable way of of gaining audience feedback as it was direct feedback from my audience.

Evaluation Q6

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

Products;

Camera - Nikon Coolpix L820, product details -

• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 11.1 x 7.6 cm ; 472 g 
• Boxed-product Weight: 962 g
• Batteries 4 AA batteries required.

I used the above camera to take the photo's of my models in my magazine. Due to using a high quality camera I was able to produce high quality pictures that are good enough to be published in a professional magazine.

Prezi - is a cloud-based presentation software and storytelling tool for presenting ideas on a virtual canvas.

I have used Prezi throughout my work to present work and ideas.

Blogger - a publishing tool to allow me to share text, photos and videos

Throughout the course I have used blogger to showcase and organise my work. Using blogger has various advantages as it allows me to present my work in all different types of media forms.

Scribd - I used scribd as a digital software that allowed me to upload PowerPoint presentations to blogger.  

Editing in Photoshop by taraburton07

Evaluation Q7

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

Preliminary Task - College Magazine               Final Product - My music magazine

My Preliminary Task

For my preliminary task I had to create a college magazine front cover, the basis of this task was mainly in preparation for my final product on creating a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a music magazine. Additionally the preliminary task also developed my skills and gain experience in using Photoshop. The image below shows the certain aspects I have learned from the preliminary task and the skills that I have continued to develop whilst creating my final products.

Preliminary Task Continued ........

The following context shows a brief breakdown of my preliminary college magazine front cover compared to my final music magazine front cover. The benefits of doing the preliminary task helped me understand the key conventions that needed to be applied to a magazine front cover to make it effective to the targeted audience, as I found from my preliminary task it illustrated how unconventional it appeared and the mistakes I had made. For example it come to my notice that my college magazine did not conventionally follow the code of having three colours for the scheme, also there was no skyline. Through doing research for my music magazine, it came to my attention that from looking at existing magazines that when it came to planning I had to take into account the colour scheme, masthead, barcode, skyline, sell lines and I also learnt of the different types of shots that are conventionally used on the front cover of magazines.

Comparing my products

Comparitive Table

From the table above it is clear that the difference between my preliminary task and actual product is obvious, as I have developed my skills from producing the college magazine to including key codes and conventions in my actual music magazine which where significantly lacking in my college magazine.
 

 

 

final draft of double page spread

 

third draft of double page spread

2nd draft of double page spread

1st draft of double page spread

The above screen grab is of my the first draft of my double page spread, at the moment my double page spread follows a colour scheme that links to the front cover and contents page, however there are certain aspects that need to be changed within my double page spread to make it look more professional. For example there are blank spaces in the top corners of the spread that need filling, also the text needs to be rearranged so that the fold does not go through the middle of the text, finally I am going to change the image as i feel it does not associate well with the heading.

double page spread photos

These are the photos I have taken for my double page spread, I have chosen to use the amp as a prop as it signifies my artists association with music. Additionally I have also put my model in a different outfit because it is a conventional feature used in exsiting magazines for the artist to change outfits to show versitility.

Double page spread layout

The above is an image of my current layout of my double page spread, it follows a coventional house style, however this is just the current layout of how I would like my final double page spread to look like. However I am doing another photshoot with my model as I feel the image could be suited better for the quote on the double page spread. Also I am going to add the article onto this layout that I have scripted on my last post of the contents of the article.  

Double page spread article

She's bursting with confidence and is dead set on getting her first number one single, Aura has a world exclusive interview with pops new sensation Cher!

With two new singles reaching the top 10 from her debut album, Cher is the freshiest new artist to come out of the UK. Signed to a major record that carries the likes of One Direction and Justin Timberlake we believe Cher is heading for a number one any time soon.


T. Hi Cher

C. Hi, it's nice to meet you

T. You too, so lets talk about this upcoming new album.

C. [laughs] yeah there is that we can talk about, but yeah it's keeping me busy i'm very excited to release it and see what reaction I recieve.

T. I can imagine, well judging from your first two singles i'm sure it will be a success.

C. Thank you, I know i'm so grateful to all my fans as they've made it all possible for me to make the music i enjoy and lead the life that i do. Nothing beats the rush of perfoming live to your fans and hearing such a positive reaction.

T. Thats fantastic, back to your two singles reaching number 4 that is some achievement for a first timer!

C. [laughs] I know it still hasn't even sunk in yet, it's just great when you work on something for so long and the outcome is just as you wanted it to, also for other people to appreciate my music and enjoy it is also such a thrilling experience, it's great! [grins]

T. Well with such a great reception to your singles how is your album coming along, are hoping for equal success even a number one?

C. My album is going extremely well, i've just been putting in all my time and effort into producing an album that i feel portrays myself and my music, but a number one album i dont know about that [laughs] it obviously would be fantastic but with all those great artists out there I have stiff competition.

T. What initially inspired you album?

C. Honeslty, through growing up I was especially close to my older sister and she introduced me to a whole world of music that i just feel in love with and the feeling it gave me when i listened to it. I especially enjoy music from influential females from the 80's such as Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, therefore i wanted my album to be equally as influential as theres and be upbeat and have a 'feel good' atmosphere about them.

T. Well for one I am looking forward to listening to the finished product, i honestly believe you have the right attitude to make it in this industry and wish you the best of luck with your upcoming debut album.

C. Thank you ever so much, it was a pleasure as always Tara.

Final Contents Page

Editing in photoshop presentation

Editing in Photoshop Contents 2

3rd draft contents page

Editing in Photoshop - Contents page

Editing in Photoshop Contents

2nd draft contents page

 

This is my second draft for my contents page. 

First draft of Contents Page

This is my first draft of my contents page, at the moment I have clearly figured out the layout of my contents page, however in my next draft I am going to move the pictures into more of a conventional house style and not have the background visible in the bottom left picture. Also I think after looking back at this draft the page needs more colour to grab the reader attention. Finally where the masthead is displayed there is no date or issue number which needs to be added also, i think i may add a banner to make the masthead stand out more.

Taking Photos for my contents Page

From my previous post I have taken a screen shot of my contents page in progress, after taking additonal photos to follow the theme i wanted to, i found it hard to carry it out so have opted for an easier structure to follow here are some photos that i have taken for my contents page;

On the left are two similar shots that I have took for my contents page, the first shot is significantly better than the second shot because the second shot is slightly blurred and the composition of the shot is all wrong as the top of head is cut off and the end of the guitar is also cut of. Whereas the first shot has another room above the head to add text and the lighting is all right.

After taking the photos of my friend shown above, I also used my brother as a model, adding to this I also got my brother to use a prop so that it was noticable that he was featuring in a music magazine. The prop that I got him to use was a set of Beats headphones, here are some of the photos I took;

 

Contents page (layout)

Contents page

For my contents page I have followed a similar format to an exisiting pop magazine contents page, her is the current contents page.



I like this contents page because it fills the enitre space given there is no blank areas on the page, also even though the layout is unconventional to a regualar contents page it is easy to follow and pull the reader in because of the associated images around the text and the bold page numbers.

I am currently working on my contents page, here is a print screen image of the present but ongoing first draft of my contents page;

To the left is a print screen of my contents page that is in progress, directly I have only just set out my layout of my contents page. Similarly to the exisiting contents page above I have opted for the roughly comparable layout for example I have included to the far left a traditional 'welcome note' and underneath page numbers and article headlines. Adding to this I have also added a border to follow the colour scheme on my front cover which is yellow, black and green. At the moment I only have one picture but in my further drafts I am going to incude various other images related to the magazine down the right hand side and along the bottom on the green banner.  

Contents page inspiration

Contents page Inspirations

 

 

I decided for my contents page to research already exsisting contents pages to gather information on the layout and style. 

 

 

 To the left is a generic pop magazine contents page, I can tell this is a pop magazine because of the colour scheme and related images on the page. I like the layout if this contents page because it is easy to follow and simple for the reader to navigate. The layout of this contents page is bright and effective to the target audience. The text boxes and related images help understand the stylistic imapct and the genre of the magazine and age of readers (teenagers). Even though the layout is busy is understandable and creates an effective layout.

 

This magazine is relatively different to the above contents page as it is aimed at older readers and is of different genre, this magazine is linked to the rock genre this is shown through the stylistic layout and colour scheme, the use of dark colours and simple layout adds to the genre. However the layout is easy to navigate and understand making it equally effective as the above contents page but not as visually eye catching.

 

After looking at various magazine front covers for my inspiration I have decided to follow a simple house style, and follow the same colour scheme that is on my front cover. Similarly to the above magazine I am going to have related images to my magazine on the contents page. For the page numbers I am going to make them bold and eyecatching, so the pages are easy to find for the reader.