First magazine draft

First draft

Equipment

Equipment on Prezi

Contact Sheet

Contact Sheet

Sell lines, contents ideas and model release

Initial Ideas sketches

Production Log 14

I have now chosen what images I wish to use for my magazine and for what sections of it. This will save time as when it comes to creating my magazine, I will know exactly what images I wish to use. I am now starting to learn how to use indesign which is a new program similar to photoshop. Its quite easy to use. I've kept with my orange,black and white colour scheme which so far has gone well. I've only just started to create my contents page so hopefully I will be able to adapt more skills in Indesign to create a professional looking magazine. I have also scanned my initital designs that I will analyse shortly.

Chosen Image

Chosen Image on Prezi

This shows the images that I have taken, and have decided to use in my magazine. I have tried to select certain images for different parts of the magazine based on what I think would suit each part. I have also added some photos that I may not use incase I feel they would better suit part of the magazine instead of a photo I wish to use.

Production Log 13

I have now started to come up with some ideas for the magazine in more detail such as what I would like as cover lines and as my double page spread. I have made a mock up magazine to see how I could place these cover lines as well as a mock interview for my double page spread. Im now starting to put my whole magazine together after creating drafts and mocks of ideas that I want to use for my final finished magazine.

Draft Interview

Draft Interview

Rampage cover lines draft

rampage cover lines

Production Log 12

 While browsing on the internet at magazines. I came across this one by NME. I love the use of the colour scheme as even though it uses orange. It is very bland and basic. It is also a special edition cover, so you would expect it to be quite bold and significant. This is in its own way because of its simplicity whilst being able to still look professional and capture the eye of a reader. Having an animal in as a prop is also an idea that I really like, but wouldn't use in my own designs as I think this would be difficult to master. Overall I really like the look of this magazine, including the font in the very top right hand corner that states " Introducing the new NME"  I also like the blue NME front cover because i have used a similar guitar as a prop for my photoshoot. Therefore I could use a similar idea of matching the main masthead colour to the colour of the guitar.

Promotional Methods

Promotional Methods on Prezi

New media

New media

Production Log 11

Over the past week or so, I have come up with some name designs for my masthead of my magazine. They're quite dramatic and I think they fit very well with the name being "Rampage" as they look chaotic and stand out a lot. However I have slightly started to chnge the designs after coming up with some more basic ones recently that I will upload shortly. I want to start finalising what I want my masthead to be now that I have more of a clear idea of what I want and I know more about what colour scheme I want to use.

So now I know a bit more about what I want my masthead to be, I decided to start looking at some colour schemes to go with this. I know for definate that I do not want to use more than three colours and that black and white are most likely definately going to be used in my colour scheme. At the moment I am most drawn to using orange as the main colour for my magazine, but after looking at some other colour schemes im not sure if I prefer some others. But I plan to mess around with some colours for my masthead and see what I like the most.

Colour Schemes

Colour Schemes

Production Log 10

I have looked at what I would like my target audience to be for my magazine. To do this I had to look at things such as gender, interests, styles, and what my target audience would be aged around. To find out more about who already used magazines and the kind of audiences out there, I decided to make a survey to put onto my blog so that people could input some information about music magazines. This information really helped me to see what I should be including in my magazine and what draws someone in to read them. This survey also allowed me to know what age group mainly reads music magazines and therefore I now know that my magazine should be based around 15-18 year olds. My data also showed that people mainly bought magazines only when they liked what the main story was about rather than on a regular bases. A large majority said they bought magazines to find out about certain artists and interviews. Therefore I now know that I should focus largely on these things when making my own magazine.

Name Designs

Above are some name designs that I have come up with. These have allowed me to start thinking about what I would like to be for the masthead of my magazine and what sort of colours I wish to include. I like these because they stand out but I think I want to achieve something more simple so that the magazine looks more professional.



Music Magazine Survey

Click here to take survey

Target Audience

This is a generation of ideas for who I want my target audience to be. It outlines the main aspects of people I am aiming my magazine towards and why and how magazines are consumed by my target audience.

 



Target Audience on Prezi

Production Log 9

This week I have also created a mood board for my music magazine. The images include pop rock artists, such as paramore, and music magazine covers. I used this to generate some ideas into what kind of images I could create myself with my own models and what styles of titles I could use. This helped me a lot to get more of an idea about the genre of music I have chosen by being able to see how artists of this genre dress and look in an image. As well as being able to see more ideas about that the style of magazines are like.

I have trialled some outfits for both of my models as well as hair and makeup so that I can get an idea of what will look good for my photoshoot. I think it is better to test this before the day just to make sure that you have everything you will need to make the shoot look just how you want it to. I decided that Jemma is more girly pop rock than Seren, so I have decided to incorporate this into my magazine. Seeing as i'm doing a collaboration, I think it's good to have a clash from two different styles of pop rock. Therefore it would make a better story as people might not have ever thought they would have gone together to make a song. So I think that this will make my magazine more interesting to write about and for me to do an interview.

Production Log 8

Over the past week, I have done independant research into what I would like to do for my double page spread. I came to the conclusion that many music magazines usually consist of an interview. So i decided that this would be best for me to do. To know more about what I should do and ask for my interview, I decided to research what interviews are usually about and what is asked. I found out a range of questions that I could potentially use and certain topics that I could base the interview on. Such as a tour or a new album. Ideally, because my idea was to to be based on a collaboration between two pop rock artists, I have decided to do an interview about this and interview two people but include there answers for each question.

Props and Costumes

Here is a powerpoint showing all of my chosen outfits for my models so that I can start to decide what one I want for my final photographs. I have also included styles of hair and makeup so that I know exactly what I would like on the day. I have also thought of some props that I would like to include.

Props and Costumes

Mood Board

Mood BoardThis is a moodboard which I created to show a combination of ideas and styles that I like. It shows some pop rock artists such as Avril Lavigne and Pink. In the top left hand corner is an image of a Revolver magazine which has an image that I really like on it of two females artists which is something I would like to re-create. I also have an image of my two models which I am using.

Independant research- Interviews

This week we have been asked to do some independant research. I have thought about what I want to do for my double page spread and this is a interview. I need to think about what sort of things are usually asked or written about so that I know what to write for my own.

Layout of an interview:
The general layout of an interviw is usually one sentence followed by a short reply that gets straight to the point. There is never generally a long question followed by a long paragraph for a response. Having a quick detailed answer keeps the interview interesting and makes it straight to the point.

Bio:
Some interviews include a short biography or a little information about the artist they are writing about. This may be useful for people who are unfamiliar to the artist and don't know much about them. Some things that this include may be there age, how they came about becoming famous, and why they are into music. It can also include a personal background about them such as their age and where they grew up.

Topics for questions:
Most of the questions during an interview are based on a particular subject. When it comes to music magazine interviews, this is usually based on something such as a new album or a tour. Some interviews prefer to write about the artist generally such as new things that they have done recently and what they think about certain things. I would like to base my own topic on a collaboration between two artists.

Potential Questions I could ask:

• Why did you chose (name) to do the collaboration with you?

• What is the song based on?

• Who came up with the lyrics?

• Did you enjoy working together?

• Were there any disagreements?

• Would you work together again?

• Do you think people will like and relate to the song?

 

Production Log 7

This week I started to think of some name ideas for a magazine then decided to put them into a prezi. As I wrote one name, I began to develop it into something else and follow on from it. I ended up with two names that I really liked for different reasons. I was torn between Raw! and Rampage as name ideas. I liked the idea of Raw! because it was short and snappy and would suit being at the top left hand corner of a music magazine. However I realised that even though I had certain reasons for why this title resembled music, I thought that other people may not recognise it as a music magazine title. Therefore I decided to go for Rampage as I think it is better suited for the pop rock genre and fits in nicely with the music magazine industry magazine names already out there whilst still standing out as something new and different. My next step with my name idea is to create an image for it of how I want it to be displayed on the front cover which I will start to think about during the coming weeks.

Name Ideas

Name ideas on Prezi : This prezi shows a few name ideas that I have come up with for my magazine. I think that it is good to note down ideas as you can change or improve them to get the one that I am most happy with. I found that starting with one idea then led me to another so I started to develop my name ideas. I managed to come up with a good few ideas that I chose for different reasons. Now all I have to do is look over what I have come up with and see what I would like to use for my magazine.

Proposal for my magazine

My proposal


Above is a quick video explaining my first main idea for my music magazine.

In more detail, I have decided to come up with a music magazine that is based on a pop rock genre. I want my stories and photographs to be based on two female models who are doing a callaboration together for a new song. Pop rock is more aimed towards females, but I would like my magazine to be for both males and females. I think for my double page spread an interview would be best. I would like the magazine to be based on one that would be published weekly as I think is would gain the best popularity within the real magazine industry.

Production Log 6

When I first decided who to use as my models for my magazine and chose some ideas of what images to take, I wasn't sure what music genre they would suit best. However after researching representation of music genres and artists, I have learnt the differences between each genre I thought my images may be based on. I have decided that the category my style of photo will fit into best would be the pop rock genre. This is because there are a lot more female artists in this genre than the other two that I looked at. So seeing as both of my models are girls I think this was a good reason to choose this category. Another reason why I chose it was because it isn't as dark and serious as rock and not as bland and simple as indie rock. I want my photos to be edgy and look like its based on rock without being so dismal and heavy. I want the photos to look fun, but not pretty and girly like pop would be. Therefore I like the fact of pop and rock being combined as it merges what I want from each genre together.

Representation of Music Genres and Artists

Representation of Artists and Music Genres : This shows my analysis of how music genres are shown and represented within a magazine, as well as how the artists themselves represent the genre and how we can clarify what artists belong to what genre. This is useful to know because it will help me choose what catergory my models will fit into with the style of clothing and hair and makeup I would like them to wear. I want them to look like they are from a specific genre so this research will help me decide what genre they best represent.

Production Log 5

I have started looking at image ideas and generating a proposal for my magazine which will be shortly coming up once I have fully planned what im sure I want to do. Doing my research has really enabled me to start creating my own ideas so has helped me a lot. I've set the date for my photoshoot and i'm planning a date before it to test out hair,make up and clothing for my two potential models. Im going for a rocky edgy punk/indie look because it is what I think would look best in for a photograph. I think this sort of thing gets the most publicity which I have learnt as I have been doing my research. I would like to incorporate a prop such as guitar into the photos so I think my chosen genre of music would have to be one that uses a guitar within there music. So I couldn't base my magazine on a classical genre because they don't tend to use guitars so I don't think it would be suitable to use one. 

Image Ideas

Generating Photo Ideas on Prezi:

It's important to generate ideas for photographs as it enables you to test out different styles or ways of creating the perfect picture for the front cover of the magazine. I think its a good way of being able to mess around with a variety and see what I like best. This will save time as well because I won't have to decided what I want to do on the day of the photoshoot. By the time of the shoot I will know exactly what I want to do and create with my images and therefore this will provide me with the best possible outcome for my photographs.

Institution of Magazines

Institution of Magazines :Institution of magazines is useful to know about because it gives us an insight into how the world of how magazines work within an industry. We can find out how much of a large scale industry the magazines are and who in in charge of how they published. 

Production Log 4

I have been looking at codes and conducts of music magazines lately as part of my research. This has enabled me to know what I will need to include in my own magazine to make it look and stand out as a music magazine rather than just any magazine. It has to have special features to make it look specific. I havn't really thought much about what styling or how I want my codes and convetions be in my magazine as i'm still trying to get a basic idea of what I want my magazine to be about and the genre of music I want it to be based on. Before my research I wasn't too sure on the names of the things that had to be used in a magazine, however after this research I feel a lot more confident in knowing what I need to include. Hopefully I can now start to begin to gather ideas about where to use these codes and conventions and how I want them to be portrayed on and within my magazine.

Audience of music magazines

Audience Media: It is good to know about audiences of magazines. This is because it will help me get a better idea of who reads them, and why. It will also help me later on when I have to start planning who I want my target audience to be. There is no point aiming a magazine at 60 years old if only a small minority of this age group reads them. Therefore it is important I know who is best to aim my magazine at.

Existing Names and Mastheads

Existing names and mastheads on Prezi: It is important to look at existing names and mastheads so that you can get an idea of what is already out there so that you don't repeat what has already been done. However in this sense you could take an existing idea and make it your own and adapt it. Research into these will also enable me to see what if there is anything that has to be included in my name or masthead. 

Codes and Conventions of music magazines

Codes and Conventions of music magazines on Prezi

Front cover analysis 3

Adele Magazine Cover

Front cover analysis 2

Dr Dre and Eminem Music Magazine

Production Log 3

I have started to come up with some image ideas for my front cover. Although I know what image ideas I would like and what style I would like them to be based on, I do not know what genre they would best suit. I know that I would like my magazine to have have rocky pop look. But because I haven't done my research yet I am uncertain of what genre my images would fit into. This is something that I could research so that I know what genre to base my magazine on.

Double page spreads

Three double page spread analysis:

From looking at these double page spreads, I have managed to start coming up with some ideas as how to layout my own. Columns tend to be the best way to put large amounts of writing on the page as it is a typical layour for a magazine because of the benefits it has. It makes it easy for the reader to see, makes the page neat and makes there appear to be little writing even though it is filled with information. The last point is helpful because people won't want to read lots of writing. They will just want whats most interesting and important from the interview or story. A main photograph is key. It generally takes up one page so it has to be of good quality as any faults or imperfections would be clearly seen by the reader. It usually links with the main story in some way and the hair, make-up, costume and props will also link to this.




Mcr Double PageLily Allen Double PageFlorence Double Page

Contents page analysis 2

Final two contents page analysis:

I have completed my three contents page analysis. This has given me an insight into thinking about what needs to be in my own and how to style it. Colour and co-ordination of how it is set out is important to make the contents page easy to use and read, whilst allowing it to look attractive and interesting.

Below are the two contents page analysis:

Kanye West contents pageRolling Stones Contents Page

Contents page analysis

Contents Page Analysis:

I did my first contents page analysis today out of three. My first impressions were that they have to involve and clearly state what the magazine contains. This could be a key selling point for a magazine as if what the reader sees doesn't interest them, they won't want to buy it. If the contents page isn't clear or easy to read, people may get frustrated that they cannot find what they are looking for. So design is crutial for making sure that the page can be clear and fluent to read and use as a guide to find what they are looking for and to see what the magazine contains.

Here is the link to my first contents page analysis:Contents Page Nme

Front cover analysis

Music cover analysis Madonna

Production Log 2

Music magazine analysis:

On friday and over the weekened I have been analysing 3 front covers of music magazines. I really liked this task as it allowed me to learn about how magazines are set out and arranged and what styles and techniques are used to attract an audience. A few things I picked up on were the use of large main photos as background images, colour schemes, titles and subheadings. All of which make the covers attractive, easy to read, and appealing to buy. They easily show that they represent a music theme as the magazines were based on music and use the above to show this.

It has made me start to think of some ideas for my own music front cover page and what type of shots and photographs I could use. The main thing im focussed on trying to start picturing is what genre of music I want to base my image on e.g indie music, rock, pop. Another thing I have started to consider is the layout as most of these magazines have similar layouts.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task: Completed

I've completed my preliminary task. Above is the front cover and contents page of my school magazine for Haydon High School which I decided to call the "Haydon Weekly". My ideas about this magazine were thought about quite quickly due to some time restraints and how little I knew about how to use photoshop. Which is a shame because I think with the ideas I had, if I knew how to produce them using photoshop it would have turned out a lot better. I think i've stuck to the very minimal and basics, especially with my contents page. I'm not too impressed with what my final contents page looked like in the preliminary task as I think it looks unprofessional and a bit scruffy due to my editing and a clash of writing with background. However I think this is something that can only be improved and considering I had never used photoshop before until doing the preliminary task I havn't done too bad.

Despite my unhappiness with my contents page I am quite happy with how my front cover turned out. I didnt want it to be too crammed with information and writing on the front cover as you don't usually see school magazines with  lot of this. So based on this I decided to just mainly focus on a good photograph that kind of speaks for itself about what the main story was about. The style of my magazine was based around the school (as I think it should be for a schools magazine), so I stuck with using the schools main colours (blue and yellow) and incorporated a lot of the schools emblem within the magazine.  

Production Log 1

Preliminary Task:

In media today I was told that we were required to do a preliminary task for our media coursework. Our task was to get into small groups of 3-4 and each take photos around school for a front cover and content page of a school magazine. However we were only allowed to use a mid-shot for the front cover.

Once I had taken all the photos I needed, I headed back and started work on the magazine cover. I had never used photoshop before, so it was interesting to try and figure out how to use it. After a little help and a bit of experimenting, I edited the photo I wanted to use, and began to produce my front cover.

I found it a little tricky at first, but I think with more practice my work will start to improve and develop.