Technical Guide

I used photoshop to create my magazine. I used photoshop to do the following:

• Cut images and smooth the edges
• Edit the images I used
• Use shapes to add effect to my magazine
• Create a barcode
• Layout the magazine
• Choose the fonts I wanted to use

When I was doing this I used tools that photoshop had. These were:

• The move tool – to move images, fonts and other shapes I had included on all the pages I produced. I used this tool to layout my magazine.
• The zoom tool – to zoom in and make sure there weren’t any extra bits on the images, and to cut out these extra bits that were not needed. I also used this tool so I could position all the elements on my page.
• The eyedropper tool – I used this so all the colours I used were the same. This tool enables you to choose the same colours that are used throughout the pages produced.
• The rectangular marquee tool – I used this to pick certain parts of the image I wanted to use in my magazine. I also used it to move the parts I wanted onto different pages.
• The magnetic lasso tool – I used this to cut out the model I used in my photos so the curtain that was in the background was not there anymore. This tool is used for doing this.
• The horizontal type tool – this is the tool you use to choose your font, how big it is and the colour of your font.
• The spot healing brush tool – I used this to edit the models on the picture and remove any unwanted bits on the image.
• The eraser tool – this is used to rub out parts of the image you don’t know want so the image looks tidy.

This is the tool bar in photoshop where you can find all of the tools.

Final Drafts

 Front Cover

 Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Orignal Images

Rough Cuts





Front Cover

Feedback:

Like:

• Strong colour scheme, good use of colour in text.
• Looking wise this has real potential.
• The '+' sign.

Improvements:

• Make title bigger and put it higher.
• Take picture again - too blurry, model looks bored.
• Lots of dead space, fill it.
• Brandon Flowers font is difficult to read. 



Contents page

Feedback:

Like:

• Good continuation of style, start of a good layout.
• Love the drop down on the 'N'.
• Love the left half.
• Like the colours.
• Like the pictures.

Improvements:

• Don't like the circle in the top corner.
• Too much dead space.
• Image is boring.
• Remove the star thing at the bottom.
• Make page numbers on the images larger.

Double Page Spread:

Like:

• Good layout, top section looks pro.
• Like the colours.
• Like the circle.
• Like the title.
• The best element of the project.

Improvements:

• Don't like the responses centred. Justify them.
• Image is too plain.
• Wheres the magazine name and page number?
• Questions different colour.
• Can't read the writing in the black box.

Initial Ideas

Diary Entries

Diary Entry – 7^th February

This week in lessons, I started off by looking at music magazines and the codes and conventions that the magazines include. I also started to begin to analyse the front cover, contents page and a double page spread. We looked at a different range of music magazines such as Kerrang, NME and Q.

I then started off planning my initial ideas. On this I had to think about what I wanted as the title of my magazine, what to include on my front cover, contents page and double page spread and also my target audience and what colour scheme I wanted for my magazine. I did this on a3 paper as a spider diagram. At the end of this week I was also given work to do while I was on holiday and for half term.  

Diary Entry – 14^th February

I didn’t do any work this week as I was on holiday.

Diary Entry – 21^st February

This week was half term and I started to finish all the work I was given. I started off by analysing the 5x front covers, 5x contents pages and 5x double page spreads. I analysed 2 NME magazines and 3 Q magazines. This took me quite a while to do, and I spent much of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday finishing all of them off. On the Friday and Saturday I started writing out my questionnaire and started to ask people. I asked 30 people, and splitting it between male and females, asking 15 of both sex.

Diary Entry – 28^th February

This week I gathered my questionnaire results and started to convert them into graphs. I used the spreadsheets to do this. After I converted them into graphs I analysed my results. In the analysis I stated what I would do in my magazine to appeal to a wide demographic and more importantly my target audience. I also finished my initial ideas off by adding colour to it to make it stand out. I then put everything onto my blog.

In lessons I have started to look at how to plan my photos, and also I have started to draw up my initial sketches of the front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Diary Entry – 7^th March

This week I was on work experience and I went to a design company where I took some of my ideas from. I drew my initial sketches this week and some of my ideas came from the work I had looked at during this week. I finished planning my front cover and contents page, I have finished some of my double page spread sketch but need to finish that.

I chose the articles I would also include on my front cover and contents page.

I also planned 2 photos I want to use in my magazine. I still have 2 more to plan.

Diary Entry - 14^th March

This week I finished drawing my double page spread sketch and I also finished planning my other images that I want to take. I will take the images in the media room in school and one outside of the school.

I started to put my front cover and contents page together as the deadline for the rough cuts was in a couple of weeks! I completed my front cover and most of my contents page by the end of this week.

Diary entry – 21^st March

I finished my contents page this week and started off with my double page spread. I also took my photos this week to add to my contents and front cover. It took me the full week to finish my double page spread.

I also took the photos for my double page spread and added them to finished product.

This was successful as all of my rough cuts were ready to upload for the deadline.

Diary Entry – 28^th March

This week I added my rough cuts to the final folder for my teachers to look at.

After this we looked through them in class and gave feedback to everyone to help them improve their magazine.

With the feedback I received I started to improve my magazine for the final cut.

I also planned another couple of photos to take as some of my photos were blurry.

Diary Entry - 4^th April

This was the final week before the deadline for the final cuts and blog to be finished. I finished adding all my improvements to my front cover, contents page and double page spread.

I also got all of my work together so it is ready to upload to the blog in time for the final deadline which is Thursday 14^th April next week. This was quite a good week as I got a lot of work finished and ready to upload to the blog.

Magazine Analysis

Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread Analysis


NME 1 

This front cover is dominated by one image which is a medium close up shot of Carl Barat and he is the main article of this magazine. This seems to happen in most magazines, the image on the front cover is the main article in the magazine. The look of seriousness on the models face shows that the article inside will be serious. This happens on a lot of magazine front covers as the look on the face of the model will convey the emotion of the article inside the magazine. Telling the reader who it is and giving a little quote from the article will entice the reader into wanting to read the magazine. Using ‘I’ve got a right to tell my story’ shows that the article will be interesting and exciting because it sounds rebellious.  The title of the magazine is big and stands out. The magazine has a chosen colour scheme used on the front cover which is blue, red and white.  Magazines tend to use 3 colours for a colour scheme. This is affective because it makes certain lines of text stand out so the reader may read them straight away and think ‘I like the sound of that’ and may lead to them buying the magazine.

 Telling the reader what is inside the magazine is always on front covers of magazines, because this appeals to the audience as they may find an artist they are interested in are on the front cover and then buy the magazine. Most of this seems to be on the left hand side of the magazine as this is the way people read, from right to left.

The codes and conventions I will take from this are the 3 colour scheme, and the look on the face of the model I use to show the emotion of the article I choose to do.  A smile and laughing for a funny and interesting article, or a serious look for a serious and interesting article. 

On the contents pages you tend to find offers for the magazines to come cheaper. You also find images of what the article is about with a quote from the article and the page number. They chose catchy quotes to interest the reader. Also you find listed articles with the page numbers. There is always a line that says ‘Inside this week’ or ‘In this issue’. A simple colour scheme is used on the contents page which is black white and red. The text from the title NME on the front cover looks the same as the text used on the contents page.

The codes and conventions I will take from this are using the same text throughout the magazine. Also advertising offers for the magazine to be cheaper by subscribing to the offer. 

The codes and conventions of a double page spread are the image shows the main person in the article. There are also quotes from the article to what the person has said. The title is big and bold which makes it stand out to the rest of the article. The title of the article normally has the main person’s name in it. The title of this article is linked to the image in this article as he is pointing a gun towards to the camera and the title is ‘Carl Takes Aim’. The image is a medium close up. The article is made into columns where Carl has been talking. The interviewer’s questions are in a different text to Carls answers in the interview to make it more clear for the reader.

The codes and conventions I will take from this are using a different font for the interviewer’s questions and the person’s answers. Also giving a catchy quote from the article on the main image. 

NME 2 

There is a simple colour scheme which is black, red and white. Part of the NME title is covered, which suggests that the magazine is so well known the full title doesn’t need to be shown as people will know what it is. Page is dominated by 1 image and in the image is the band which the magazine has a special tribute issue about the band. In the title The White Stripes, the RIP in ‘Stripes’ is in a different colour to the rest of the letters because they have decided to split and this is really effective as they were so well known and people will be gutted about the band splitting up. Something different on this magazine is they do not show what else is in the magazine as they are just focusing on The White Stripes. Instead they just tell you what the special tribute article is about. They are also giving away free posters which will appeal to a wide demographic, especially if they like The White Stripes.  The band will have a huge constituency so NME can be very confident that the magazine will sell.

From this I think I will include the posters part and link it to the bands I include in the magazine, because people that like the bands may buy the magazine to get the posters and read articles about the bands. 

‘Inside this week’ is used again. Another offer is given so the reader can save money on the magazine. Images are shown to show the reader who the article is about, and what the article is about. The images have numbers on to tell the reader what page it is. The images are of the people that are involved in the article. There is also an explanation about what the article is about, and a quote from the article. They have the ‘Plus’ section on the contents page to tell the reader what else is in the article. They have a simple colour scheme on this page which is white and black, with the subscription part in blue to stand out on the page and catch the reader’s attention.

From this contents page I might take the subscription offer and put it into my magazine as I think more people may buy the magazine if they can receive it for cheaper. 

The writing in this article is put into columns. The images show the people that the article is about. They show more than 1 image of the people having fun which suggests they had a good time. They have columns like the red one on the image, which tells you about the woman in the picture. The box on the left hand side which has a black background is very effective. It has quotes from other professionals and their fans about how gutted they are that The White Stripes have broken up. I think getting a reaction from the fans can make the article a bit more interesting.  This article also follows the main colour scheme which is red, white and black.

From this article I might try and include the fans reactions and other professional’s reactions in my article. 

Q 1 

Front cover dominated by 1 image which is of Liam Gallagher, who will have a huge constituency. The main article will be about his new band Beady eye which is why he is the main image on the front cover. The other band members’ being in his glasses suggests he is the main man in the band and he is looking at them seriously. The serious look on his face suggests that they are back in business. The image is a close up of Liam Gallagher. The quote from the article will interest people because he calls his brother a ‘tit’. They have listed what else will be in the magazine all over the front cover. Because they have put so much on the front cover, the readers will be able to see what is in the magazine and they are more likely to see something they like because of this, then they will buy the magazine. There is a simple colour scheme which is red, black, gold and white. This will appeal to a wide demographic because they will be interested in what the band members of oasis are doing after the band have split.

From this I will consider putting a lot of the bands that I include on the front cover because I think people are more likely to buy it if they know what is inside.   

The colour scheme has continued onto the contents page. There are images of the content in the magazine to let the reader know what they will be reading. Images have page numbers. The biggest image is of Liam Gallagher, and his band is part of the main article in which the magazine focus’ on.  They have a regular’s column which lists what they involve in the magazine every month. The issue 296 shows the magazine is massive and successful. They show the front cover on the contents page. The heading contents, is made very clear by the word being in black on a red background. Showing the actual double page spread as an image is telling the reader they may like these articles as well as the other images shown. Giving a review at the bottom of the page lets the reader know which bands and artists are interviewed or reviewed.

In my magazine I think I will include the front cover being shown on the contents page because I think it looks very effective. 

The interview is made into columns. The interviewer’s questions are bold while the answers are not to make the questions stand out. Also the answers are giving by different people from the band and the initials of the people are used to show who is answering. The red boxes give the reader knowledge about their career. They looked really laid back in the image which suggests they are confident that they could do well. The image is a long shot of the band. The subtitle ‘What EYE once was’ is good because they use part of the band name and it explains what they once were.  This will appeal to a mass demographic as the band once were oasis, who will have a huge constituency.

From this DPS I like the red boxes where they talk about their own career, it gives the reader some knowledge about the band. 

Q 2

Part of the title of the magazine is covered showing that the full title does not need to be shown because people will know what the magazine is anyway. The look on the models face suggests he is ready and it’s the bands time to do well and he is serious about it. Simple colour scheme which is red black white and gold. Listing what is in the magazine is also effective because people are more likely to see a band or artist they like and therefore will buy the magazine. The front cover is image dominated. The front cover also gives a quote from the article. Having a lot about British bands and artists means that this will immediately appeal to a British audience as this will interest them a lot. Large bold title to stand out.

Including British bands and artists is something I will consider to put in my magazine. 

Show the front cover on the contents page, showing what issue the magazine is, shows how big and successful the magazine is. The colours red, black and white have been used on the contents page, following from the front cover. Contents stands out as its black font on a red background. Lots of images to show the reader the articles and who they are about to inform them. They have the regulars column which the readers obviously enjoy otherwise they wouldn’t have it. Then they have the features column which is separated from the regulars to inform the reader what is special in this issue.

I like how they separate the features from the regulars because it is easier for the reader to see what is in this issue because they know what the regulars will be. I think I might use this in my magazine. 

Have the text on the left hand side is good because this is where you would expect it to be as you read from left to right. Giving a quote from the article is also effective because it may be an important part and this can interest the reader into reading the article. Having lots of images of the band practicing shows they are serious about doing well and the images will interest people. The images are close ups of the bands playing their instruments or singing. Having a large T shows the reader where a new paragraph starts. The title of Elbow is away from all the text to stand out. The colour scheme has continued on this page, the red, black and white.

Q 3  

Title is in bold and eye catching and slightly covered, but the magazine is so well known, it can be covered. The model looking at the camera catches the reader’s attention, and the woman jumping suggests fun and excitement. The front cover is dominated by this image. The front cover is packed with other articles and headlines inside the magazine. Some of the headlines are intriguing, like the ‘50 albums of the year’ and ‘the new 10 faces of 2011’, because the reader will want to know who and what they are. They are writing in black and red so they stand out. The colour scheme is black, red, gold and white, which seems to be this magazines colour scheme a lot.

On my magazine front cover, I will try to use language that will intrigue the ready and entice them into reading the magazine. 

Because the contents page is on a double page spread, this could suggest there is so much information they need the space to fit it all in. They use the same colours that match with the front cover. This makes parts of the magazine stand out, such as the ‘contents’ and the ‘issue’. The regulars and features are separated so when the reader buys the magazine they can see what they expect in the regulars and then see what is special about this issue in the features column. There are lots of images to show what is inside the magazine but no writing to go with them so this can entice the reader into wanting to see what the article is about.

In my magazine I will put lots of images on my contents page to interest the reader and make them want to read the article. 

This double page spread is very colourful. It is also very eye catching so the reader will begin to read this article if they like the look of it. The writing is in columns and on the left hand side because readers would expect it to be here as they read from left to right. My chemical romance is highlighted to make it stand out and tell the reader who it is about. The right hand side page is dominated by an image, on the image the 2 people standing on the stairs may be doing this because they are more important that the other 2 band members. They have also compared albums in the ‘modern ROMANCE’ box.

When I take my pictures I will consider the positioning of the models in the image. 

Audience Research

Questionnaire 

1)      Are you male or female?

Male / Female

2)      What music magazines do you currently read?

3)      How often do you buy music magazines?

Weekly / Monthly / Rarely

4)      What makes you buy a magazine?

         Free stuff/offers / Competitions / Bands you like

5)      What do you like to read about?

Interviews / New Bands / Bands you like / Gossip

6)      What do you like on the front cover?

         Large Image / Articles inside the magazine / Smaller Images / Catchy Headings

7)      What do you like on the contents page?

Dominated by images / Dominated by text / Mixture (small images with text)

8)      What colour scheme would you like?

Black, White and Orange / Black, White and Red / Black, White and Gold

9)      How much would you be willing to pay for a magazine?

£1.00-£1.99 / £2.00-£2.99 / £3.00-£3.99 / £4.00-£4.99

10)  What would you recommend as a title for my magazine?

Audio / Unplugged / Waves / Riff

11)  Who is your favourite artist?

Questionnaire Results

Are you male or female?

From the 30 people I asked to fill in my questionnaire, I thought it would be beneficial to ask 15 male and females to get a point of view from both sexes. This is so I know what to include in my magazine so it appeals to a wide demographic. 

What music magazines do you currently read? 

This question shows that Q is the most read magazine, and from the comments I heard, it is because it has a wide range of artists that they include in the magazine, which leads to a wider demographic being interested in the magazine. This is different to Kerrang which focus' on the Rock genre. Therefore I will base my magazine on what Q does because this will lead to a wider demographic being interested as i have a wide range of artists included inside my magazine. This was also an open question.


How often do you buy magazines?

Although people do not buy music magazines regularly, more people buy them monthly than weekly, so my magazine will be produced in monthly instalments. My target audience obviously prefer to read the magazine monthly rather than weekly.


What makes you buy a magazine?  

As you can see, what appeals to my target audience is the free offers. Bands they like is also a big appeal, so I will find out the sort of artists my target audience like, and include them in my magazine. Also I will include free offers so this will entice my audience even more into buying the magazine. 


What do you like to read about?

Obviously people that read magazines will like to read about the bands they like, so this is another reason for finding out what bands my target audience like. But also from this graph it shows that they are not interested in gossip, so from the results I have taken, when I produce my article I will make a serious interview as this is what they seem to enjoy reading about.


What do you like on the front cover?

The results on this graph were nearly even, however my target audience prefer a front cover with a large image. they also like to know what is inside the magazine and like catchy headlines. They obviously like there attention to be caught and if they like what they see, they will buy the magazine. I am not too surprised by these results as this is what my age group tend to like.

What do you like on the contents page?

I was struggling to come up with what to put on my contents page, this is why I asked this question. But I was not surprised by these results as a mixture of both text and images would be more informative, so the reader would prefer to see what they are about to read from the contents page. So I will design my contents page with a mixture of images and text.

What colour scheme would you like?

There was a mixture of opinions on the colour schemes, but the black, white and orange colour scheme seemed to be the favourite. I think because it is different and there are no other magazines that use this colour scheme which makes my magazine unique.

How much would you be willing to pay for a magazine?

From the results that I have been given, more people would pay between £3.00-£3.99. So I think I will make my magazine £3.50 because it is half way, and if I include what I have found out from my questionnaire, the magazine should sell a lot of copies.

What would you recommend as a title for my magazine? 

Although all my target audience were split over the decision, Audio won with 10 votes. Which I am happy about as I thought that was the best name for my magazine. My target audience are more likely to buy the magazine if they like the name.

Who is your favourite artist? 

As you can see, the age group that i have chosen to target like different genres of music, and different artists. So this is an advantage of making my magazine like Q because they include all genres that my target audience like, so they are more likely to buy the magazine, as I found out from a question before. This was also an open question. 

Evaluation

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

I analysed 3 magazines to learn about the codes and conventions of school magazines. The magazines I looked at were CHiLL, Fusion and The Bishopbriggs Academy magazine. From these magazines I chose a range of codes and conventions to use in the production of my magazine. The first I chose was to choose a colour scheme, the 3 colours I chose to use were red, blue and white. These colours are used in the logo for Whitley Bay High School so I thought they would fit well into this magazine. I also carried on with the colour scheme and used it on the contents page, which the other magazines did, but I thought the colours CHiLL used didn’t look very good as they weren’t well used, there was too much of the red and black.

Also after looking at these magazines, none of them had a large image on the front cover, I thought that most magazines should have a large image as it is a code and convention in other magazines. So I used a large image on the front cover, which would be relevant to a article inside the magazine. The magazines had smaller images, for example in CHiLL they had numerous small images showing what was inside the magazine, but I went against this and didn’t add them, I left the front cover with 1 image, and named the articles to leave the reader with an imagination of what the article would be like. This also led into my contents page, by not adding any images. The Bishopbriggs Academy magazine left the contents page with no images and just the articles, although I like magazines with images on the contents as it gives the reader an insight to what the article is about, I thought I would try something different and thought my contents page looked quite effective without any images.

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

I learnt how to use 2 pieces of technology which I used to produce my school magazine, and I will use to produce my final music magazine. I learnt how to use Photoshop where I will construct the magazine, and how to use digital SLR cameras which I will use to take the pictures for my magazine.

I learnt how to use the different functions on the camera to take different sorts of pictures, like using the shutter speed, which if you have a light you can draw a shape and the shape will show on the image. I also learnt how to manually alter the lens on the camera in order to take a clear picture and zoom in and out of the model, which helped when I took my picture. The lighting in my image is artificial as I used the flash on the camera. However I altered the image on Photoshop by changing the hue and saturation. We learnt how to use Photoshop so we could construct the magazine in this programme. I also linked layers together once I was happy with them, so I didn’t have loads of layers building up.

When I produce my final music magazine, I will take more images and use them, and to improve I will use more of the effects in Photoshop to make my magazine look more professional.  I will also analyse more magazines so I can see if there are any more codes and conventions I could possibly follow.   

Contents Page Draft

My contents page draft

Front Cover Draft

My front cover draft which I did not fully follow but followed most of it.

Contents Page

Final contents page

Front Cover

Final Front Cover

Preliminary Task- Analysis Of School Magazines

We were asked to analyse the codes and conventions of some school magazines and then use them to produce our front cover and contents page for our school magazine.

The Bishopbriggs Academy magazine

Front Cover

• The colours they use in the colour scheme are involved in the logo and are used throughout the magazine. The title of the magazine is effective as they use 3 different fonts and colours to draw the reader’s attention towards the title. The grey colour for ‘The’ which changes into ‘Bishopbriggs Academy’ in blue and then again back into grey for ‘magazine’. But the ‘magazine’ is slanted and diagonally laying out, which is affective because it draws the reader’s attention to it. Although there is a lot of white on the background the colours help to catch the reader’s attention.
• The use of the logo on the front cover is effective because you can instantly recognise what the magazine is about.
• They use 2 small images which are giving you an insight to what is in the magazine, which is slightly unconventional as normally magazines have 1 large image on the front, and then maybe 2 or 3 smaller images near the bottom of the page. These images are of what is in the magazine.

Contents Page

• On the contents page the colour scheme is followed. The colour blue is used again. Although you might usually find images on the contents page, they are not used inside this magazine, but there is a lot of information on the contents page to tell the reader what there is to read.

Fusion magazine

Front Cover

• Again there is 3 colours used on the front cover of Fusion, but are not kept throughout the magazine. The use of white on the red and black background is very effective as it is clear to read and draws your attention to it.
• There is a large image on this front cover, but is unconventional as the image doesn’t really have anything to do with what is inside the magazine.
• The title Fusion has part of it sliced off, which makes you think the magazine is different to the others you may see, I think this is quite effective because it isn’t what you normally see.

Contents Page

• The contents page doesn’t follow the colours on the front page, but I find this effective as the colours they use make the page look cool and different. They again have not used images to show what is in the magazine, but have informed the reader of what each article is about in the magazine. The use of the image at the top of the page with colours falling from it is effective because it looks as if the colours are making up with page and the writing on the page.  

CHiLL magazine

Front Cover

·         Front cover has 4 small images showing what is inside the magazine which is again unconventional as you would expect a large image to take up the front cover. You usually find 2 or 3 smaller images showing what’s inside the magazine as well as a large image.

·         There is also a lot of writing on the front cover, which you don’t usually find on magazines.

·         The colour scheme is used throughout the magazine, but in my opinion the colours used aren’t very good because it just seems too much to me. Although it may appeal to the audience they have published the magazine for, which are the people that go to the school.

Contents Page

·         The contents page is more conventional in this magazine because they have images of what is in the magazine and the page numbers and what the articles are and about.

·         The colour scheme is followed from the front cover onto the contents page.

·         There is also 2 small paragraphs explaining to the reader how they make the magazine, which is found in some other magazines, or the paragraph is something little said from the editor of the magazine.