Candidate Infomation

NAME: Ellie Condon

CANDIDATE NUMBER: 7531

CENTRE NUMBER: 61119

Evaluation Question Seven

Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task What Have You Learnt From The Progression From It To The Main Task ?

Looking back at my preliminary task I can see the obvious progression that I have made and improvements in the way I have taken photos, used colour and fonts , and laid things out on the pages that I have created. When creating my preliminary task I found it difficult to create a magazine that looked to any professional standard as I was not aware of the use of space on the page and rules such as rule of thirds. I also had no experience with any of the programme or equipment which I was using ; Photoshop , InDesign , Blogger or the Cannon DSLR. This meant that everything that I was doing took more time than it would have done if I was competent with these things. A school magazine was also not something that I was particularly interested in making, unlike my music magazine. This meant that I was unsure on many of the decisions I was making, meaning that I also found it hard to be creative with my work. Due to all of these things I became very rushed for time nearing the end of the preliminary task meaning that the contents page that I produced, I believe was to a very low standard. However because of this I was able to realise the importance of planning and time scales when it came to my main task, the music magazine.

Not only did I find that I had made a transition with the final products that I had created for the magazines, I also found that I was also to understand the importance of research and planning toward the final product to ensure that you can make it to the most professional standard and allow it to look in line with real media products. For my preliminary task the research that I carried out was quite general and did not do specific or detailed research like I realised would be needed for my magazine. However it was only through my lack of research for my school magazine that I was able to realise how needed it is to ensure that my magazine was as professional as possible.

Front Page Comparrison ; 

In reflection, at the time I was fairly pleased with the front cover that I created for my preliminary task, this shows the lack of knowledge that I had in regards to the way that a front cover should look and the features it should have to make it look like a magazine cover as I now see it as a very low standard cover.

I think that the cover that I created for my preliminary task is all about the photo that I used and could potentially be mistaken more for a poster then a magazine cover. I learnt from this and tried to avoid it with my music magazine through adding feature's such as the black header at the top of the page. 
I also think that the preliminary cover looks very bare. I avoided this in my music magazine by including a lot more text and titles. This was also a way which I could entice readers to pick up the magazine and be attracted to read it.
Looking back on my preliminary cover I also now noticed a lack of balance and I had not stuck to the rule of thirds of having a balance of visual weights to make the page equal. I feel as if I concentrated strongly on this when creating my chart magazine and took a long time moving around different aspects on my cover which were heavy and needed to be balanced out. This included the positioning of the title, cream fields logo, cross, main headline and bar code.
Even though I attempted to keep a relatively consistent colour scheme throughout the front cover of my school magazine by using the eyedropper tool to duplicate colours from the photo, in reflection I think there is too many colours been used on that front cover making it look too busy and therefore unprofessional  In my music magazine I have kept to a very strict red white and black colour scheme and not broken the rule of more than four colours per page by only including an additional colour of blue for aspects on the page which are heavy visual weight and I want to draw attention to.

Contents Page Comparison :

For my preliminary task I felt that my contents page was a lot weaker than the front page that I created. This was due to poor timing that I had for the task and I was left with very little time to complete the page therefore rushed it with very little research and attention to detail when creating the product. I feel like this was the product that has gone through the biggest positive transition from preliminary to main task.
I did not have the time to  use many skills in indesign or photoshop on my preliminary task to even attempt to make it look in line with contents pages from real media products. Due to having a set time scale and improved planning for my music magazine task I was able to display a lot more skills that I was also more competent and confident in using through being able to get used to them in my preliminary task.  I included much more on my music magazine contents page such as a banner at the top of the page which was a good way for me to add a block of colour on the page, breaking up my articles in the listings with lines, page numbers on my images, a small image of the front cover of the magazine. I have also added additional features onto my music magazine contents page where as I had nothing more than the contents listing and two images on my school magazine. These include a quote that goes with one of the larger images on the page, a win feature and a chart box which shows the download chart listings, it is in this that I have displayed a gradient swatch.

Overall, I feel that I have made a significant positive transition in both of the products that I have created in both tasks. As I have already mentioned I do not think this is only through the design and production element of the tasks but also through the research and planning that has allowed my final products to improve to a much higher standard.

Evaluation Question Six

What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing This Product ?

Evaluation question 6 from elliehc

Evaluation Question Five

How Did It Attract / Address Your Audience ?

I thought that the best way for me to answer this question would be to ask three individuals who fit into my target audience of older teenagers to young adults from 16-21 what they thought of my products that I have created and how they thought they were attractive

Lucy, 16 on the Front Cover 

Bethany , 18 on the Double Page Spread 

Hannah, 17 on the Double Page Spread

These are the genuine responses from people within my target audience and I am pleased that they are attracted to the products that I have produced. They have noticed features such as the chart bar, colour consistency and pose and clothing of the model. Seeing as these were things that I specifically focused on to attract my target audience I am glad they noticed them.

Evaluation Question Four

Who Would Be The Audience of Your Media Product ?

The music magazine that I have created is not focused specifically on one genre of music, as it is a chart music magazine. It would seem that this would make the target audience for this a lot broader however I would describe them as those who are the most interested in music in general as they are open to most genres that appear in the charts. Chart music can be appealing to a very large audience, younger people who have not yet found their favourite genre but also older teenagers and young adults aged 16- 21 who take a strong interest in the music which is in the charts - this is target audience that I am aiming my music magazine at.  I have focused the magazine mainly towards young women however men may also find it appealing. This has been done through the theme of powerful women which I have used on my front page and double page spread and also the stories which I have included.

I have created a video which I believe is a representation of the audience I am aiming my music magazine at. The video includes radio stations, stores, music channels , particular artists and festivals which are the interests of the target group.

 In this video I have attempted to portray the variation of interests that can be found within this target group as they are a collection of people who appreciate and are interested in a range of genres from Pop , Dance , RnB to Rap.

Evaluation Question Three

What Kind Of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product and Why ?

Evaluation Question Two

How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups ?

The magazine that I have created is not based specially on a certain genre of music such indie or RnB, it is a chart magazine that incorporates a large range. This means that it is not as specifically focused on a certain style that will attract a people with certain interests; for example a heavy rock magazine with all dark colours, representation to the instruments that are played and language that is used within that social group.  The Big TOP 40 is a weekly listing of the music chart and the ITunes Download is a real time chart that music lovers can follow at any time. It has also been noticed that the people who I am aiming my magazine at ; those who are interested in and follow chart music, are also within the group who are the most interested in different aspects of the music industry and its convergence with TV and Internet.

I would say that my magazine represents the average older teenager to young adult from 16-21 who actively enjoy and follow the music chart and its new entries. I have used different ways of representing this social group of modern day music lovers on the products that I have created for my  music magazine through the clothing of my models, stories included, visual aspects of the page and language used.

Below is a glogster that I have created that shows the way that I have representations of different genres form the music chart in my final products. It also includes social media responses from people that fit into my target audience when I ask them what to you associate with chart music

Below I have used the technology of thinglink to show my front cover and contents page in an interactive form. When hovered over the certain areas I have mentioned how this part of the page represents the social group I have created my chart music magazine for

Evaluation Question One

In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms & Conventions Of Real Media Products ?

When creating my magazine I found that in order to gain a professional end look it was important that I based the products I was creating around products from real media conventions  Through the different stages of research that I carried out for each product, I was able to analysis aspects of front cover, contents pages and double page spreads that were popular among similar magazines to the one that I was creating. Magazines that I found myself focusing my research on were ;

By using magazines such as these and other similar ones, I was able to identify common themes among them and represent those in my work as well as mixing them with my personal preferences to create the best possible magazine.

Front Cover:  The real media conventions that I gained my ideas from for this product come from a combination of Billboard and Blender Magazine. To begin with I was very focused on creating a similar pose of the model to Billboard however I feel I challenged this through using a mid shot of my model and not so much a close up like can be seen with their shot of Miley Cyrus. Using this specific magazine as a real media convention was useful as it portrayed the same feel of empowerment of women that I was attempting to achieve. I also adapted the way the cross, diagonal banner and positioning of bar code into my own cover. I was fond of the way that Blender had laid out their text down the sides of the page and felt that this would work well for my product in combination with the focus that I already had with Billboard

Contents Page: The contents page was the product that I gained ideas from the most sources of real media conventions. I ended up basing my magazine largely around a page from Q and Smash Hits. I was very fond of the use of large banner at the top of the page on Q magazine and the use of different size images. The colour scheme of this page also fitted with my magazine. However the use of columns  for the listings and bar at the bottom of the page that I could manipulate into my charts bar came from this edition of Smash Hits. However the initial idea for me to include a chart bar on the contents page on my contents page come from Billboard magazine, which has a very similar concept to my magazine.

Double Page Spread: This was the most focused of all of the products that I created in terms of following in the footsteps of a real media convention. During my research I found this article from Q magazine and decided that I wanted to create something very similar as a I felt it looked very sleek and powerful which fitted with the theme, persona of the model and article. From this Q double page spread I was able to pick out the colour bars, bordering , pull quotes and layout of the article that I wanted to use in my own work.

Creating Double Page Spread

To create the double page spread for my magazine I used both

This is because I had to use Photoshop to manipulate the photo which I had taken , and increase the canvas size before placing it onto an InDesign document to create the spread. 

The photo which I chose to use for my double page spread was this to begin with ; 

I then used InDesign to put together the double page spread

Final Double Page Spread

Above you can see the final double page spread that I have created for my magazine. I have made some changes since the first draft to develop it further making it look more professional. As planned I used a drop shadow effect on the title of the article and after using it on that, I went on to use it on the pull quote which can be seen in the centre of the right hand page. This makes it a heavier visual weight to the centre of the page which stands out more, making the quote more noticed and attracting readers. I also used an underline feature on the sub title of "what to expect" as that also looked unfinished without  any added detail, especially when the drop shadow made the main title even more powerful and eye-catching, underlining the sub title created a better balance on the page. I also made the pull quote slightly bigger and moved it a tiny bit further down from the colour bar to remove some blank space. Changes I made to the article include making the text slightly heavy so it appeared bolder and easier to read. I also noticed some spelling and grammatically errors that I have now amended and orphans that I have removed. I ensured that all of the lines that created the border around the spread were perfectly straight and met in all of the correct places to give it a sleek finish. Finally I added a page number to the left hand page of the spread as that will make it much easier for the magazine to be followed through the contents page.

I like the way that the finished version of my double page spread is not overly complicated giving it a fresh look which fits well with the feel of my magazine. I also am happy with my decision that I made to clone the background of the image across the double page spread to give it a textured feel instead of editing it to be white.

Double Page Spread First Draft

This is the first draft that I have created of the double page spread of my magazine. I have tried to link it very specifically to the lady gaga double page spread that I researched in detail and I feel as if I have mostly met this effectively however have adapted some of the design to fit my own photo and ideas. I chose this photo for the spread as I feel it fits very well with the theme of powerful women that I portrayed on my front cover ( with the same model ). I very much like the pose and the models eye line as she can be seen looking into the distance making her seem mysterious.  In my research I found that if the model was stretching the entire width of the page so did the title to ensure that there was a balance on the page. To achieve a balance on my page I positioned the title of the spread to the right hand side of the page as the model is slightly to the left.  I think I have used visual weights well on this spread through the use of the colour bar at the top and centre of my page which is used in conjunction with a pull quote. I am happy with the overall layout and core features of the spread however there are some aspects of it that I will develop to ensure it looks professional and well finished.
As the second page of my spread is very text heavy , I will increase the weight of the writing so that is is easier to read and does not blend together. I have used lines to create the border for the spread and in points they are not perfectly straight or reaching the exact points making it look unprofessional and messy. This is something I must fix. I will also add a page number to the left hand page of the spread as this will make the magazine easier to follow through the contents page.  Finally I feel as if there is something missing on the large features such as the title, subtitle and pull quote, I will attempt to drop shadow these features to see if it improves their aesthetic appeal.

Double Page Spread Hand Drawn

When creating the had drawn designs for my double page spread I feel like I was the most specific with my initial ideas that I have been for all products. I had a very clear idea from the outset, after my initial research of different ways that I could approach the page of how I wanted mine to look. I knew that I wanted a whole page on the left of the spread that was dedicated to a photo of my model and the main title to be on that page with the article on the opposite page. I experimented with different ways that I could present a pull quote in the middle of the article and in my second lot of drawings, bottom images, show how I developed my ideas once I had chosen to use a square pull quote, to add in different elements such as bars of colour and a piece of writing within the border. Out of the two developed drawings I think the bottom one is the strongest and is what I will follow when creating the page.

Saffron Staz- Third Shoot

For my double page spread, I will be using the same model that I used on the front cover of my magazine to focus the article around. For this reason I have carried out a third photo shoot with this model so that I can improve some of the poses that I had already tried in earlier shoots and also try new ones.

I tried a few different outfits in this photo shoot to experiment with different looks for my model. However I found that the outfit that reflected the personality of empowerment that I am trying to portray through this model and connected article was the plain black , tight outfit that she wore for the front cover shoots. Similarly to this I experimented with different poses and positioning of the model as well as camera angles. However the ones which I feel worked the best and portray the best attitude is are shoots which I had improved from previous shoots with this model as oppose to the new stuff that I had tried. 

Further and Detailed Double Page Spread Research

My main focus now is on double page spreads that have the image on a page of there own. 

The whole of the left hand side is taken over by a  photo of the model which is being interviewed. It is a mid shot however does not look like this and seems more like a close up due to the dark background and clothing blending in together and her bright hair and skin sticking out closer to the camera.  I like that there is a whole page dedicated to a photo of the artist with none of the article on it as I think it is especially eye catching and makes it extremely clear who the article is about. I do not like the way that there is a dark colour background on one side of the page and a completely opposition bright white on the other page of the spread, I think this make it look more as if the photo is a poster that comes with the magazine and is not attached to the story.

The first thing which I notice about this double page spread is the fact that the image that takes up the whole page is an extreme close up. I don't like this for a double page spread and think that a mid shot suits it much better as it allows you to see more of the person you are reading the article about. However the expression that can clearly be seen on the models face in the close up reflects the attitude of the article which goes with it , this is something that I will concentrate when creating my double page spread. I also don't like the way that there is not a consistent colour that flows across both pages and I think this double page spread looks like it is a poster on one side of the page. I think that the small piece of writing which can be found on the left hand page which is underneath PINK is a good way to introduce the article which is coming.

Although there is a backdrop and features which have been added into this photo on the right hand side of the page I like that it is not a close up of the model and we as readers are able to see more of the model that we are about to be reading about and I think that makes the article seem more revealing which is appealing to an audience. I do not like the way that the text is laid out on the left hand side of this page and think that it does not make it appealing for the audience as it seems as if there is too much to be bothered to engage into.

Detailed Research 

Double Page Spread Initial Research

 I will be creating a double page spread for my magazine that will be based on the feature that I presented on the front cover. I will begin my research for this article by carrying out general research on some different ways double page spreads have been created in order to further my research into specifically what I wish to create.

 

I think that this is a spread which is all about the photo that can be seen on the single left hand side of the page. I like the way that it is an interesting pose which can be seem in the picture however I do not like the writing which is across the figure, however this may be because of the font which I really do not like. The border around the top of the page with a small piece of writing in is effective and makes the page look completed. I think that content of the article which is on its own page is laid out in a very boring fashion. It could be improved by having some larger letters or headlines on the page because at the moment I would not be interesting in reading it.

Although I will be using a female model on my double page spread, I think this is a very effective article. The way that the photo is on one page and the article content on the other  is a way of laying out the page which I really like however by having other feature such a the red boxes hanging over the page makes the article seem as one and not seperate pages. I think that is a feautre about this article which makes it particilarly good. A large headline on the page which is snappy and realted to the article is a good way to draw the reader in from simply looking at the picture to wanting to read the article. I think that having some larger quotes or letters at the start of the article would make it a bit better.

This is a differnt way of presenting the double page spread, the images used are in the middle of the page, aswell as there being more than one of the same model.

The photo which has been used on this article is a close up and I do not like that about it as I don't think that it is appropriate for the double page spread about a story .The name of the model that I will be talking about in the article will be 'Saffron Staz'. This large S that has been used in this double page spread is used for the beginning letter of the article however I think that it takes up too much space and creates a lot of blank around it. I think that this would also look effective if a large letter similar to this was used for the first character  of a headline or quote where the rest of the writing was also larger. I do not like the way that content has been laid out on the right hand side, it seems more as if this is a the introductory section to other pages on the article which will be to follow and is not an appropriate design for what I will be creating.

I very much like the interesting pose which has been used in this article however I think that there is a lot of blank space around the model making it look more like a poster. This could have been improved by having a quote, headline or something else related to the article on the page. Similarly to the one above, I like the use of the large letter on the page , it is a strong visual aid and very drawing for the eye of the reader. On this page not only is a C used for that but it is used constantly throughout in the small headline at the top and for the beginning of a paragraph as well. I like this consistency  within the page as it makes the spread all about the model in question. I don't like the photo which has been used on the left hand side of the page, it looks random and out of place due to how large it is and how close it is to the other photo of the model.  I like the way that this article is laid on in paragraphs apposed to the interview style that states the question and then the answer  I also think that by having a quote of the interview in a larger font size or different color is a good way to attract the reader to want to know what context it has been said in.

From this initial research I have been able to conclude that I feel the style of contents page that I like and would suit the magazine I am creating would be having a large image that takes up most of one page and the content of the article on the opposite page. The two examples that I like the most from this set of research are the top two that can be seen on this page. 

Creating Contents Page

When choosing which font to use for the text which would be on my page I experimented with a lot of different ones before choosing my final. Here is a sample of  small number of the font which I attempted.