another update

After adjusting my front cover I am now going to edit my contents page. I am going to refer back to my front cover to ensure the overall products still work together and I am aiming to make my contents page look more professional.

Updated front cover

This is the updated front cover. I have taken note of feedback and made some changes. I have reduced the size of the essential information, reduced the size of the puff and I have also made the mast head more prominent. I have also removed the sub-heading 'important issues' as it was questioned as to if a professional magazine would have it on the front cover or just as a feature inside.


It was suggested that I experiment with the colour of my byline so I tried orange and blue. I decided to stick with the green however as the other colours made the byline hard to read. I wanted to keep a shade of colour that would tie in with the rest of the magazine and the genre however the darker colours were hard to read and the brighter colours were more tailored to a pop genre.

This is what it looked like as blue instead of green.

This is what it looked like as orange instead of green.

UPDATE

Right now it is booster week at college.
This means that we can take feedback that we have received and make edits to improve our work.

I am currently improving my front cover.

Double page spread feedback

Final double page spread

This is my final product for my double page spread. I am happy with how it has turned out however I did forget to add a byline which I will add later.

more model images

 Here are more images I took with my model to use on my double page spread. I will not be using all of these images however, as a few of them were testers to see what camera settings worked best and I also tried a few both with flash and without it to get a range of options. I am happy with some of the images and think they will work well with my magazine however, I would probably liked to have gotten more to have more variety in my work. When taking my images, I referred back to the male gaze and the work we did regarding facial expressions. I wanted to make sure that the facial expression of my model was appropriate for my magazine and my target audience.

Problems I have encountered with my double page spread

Whilst constructing my double page spread I have encountered some problems with the images. After editing the images, I had issues placing them into InDesign without losing any quality. I then decided to construct my double page spread in Photoshop which resolved the loss of quality issue. I then had the issue of fitting the image fully to the page. After looking online for inspiration, I decided to reduce the size of the main image and accompany it with smaller, sub-images. I then faced the issue of deciding what images to use for this. After looking at all the images I had taken, I have decided to try and take some others as there was not a wide range of images. These new images will have different clothing, make up and location which will give me variety for my magazine.

I have again looked at the weather to see if I need to accommodate for any bad weather. Luckily, the weather seems to be quite pleasant although it will be dark quite quickly.

Regardless of these obstacles, I should still meet the deadline. 

Double page spread draft

Contents page feedback

This is the feedback I received for my contents page. It is good feedback overall and I will take their criticism into account when I come to edit my contents page.

Finished contents page

This is my finished contents page. Although it is quite simple, I like this as I think it is not too overwhelming for the reader and allows them to easily navigate the magazine. I have kept my design to the way I planned it in my flat plan by continuously comparing their layouts and I chose to use fonts that had been used on the front cover. I chose to do this as it would keep the contents page intergrated with the front cover and it would look more professional. I also used a website which allowed me to create a signature to use to end my 'Note from the editor' section. I decided to do this as I have seen it used in many current magazines which inspired me to try it in mine.

Update

So far I have currently completed my front cover and I am currently constructing my contents page. I think I am on track to meet the deadline for this.

Update: 4th December

I have finished my contents page on my deadline and have uploaded it to my blog. I am currently starting to compose my double page spread and I am on target to meet my deadline.

Front Cover rationale

My front cover will include a masthead the top thirds of the page. I will do this in red as I think this will help it stand out and be more prominent to the viewer. It also fits in with my genre and the colour scheme I plan to use for the front cover.

I will be using one main image of my model to cover the full page. I like the look this has better than using multiple images. I will cover the main image slightly with the main sell line which I will put in colours that fit with my colour scheme and in tones that fit with my genre that will have been suggested in questionnaires I will conduct.

The left hand side of the page will be dedicated to the contents in the magazine other than the main feature that will be advertised separately. I will advertise things that I think will entice readers such as popular bands, free posters and festival must haves.

The bottom left third will include essential information such as the barcode, date, issue number and price. These are very important but I will make them small so they do not take up to much attention as they are not an essential attraction. I will also include the magazines website, however I will put it under the masthead in the top right third. The bottom right third will include a puff which may entice readers to buy the magazine. I would do a competition of some sort to win tickets to see a popular band. I would do this as I have seen it in many magazines and it seems to be quite successful.

Contents page rational

My contents page will include a banner across the top thirds of the page. It will show my masthead, a contents title and magazine information as well as the website link. I have seen it done in many magazines and think it looks professional so I want to project that from my magazine also. I will also include a note from the editor as I think it gives a personal feel and creates a direct tone with the reader.

There will be a large image on the right hand side that will be related to my main feature with the page number located on the bottom left side of the image with the caption. This keeps the feature as the main focus and can help readers easily navigate to the page.

The left hand side of the page will be dedicated to the other contents in the magazine. I will be including features that are posted on the front cover but also others. I will also be including posters of bands that fit in my music genre. The features will be:

• Festival must haves as festivals are quite popular with my target audience
• Top 20 movie soundtracks as there are popular programmes on my genre's music TV channels aimed at this
• Important issues as it is shown that 1 in 10 children and young adults aged 5 - 16 suffer with a mental health disorder (www.youngminds.org.uk/training-services/policy/mental_health_statistics)
• Updates from bands such as Fall Out Boy and You Me At Six as they are popular bands in my music genre and are shown to be popular from my research and reader profiles.
• Upcoming gigs as it is shown as a common interest by research

The posters will be of bands such as:

• Fall Out Boy
• You Me At Six
• Paramore
• 30 Seconds To Mars

Double Page Spread rationale

For my double page spread I am going to use multiple images without having any more prominent than the others. I am going to do this as it will allow me to show different aspects of my model's life.

I will include page numbers on the outer bottom third of each page as I have seen this done in many magazines and I think it helps aid the reader in navigating the magazine. I will also include a link to the magazines website in the bottom middle third of the page. It will be noticeable but not the main focus as that will be the feature itself. I will also include a pull quote as I have seen this done in magazines before and I think it works well.

The colours that I am going to use for my double page spread will be kept within the colour scheme of my magazine such as reds, greens and purples. I will also use the same fonts to keep everything integrated.

I also want to incorporate my mast head into my double page spread as I have seen it done before and think it looks quite professional.

front cover feedback

Location scouting

When taking my images I decided to use different locations. The first location was on a step outside of my house. Whilst providing convenience, it also allowed me to venture out and try different poses for my magazine.

The other location was on top of a near by hill. I chose this location as it allowed me to experiment with background and setting for the images.

My finished front cover

This is the final version of my music magazine front cover and I am very happy with how it turned out. I like the vibrance of the green grass and the model's blue hair in the image and also the brightness of the masthead, main sell line and contrast of the cover lines. I think these colours fit well together and are also successful at fitting within the music genre of my magazine.
I also like how the layout has turned out as I stuck very closely to the flatplan I created. I chose to use a puff with the chance of winning two tickets to see the well known band Paramore in New York City. I chose Paramore as they are widely popular within my genre and target age which made them perfect. They were also a big inspiration for the rest of my magazine cover.
Overall, I think my magazine is very eyecatching which was intended from the start. I am very pleased with my finished result and if I had to do it again, I would probably keep everything the same.

What I hope to achieve over the next week

Over the next week there are a few things I want to have completed:

• My front cover will be finished
• I will have completed a draft for my contents page
• I will have wrote a draft for my double page spread article

My Media Images

Model Confirmation

I text my cousin to see if she would be my model for my magazine. Here is the text conversation and her confirmation that she would take part.

Colour Palettes

Whilst looking online, I came across a website that allows you to create colour palettes and also view palettes by other people. I browsed some colour palettes and found some that are relevant to my own magazine.

I like this colour palette as the colours are vibrant and eye catching. The black and purple are quite classic within my magazine genre and the red and green go quite well also however I would probably use a deeper red or a red that had less of a pink tone.

I also like this colour palette. I like the blue tone and I also like the variations of the other colours. I prefer the red on this one to the previous one but I prefer the purple on the other one more than the purple on this one. I like both of the greens and think they would both work well on my magazine.





For my masthead, I have decided to go for the colour red. I will use a bright, bold red that will be eye catching and attract my target audience.

Feedback for my magazine pitch

Magazine Pitch

Weather for my images

Before taking my images, I checked online to see what the weather would be like. The website showed that from 10:50 AM onwards, there was a chance of rain. This lead me to take my photographs on the morning before any rain began.

Make Up Ideas

As my cousin is female, I began to look online for make up ideas for my photographs. I looked at girls known within the rock genre and sub genres to gather inspiration for the shoot.


I decided to look at Hayley Williams who is the lead singer of the band Paramore. I liked the idea of using a coloured eyeliner on the lower lash line as it is bright and unusual and very eye-catching.












I also looked at Taylor Momsen from the band The Pretty Reckless. I like the panda eye look that she wears and I think it would fit well with the higher age group of my target audience however it might be too much for the younger viewers so I decided not to use it.

I also looked at Amy Lee who is the lead singer of Evanescence. I like the timeless look of a neutral smokey eye and think that it fits great within my target audience's make up styles however due to my incapability of applying makeup I decided not to go for this look.





In the end I decided to try and recreate the look on Hayley Williams with the pop of bright eyeliner. I think that it can be worn throughout my target audience's age range and it fits well with the overall tone of my magazine whereas some of the others may have been too dark.

Model Issues

I had some trouble with the models for my magazine. I was unable to find a time that would fit with the studio, myself and my models. I then tried to arrange a time with my friend who unfortunately fell ill so I arranged to have my cousin help with the images. However, we still could not find a date to use a studio so I decided to shoot the photos outside on location. My cousin is slightly out of my target audience age range but I used props and makeup which do not make it as obvious.

Image deadline

I have set a deadline for myself to help keep me organized and on track. I have set a deadline to have collected my images by Monday 4th November. This allows me time to plan and prepare but also allows me to collect my images in time to start creating my magazine.

Magazine Flat Plan

This is the flat plan I have designed for my own magazine. I have made the main image the focal point of the magazine and I am going to cover the whole page with it. Although the masthead will be over the image, the model in the image will be slightly covering the masthead. From my research I have noticed that images usually cover the masthead to some extent giving the impression the magazine is well established which I wanted to interpret into my own work. I have located the essential information in the bottom left third of the page to keep it out the way but still visible to the reader. I also placed a puff in the bottom right third of the page. I am also going to place it in a unique shape to make it eye catching and entice the readers.

This is the flat plan for my contents page. I have decided to include a note from the editor to create a friendly relationship with the viewer and to include a direct mode of address. I have also chose to use a large image related to the story on the front cover to keep it highlighted as the main feature. The header that will be there will include information such as date, issue number and a website link. I chose to advertise a website link as I have noticed from other magazines that many of them have an online version for people to view. I think this will be good to include as my target audience are very technology orientated and will be more likely to use the website.












This is the flat plan I have designed for my double page spread however it may change once the designing process has began. I have decided to dedicate one page to an image as I preferred the layout of other double page spreads I had seen that had gone with that style. I have also chose to place my masthead across the top of the page. I have chose this as it is primarily the first place people look when reading a page so I will have to ensure it is eye catching and enticing.

Fonts for my magazine

For my magazine, I have been looking on the website www.dafont.com to find fonts I would like to use.

For my masthead I have decided on the font Riot!

I chose this font as I really like it and it is inspired by the band Paramore. Paramore are a rock band that I would definitely consider featuring in my magazine. This means that they fit within my magazine genre and the text style will be familiar to my audience and may intrigue them into buying my magazine.


I also like the font Vegan Pizza.

I like the faded out look in the text and I think it would fit in well with my magazine. However, I am not sure where I would use this but if I did, it would probably be for the main sell line.

Some other fonts I like are:

Target Audience Profile

For my magazine I wanted to have a more in depth understanding of my target audience. I thought that this would help ensure that my magazine will be aimed towards the target audience and feature things they are interested in.






Name: Angel
Age: 16
Favourite music genre: Rock
Things she likes to do in her spare time: Go online, listen to music, use social networks, go to concerts, watch TV shows
Favourite bands: Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, The Brobecks, We Are The In Crowd
Favourite TV Shows: Supernatural, Hannibal, American Horror Story









Name: Cerina
Age:17
Favourite music genre: Rock
Things she likes to do in her spare time: Socialise with friends, use social network, go to concerts, watch TV
Favourite bands: You Me At Six, 30 Seconds To Mars, Fall Out Boy
Favourite TV Shows: The Vampire Diaries, Dr Who, The Walking Dead

Name: Jack
Age: 16
Favourite music genre: Rock
Things he likes to do in his spare time: Watch TV, watch music videos, socialise, work, go out
Favourite bands: 30 Seconds To Mars, Linkin Park, All Time Low
Favourite TV Shows: CSI NY, The Walking Dead










I can use this information to help me decide on bands to feature in upcoming magazines, and also to help decide what articles my audience would want to read about. By comparing the profiles, I can see links between bands, TV shows and what people like to do in their spare time. This allows me to see which features would be more popular and what the majority of my target audience want to see.

Semiotics and Symbols

In todays lesson the subject was semiotics and symbols.

Key Terms
Semiotics: the study of signs
Connotation: in depth/different meaning
Denotation: literal meaning
Subject Position: points of view

The theorists we looked at were Ferdinand Saussure who looked at semiotics in terms of language and how it is used, and Roland Barthes, who applied the idea of semiotics to Andy Warhol and advertising.

A handy equation to remember is:

SIGNIFIER + SIGNIFIED = SIGN

The signifier could be a word, colour, image or a sound.

The signified is the concept/meaning/associations that the sign refers to.

For example: The colour blue (signifier) is often associated with sadness or the sea (signified)

We also looked at signs and cultural difference. For example:

The colour white is known in the UK to symbolise purity, innocence and is usually associated with weddings whereas in China white symbolises mourning and is associated with funerals.

I will use this lesson to influence my magazine as it will help me pick the correct colours to use and will also help me look at all aspects of my magazine's connotations to ensure it portrays what I am aiming it to.

Models for my magazine

This is a screen shot of my conversation with a friend of mine who is in a band. I asked him if his band would be available and once he checked with them he let me know that they are. Now that they have agreed to pose, I will check the studio rota at college to find a time that is suitable for everyone. I wanted to use a real band to model as it will portray more naturally to the reader and there will be a real band dynamic.

Preliminary Feedback

The feedback for our magazine was very constructive. They commented that the colour scheme was a bight too bright and the image was a bit too stretched. The image was like this because it didn't fit the whole screen anf this was the best compramise. I will take this into consideration when creating my music magazine and opt for a colour scheme that fits well together but is not too overpowering and that any images used are in focus.

In my magazine, I was considering including a feature or adverts relating to mental illness. I wanted to do this as it is a rising problem in adolescents and needs to be addressed. I also thought that by including it a music magazine and possibly relating it to well known artists of my readers, it may make a larger impact on them. I was recently looking through a Kerrang magazine as it the main inspiration for my own magazine and I noticed these 2 adverts. They are both related to mental illness and offer support for suffers who may need it. After finding these adverts, this helped reinforce my idea of including them in a magazine.