The Time I Labelled Everything

As the beginning of my final task (music magazine) begins, I am going to start off by comparing and analyzing two magazines, one created by a Media A Level student, and the other by an actual magazine company. The genre of my music magazine is going to be hip hop, so firstly, I will take a picture of work made previously by another student. This is what it looks like.

This magazine is a hip hop magazine. The magazine that I shall compare it to will be a well known pop magazine: "We Love Pop".

I used a blog tool called 'Thinglink' which enables users to hover around the 'tags' and see what they are. The red points all have tags which shows you what the correct terminology is. For example, the title of the magazine is called a Masthead, which will be shown in the 'tag' if you hover around the title. 

The first labelled picture is the hip hop magazine called The Reign.

  





Both magazines use the basic components of using additional images, extra cover lines and even bottom strips. 'The Reign' is a Hip Hop magazine and has a distinctive style and layout to the Pop magazine 'We love pop'. 

The colours on The Reign are very masculine yet has a feminine element to it by using purple, in order to link to the main image of a female. However, We Love Pop uses a range of bright colours, which mainly connote hyper feminism by using pink and purple as the main colours for the bottom strip and main cover line. There is a significant difference between the two magazines such as the layout.

With The Reign, everything looks 'ordered' whereas We Love Pop, the cover lines have no organisation. It seems as if all the cover lines and images were placed without structure. This is because of the fact that pop magazines are associated with scrapbook like themes in which everything looks mounted on top of one another. This layout also connotes that the magazine is easy going and bubbly - exactly what a pop magazine should connote. 

I like the colour scheme used on The Reign as I think it is very simple and gives off the Hip Hop classic theme of red, black and white. However, I feel as if the masthead itself is too complicated as it is a white text with a red and black layer of the same text. The masthead essentially looks 'bulky' and does not appeal to me. 

With the We Love Pop magazine, I like the font of the main cover line and the colour scheme of it however I feel as if the overall look of the magazine is messy and unsophisticated. The range of colours is unappealing to me, especially due to the fact that they are all very feminine and bright colours. The problem with this magazine is that it looks very complicated and is overpowered with the variety of colours. 

Overall, both magazines appeal to their own respected target audience but there are positive and negative aspects of both magazines.

The Time I Went Into WHSmith

One cold saturday afternoon, my friend and i had decided to go shopping in Croydon Centrale. She needed to buy stationery and then I came across the magazine section. I already knew that by looking at magazines, it would help me gain some ideas on how I would want my music magazine to look.

This magazine caught my attention because of the masthead. The fact that the main image is in black and white and the masthead is a bright red, instantly, the attention goes to the masthead. The colour scheme is simple but effective, creating a classic hip hop theme which is what intended effect would probably be for the magazine company. The main cover line links perfectly with the front image as the subject is the rapper: Lil Wayne. 

Overall, I admire the simplicity of the magazine overall as it looks appealing and is not overwhelmed with many cover lines and images. 

The Time I Made A Fourth Diary

In this weekly production diary, I talk about the feedback that I received from the 6 sixth formers and how their criticism will help me with my future magazines.

The Time I Gained Audience Feedback

Last week I planned to get 6 sixth form students in order for them to critique my school magazine. This was the outcome.

Overall, the feedback that I received was honestly confusing to me because some students liked my colour scheme and some did not. However, I have gained the knowledge to not use PowerPoint for my school magazine and have picked up on tips like creating more pages (articles) to place on my contents page. 

The Time I Made My Third Diary

In this weekly production diary, I talk about how what I did in order to make my school magazine a success. 

I am going to plan a target audience feedback session and record the comments. 

The Time I Created My First Magazine

As the week has progressed, i have become more aware of the basic photoshop tools in order to create a simple school magazine front cover and contents page. This was the finished product.

This is my final front cover for my school magaine

This is my contents page for my school magazine

Overall, I am happy with my magazine although there are a few things i shouldn't have done. Firstly, I used PowerPoint to enter the shapes and all of the text which is not going to help me explore my photoshop skills. Secondly, I should have taken more pictures of other students because it looks like the magazine is all about the two models, Rachel and Baris when in fact it is not. I plan to organize a target audience feedback session in which I ask sixth formers to critique my magazine. This is so I can get an idea on which parts of my magazine are not effective and implement these critiques when I plan my music magazine. 

The Time I Took Pictures

As I began to plan my preliminary task, I booked a slot in the studio for my photo shoot with my two sixth form models, Rachel and Baris.

I took many images but I had to choose a limited amount of photographs for my final front cover and contents page. The images below are the ones I decided to use.

This is the image I would like to use for my front cover as it resembles the images I researched online

I would like to use this on my contents page to create the effect that they are looking at the articles

I want to use this on the bottom strip of my front cover

I want to use this on the bottom strip of my front cover

I would like to use this on my front cover

I am undecided as to whether I will use this on my bottom strip or on my contents page.

I would like to use this on my contents page.

The Time I Critiqued Vogue

This magazine is Vogue, Australia edition. On the front cover, there is an enlarged image of Blake Lively, an actress and model. 

What strikes the audience initially is the maroon item of clothing as the rest of the colours are of a neutral palette. This soft colour scheme that it used connotes the season of autumn in Australia by using this natural palette consisting of brown, cream, maroon and black. The statement piece of clothing used creates a vintage looking front cover, which is positive as it is a magazine based on fashion. The background of what almost looks like mountains is blurred out by using the photography strategy of aperture, which changed the depth of field so the focus is purely on the model. The image ultimately emphasizes Blake's timeless beauty by using a hybrid of colours and clothing to create the vintage feel that high fashion magazines should create.   

The masthead "Vogue", is placed behind Blake's head. This method is used to create emphasis on the model herself. Vogue is an international company so covering the letter 'G' does not affect how recognizable the name is. This is due to the high popularity Vogue withholds, with issues being created all around the world such as Vogue India, Vogue Japan, Vogue UK and even Vogue Italia. The placement of the masthead does not take away the recognition of the magazine so therefore, the placement being known whilst being partially covered is a success itself. 

The lack of cover lines shows the simplistic styles which Vogue have used throughout their issues, which is consistent towards their target audience and remains as a positive aspect towards the uniqueness of Vogue's magazines. However, personally, as the main focus is on Blake Lively, the article on her should've been the main cover line instead of another article about couture of spring. This is because it reduces consistency of the overall look. In addition, if there is an article on spring couture, the colour scheme suggests the season of Autumn rather than Spring. This means that the colour scheme is not entirely accurate as the overall cover looks like an Autumn issue. 

Overall, the magazine represents high fashion, which is what Vogue's intended effect could be. The simplistic layout shows sophistication and maturity which could possibly link to Vogue's target audience of mature but fashionable women aged 21 onwards. The flaws of Blake's cover line not being the main cover line because of its font size could be overlooked at as the overall look of the front cover is of a high quality. Additionally, the fact that the colour scheme connotes the season of Autumn although it is a spring issue does bring down the consistency of the magazine. 

The Time I Stole Some Pictures

As I have completed the flat plans for my preliminary task, I have decided to explore different poses which could possibly end up as the front cover. Ultimately, I want the front cover to be of a boy and girl who are both sixth formers to be back to back with one another with their arms crossed. This is because it connotes their pride of being at Harris Purley Sixth Form. 

This is the type of image that I want my models to replicate, except that they will be much older with adult clothing. Additionally, I wouldn't want them to be smiling completely. 

This could essentially be the exact image I would like to replicate onto my front cover. The two people in this image are dressed in smart business attire, and are not smiling as much as the children in the other image. 

This is my photo shoot plan that I will be using. I will tick off the time it was taken and if it was organized or not when it reaches the time of my photo shoot.

The Time I Discovered Flat Plans Part 2

Today I had created a flat plan for my contents page. 

This is the final plan that I am going to use for my contents page. This is because I like the layout of where the images are placed.

The Time I Discovered Flat Plans

Today I had created my flash plans for my preliminary task which is a school magazine. This was the outcome.

This was my first flat plan that I had created. I forgot to add anchorage with the flash so I did not want to use this. Additionally, I wanted the attention of the magazine to be on the left third but my barcode was placed there so I did not want to use this.

This is the final flat plan that I would like to use for my preliminary task. This is because I have added anchorage to my flash and have moved the barcode elsewhere.

The Time I Made Another Diary

This week I recorded my second on-going weekly production diary. In this video I had talked about exploring different colour schemes and fonts in order to create my school magazine.

The Time I Chose A Masthead

Today I gathered all the results from my questionnaire and decided to create my potential coloured mastheads. 

In the end I decided to use the black and blue font for my preliminary task. In addition to why I had chosen this particular colour scheme, the colours black and blue connote dominance and power which is the message I was trying to get across, especially from the word "Pride". This shows that the Purley sixth form is of a powerful yet influential school, just how I would want my magazine to be.