Production Log: Friday 21st December

In today's lesson I completed my magazine draft. On my second page of my article I split it in half horizontally as I wanted to have pictures going across the page. I had seen a double page spread like this in a real magazine.

On my last page I have used a photo of one of my models and created a fact file with one of her quotes that she says in the article. I have chosen this image as I liked the background and I thought that by editing the photo to black and white will make it a lot more professional and stand out more. 

Magazine Draft

Music Magazine

Production Log: Monday 17th December

In today's lesson I finished one of my pages for my double page spread. I have split the page into two and on one side I have a long shot of both of models together outside peeking round the corner. I choose this image as it is out in the open and I hadn't already used a picture which was taken outside. Also with this picture you can see all the leaves on the floor which looks really nice and brings a nice feeling to the image.

Production Log: Friday 14th December

Production Log: Monday 10th December

In today's lesson I realized that I had approximately one week left till I had to hand in my draft magazine. This meant that I needed to get on with my work quite quickly as I still have my double page spreads to do and finish my contents page. After flicking through Q magazine in last lesson I noticed that in every contents page there is a band and artist index. Therefore I have included this in my magazine. I began to list a few pop artists and bands. Luckily for me I am interested in the pop genre so I knew a lot of pop artists that I could include. 

My Band and Artist Index

Production Log: Friday 7th December

In today's lesson I continued to look at websites and began to look at existing magazine contents pages. I felt that I didn't have much inspiration which is why I was struggling to complete my contents page. I found it hard to complete as I also didn't have any pictures to use. But then when I got home I remembered that I had taken picture from previous concerts and gigs and I had an upcoming concert in February for One Direction. This meant that I could have these pictures as some of the features in my magazine. 

Production Log: Monday 3rd December

In today's lesson I continued with my contents page.  I began to look at different music websites such as Billboard, 4Music and hit40uk. This was to see what kind of artist gossip they talk about and how they grab the readers eye. This gave me inspiration on how I should word my contents and to make the important bits stand out. This could be done by writing in capital letter or even  by highlighting one of the words in a different font. 

Production Log: Friday 30th November

Production Log: Monday 26th November

In today's lesson I carried on with my front cover. I made the improvements that my classmates gave me and my front cover met all the conventions needed for a pop magazine as it was bright and had sell lines and an eye catching main image. I also helped my friend who was struggling to remove the white background of one her photos as she didn't have much experience with using Photoshop and I do. 

Production Log: Friday 23rd November

In today's lesson I continued to work on my front cover. As I had a double lesson I used this lesson to complete my front cover and ask for feedback. One of my feedback's was to make the masthead bigger and maybe have my main image covering the masthead slightly. Also I had to make my sell lines bigger as they were too small and they wouldn't catch the readers eye if they were passing by. Another feedback I got was to add an issue number as I hadn't included it.

Production Log: Monday 19th November

As I had completed all my tasks in my planning section I was able to carry on with my magazine. I focused my time on creating my front cover as this is the main page that needs to stand out to the target audience in order for the magazine to be bought and reader by my target audience. In today's lesson I started playing around with different types of font styles for my masthead but by the end of the lesson I still hadn't found the masthead that I liked, so I carried on creating some more at home. My aim for this week is to place my masthead on my front cover and work with my main image. I will be using Photoshop to edit my photo. 

Production Log: Friday 16th November

Headline/ Subheading/ Pull Quotes

Headline / Subheading / Pull Quotes 

I have been thinking of a headline and subheading the past few days and I thought that these would work well with my magazine because they stand out and catch the readers eye. However I may change them slightly when creating my magazine. I have chosen these three pull quotes as they stand out from the text and if the reader is just flicking through the magazine they will still see a glimpse of the article as these pull quotes will stand out to them.  

Sketches of Ideas

Completing this task has helped me come up with ideas for my draft magazine. I will be using these sketches as a template when creating my magazine as it will help me visualise my magazine.

Production Log: Monday 12th November

Over the weekend I set myself some planning tasks that I hadn't already completed. I decided to complete sell lines and contents ideas and do my article draft. By completing these tasks will give me an advantage when creating my magazine as I will already have an idea of what to write in my magazine. However when it comes to putting these ideas in my magazine I may want to change them as I will have more ideas as throughout the planning and creating my magazine I will be getting inspiration off real magazines. 

Article Draft

Article Draft 

My creating an article draft will allow me to place the article onto Indesign in an easy format and which I will then be able to text wrap where necessary. When creating my double page spread I may feel the need to adapt to my article which will be fine as I have creating a draft copy which I can then use as a template for the actual magazine. 

Sell Lines and Contents Ideas

Sell Lines and Contents Ideas 

By coming up with these sell lines and contents ideas will help me when creating my magazine as I will have an idea of what I will be including in my magazine. 

Production Log: Friday 9th November

In today's lesson I carried on working on my draft magazine. I started thinking about the layout of the magazine and the types of fonts to use because I found that the fonts that I had thought of using are too simple.  I then went through my photo shoot pictures to see which picture to use as my main image. As I didn't have a decent picture of both of my models together I used two images and joined them together. 

Production Log: Monday 5th November

Contact Sheet

Contact Sheet

Contact Sheet 2 

Contact Sheet 3 

By creating a contact sheet allows me to see all my photos in a clear format. I created three contact sheets as I did three photoshoots. 

Production Log: October Half Term 2012

Over the October half term I completed a number of tasks.These tasks included name ideas, new media, promotional methods, props and costumes, colour and audience data. When creating my audience data analysis I used my results that I collected from my survey and I put them into a pie chart or bar graph. I used an online website to create a survey which allowed people to complete the survey where I then managed to  collect the results and create the bar graph and pie charts. This made it easier to analysis each question as I will then use these results in my magazine. I also designed some masthead ideas which will make it easier for me when creating my magazine as I will already have a brief idea of what to do. For my colour scheme I have used bright colours as in pop magazines you usually see lots of bright colours. Therefore I have I will be meeting the conventions of a pop magazine. 

Timelapse

Above is my timelapse for my photo shoot. By having completed this task highlights the stages of my photo shoot and the making of my photos and how I have positioned my models. I have put a pop song of Rihanna's latest song over my timelapse which works well as it is calm. 

Model Release

By having a model release form filled out by models means that my models have agreed to do the photo shoot and that I can use the photos for anything in my magazine. 

Equipment

Equipment 

By completing this task, I have learnt the name of the camera that I used. Also I had set out my photo shoot in a professional way as I have used professional lighting and a white back drop and high quality camera. 

Inclusion of New Media

Nowadays we have many social networking sites, the two most common are Facebook and Twitter. Many people have either one of these accounts. I will have both of these social networking accounts as this is any eas way for me to communicate to my target audience about the latest news and give them sneak peeks to what’s new etc. As well as this I will have a website for my magazine. This is where it will contain pictures and videos that won’t be found in the magazine. In magazines you can’t have videos this is why I will be creating a website; these videos can be exclusive interviews with artists or even just new music. I believe that this will meet the expectations of my target audience as not everyone likes to read they would prefer to watch a video of some sort.  

Promotional Methods

My magazine will be a monthly issue, therefore it will be a bit expensive which means I will be promoting my magazine somewhere where people go to spend quite a lot of money. These place include shopping centers such as Westfields.

 As my target audience is aimed at teenagers I think that promoting my magazine at Westfields is a good idea as you see many teenagers up in Westfields shopping or spending time with there friends.
 Also I will have a Twitter and Facebook page where I will be writing some tweets to tell people what they can expect in the next magazine issue. I  think this is a good way to promote my magazine as many teenagers have a Twitter and Facebook page where they visit everyday. This will also allow readers who haven't bough the magazine to have an idea of what is inside and the latest gossip and competitions. 

 

Another way in which I will promote my magazine will be by having posters in tube stations and bus stops as teenagers use public transport all the time therefore they will see the magazine cover and will be interested in the magazine. 

Props / Costumes

Props and Costumes 

Above is a slideshow highlighting the different costumes my models wore in the several photo shoots that I did. As my magazine genre is based around the pop industry for teenagers I have stuck to clothes that my target audience would wear. 

Colour

Colour 

I found that doing this task allowed me to have a clear understanding of the colour scheme that I will be using throughout my magazine. This way I will know exactly what colours to use. I have made sure that my colour scheme is noticeable to my target audience, as in pop magazines you would see bright colours on the front cover and throughout the magazine. 

Name Ideas & Designs

I will be calling my magazine Rhythmix, I have got his name from two words 'rhythm' and 'mix'. This is called a composite. Above our some designs for my masthead. I have used a drop shadow in each of them as I think it makes the masthead stand out more. I have used my house colours. By creating these designs will help me when creating my magazine as I will already have a brief idea.

Audience Data

Audience Data

This is the survey results that I collected, by completing this task allowed me to see what my target audience expect in a magazine and the times of prices, freebies etc. This would then help me when creating my magazine as I would have addressed my target audience. 

Survey

I have created a Survey using Survey Monkey. The quantitative information I collect from this survey will help me when creating my magazine. This is because I will have my target audience filling out the survey and it will allow me understand what they want in the magazine.

Please fill out my suvey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8XNKKLS

Target Audience

Target Audience

This task allowed me to think about my target audience and the uses and gratifications for my target audience. Uses and gratifications is important to follow as this is key to a successful magazine as you will be thinking of the expectations of your target audience. 

Proposal

Proposal

Above is my proposal for my music magazine. By creating a proposal allowed me to think in advance for my magazine which made it much easier for me to complete my tasks. 

Location Ideas

By completing this task allowed me to think of places for my photo shoot. Hopefully on the day of the photo shoot the weather will be similar to the images above. 

Image Ideas

Image Ideas

I done some research on some models that have inspired me in the types of poses I could get my models to do. I found this task really useful as it will help me when I do my photo shoot.

Wordle - Words Associated With Pop

I have made a word mood board with words associated with pop music and my target audience. This includes music channels, different arenas such as Wembley Arena, shops where my target audience buy clothes and many other words. 

Production Log: Monday 15th October 2012

In today’s lesson, I began to do some research for Institution and the different publishing houses. This was so that it would make it easier for me to do my Prezi. I researched the definition of institution and how magazines make money and the different publishing houses. I had to make sure that I researched well into the different publishing houses as towards the end of my magazine I will have to choose one of these publishing houses to distribute my magazine. Whilst researching into institution I learnt that advertising and marketing is also involved. For example websites and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Next Tuesday I have my photo shoot and if the weather is alright I will be taking a few photos outside as this will give a different variety of images shown on my contact sheet.

Existing Names & Mastheads

This was a useful task as I learnt the different types of names used to describe a masthead. This got me thinking of the type of masthead that I will use for my magazine. I'm thinking of having an Acronym which includes two words related to music. 

Institution - Publishing houses and distribution of magazines

When completing this task I learnt what a media institution was and the types of publsing houses involved in the distribution of a magazine. I also learnt how magazines make money, which is by these publishing houses advertising the magazine. This could be by having a website for the magazine or even social networking sites. 

Audience - How Magazines Are Consumed

This task allowed me to do some research on the target audience for my magazine. This also allowed me to see what type of things to include in my magazine and what not to include. This task was useful as this way I will be meeting the expectation of my target audience. 

Original Post

This is my website for Now Music Magazine

For homework I had to come up with an original post, this had to be something that was related to the course and that wasn't already a task, so I designed a website for my magazine. By having a website allows the readers to read up on the latest news, meaning they don't have to buy the magazine. Although there are people that like to collect magazines. 

Production Log: Friday 12th October 2012

In today’s lesson I took some time towards the lesson to improve my posts, this included improving my production logs as I didn’t have them detailed enough which meant I hadn’t completed them to the best of my ability. I made sure that each of my production logs was a good paragraph long and included details and were needed print screens or images of my work or software used. Another improvement I did in this time was to add an explanation after each task which explained what the task was about. This made each post appear more professional as to just having the work with no introduction about it. 

Also in today’s lesson I began to look at existing magazine names in more depth and learnt about the types of names there are.

Examples of existing names:

Acronym - NME

Symbolic/Connotive - Kerrang

Phrase - Top of the Pops

Composite - MixMag

We also got set homework, this was to come up with an original post that was related with the course and that was not already a task on the sheet. I decided to create a website; this is because I had been researching a lot of pop magazine websites for inspiration. 

Representation of Artists & Music Genres

Representation Of Artists/Genres Of Music 

By completing this task allowed me to do research on my chosen genre of music which is pop. I researched the different variety of music genres which also gave me an insight to what my pop magazine will be up against. Also I researched how pop magazines are identified to the audience when put against another music genre. This allowed me to understand the conventions needed to make up a pop magazine. 

Production Log: Monday 8th October 2012

In today’s lesson as I was on the billboard website I noticed that I should have an app for smart phones where my target audience are able to read online my magazine and find out the latest music with an updated music chart. Some ideas that I will be putting on my front cover will be an app for smart phones, this is so that people can read magazines daily and the articles will be all recent and not out of date. I will have a picture of an iPhone with the app for my magazine on it and I will have my article on the screen. 

This is an example of an app that Billboard have of a chart update.

I also began to research on Representation shown in a music magazine. This included key artists, awards and performances/venues. I also began to research into the types of audience. For example who and why do people read magazines and how do they read them, some people may buy the magazine as they might be a collector and some may read the magazine online. People who have a smart phone may read a magazine on an app that they have downloaded. 

Production Log: Friday 5th October 2012

In today's lesson I went through my blog with Sir, this is so that I had everything on my blog set up properly and things were labelled correctly. I then set myself some homework. This was to do the codes and conventions of a music magazine. I also did a mood board on pop music. I found that creating a mood board was a good idea as this gave me more ideas for my magazine. I researched other mood boards which gave me an idea of the things that I would need to include on my mood board. Some of the things that made up a mood board were album covers, front covers, celebrities on the red carpet and logos of existing companies such as Billboard, Capital FM, and MTV etc. I created my mood board with all these images scattered around the page as this is how I visualise a mood board with lots of different images all on one page. 

Codes & Conventions

By doing the Codes and Conventions of a music magazine, I have recapped what is needed in the magazine to make it successful. Theses codes and conventions are important to have on the magazine as not only does it make it successful, it makes it interesting and attracts the readers attention into buying the magazine.

Moodboard

Mood Board 

This gave me some inspiration when creating the mood board  as I noticed that in the pop industry they use a lot of bright colours and a lot of mid shots and close ups of the artists. 

Production Log: Friday 28th September 2012

In today’s lesson I began to research on more front covers and contents pages, this is so that I would gain inspiration which I would then use for my analysis. However when researching this products I had to insure that they were similar to my genre of music. Therefore I continued to research ‘Top Of The Pops’ and ‘Billboard’ magazine. When researching these magazines I noticed that they all follow a bright colour scheme. ‘Top Of The Pops’ uses lots of pinks and purples, this highlights that the magazine is aimed at young teenagers. 

Here is a magazine that I like -  I like the idea of having a mid shot as the main image on the front cover. I like the magazine below, as it isn't too busy and it stands out. 

Music Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis

Similar Product Research - Double Page Spreads 

By analyzing these 3 different double page spreads, I have noticed that most magazines consist of a long interview with a variety of different questions with a famous artist/band. The page layout is also very important, as I have noticed that by having a long interview makes the page more interesting with a big main image and some other images around it. Finally, by having a pull quote makes the double page spread more interesting.

Music Magazine - Contents Page Analysis

Contents Page Analysis By analyzing these contents pages, I have noticed the types of headings that I will need to use as this tells the reader whats in the magazine in an organized layout. Also by having lots of different small images makes the page more colorful and interesting.

Production Log: Monday 24th September 2012

In today's lesson I signed up for Scribd, this is so that I am able to upload a PowerPoint document or word document onto my blogger.

I have also carried on thinking about my music magazine; I have started thinking about the types of clothes I want my model to wear etc. I want my model to look simple so maybe wear a nice plain dress with heels etc, nothing over exaggerated. This is because Pop magazines follow a simple layout. Also as my target audience will be aimed at teenagers my models will have to wear clothes that will be aimed at also teenagers, therefore trends such as Converses. 

Production Log: Monday 17th September 2012

In today's lesson we began researching magazine front covers so that we could analyse. I began looking up the magazine company 'Billboard' as they are quite successful, I saw many magazine front covers that I liked, I like the way they have the masthead and taglines laid out on the page. Another magazine front cover that I analysed was 'Top of the Pops', I didn't really like the layout on this magazine as there was lots of different things going on, on the page, I prefer seeing a magazine that has just one main image and lots of different taglines around it. This is why I like the 'Billboard' magazine. 

We also got given the tasks for the magazines coursework, this is useful as we have an idea of what the tasks that we need to do are, all these tasks have to be completed by October half term. We also talked about when we should be booking our photoshoot day. I began to think of the types of camera shots I was going to take and where I would be taking them. 

Music Magazine Front Cover Analysis

Similar Product Research - Front Covers 

I have analysed three different front covers and I have noticed that by having a mid shot as the main image looks better as it fills the page more so it looks more eye catching. I have also noticed that it is important to have the date and issue number clear on the page for the reader to easily spot. By analysing these front cover images I have learnt the conventions needed to have a successful magazine front cover. 

Preliminary Task Video

Production Log: Friday 14th September 2012

In today’s lesson we finished our School Magazine. I feel that this task will help me when creating my music magazine as it gives me an idea of what I need to ensure I have in a magazine. Also it has helped me remember how to use Adobe Photoshop as I have already got experience with this software as I took Media Studies for GCSE. I uploaded my front cover and contents page onto blogger, where I then wrote a little analysis about it. I also created a video showing how created my preliminary task using a programme called CamStudio. This allowed me to show step by step how I created my School Magazine. 

I've been doing some research on music magazines and I found some layouts that I liked. The main images that have been used is what I was thinking in having (mid shots & close ups). I like these shots as it's really focused and draws the reader in. The magazines that I looked at where 'Top Of The Pops' and 'Billboard' these are two successful pop magazines. I have been researching into these magazines as I will be doing a pop magazine. I feel that ‘Top Of The Pops’ is a perfect example for a pop magazine as in every pop magazine you will find out gossip about artists and lots of different photos about them, this is a way teenagers use up their free time. 

Here are two pop magazines that I found that I liked:  

Preliminary Task



This is my Front Cover of my magazine

This is my Contents Page for my magazine

For our preliminary task we had to create a magazine for our school, this was so that we could get used to using Photoshop and get to know what tools we needed to us.

I decided to keep my front cover simple and not too busy, this is so the reader can focus more on the main image that I have used, in this case it was new sixth former's getting to know each other in the new sixth form common area. On my front page I have included a main image, headline and plugs. If I could improve my front cover I would add a bar code, issue number, price and date as I have forgotten to do this. By adding these extra things would make the front cover busier. 

My contents page consists of the main news that’s happening in the school, I have also added many images onto the contents page with page numbers so that the reader can go straight to the page if they wanted to read about it. If I could improve my contents page, I would put an image in the background with the opacity lower so that the page wasn't as empty. I would also add more stories, news and games.