FINAL PIECES

Double Page Spread - Peer Assessment

I though it would be a good idea to get some constructive criticism from a few friends so i asked them to give me two things that were good and two things that could be improved on my double page spread.

Anthony:

• A very good image with model dressed well and in a unique environment
• The use of the link to listen to the srtists music online is a good way to attract your audience
• Try and fill up space at the top of the page
• Should find a way to add more text as double pages spread should be a bit more informative.

Ola:

• Layout of the double page spread is different from ordinary doublepage spreads
• The way the title/subject of the dps is ver intersting and well thought of
• Should use more than two colours when it came to the text to add more interest
• Should have place the logo somewhere else on the page and not just at the bottome of the page

Eugene:

• Very good use of colour on the page
• Model fits the dps very well and is dressed appropriate
• A white background is a bit boring
• Should add more text or make a second dps

Publish Montly or Weekly?

Different magazine have weekly and monthly editions and both have benefits and dis advantages. During my research i also found that weekly magazines make more money than montly magazines on a whole. This may be because weekly magazines update there contents weekly unlike monthly. Also weekly magazines tend to satisfy their costumers more, this may be because their audiences know that they dont have to wait to long to get the next edition of the magazine and are therefore refreshed and given new information,gossip or advice every week unlike monthly magazines in which you have to wait till the next month to read it.


Advantages of Weekly published magazine

• New content every week
• Keeps audience updated every week
• Can make more money through advertisements
• Cheaper for the readers
•  Readers know they dont have to wait long till theycan order or buy it

Disadvantages of Weekly published magazine

• Cost  a lot to print every single week
• Under pressure to find news of information which grabs a readers attention
• Readers may not be able to keep up with buying a magazine every week

Advantages of a Monthly Published Magazine

• Would be very informative
• Very detailled

Disadvantages of a Monthlyy Published Magazine

• Cost more
• May not up to date
• Some of the content may be old news

Publishing Companies

IPC MEDIA
IPC Media produces over 60 iconic media brands, with print alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men – almost 26 million UK adults – while our websites collectively reach over 20 million users every month.
IPC's diverse print and digital portfolio offers something for everyone, with a focus on three core audiences: men, mass market women and upmarket women.


http://www.ipcmedia.com/


BAUER MEDIA COMPANY
Bauer Media is a division of the Bauer Media Group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing Group. The Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations.
Bauer Media joined the Bauer Media Group in January 2008 following acquisition of Emap plc’s consumer and specialist magazines, radio, TV, online and digital businesses.

 http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/About

OTHER PUBLISHERS:

EMAP http://www.emap.com/

DEVELOPMENT HELL LTD http://developmenthell.co.uk/

Contents Page - Construction

I first made my background white and then placed a rectangular grey box on the left side on my page

To do so i went to do so i clicked on the rectangular tool on the side of my page and then placed it on my page

I then needed to draw on several more boxes/rectangles but with in differenct colours. So after i drew my rectangle i clicked on the paint tool and then selected what colour i wanted for my box. I picked green as this is what i planned in my contents page planning.

After i needed to add in an image, i first tried copying and pasting the image but when it showed on the contents page it was in quite a low quality. So i went to place 'place' and then imported my image/images from there.

When i finished importing my image i found that it did not stand out as well as i wanted it to so i went to 'layer'-'layer style'-'drop shadow' to add the drop shadow effect to it.

I then had to add text as a contents page is not a contents page with out it. So i clicked on the text box tool and drew a box and typed out my text.

Whenn i wanted to change the colour of my text i went i had to higlight the text the click on the 'paint' tool. I then chose the color i wanted and then double clicked outside the box.

For more effect i decided to add a drop shadow to my headings so the stand out more.So i clicked on the text box and then went to 'layer'-'layerstyle'-'drop shadow' and then clicked ok to add drop shadow to my text.

Here is my contents page after addding two heading, two imagae and some text.

Here i decided to add one more box at the top, i then filled it in black with the paint tool. I also added text to the box.

 I needed my contents page to look very informative but at the same time attractive. So that meant i would need everything on my page to be balanced from the image to the text. I followed my plan to insert the featues i was going to include in my contents page.

Here i s my final product for my contents page. I added alot more texta and made sure that not too much colour was added to the page. I also added the magazine logo through 'place' for identity and branding.

Contents Page - Final Product

 This is the final product of my music magazine contents page. I have used both my planning and current magazine contents pages to help come up with this. I wanted my contents page to look similar to the on of 'Q' Magazine as the layout out was simple but very informative and there was also a good use of images. I made sure the colour some how related to the colour used on my front page so the colour scheme was consitent.

Consistency and Branding

Throughout the construction and planning of my music magazine i made sure that my housestyle, layouts and colours were consistent. I needed to do this because it made the magazine look a lot more professional and interesting. It also shows that you ahve put alot of thought and effort into making the magazine. You know when your magazine is consistent when a reader is able to recognise that the front page and the contents page look similar. For example if you ripped out different contents pagesm contents and double page spreads from different magazine form a table and gave someone just your fornt page of your magazine, will they be able to look at them and figure out which is the contents page and double page spread of your magainze. If they picked it successfully thats when you know you have made good use of consistency and branding in your music magazine.


Here is my contents page, front page and double page spread:

As you can see from the thrre different magazine pages i have tried my best to keep them consistent in colour. The main colours is tried to use all the way through my pages were green, blue and black. I had to make sure that in each page somewhere these colours were inserted if not i would not be making my magazines pages consistent.

I also had to use branding in my magazine so each page clearly showed what magazine they came from. One way in which i did this was through the magazine logo on each page:

Target Audience

My target audience for my magazine is 15 - 25 year olds who have a interest in RnB or Rap music. I will be showing and anlaysing why i chose these target audience and how my magazine will attract these people to buy it.

I chose this target audience because rap and RnB music are becoming more popular each and every day. I also chose this target audience because realistically you would not be seeing a lot of people over the age of 25 listening to this music out loud. This is why i thought the most appropriate target audience for my music magazine would be between these two ages.

Pictures/Photoshoot

Here are some of the pictures i first took for my music magazine. I use 3 different models in
different clothings and poses.

Double Page Spread - Planning

Here are my plans for my double page spreads:


PLAN1:

Double Page Spread - Exclusive Interview With Jesse

Most successful musicians at a time in their life will make a song/album about the benefits and drawbacks of fortune and fame. He is known to confront and tackle this subject before his first album was finished.

What looked like a very daunting future was overturned into a promising and bright future for this 18 year old London Singer/Rapper. Since the beginning of 2005 Jesse has become hip hops golden child. His mix tape ‘Only Me’ was one of the hottest releases on the web this year. He even reached No.3 in the chart with his single ‘she’ll be calling’. As well as chart success and internet hits and fame he has also made it into competing for awards. He was nominated for 4 Grammy Awards in which he won 3 of them, beating Lil Wayne, Jay Z and Eminem. His achieved so much for a 18 year old especially when he hasn’t even released his first album.

“I won’t lie…2005 had to be the craziest year of my life. I mean everything just happened so quickly. I still wonder how on earth I made I through that year” he said whilst sipping and swirling his dark red wine relaxed on the new Gucci sofa he treat himself to. I watched him as he gazed straight ahead through the window of his Los Angeles Apartment. He gazed out the awesome view of the city; this view had to be worth a few millions. Well after the Multi-Million bid companies had for this young star he can definitely afford this. Not bad for an 18 year old.

Jesse Afadi grew up in New York. It seemed that he was destined for greatness he had stared in many shows as a child and was writing and performing his own songs at the age of 10. He slowly moved away from acting and started to concentrate on music. He was a big fan of Michael Jackson and desperately wanted to follow in his footsteps. He slowly started to work on his mix tape in which he perfected and released it in 2005. A lot of stress for a young boy who had to tackle both music and school work.

“I went to a black slightly ghetto school in Boston. Some of us dreamed of being successful and some of just wanted manage and make it through life. Well ha when I look back now for some of us success was a dream which could never come through, especially when you lived in a rundown neighbourhood in Boston”

Jesse’s success story was down to determination and dreams, the determination that he would one day be successful. He lived with his single mother In Boston, she had two jobs and seemed to work every day. His father was a musician and song writer who encouraged and guided Jesse as he pursued his dream of one day making it as a somebody in the music industry, something in which his father was not quite able to do.

“Wow, My Mum?....My mum was a tough lady, raising up a child on her own, paying for bills and food. I’m really grateful to her, really grateful. She’s a organised woman; she always made a plan and stuck to it. Everyone loves her, everyone. Then there’s my dad, he always had visions and goals and set out to meet and achieve them just like my mum. He had the motto ‘Failure is not a option’, he refused to give up. Personally I felt closer to mum, she was always there for me, especially when I began to rise, I always ran to her for advice”

As time passed Jesse felt the urge to live life and be free. He wanted to be like the other rappers and singers in the music industry

“As I started to grow as a musician I felt the goal of success was actually in reach. I mean, as a 18  year old you want the money, clothes, cars and houses. That’s what the media portrays happiness to be like” he said looking straight into my eyes. “C’mon tell me who doesn’t want to have a bit of fun, party, drink and travel? Everyone does of course. But as a young man you just want to live life to the full, make up for things you’ve missed out on” he said as he smiled and pour himself some more wine.

For a young guy he’s come a long way. Being signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation Label, high profile collaborations with stars such as Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Trey Songs and Rihanna. Things could not get better.

“Being signed to Jay Z’s label has to be one of the biggest achievements of my life. When I got that phone call I thought it was a prank, I was almost about to drop the phone” he laughed. “But I thought I recognised the voice from somewhere, so I listened a bit more. And yeah, I got signed. When mum heard it she cried, in fact she came down to congratulate me. I felt that I had finally made her proud” he smiled “Family comes before anything in my life. And i’ll go to the extreme to make sure my parents are happy and I’m sure they’ll do the same. And once I’m settle, I’m gonna treat my Mum like the queen she is and my Dad like the King he really is.”

Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?


















When i look back from my music magazine to my preliminary task i can see that i have come a very long way. I have made progression in understanding the uses of technology in making a magazine, the codes and conventions  an the importance of time management.

When i first made my preliminary task i was new and an amateur when it came to adobe photoshop and understanding the importance of the layout and colour of a magazine. As you can see here i only used basic beginner tools in my magazine. For example: The image...i just took picture that i thought would look nice and attractive not really bearing in mind the layout of my magazine. As you can see here my image is very big and well lit but when it cam to putting my text on to the page, the text overlapped my image which was not good as a good magazine has everything balanced and laid out well. Another example is my text...I noticed that my preliminary task the text i used was very basic and boring compare to some of the text i used in the final product of my music magazine. Although i tried making some of my text stand out using drop shadows and highlights the magazine still looked plain. this is not good as it would not help me when it came to attracting the audience. I also found out through my research that almost every magazine consists of more than 1 font. This makes the page look a lot more interesting as one font is boring.

In the contents page of my preliminary task i lacked the knowledge of other music magazine contents pages and techniques. For example reducing the amount of space left on a page. I noticed in my research that some magazines filled the whole of their magazine with either, text, image or shapes but at the end there was no space left at the end. Also looking back into my preliminary task i found that the content in my contents page was not so informative and they were not really appealing. But now i know that in order to turn a potential buyer into a actual buyer your content must be informative and attractive and this is what i lacked in my preliminary task.

When i compare my preliminary task front page and contents page to my actual magazines front page and contents page i see a lot of difference. The difference between the two magazines show that i have definitely come a long way in the last few months.

In my magazine front page i have learnt to use all the space on the page. This helps as it makes your magazine look very informative and shows that you know what your doing. In my magazine you can see that there is hardly any space left around on the page, i made sure of this by filling any spaces with extra text or shapes. Colour is also very important in a magazine as it is one of the things that can grab a readers attention. On my page i tried ti keep my colours to a minimum whilst making sure that they look interesting and looked good together. This is a difference from my preliminary task as i only included about 3 colours and repeated them throughout my magazine which was a bit boring. When it came to the image i had to put a lot of thought and consideration into picking which picture was appropriate for my magazine, this is mainly because of the mistake i made in my preliminary task when i did not really take into consideration the test and space in which i would need to put beside or on top of my image. So when i came up  with this image i was very happy as it allowed me to put all the content i planned to put on my page with out really worrying about the image and the space on the page.

There were also a few lessons learnt from my preliminary task contents page and my music magazine contents page in which i included. For example my text. The text and the titles on my preliminary task were very boring and simple and i had to make sure that it did not happen in my music magazine. So in my music magazine contents page i added more text to each heading and explained what i would be talking about in each topic/heading. This could also help my potential readers as they have a deeper insight into what the articles inside the magazine will be about.


Other things i learnt:

• I learnt from my magazine research and my preliminary task that the image or model on my front page is very important. In my preliminary task i used school kids, the problem was that i used two females instead of one female and one male. This was not good as it looked like i was appealing to one part of the school and not the other. So in my  music magazine i decided to use a model that does not appeal to one sex but appealed to the audience that loved that genre of music which is both male and female. So i decided take a picture of my model dressed like he was a star in the R'n'B industry so it will appeal to the readers. I also had to make sure that the image stood out and also appealed to the readers and audience so i edited the image to make it stand out more
  
• I have also learnt that the music magazine industry is a increasingly competitive place to be in right now and only those who come up with something new and appealing are able to survive and make money. Every week the stats of each magazines fall or rise and this is due to whether people are buying there magazine, From my research i found out that there were not  many R'n'B magazine in the music magazine industry, so making one will show that i am bringing in something new and also helping publishers appeal to a wider audience.
  
• Time management. This was a very important part of the course and also one of the hardest. During the course we had many deadlines we had to meet in order to keep up with work load and give an equal amount of time to our contents, front and double page spread so they all looked up to standard. If these times were not met there was a a chance of you either not being able to finish a task or falling right behind in the course which was not a good thing at all. Not meeting deadlines and falling behind in course work for some of us was a wake up call and realisation that extended learning out side the school premises was something in which we had to consider strongly.
  
• Text. I learnt from both my research that the content a magazine is part of the formula to its success in the magazine industry. I had to make sure that the text in my contents page, front page and double page spread were interesting and appealed to the right readers.
  
• Adobe Photoshop/inDesign. If i had to name the top 10 things i learnt front my preliminary task, photoshop will most definitely be in the top 3! Personally i have come a long long long way when it comes to understanding photshop since my preliminary task, I almost feel that i have mastered the art of manipulating images and texts using this software. If you compare the way preliminary task front page and my music magazine front page look it is evident that i used almost 10 times more of photoshop than my preliminary task.

Evaluation Question 6

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


In both my making and evaluation of my magazine technology has played a big part in showing who my target audience are and how i did it. For example, just a couple months ago i never knew how to use photo shop to design magazines, edit pictures and even change the colour of my background! But know i feel like a pro! There where many ways in which i found my self understanding and coming to grips with technologies such as  photo shop and In design. For example through the help of our teacher. She helped direct us through step by step instruction to be able to complete the most basic of tasks on these soft wares. These then led to us wondering and exploring photoshop and maybe doing a step further. For example if she aught us how to crop and image out, we'll go on to change the colour of the picture on a whole. This was good as we felt that we had achieved and learnt something which we never knew before.

But one of the biggest and most helpful thing that helped us get to the stage we are now on both photoshop and design was the use of the internet. For example websites that were totally dedicated to helping people like me understand photoshop and teach us skills that we never thought could be possible on a software. It showed me that almost any thing is possible with photoshop! Another helpful and handy tool was youtube. During our ameuter times youtube was like our best friend. I we had something or some sort of plan in our minds but didn't know whether it was possible or  how to do it, in just 30 seconds or so we had the step by step instructions right in fron of our eyes.  Whether the tutorial was 3 or 15 minutes they all helped and where very important to both the design, planning and contruction of the magazine. It helped my planning because there were certain things i wanted to do on my magazine. I found that almost all of them where possible on photoshop but for the rest, these were a bit to ambition. Knowing where a type of editing was possible or not helped my planning as i then knew that i could include it in my planning and understand how it could help me achieve what i wanted to achieve.

In some cases some of us where stuck during a tutorial or found that the steps where hard. These effected us because it forced us to change what we had plan. So if the technology is not clear and easy to use and follow, it is pretty much hard/impossible to produce your product. In some cases we had to settle for the product or what we had created half way during the tutorial as it looked good, and other times we had to just discard it either because it couldn't be used or it was an utter mess.

Personally i thing technology played a MASSIVE part in the lives of every student in out class. Another software/piece of tech was blogger. Blogger helped us do so many things. It allowed us to express ourselves and allowed us to show who we were and what we were capable of. Blogger also allowed us to share with others the exciting ways in which we constructed our magazine and did our research. When it came down to research and evaluation we were able to add images, videos, animations and even power point presentations. It also allowed us to show others the long and exciting journey of our AS media. For example from our preliminary task, to our research all the way to our construction and final pieces.

My Camera. Also another important piece of technology that got me to where i am not. I was able to take so many pictures with this camera and they were all high quality pictures.With out my camera i would have struggled to make my music magazine. I used it for my preliminary task, planning and music magazine (double page spread, front page and contents page). With a good quality camera and photoshop at your access then producing images are very easy.

Apple Mac. When it came to computer we had the access to top quality ones. Instead of us using normal desktop pc which don't perform to well and are sometimes unreliable, we were given apple macs which are very well known for there media uses. The computer performed very well and did not slow down or break down during the course of making our media products and writing out our evaluations. It was also a great experience for some of us who have never had access to an apple mac. It took me quite some time to understand how it worked and where things were meant to be but after a while i got the hang of it.

 Microsoft Word. This suprisngly came in handy during the construction of our magazines. I thought that since we were doing everything electonically and typing them straight onto our blogs this soft ware would not have much benefits but i was wrong. We needed it especially when it came writing our our script for our double page spread. We typed up our double page spread text in microsoft word and then gave it off to our teachers to correct, in which when she finished marking we edited the work and put it into our double page spreads.

Here are other technologies that i used: