Evaluation

AS Evaluation

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Ajustments

From getting some more feedback off my media teacher, I was advised to make some adjustments in order to gain the best grade.

It was said that there was too much colour on my front cover page, mainly due to the fact that I chose not to cut out my model on Photoshop, so the image I have used has a blue/grey background which i believe makes the cover look bland. i therefore need to brighten the background and make my model stand out more. Also, some of the font I have used makes the cover look slightly dated, therefore I am going to change this in order to bring it to an up-to-date looking magazine.

The Double page spread appears to have a lot of writing and limited pictures. I need to keep my audience in mind with this (age 13-14 girl) as they would prefer much more pictures and less writing. Therefore this is another alteration i need to do. Another problem with this spread is that the first page looks more like a poster so I need to move some text and pictures around.

Experimenting with Photoshop

I got my model to wear bright colours, keeping to a theme of blue, pink, green and black. However, I have used Photoshop to lighten and change some colours of her clothes to match perfectly with the font colours.

I have lightened her eyes and lips to make them stand out more, as well as changing the colour of her top to match the font.

And just generally lightened and brightened the entire picture to make it look more appealing, as well as removing any blemishes, and fixing mistakes when shooting the pictures.

As you can see, on the original full length shot I had accidentally cut her feet off, to correct this i used a similar image with her feet not cut off, and blended it onto the bottom of this image, as well as adding extra mic wire to keep it continuous.

Fonts

These are the fonts that I am going to use throughout the magazine. They are all off Dafont.com.

I thought this font would be approprate to use as it has stars within the font making it young and girly. I could use this font for headlines, subheadings and quotes.

I liked this font as it was clear and simple, yet a bit more interesting than the ones on word/publisher/photoshop therefore I may use this for the main writing eg, artical, contents page.

Again, i liked this font as it was quite simple and bold, but abit more insteresting than the ones on photoshop etc. i could use this for price and the date and some of the features.

This font I thought would be perfect for the title of the magazine, and the contents title.

Photoshoot 2

I decided to use Sophie as my model for a Pop music magazine as I feel she incorporates the pop vibe. She has long blonde hair and blue eyes, which seems appropriate for a role model to a teenage girl as she appears innocent. I dressed her in girly bright clothes, and natural make up to complete the look.

I wanted a number of medium to close shots for the front cover of the magazine, and a number of full length shots for the inside (contents and double page spread).

These 3 images are what i've narrowed it down to to use for the front cover. The first image has a problem with the lighing as the side of her face is quite dark. On asking a number of media students which one they think embelishes the pop look the majority thought the 3rd image, as the second one seems more approptate for a fashion magasine like Sugar. I have therefore decided to go with the third image for the front cover.

I used a mic as a prop in the photoshoot to show she is a musician and define the look of the photos to a music mag, rather than a fashion mag. I think I am going to use the first two images of her (full length) for the insides of the mag.

I do like the mid shot, but it seems a bit unrealistic as it doesn't look like she is actually singing therefore I am not going to use this image.

New Direction

After some audience feedback I realised that I needed to go in a new direction. From looking again at a number of real magazines I decided to go in the direction of pop music. This way I can still incorporate the research and ideas I got from looking at the ASOS and blender magazines, as well as a number of the pictures I took with Jess. My ideas haven't completely changed as I still want a girl based magazine, just going for a younger audience - around the age of 13.

Now having my target audience in mind I now need to write an article which will be fitting for a younger girl, as well as the use of colour and text font that seems most appropriate.

Developing Ideas

I have gone with the more edgy looking photo of Jess for the front cover and have used research from 'Blender' and 'ASOS' magazine for inspriation in adding stories and advertizments to the front cover.

However, I have had some audience feedback about the magazine i'm producing and a recurring theme was "what genre of music is this magazine/artist protraying?" and "the images of the artist may be inapropraite for a teenage audience"

Therefore I thought I would widen the audience feedback to see if this may be problematic in continuing with this look. To do this I asked for other media students to give their opinions on some photos of my model.

From this I realised that the commets where ranging from r&b to rock to pop artist which I thought may be a problem as the look I have gone for is portrayed differently from one person to the next. Therefore instead of reshooting something with Jess as I have now come to realise she hasn't got a specific look that I am after, I have decided to find another model. Also, the name of the magazine was called Amplify which would be more appropriate for a rock, indie magazine therefore the name would also have to be changed.

Photoshoot

I have asked Jess to wear mainly black clothes as this will give a minimel look to the magazine, yet by using textures such as leather and lace should hopefully give a stylish egde to the images.A selection of the photographs taken;

I like this image in one aspect that she is smiling and looks fresh and young, however I think the pose she is stood in looks quite awkward. I am happy with the quality the photos have come out in; the lighting and shaddowing for example.

Again with this image I like the fact that she is smiling as in the majority of photos we took she was pulling a more sultrary expression. However with this picture like the last they will have to be edited quite a bit due the fact that the background isn't completely clear. (you can see the skirting board)

I really like this image of Jess as I think it embellishes the look I am going for the magazine as it has a more biker/rock chick vibe. She looks quite grown up and it has a more edgy look to it. Also, the position of Jess is perfect for a front cover image in the magazine.

Initial Ideas

From using the research I have come up with some rough sketches of what I would like to produce my magazine like.
Front Page
(upload images)
Contents Page

Researching Magazine Content

I have found the style of the magazine I am going to make. this includes;
• Type of Model- Young solo female artist promoting her debute album.
• Colour themes- Simple, bold. 1-2 similar colours, black white and gray.
• Type of Magazine- Latest music, focus on female artists. incorporates fashon with music
• Target Audience - teenagers, young women.


I now need to research the content of the magazine. This includes;
• Name of the magazine
• Main story - This I know already know will be an interview with Jessica
• Sub story
• Extra info
• Tagline info

This information will be on the front page of the magazine. I then need to think of information to fill the contents page.
From looking at the music magazine "blender" I have some gathered some ideas of content for the magazine front page stories, and information for the contents page. The main story is of Jessica’s first interview; therefore I need to emphasize this by having a bold statement under her name, or a quotation from the interview on the front cover. The sub-story could be about the magazine visiting an artist or band on tour. Extra information on the front page could be latest information about rumours for the summer festival season which could be linked to festival tends, also a tagline on the front page could be 50 must have downloads/ 10 must see artists (this way I could use images I have taken at concerts) or best dressed artists of 09.

The contents page will obviously contain info from front cover. Other info could be separated into sub-headings such as; news, reviews, features and fashion forcast.

Recce

As the look I am going for is simple style I would like to use a simple location for my photo shoot. This will keep the focus on the artist and the style she is wearing; this keeping in line with overall look and theme I am hoping to achieve - a music magazine that incorporates fashion. Therefore I think the Media studio will be the best location for the photo shoot as I can play around with the lighting and backdrops.

However, I'm also thinking of using a number of photos of the artist "recording" and playing on instruments which I will use in the double page spread. This will be done to give the audience an insight to the artists music career. To make this look realistic I will use the music department in college for the location of this photo shoot.

This image is of the recording studio in the media department. It is usually used for recording radio, but I could possibly use it for some images of my artist "recording"


However, these images are taken from the recording studio in the music department, which I believe looks more realistic. the only problem would be the fact that this studio is always booked up.

Futher Research

ASOS

Front Covers
This magazine is one which I subscirbe to, and from looking through them at home it gave me some ideas of what to do for my project. Asos is a fashon magazine but incoporates music by featuring artists within the magazine, again they only use females for their feature. From emerging myself in this magazine I have found parts that I want to replicate in my own work. The simple bold style, types of font, female features and the clothes and poses the modles do are some examples.

Contents Pages

I really like the simple style used in these contents pages as they look really effective and "high end" style. This is something that I will like to base my magazine on.

I prefare the white backgrounds and the use of script type. Also, i like how the images are overlapping and bring colour to the simple background.

Double Page Spread
Looking at asos magazine has given me some ideas of content for my double page spead, I am thinking along the lines of an interview with the artist, including an opening in a documentry style.

The types of poses and how they are along side the interview i think looks really effective and might be something i could use in my own work (first image) Also, i like how the quotations are in a much larger font colour as it attracts attention to the artical.

Finding and Styling a Model

After texting and emailing a number of friends about modelling for my magazine I decided on using Jessica as she had the look I was going for. Also, she is very confident which I found would help in producing the most professional looking pictures. Her confidence will hopefully come across in the pictures and will radiate a good message to the target audience; this being teenage girls.

From looking at ASOS magazine I have found a number of looks and poses Jess could do to give the desired effect of a professional music magazine.

I have decided to go for "biker/rock chic", but making it femanine by incoporating dresses and jewelrey, but keeping to mininal colours such as blacks and grays. An example of this look is Megan Fox and Kristin Cavallari in ASOS magazine. This look will hopefully come across as modern and up-to-date for the target audience of my magazine, as does the look udes in ASOS magazine taret and attract me.

Research

Front Covers
From looking up music magazines on google I have found a variety of different types of magazines based on genre and the target audience.

Initially I wanted to produce an Indie/Rock magazine as that is the type of music I am most familiar with, but due to the amount of previous students that have produced this type of magazine I wanted to try something different.

These magazine use a lot of colour and fonts, and the front covers are very busy. Also this genre of music is made up mostly of bands which may be hard to recreate when producing my own. I prefer simpler house styles as I think they look most dramatic and effective. However, the target audience, being an older teenager/student is appropriate for what I am looking to do as creating a magazine for a different age group than myself may be difficult.

From researching magazines I was drawn to "Blender Magazine" as the style is simpler, and bold. Also, I like the idea of a solo female artist for the front cover and feature of my magazine. These magazines all use around 3 colours, mainly black/gray and one bright colour which I find really effective. Also, I like the use of transparent font on the artist name like on "Alicia"which is something that I could use in my own work. The fact that this magazine company taregets women artists appeals to me, and therefore could be something that I could incorporate into my own work.

Contents Page
By using Google alone to look for images of magazine contents pages was difficult as there was only a few to choose from. However, these examples have helped me in understanding the layout to magazine contents pages.

However the first two examples don't fit the look I am hoping to achieve in my magazine, as well as the "Heat" contents page isn't from a music magazine therefore may not represent what I am going to produce. The thrid contents page is from "blender" magazine which has the look I am hoping to achive, however I am not keen on this contents page.

Double Page Spread
Again I found it difficult to find many images on Google of examples of double page spreads;

I like the layouts and content of both these double page spreads. The one on the Left is in a diary style with shapshots of different places, this would be inaproprate for my magazine as it doesn't tie in with the solo artist theme I am going for. However, the My Chemical Romance spread could be something similar to what I choose to do as it is on set of recording their new album.