Welcome to my blog

My name is Joseph Whitbread and my candidate number is 9154 this blog contains
information about my Media AS level task of creating a magazine through photoshop.
This blog contains my final piece,my preliminary task and my evaluation.

I  hope you enjoy reading through my blog

Evaluation (prezi)

The evaluation hyperlink: http://prezi.com/j2j3-altgy6e/as-level-media-magazine-evaluation/

Thank you for watching

Final piece big noise magazine

This is my Final big noise magazine

Preliminary Task evaluation

This first task of a school magazine was a struggle to complete as I have had very little experience with photoshop in the past, I felt that I knew what I wanted out of this first piece of work I had a basic idea of how I was going to plan the layout of my magazine but it fell short when coming to create my magazine. Overall I feel i could greatly improve the quality of my piece, music magazine.

The front cover of the preliminary task looked close to what I wanted it to be but it didn't look as well as it could of done, I fell that I will greatly improve on this with my final music magazine piece because the preliminary task front cover looks boring and uninteresting.

The contents page, looks ok but it looks extremly dull in the way that I had presented it, the pictures seemed boring and uninteresting and the colours used in this piece were quite dark and there was nothing paticularly interesting about them. I feel that with my music magazine the presentation of my contents page needs to be different I feel that I could add more colour to the piece.

Preliminary piece school magazine

Learning Process

Throughout this exercise, I feel that I have learn't alot throughout both planning and creating my products both preliminary and final posed and interesting challenge. I feel that I understand photoshop alittle more than I did before although I had to struggle through my photoshop work as I had diffcultys learning about photoshop, it was not untill later on which I started to understand photoshop I was advised to look at youtube tutorials to improve.

I feel that I will use blogger again at some point as it is quite a good program to use, it is also quite a simple program to use seeing as it works as an online diary of sorts.

Prezi, is another program which I feel that I have learnt from. I feel that is a better system for showcasing information than powerpoint and its definatley something I will consider working on in the future.

Further research into the music magazine industry

Music magazines are extremly profilic UK and there are quite a few around covering various genres of music, the genre covered most is mainstream/pop music although there are various branches of 'music magazine' which depends what you want such as some magazines being based around certain instruments.

My magazine product would come under the nostalgia magazine genre as it is focused on people who are intrested on artists from 50s/60s, there are also hints of trying to modernise the genre of music im focusing on with the introduction of new upcoming jazz artists.

The music magazine industry, is also willing to change directly to what is popular/unpopular at a certain time for example magazines would move from lady gaga to Adele quickly to suit what people want.

evaluation will be done on prezi

The evaluation of my music magazine will be done the next few weeks on a website called
prezi which I feel give my final evaluation a more dynamic look.

Final piece upload Written summary

The Front Page

I tried to make the front of this magazine look like the Jazz uk magazine I had analised, allthough the final result didn't look in anyway similiar to what I wanted it to be I gave it the best  shot that I could given I had been lacking any previous experinces with Photoshop before this exercise.

The Contents page

There was to much text on my contents page but it fit a quite simplistic view of what a contents page should be written. In terms of Image I think I should hve put more than one but I didn't have any that would relate to what was written in my piece also no one I asked wanted pictures taken of them for my piece.

The Double page spread

There was some changes that I had made to the double page spread due to Mrs Howlett telling me that the text boxes seperate the articles and how that didn't look good. I felt that the images on this piece should not be cropped as other double page spreads  have similiar photograph layouts.

pricing on front page

The magazine price is on the front page.

Comparision beetween rough draft and new

The front page has had more added to it since I had made the draft for example I added the barcode plus the new piece of text about the Las Vegas competition. I had increased the size of the mast head on the front page of the Magazine and I swapped the location of the text and the picture around.

The contents page of my magazine Had only some minor changes added to it in terms the big black textbox being removed as I felt it was sectioning the contents page similar to the double page spread

being sectioned. The page was also centred directly in the middle to focus the audiences attention on the contents of the magazine. There was also a small amount of text added to the bottom of the page which fills in the gap due to decreasing the font size of the text.

 

 

 

The double page spread when comparing them to each other looks like nothing had changed but I had decreased the text size and also got rid of the coloured text boxes separating the articles from each other, the piece now looks less segragated.

Editing an image

This image of the front cover is in the middle of the final stages of editing,my plan is to get the magazines pricing put into the corner of the page and then the front page of my media magazine will be finished.

The pricing of my magazine will be done with a similar colour pallet and font to the rest of the front cover of my piece.

Barcode is on my front page

I put the  Barcode on the front cover of my piece.

Double page spread analysis

• I had changed my design of the double page spread to make it look and seem more interesting I got rid of the text boxes because it made my magazine seem quite seperated in terms of the content I wrote.
• I feel that I could make more change to my double page spread because at the moment it just looks quite bland and quite simplistic its not asteticly pleasing which I feel I could edit to make it more so.
• The pictures I feel could be changed around to  because I do not really feel they are in the right size for my double page spread.

Contents page Analysis

• There appears to be quite alot that can be done with the contents page on my piece It just seems bland.
• I had centred the text on my piece so it was directly in the middle, it was my intention here to catch the reader of this magazines eye straight away but I feel that Icould make some last minute adjustments to this to make the text clearer e.g. a clearer font.
• The image in this piece did not seem well place I feel that I could crop it to make it seem better in terms of the display of the contents page
• The brief text about the Editor performing a Ronnie scotts was to fill the space to try and make the piece seem interesting.
• I choose a simplistic design for my contents page because as shown in my magazine Analysis it seems to look well in design terms.

Update on my Front cover

• There where some Changes made in terms of the pieces layout for example I moved the picture to the right side of the front cover so a potential customer is more likley to buy the magazine if they are interested in its content.
• I have changed to text to the left handside of the magazine so the text on the piece looks authentic for a music magazine.
• I have added a advertisment for in magazine content for example the competition to win a trip to Las Vegas is being advertised.
• My Barcode for this piece is yet to be added in

Unused Photographs

There where a couple of photographs that were not used for my magazine for various reasons these are two examples of unused photos and reasons why they were not used.

The First image I did not use because it was to casual to fit in my piece it seemed to generic compared to what I actually wanted for my piece although it was a good photograph I just did not think that it would fit.

The second Image just seemed extreamly disorganized I did not like this image at all as the the television was in shot and my sisters face was not in frame at all  within the piece just her hair which again wouldn't have fit my final piece.

The Audience profile for Big noise Magazine

I have Intended that for Big noise magazine the intended audience should be for anyone of any age range who enjoys Big band/jazz but the main demographic is for muscians at any age or status in terms of music.

The magazine can be aimed at a younger generations who listen to recent Jazz artists such as Jamie cullen or michael buble who want to discover more about the genre.

There is a focus on famous jazz muscians such as Louie armsrong and up and coming muscians
who have caught the audiences eye with there music.

The layout of the magazine is also clear and simple to understand which is focused on all age demographics being able to understand what is going on with the magazine.

Double Page Spread analysis

• The First Page is a large A4 image of Lady Gaga which I would assume would imstantly catch a readers attention when reading this page. The image in the picture is shown in black and white which gives the Image quite an interesting look in artistic terms.
• The Second Page is the start of what I assume is an interview with her, There is quite alot of text written on the page but it look poorley done due to there being a massive red 'L' taking up most of the page which is eye catching but distracting and poorley placed directly in the middle of the text.
• This double page spread seems to be poorley layed out having an image placed directly over the text for example.

Contents page Analysis

• The contents title looks to be quite formal in terms of font it also has quite a formal smart theme to the entire page.
• There is quite alot of text for this Contents page in quite a small font. it also looks and seems quite organized in terms of the order that everything is placed in.
•  The colours of this pieces text seem to be Orange and black which keeps the piece down to the minimum which I think works for the piece. They also related the Orange text colour to the image on the piece.
• The image of the yoyo again is very simplistic and bland yet it still fits in, it makes the contents page look quite interesting.

Jazz magazine Analysis: Front page

•  The Magazines Title Jazz-Uk is eyecatching but the colour sceme looks extremly bland but in turn it gives the piece some piece some class due to the way that the colours are swapped around it gives the magazine a unique look
• The Background colour of Bronze/Brown looks quite Murky and uninteresting this is one of the bad points of this front cover due to the fact that there is nothing appealing or different about the colour its just boring and uninteresting.
• The musician on the front Shows that he is the main focus of the magazine he looks like he is in direct eye contact with the potential customer of the magazine.
• Below the Magazine title there is brief showing of what readers can see in the magazine for example it states NEWS,GAGS and REVIEWS.
• There are little advertisements asking the reader of the magazine to subscibe to future issues which is good for marketing.

Photograph Model and clothing choices

For my photographs I felt that given my magazine was a Jazz/Big band styled magazine I felt that the singer should have a vintage look but they should still remain in true to the more modern style of clothing which is why my sister had modeled for my magazine, to give the magazine the look that I had wanted from her.

Once the pictures were taken, I had edited them to make them fit in with the atmosphere of my magazine.

The clothing I had used for my piece, Was a Mix, for the front page and one of the double page spread photos we used quite a long vintage dress to give the classic feel the other pictures we dressed
my sister in casual clothing to give of the look that the cclothing wasn't completley bias towards the modern generation.

Barcode used for magazine

I feel using a barcode on my magazine will give it a sense of realisim
in terms of that it shows that it is a product which can be sold in newsagents
and supermarkets.

I feel though something needs to be removed from the front cover of my piece to
fit in the barcode, due to fact there seems to be to much unesscary text on the front
page for example the advertisement on a trip to Las vegas, this space could be used  for the barcode
on the front cover of my magazine.

Progress on piece

In the final parts of my piece I feel that my music magazine needs
to be greatly improved upon in terms of look because the piece does
not look anything like a magazine, me and my teacher Mrs Howlett look at what could
be improved upon in terms of changing the fonts on my piece and also adding more text
to the piece.

On the otherhand I feel that my piece has got the overall tone that I wanted to set for the
piece in terms of using a dark red,blacks and whites giving the magazine quite a smooth and
classy look to it. The piece will be improved upon this week to try to make it look asteticly
pleasing for my target audience.

Editing

The editing of big noise magazine will take place in the coming week
there is alot of changes to make for my magazine to look well done
in terms tone and font I also feel that there needs to be more on the contents page
other than just text.

I will begin editing in terms of how the magazine layout is organised and then
i'm going look at what needs to be improved on the other pages of my final
piece work.

Advantanges and disadvantages of my draft copy

Advantages:
- I have layout for my final piece
-Tone, colour and font match the feel of my magazine
- it closley resembles what I originally had in mind for my magazine

Disadvantages:
- To much text
-  The whole piece at the moment looks extreamly dull and uninteresting
- More detail needs to be added to the overall piece in terms of backround
and photograths

Overall I think there are still some flaws that could be improved upon with my
piece the make it more exciting.

Audience profile

The age range i'm targeting is late twenties onwards but the content of the magazine can
apply to a anyone who likes jazz/big-band music. The gender my magazine is aimed at is
both male and female audiences who are fand of jazz music.The musicial tastes of this
magazine range mostly around Jazz/Swing but it can sometimes apply to genres of music
such as rock and roll.In terms of other interests, they can variey from, music/videogames/dvds
/books, there will be adverts relating to these interests but music adverts will be shown most
of the time.Looking at disposable income they could have a cd with a track of an artist on which
in turn could make the potential reader more likely to buy the magazine.In terms of education the
magazine talks about the history of famous jazz muscians and venues.

Big noise magazine draft

Bauer publishers for my magazine

If I was to go to a publisher, I would go to Bauer publishing because they own quite
a large range of small un-well known brands and quite well known brands, the other reason
I would Bauer is because they quite a large fous on music magazines they also have some focus
on radio which is good reason to join because it would allow oppitunities for Big- noise magazine
to expand in the future.

Double page spread analysis

Todays lesson we analysised a double page spread of a music magazine these photographs are of the double page spead and my analysis.

Information on the photographs I put up/why they have been put up.

I put these photos up because these are the one which I will more than likley use for my piece, these photographs have been edited to give them a better look in terms of there quality for example brighter lighting was used to make some parts stand out.

I tried to make them look as vintage as possible but it still needed to retain that modern look so it could appeal to the wider audience who are interested the magazine in paticular

Final piece photographs

 These photos where taken 2/2/13 these where mostly taken in my house in Epping and on a day out to London.  Photos are of Holly Whitbread, posing as a Jazz singer for my magazine.

Photographs plan and draft music magazine

I have composed a draft of my music magazine and a plan of my photographs as shown in these photographs.

These were drawn on white paper although my overall work will be done in colour

Music Magazine Pitch


Genre:  Big Band,  Rock n Roll, 50s and 60s and Vegas


Weekly/Monthly Price: Monthly Magazine- £2.50


Audience profile likes/dislikes

Likes:

Vegas type entertainment
Jazz and Rock n Roll
50/60s

Dislikes

Mainstream music e.g
Dubstep
Rap Music
Boybands
Pop music

Name

Big-Noise Magazine

Images

People are well dressed/smart

Male:  Suits make them look similar to male singers of the period
Female: Vintage dresses look similiar to female singers of the period

Double page spread

Page profile about an up and coming jazz singer will be shown on page one of two then the second page there will be and interview with said up and coming singer.

Inducements

Offer for a trip to see the up and coming singers concert in las Vegas
also another offer for the singers CD these offers will be shown as a caption on the front page of the magazine.

Usp

The magazine combines musicial interests such as Jazz and Rock n Roll using these teqnuiques it will help the magazine appeal to people who prefer different genres.


Other

FaQ of Singer for the magazine focus on paticular genre e.g Jazz
Venue information will be shown on the contents page FaQ on Caesars Palace which is most famous for having the rat pack sepratley and in a group perform there.

Preliminary photo plan


My intial plan for my preliminary piece is to follow the structure of my draft as much I can. I'am planning to keep the layout of the the front cover the same as it was set out on my pencil sketched draft copy.

Prelimnary piece photographs

Draft of preliminary piece

In todays lesson, we worked on a draft copy of are preliminary piece which a rough copy of a school prospectus/news-letter.


The lesson today helped me devolp a brief idea of how I want to set out my preliminary piece by letting me organise the draft copys design to how I want to  create my school newsletter.

Todays Lesson

We analysed a music magazine to see if we could work on what could effectivley be put into our own music magazine such as certain fonts and colours. I learnt that if I want to make my Magazine look good it needs to be convincing, it also needs to look like its aimed at my specific genre of music (Big Band).

Looking at a contents page of a magazine

Composition

• Double page spread, it spaces out certain areas of the article such as images, reviews and featured articles.
• Text colums are laid out in subtitles, there are different sub-sections for each text coloum.
• The supporting images our laid out and set to be under there releated articles e.g. the Paloma Faith article.

Image

•  On the first contents page, there are various main images of artists such as David Bowie who relate to certain articles.
•  There are supporting photographs relating to the text coloum articles.
•  The style of photograph is none in paticular, they seem like generic and plain pictures of artists featured in certain articles.

Graphics

• There is a logo which is used that says ' 2013 Q magazine long-range forecast, which could relate to an upcoming event for the magazine.

Text

•  There isn't a main headline,there are various smaller headlines on the second page of the contents.
• There contents page is defined by having most of its text written in bold colours and font which was done to catch the audiences eyes.
• In terms of the font I noticed that the bold font was used to make the more important words stand out.

Theme

• The colours used, were, reds,blacks,whites and baby blue, these colours made the text stand out for certain articles e.g. David Bowie article written in bold red
• The colour scemes were similiar reds,blacks and whites were used for it to give a feeling of continuity The bold font was also used for both the front and the contents pages.

Media brief


Preliminary exercize: Produce the front page of a school/college magazine, featuring a photo of a student (Medium close up), do a mock layout of a contents page.

Main exercize: Produce the front page, context and a double page spread of a new music magazine