Review of preliminary task

As part of my research and planning, I had to create a magazine for a college. This included creating a front cover and a contents page.

This was the first time I had ever created a front cover and contents page so although I had researched about a FC and CP, I didn't fully follow how to design them property. I did do the basic features of including a masthead, main image, sell lines etc but I did miss out quite a few other important features that needed to be there. For example, I didn't include a the issue number of the magazine on which is key feature that needs to be on the front cover.

Looking back at my work, I do believe I done a acceptable job of creating a front cover and contents page as this was the first time I had ever done a task like that before. However, now I know all the important features and techniques that need to be used I wish I done a lot more things differently on my magazine.

The most important thing that I would change in my work is the main image on the front cover. I chose to use a image where the model wasn't looking directly at the camera and was looking at a book instead. At the time I thought this was a good image to use as it related to the genre and audience of my magazine, but after more research and plannin, I understand that it is key for the model to be looking at the camera so it feels like you are making eye contact with them. 

I was also pleased with the text on the contents page as I made it as relatable a as I could to the target audience. For example, I included articles about tips for revision which is important to a student and would be something that they would be interested reading about. 

Work up to date| Progress so far

This is a screenshot of my almost complete contents page. When you see the difference between this and my last post, you can see that I have made a lot of progress. I have added more pictures to the design, in order to make it look more creative and fun. I haven't fully completed my contents page as I am yet to receive feedback to find out how I can improve it and make it look the best it actually can.  I also plan on changing some of the text to make it seem like it is more focused on the music (as this is what the coursework is based around) instead of having the content focused on every day things you would find in an ordinary magazine.

Contents Page| So far

This is a screenshot of my contents page so far. I am still working on it so you can see from this image that my work is incomplete. I am definitely keeping my font the same and am sticking with the pink background.  However, I do plan on moving my image around once I start writing up my subheadings and articles etc. I have chosen to use colloquial language and shorten down the word magazine to 'mag' this is because my target audience is aimed at young teens and it will appeal to them more.  I will continue to start choosing and writing the articles that I want to feature in my magazine so that there is no blank space and everything is filled up. It is important that there is no dead space so it looks professional.

Looking at Last Years Student Work

During one of the lessons, I looked at a range of different work from previous students and analysed them. I wrote down the strengths and weaknesses from the  5 different magazines that I looked at, then graded them on what I think they deserved. I then explained what I had learnt from looking at last years students work and how I was going to apply this knowledge to my own piece of work. This task has helped me a lot for it when it comes to creating my magazine, I now know what sort of conventions and and techniques should be included to get a high grade for my magazine. Also, if I want a higher grade I know what not to include.

Model Confirmation

This is a confirmation message from my model saying that she is available for the time I plan on taking my images for the magazine. It is important that I know she is free and is still fine with modelling for my photographs  so that everything goes as planned when it comes to taking my images.

Practice Film Poster| The Simpsons Movie

As part of my research and planning, I was asked to create a promotional package for The Simpsons Movie, which involved making a film poster. I was given a booklet which had instructions inside on how to use the software Photoshop which I then filled in, in order to give me a good guide to look back on when I am doing my practical project.

After handing in my film poster, I received it back and got feedback from my lecturer. I then swapped with a partner to peer assess each others work. Inside the work sheet, there was a assessment criteria to help us mark how well they done with creating the film poster. When adding all my marks together, I came out with a total of 34 marks which was the equivalent to an A. The person who was peer assessing my work had to write comments in each section so I was able to understand why I was given the mark and what I had/hadn't done well.

My lecturer wrote me some general feedback explaining that I need to take care with scale. The feedback said that my poster would have been better if my font and image was just a little bit larger and that I should take with care with positions and elements within my design. I will take this feedback on board so that when it comes to creating my own magazine, I don't make these mistakes again.

Practice task| Jarvis Cocker

As part of my research and planning, I was asked to create a practice magazine front cover with Jarvis Cocker as the model for the main image. I created the front cover on photoshop, which helped me in preperation for my actual magazine cover I am creating for my coursework. This task helped to get me more used to the tools on photoshop and how to use them all correctly in order to come out with the best possible work.

As you can see, I didn't really follow the typical layout of a magazine as this was my first go at creating my own. For example, the main image is quite a big problem (I learnt this form my feedback) as there is no direct eye contact and he is looking away from the camera.
Also, I didn't include many sell lines and the layout and overall design of it looks very unprofessional.

From doing this practice task, it allowed me to workout how to use photoshop properly and what I shouldn't do for my real piece of coursework.

My Magazine| Colour Scheme

This is the colour scheme that I have decided to use throughout my magazine.

These are the colours that I think my target audience will want to see and also they are fun colours which will stand out on the pages. With the two monochrome colours, I am chosing the majority of the font to be in black or white (depending on the background) as they are typical shades you would see on a magazine and aren't too in your face. I have followed a similar sort of colour scheme to the type you would see on Top of the Pops, which has been my main influence whilst creating my magazine.

My Magazine| Font Ideas

Masthead Ideas 

Pussycat

I like this font and I am going to consider using it for the masthead of my magazine. I like how the font is so bold as it will help to make it stand out more and will contrast well with the pictures. I also think that this style of font matches well with the genre of my magazine, as it doesn’t look like your average bold font and has a sense of quirkiness to it.

I think that this is a typical masthead font as it is big, bold and stands out. This would be good on my magazine as if I want a lot of things going on on my front cover (i.e various sell lines and pictures) then this would help to balance everything out and contrast with everything that is on it.

Wetin Caro Want

I like the style of this font as with my target audience being aimed at young teens, I feel like this is a font that would appeal to them. It fits in well with the genre of my magazine as it looks like a font you would see on the likes of Top of the Pops. However, I think this font isn't the sort of font that would be used for the masthead as it isn't bold enough and looks like it would only be used a subheading on something like the contents page.

Sell-Lines 

 I think that this would be a good font to use for my sell lines as it will make the them stand out and will compliment the pictures. With there being a lot of pictures I think that is key that the sell lines can still be easily seen and using a bold font like this will help draw you to them. On the other hand, some people might think that with the font being so bold, it looks like it is too much for a sell line and should be used for the masthead.



I also think that this font would look nice to use on my front cover for the sell lines. This is still a bold font but with the letters looking long and stretched it helps to make them not look too over the top as it is only for the sell lines.

Copy

I like this font as I think it is a good basic font that isn't too in your face or has a different styles to it. I would like the font in my interview to be very simple as it makes it easier to follow and read and I think this font fits with what I am looking for. 

As  my target audience is aimed at young teens who are mainly girls, I think this would be a good font to use in pieces of text. It is a simple font but looks very effective at the same time. However, this font might not look tidy and professional for pieces of text like my interview. I want the text on my double page spread to look organised so it looks well presented.

Research| Target Audience's Attitudes and Interests

Mindmap of interests of my TA

The target audience of my magazine is aimed at young girls who are aged around 11-16. As you can see from the small mind map, they would be interested in very girly things such as makeup, shoes and painting their nails. They tend to enjoy going shopping, mainly on the high street, and getting new clothes. This links with their attitudes as they will feel like they want to have the latest look in order to be like some of the celebrities that they like to look up to. Due to the age of my TA, they will still be in school full time but still like go out on the weekends with their friends. My target audience will also be interested in the latest bands/boybands and artists (mainly male), this will include the likes of The Wanted, One direction, Justin Bieber, Ellie Goulding etc. The attitudes of the young girls will be that they want to look their best at all times and will want to know the most popular fashion choices and best makeup tips for them.

Potential Problems I could face

Initial Proposal Table