Thursday, 28 March 2013
Friday, 15 March 2013
Evaluation, Conclusion
I think that the overall success of the products I have created is good as I think that I addressed the audience well and created a magazine that links to the genre that I chose.
Evaluation, Question 7
Looking back at your prelim task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full project?
Looking from my prelim task to my final pieces, there's an immediate difference- especially regarding contents and quality. I think that the one in which you can see the most development from is the contents page as the prelim contents page was extremely basic.
When creating the cover page and contents page for the prelim task, I didn't look at existing products nor did I look at codes and conventions in depth. I think this is the reason to why it lacked enough structure, contents and creativity. However, when looking at codes and conventions within magazines and looking at many existing products, my ideas broadened and I was able to structure and plan how I wanted it to look better- my knowledge widened and I knew more to what I had to do to create successful magazine pieces.
Cover Page
 |
| Prelim Task |
 |
| Final Piece |
The cover on the left is my prelim task- cover page. I processed this photo, making it black and white but through the research I've done, I saw that successful covers use colour, not black and white.
The masthead is separated from the magazine. I think that it would look better as a whole if it was on the bricks, going behind the boys head.
I feel as if there's many things on this magazine cover that could be improved and overall, it doesn't look professional nor successful.
The cover on the right is my final piece- cover page. I feel since my prelim task, my skills have developed and broadened. I feel like there's a better structure on this piece and the ideas/contents is better. I think that the masthead improved due to it now standing out a lot better.
Cover Page |
| Prelim Task |
On the left is my prelim task, contents page. Although the colours go well together, the page is too extreme basic. I think that the lines underneath the text and around the photos look amateur.
Evaluation, Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
At the beginning of creating the 3 media products, I had basic knowledge in the photography area in which I found useful throughout the course. I knew the basic shot types and how to use the technologies (e.g the digital cameras) but regarding the software we used (Photoshop and InDesign) it was my first time using them so I had to learn as I went along, experimenting with different things. This found difficult at times, especially during the start but as my knowledge improved, it was easier to process images and put all the codes and conventions together.
Due to already being familiar with taking photos, I found it easy to think of how I wanted the image for the cover page to look. I wanted to take a variety of images to get a successful portraiture image in which will gain peoples attention on a cover page. To get this I took photos, experimenting with lighting, body language, positioning and props.
For my double page spread, I had to cut a lot of images out to put on to the white background as another layer. I found that in Photoshop, one of the tools I used a lot to do this was the 'Quick Selection Tool'. I found that this was time consuming as to make the photos look good and fit well on to the page, you need to cut around the images and edit them further to make them look neat. To do this, I used the eraser to smooth the edges.
In Photoshop, one of the tools I used a lot was the 'Quick Selection Tool'. I used this in my double page spread as I had various images to edit out of the photo and put as another layer on the magazine. The key skills that I learnt were how to make the way I'd cut the images out look neat, how to erase parts of images, how to process images to make them fit the 'look' of the magazine and how to add text within each product.
During the process of creating my media products, I learnt that when using iconic signs through photography (especially in my cover page) it's best to use photos in which you can immediately recognise the model. The 2 images that I originally took for my cover page of Charley- Shoot 1, I liked a lot due to the colours, the backgrounds and the way she was positioned in both of them. However, if I was to use them on my cover page, it wouldn't of worked well, as you wouldn't of been able to see who she was- which is key to making consumers look at your magazine. For these reasons, I took another shoot with Model Hannah- Shoot 2 and found that these photos were more appropriate.
There weren't many problems I had to overcome but throughout- as said above- it was proven difficult at first due to my lack of knowledge on the softwares we used. I found that when placing the images that I'd cut out on to the double page spread, they at first looked rigid and untidy so I had to smooth them over and make them look the best and most professional as I could. Other small problems that occurred were such as, not enough lighting in photos and the photos not being what I needed (as said above). However I found after I'd taken a wider range of photos, it was easier to see how they can be improved, what one's were most appropriate and how I could make them look better.
At the beginning of creating the 3 media products, I had basic knowledge in the photography area in which I found useful throughout the course. I knew the basic shot types and how to use the technologies (e.g the digital cameras) but regarding the software we used (Photoshop and InDesign) it was my first time using them so I had to learn as I went along, experimenting with different things. This found difficult at times, especially during the start but as my knowledge improved, it was easier to process images and put all the codes and conventions together.
Due to already being familiar with taking photos, I found it easy to think of how I wanted the image for the cover page to look. I wanted to take a variety of images to get a successful portraiture image in which will gain peoples attention on a cover page. To get this I took photos, experimenting with lighting, body language, positioning and props.
For my double page spread, I had to cut a lot of images out to put on to the white background as another layer. I found that in Photoshop, one of the tools I used a lot to do this was the 'Quick Selection Tool'. I found that this was time consuming as to make the photos look good and fit well on to the page, you need to cut around the images and edit them further to make them look neat. To do this, I used the eraser to smooth the edges.
In Photoshop, one of the tools I used a lot was the 'Quick Selection Tool'. I used this in my double page spread as I had various images to edit out of the photo and put as another layer on the magazine. The key skills that I learnt were how to make the way I'd cut the images out look neat, how to erase parts of images, how to process images to make them fit the 'look' of the magazine and how to add text within each product.
During the process of creating my media products, I learnt that when using iconic signs through photography (especially in my cover page) it's best to use photos in which you can immediately recognise the model. The 2 images that I originally took for my cover page of Charley- Shoot 1, I liked a lot due to the colours, the backgrounds and the way she was positioned in both of them. However, if I was to use them on my cover page, it wouldn't of worked well, as you wouldn't of been able to see who she was- which is key to making consumers look at your magazine. For these reasons, I took another shoot with Model Hannah- Shoot 2 and found that these photos were more appropriate.
There weren't many problems I had to overcome but throughout- as said above- it was proven difficult at first due to my lack of knowledge on the softwares we used. I found that when placing the images that I'd cut out on to the double page spread, they at first looked rigid and untidy so I had to smooth them over and make them look the best and most professional as I could. Other small problems that occurred were such as, not enough lighting in photos and the photos not being what I needed (as said above). However I found after I'd taken a wider range of photos, it was easier to see how they can be improved, what one's were most appropriate and how I could make them look better.
Evaluation, Question 5
How did you attract/address your audience?
I formed a focus group in which I asked questions to. I chose people within a social group that likes the Indie genre.
Evaluation, Question 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a3zt6n9Mdo
In this video, I talked about how I portrayed the models and how I made them look to how I needed them to be to represent the Indie Genre I was aiming for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a3zt6n9Mdo
In this video, I talked about how I portrayed the models and how I made them look to how I needed them to be to represent the Indie Genre I was aiming for.
Evaluation- Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
http://prezi.com/sqfcdaid-9zq/forms-and-conventions/?auth_key=72ff32f58966850cd6a5d23d4d0d1d7a167fab24&kw=view-sqfcdaid-9zq&rc=ref-24584677
http://prezi.com/sqfcdaid-9zq/forms-and-conventions/?auth_key=72ff32f58966850cd6a5d23d4d0d1d7a167fab24&kw=view-sqfcdaid-9zq&rc=ref-24584677
Introduction
I created a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a music magazine targeted at people that are interested in the genre of Indie. There were many ways in which I improved my knowledge of the Indie Genre and what people would most likely want to see on a magazine. These ways include questionnaires, a mood board, textual analysis's and mind maps.
I found all types of research helpful. The primary research helped me know what additional codes and conventions to add the magazine and what people in the age target audience would want to see, e.g. price wise, colours, models. The secondary research helped me the most (in my opinion) as it helped me gain a better knowledge of Indie itself and I found out more about the people, the lifestyle, colours and models. This is why I found by doing a mood board, I could create magazine pieces that related to the genre more.
I found all types of research helpful. The primary research helped me know what additional codes and conventions to add the magazine and what people in the age target audience would want to see, e.g. price wise, colours, models. The secondary research helped me the most (in my opinion) as it helped me gain a better knowledge of Indie itself and I found out more about the people, the lifestyle, colours and models. This is why I found by doing a mood board, I could create magazine pieces that related to the genre more.
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Cover page
I chose this image to use as my main image for my cover page. I chose to use this image as I liked the clothing, pose, position and the overal look of the girl.
I enhanced the colours of the image to strengthen some parts of it.
I began making my logo by using a simple but bold font. The name of my magazine is 'Indie Unique' but I thought that it'd be more eye-catching and bold if I only used the letters IU. I put a thick black outline around the letters to make it stand out.
I put a blue box behind the letters to make the letters stand out. I chose a blue by using the colour grabber tool. I made it the same colour as one of the blues in which were in some of the clothing of the models shirt. I wanted to use a dark colour to make the white writing stand out.
I put the name underneath the letters to show what the magazine is actually called. I think the letters being bigger attracts more attention which is what I wanted. I put the star in the middle also to make it more individual.
I added cover lines to the cover page.
Thursday, 24 January 2013
The changes of my double page spread
I used an existing double page spread that I liked to base my ideas on. I took a series of photos of a girl in which were a variety of different positions and poses- some were more posed than others.
I needed to take out the background of all the photos to make it more able to place them on the spread behind and infront of the lines I was going to draw on. For this reason, I experimented with the polygonal lasso tool and quick selection tool. I found that the polygonal lasso tool was the easiest as I found it difficult with the background I have to get a neat outline of the images as it kept selecting the background as well as the model I wanted to cut.
The photo below is one of the images that I used to cut out.
Below is the stages and changes I made to my double page spread.
In the mind map I created in my planning stages, my initial idea for the double page spread was to cut the two pages in half. I'd use the left page for a large iconic sign, a photo of a model that I'd costume to look like a singer in a location either at a studio or somewhere that'd look like a stage. I'd prop this photo with a guitar to immediately make it recognisable. However, when looking at existing magazines, I found a double page spread that I found both more interesting and flows through the pages better.I wanted to use cut out images as I've done above to make a row of images of the same girl. I think that this design makes the pages look interesting and makes it obvious that the article is about her only. I used the same idea as the existing spread and made one of the images larger and in colour. I didn't use an instrument as when looking at spreads on the internet, not many photos used instruments, only the model.
I made the title of the double page spread in capital letters to identify it's a title and in a black font to make it clear and easy to read. I made the name of the artist in a blue font so it stands out from the rest and a reader would be able to notice it first.
However, the people that did my feedback said that they didn't like the title for the following reasons. It didn't 'flow' and there were ways I could make the layout better to resolve this. The blue text is too random and it would be better to have a larger name in a colour such as pink again above the title so it would be like:
''CELINE DORESE talks about her year from the gods''
I agree with the feedback and think that changing it would make the whole interview look better.
Everyone also said that there was too much wasted space around the text, especially on the second page. I want to change this by extending the interview and putting a quote on the second page.
I changed the title first. I made her a one-named artist so it's not as long but still an interesting name and changed the text underneath. I made her name bold, capitals and pink to link in with the questions in the interview. I made the text underneath 'talks about her tube into fame'- I used the word 'tube' as a pun to how she started becoming famous (through YouTube). I added more questions to the interview to use the excess space and improve the interview altogether. I then added a quote above the second page text to again, use the excess space and to add more to the page, other than just blocks of text. Lastly, I added 4 logos at the bottom- YouTube, Facebook, iTunes and Twitter as these are the most used social networking sites that would be relevant to new artists- especially YouTube and iTunes as these will both help her get recognized.
I added page numbers. I wanted to make the pages in the beginning of the magazine as it's quite a big story so more people would read it nearer to the start. I also made one of the lines going through the images pink to go with the title and the questions. I experimented with different places to put a pink line- at the top, at the bottom etc. I also moved the last photo in the line to the left more as there was too much space and then added the name to who did wrote the interview.
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Double page spread- Feedback
I like how the big image is in colour but the others aren't. It creates interest in the page.
Instead of making the name blue, make the entire title blue and add a black drop shadow to make it easier to read.
I like how you've kept all of the starting lines of text the same height even though there's room to go up.
Either put a quote in the space above the last column or to the left of the main image.
Person 2:
It looks good but make the font further down to give you more room.
Person 3:
I like the images and the main images. The lines across the page looks good. I think in the space that's left, you should add either more text or a quote from the interview- but not an image and there's already a lot on the page and might look odd.
All of the people I asked to give me feedback said they think that there's too much space around the text. I want to add more text and put a quote under the last photo as well. Person 1 said they didn't like the heading and when asking other people to view it and say what they thought, they all agreed that it didn't flow as much as it could. Also, there's no relation between the page and the 2 different colours. I want to make the name of the girl both pink (to link to the questions) and shorter.
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Start of double page spread
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Changes to cover page
I asked 3 people to give me feedback from my cover page.
Person 1
Font
Colour
Text
Cover lines
Overall look
Other
Person 2
Font
Colour
Text
Cover lines
Overall look
Other
Person 3
Font
Colour
Text
Cover lines
Overall look
Other
Person 1
Font
Colour
Text
Cover lines
Overall look
Other
Person 2
Font
Colour
Text
Cover lines
Overall look
Other
Person 3
Font
Colour
Text
Cover lines
Overall look
Other
Looking at other magazines and using them to help
When looking on the internet for secondary images of Indie music magazine cover pages, I found this magazine. The cover is very simple, the background is plain and there aren't any cover lines. When making my cover page, I want to put cover lines on, as this is how people would be more interested in the magazine; it shows what you are about to read so they can decide weather or not the stories would interest them. However, I really liked the simplicity of the background and the image. The background cover is the same as the colour of the models lips, complimenting them and making them stand out more. The dark make-up, the top the model is wearing and the dark hair piece also all link together. Due to this, it makes these elements stand out more. I think that doing something like this would make my magazine look simple but really effective.
I want to use this magazine for inspiration and ideas when designing and create my own cover. However, due to wanting cover lines, I looked further at more magazine covers to find another one that I liked- with cover lines.
When looking for another magazine cover, I thought this was exactly what I was looking for. The cover lines are neat, organised and there isn't a wide variety of fonts- which I think make it looks better. I also liked the 3 photos to the left of the page- this is an advert of free posters inside- which will be a selling point for the magazine. This is one of the codes and conventions I thought were the best as it makes the reader feel like they're getting more for their money. As I've done another shoot other than Tori's and Charley's (the models I used for my cover page/contents page/double page spread) I can use these here.
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Idea text for double page spread
For my double page spread, I want to carry out an interview with the model I used in my contents page. It will be as if she's a 'new and fresh' face in the Indie music genre and we're asking them about how they got there and what they're doing now. However, I want to do a short article as well. Below is an interview and article but will be improved and changed. For my contents page, I took images of a girl that I wanted the double page spread to be about. Due to this, I will either have to change the interview I planned to use below or make the story that they two people became one.
Interview
You're new, you're fresh and everyone's buzzing at the sound of your name. How does it feel to be the newest 'thing' around?
I can honestly tell you it feels so weird! I've never been given so much love from people I didn't know, can't say I don't love it though. It's been crazy!
It must feel like everything's happening so fast, well because it has!
Yeah, sometime's it takes gig after gig to reach the top but it all happened so easily for me.
There's a lot of rumours on your story but tell us here first, what really happened?
I started uploading videos of myself singing and playing the guitar on to YouTube. It wasn't just singing and playing the guitar though, I mixed it up a lot and made it really unique- had to be original! I really didn't think that I'd get many views or comments but hours after uploading them, I'd get thousands of views and people saying how much they loved my music. The more time that went past, the more views we got and when we started reaching millons, I were ecstatic! I was contacted by the manager of Indie-Beats and from then it just got better and better.
Wow! And then almost like over night, you became famous. What are you currently doing now then?
Pretty much! I'm currently working on some new lyrics, I don't want to just be a singer and play a guitar- I want to write my own music, give people the ideas and make my music just like myself.
How do you think the people that watched you on YouTube will see this?
I recently made a video telling people what had happen, I got an extreme amount of likes, views and comments, all supporting and saying how great it is. I love it, all my original fans are behind me and it's them that really helped me get to where I am now.
Interview
You're new, you're fresh and everyone's buzzing at the sound of your name. How does it feel to be the newest 'thing' around?
I can honestly tell you it feels so weird! I've never been given so much love from people I didn't know, can't say I don't love it though. It's been crazy!
It must feel like everything's happening so fast, well because it has!
Yeah, sometime's it takes gig after gig to reach the top but it all happened so easily for me.
There's a lot of rumours on your story but tell us here first, what really happened?
I started uploading videos of myself singing and playing the guitar on to YouTube. It wasn't just singing and playing the guitar though, I mixed it up a lot and made it really unique- had to be original! I really didn't think that I'd get many views or comments but hours after uploading them, I'd get thousands of views and people saying how much they loved my music. The more time that went past, the more views we got and when we started reaching millons, I were ecstatic! I was contacted by the manager of Indie-Beats and from then it just got better and better.
Wow! And then almost like over night, you became famous. What are you currently doing now then?
Pretty much! I'm currently working on some new lyrics, I don't want to just be a singer and play a guitar- I want to write my own music, give people the ideas and make my music just like myself.
How do you think the people that watched you on YouTube will see this?
I recently made a video telling people what had happen, I got an extreme amount of likes, views and comments, all supporting and saying how great it is. I love it, all my original fans are behind me and it's them that really helped me get to where I am now.
Photos for double page spread
To link my cover page and double spread together, I will use images of the same person. The image of the person in the contents page, will be the person that will be wrote about or 'interviewed'. Below, are the best photos I took for this shoot. I will keep all the photos from the shoot however, as when making the double page spread, it might work better different ways to how I designed- therefore some of the other photos might work well as well/be better.
I will cut all of these images out on Photoshop so that the background in these photos wont be visible.
Ideas for double page spread
I liked this double page spread the most as I think that the row of black and white images and the larger, colour photo makes it interesting and exciting. I want to use this idea and do it myself. I will use the girl I did in the contents page.
Contents page- Feedback
Person 1
Image choices-
I think that only having two photos is less of a distraction and lets you see the photos properly.
I think that the bigger image stands out more and makes it look more important.
Having the smaller image in black and white makes it look more interesting because then the whole contents page isn't in colour.
Colour scheme-
The colour scheme is good.
I think that pink and dark blue go well together.
Text-
It's obvious what the subheadings are because of the bold text.
There's a range texts (bold, regular, italic)
Title-
The title is big and bold and stands out.
Because the title is bold, it's clear that it's the contents page and because it's at the top.
Other-
I like the separate part for 'the women' as it gives extra stories.
Changes you'd make-
Make the subheadings bold and a different colour- this will make it stand out a lot more and look better with the pink and blue.
Person 2
Image choices-
I think you should of used more images and put image numbers on the photos to make it easy to find where it is in the magazine.
Colour scheme-
I like how there's only two colours as it doesn't overload it with too many.
Text-
I like how there's a range of different kinds of text as in bold and italic.
Title-
Clear, bold and stands out.
Other-
N/A
Changes you'd make-
More photos and numbers on photos.
Person 3
Image choices-
I really like that there's only 2 images because it makes it simple and easy to see what's what. It also gives more room for more text so you can see more of what would be in the magazine. You could of put a photo of a boy in as well as there's no photo's of boys in your magazine- this would of been a good place to do so.
Colour scheme-
Good and simple.
Text-
Good and clear.
Title-
Good and bold.
Other-
-
Changes you'd make-
Don't make all your models girls.
Image choices-
I think that only having two photos is less of a distraction and lets you see the photos properly.
I think that the bigger image stands out more and makes it look more important.
Having the smaller image in black and white makes it look more interesting because then the whole contents page isn't in colour.
Colour scheme-
The colour scheme is good.
I think that pink and dark blue go well together.
Text-
It's obvious what the subheadings are because of the bold text.
There's a range texts (bold, regular, italic)
Title-
The title is big and bold and stands out.
Because the title is bold, it's clear that it's the contents page and because it's at the top.
Other-
I like the separate part for 'the women' as it gives extra stories.
Changes you'd make-
Make the subheadings bold and a different colour- this will make it stand out a lot more and look better with the pink and blue.
Person 2
Image choices-
I think you should of used more images and put image numbers on the photos to make it easy to find where it is in the magazine.
Colour scheme-
I like how there's only two colours as it doesn't overload it with too many.
Text-
I like how there's a range of different kinds of text as in bold and italic.
Title-
Clear, bold and stands out.
Other-
N/A
Changes you'd make-
More photos and numbers on photos.
Person 3
Image choices-
I really like that there's only 2 images because it makes it simple and easy to see what's what. It also gives more room for more text so you can see more of what would be in the magazine. You could of put a photo of a boy in as well as there's no photo's of boys in your magazine- this would of been a good place to do so.
Colour scheme-
Good and simple.
Text-
Good and clear.
Title-
Good and bold.
Other-
-
Changes you'd make-
Don't make all your models girls.
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Contents page- Development and Changes
I used this magazine contents page as a guideline of making my own. I think that the layout is neat and easy to find what out what's inside the magazine. I like how there's only two photos on the page. This shows what's inside but doesn't overload it with too many photos.
I started by putting a bar across the top of the page. I then used a bold font to write the title 'Contents'. As I wanted to to stand out but relate to the rest of the page, I made it the same font as the masthead, and put it in capital letters.
I added the bars as backgrounds for the subheadings. I used features and put it at the top as it's going to be the main stories in the magazine. I then added 'The Women' in italics as it separates it from the rest. Every month was used as a part of what's there every month and be easier for people that read it all the time to find. And lastly, I put 'Interviews' as I wanted to add the article I wanted to use for the double page spread.
I added all the stories and page numbers next.
At the top right hand corner, I added the issue number, date and website of the magazine.
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