My Prezi

Lesson Fourteen

In this lesson, we were given the task to evaluate our work on the prezi website. This made it easier for us to see how well we did and the areas that needed improving.

http://prezi.com/i_x0-a5zak-m/edit/

My Final Product

Lesson Thirteen - 1/04/11





Front Cover

   In this lesson I had finally managed to complete my magazine. I was pleased with my work as it was a bit challenging in the beginning, but as I got used to photoshop, it became more manageable and it was also good to see everything finally coming together.

 Here is an example of my front cover magazine. I was pleased with my front cover as I was able to keep it simple which is what I had intended to do in the beginning. This was so that I did not confuse my target audience by adding in things that were not necessary. I was able to keep my colour consistency by making sure that I did not use colours that did not go together with the text. By choosing a house colour on the front cover, I had to make sure that I kept the same consistency throughout the magazine so that it looked organised. I liked the fact that I was still able to add in other additional information without having the fear of it being too over crowed and chaotic. I liked the use of the image that I used as it was fit for purpose and it was also clear to see who she was and what it was about. At times it was a bit difficult to find a house colour because of the dull background. I had to make sure that the colour and style of the writing was visible. I liked the fact that it did all come together in the end and I did try to keep consistency whilst thinking about the genre of music and remembering what my target audience would have wanted to see.







Contents Page

   Here is my next example of my contents page. All of the pages that I had to create, this turned out to be the most difficult as I had to remember that the magazine was not just based on one person. In order for me to achieve higher marks, I had to make sure that I included at least one different picture of someone else. I tried to keep the colour and font style consistent so that it did not cause any type of confusion for the target audience. I also had to make sure that I did not make the contents page to bland and boring as they would have lost interest. It was important for me at this stage to make sure that I tried to make the contents page look busy to avoid it being plain and to also engage my target audience more. I did this by adding in different stories of people, as well as giving away new posters and so on. To improve this contents page I would go back and try and make it look a lot more busier than it is now and I would also try to avoid making the layout boring and try to at least be more spontaneous with my work.







Double Page Spread

   This is the example of my double page spread. I feel that this page came together well as I was able to use a lot of different techniques such as using the pull quotes etc. I found this useful to the audience as it meant that they would be able to feel more engaged in the interview. When beginning to design my double page spread, I made sure that I used colour consistency as it would have made the page too chaotic and my audience would not have understood what was going on. I feel that I did this successfully as the colours used were all consistent and I also made sure that the font size was visible for all to read.
I feel that the way in which I set out the photographs was also successful as I did not make it complicated or even too busy. I made it in a way whereby it would be simple but it would also still have significant relevance being able to flow a lot better with the other piece of text shown. Of everything that I had to do, I had to make sure that the line in the middle of the page was in the middle and that no other text would overwrite it. This was so that I was able to present it well to the target audience making sure that I was still able to include every piece of information that I had wanted to include in the beginning. If I were to talk about one weakness of this page, it would be the choice of style and font size I had chosen at the top of the page ( '' Hazel Martinez '' ). I feel that this was the only weakness as there was nothing that made it stand out and grab the attention of the readers. This could have been done better by maybe using a maybe luminous colour and making the font size a bit bigger so that the auidence had at least more of an awareness into what the interveiw would be about.

My Ideas Of My Magazine And Contents Page

Lesson Twelve - 18/03/2011

Previously and during this lesson I was able to complete the front cover of my magazine. I must say however, that it was not an easy task as I had to make sure that I used consistency of the colour of writing otherwise it would not have made sense to the target audience. I also had to make sure that the image was positioned in the correct area to save my magazine cover from looking chaotic. Aside all of this, I did make sure that I did not have a lot of unnecessary things going on which is exactly what I wanted to do as I did not want the target audience to bet bored of my magazine. Here is an example to show what my front cover looks like.

I feel like I was able to to a successful job in creating the front cover of my magazine. This is for the way in which I was able to make sure that I did not have a lot of things going on on the front cover. I did this by causing less chaos and by adding things that were important for the target audience to want to read. I feel like I was consistent in the use of font and in the colour. I did this so that it did confuse the audience as they would not have been aware of what was going on. I think that I was able to use the colour of the font well as I tried to give it a bit of gold as I knew that within the genre the colour gold is used a lot in various aspects of the music. I was happy that I was able to use my chosen colour background which was a dim grey, However, I did find it difficult to make sure that I used the correct colour of writing as at times ( whilst I was still working on it) it made it difficult to see the writing which would have not been appealing to the audience.

After doing this I also managed to finish and complete my contents page. Here is an example to show what it looks like. From this example it shows that I was able to create a simple contents page without going over the top. However, I began to find that I may need to add in at least one more picture on both the contents page and the front cover as I need to remember that I am creating a magazine which needs to include a variety of different things in order to have more of a diverse magazine. When I do this , I need to make sure that I do not forget about the interest of my target audience as whatever I do will determine whether they would like to carry on reading the magazine or choose not to look at it. There was something that I managed to do that was good which was the consistency which I found that was a success as it makes my work look a lot better and again it becomes a lot easier for the audience to understand and to make sense of. Personally, I feel that I did a good job setting out the photographs the way I did (which was diagonally from each other) as it was a difference to what the other students in my class had made. This was a good thing for as it meant that I am able to stand out and become unique with my work other than worrying about other peoples work. Even though I am currently manging to complete this coursework task, it is not as easy as I have noticed that nearly everyone is concious abouu how great their magazine will look and how else they can make it bette without copying exsisting magazines.

Examples Of Exsisting Magazines

Lesson Eleven - 15/03/2011

In this lesson, I was able to look at examples of RnB magazines. The reason I did this was so that I could take a look at how each designs vary from each other and it also helped. The first thing that I looked at was the front cover of the magazines. Here is one example of a front cover.

This is an example of a front cover of an RnB magazine. The first thing that I noticed was the way in which the publisher was able to use a well recognised artist on the front cover. This made it easy for the target audience to be attracted to what was being sold. The background image also helped to contribute to attracting the audience as it gives it more of a dramatic effect. By looking at these particular things, it helped me to build ideas for my own magazine. This means that I am now able to take into consideration the different things that I can include on my front cover without having to have so much going on. The colour consistency in this case was presented well as it was easier for me read the majority of the text without feeling confused. The only problem I had with this front cover was the fact that photo was covering the name of the magazine. This would have caused new people who were being introduced to the magazine unaware of what the name was. It would have also become something that could put them off with reading the rest of the magazine. However, a strength of this magazine would be the way in which you are able to use any colour you want. This is one of the reasons as to why I chose to do RnB as my genre. This is so that I am able to use any colour as long as I remember to be consistent with the magazine and remember to think about the target audience. Another reason is because I personally enjoy listening to RnB music from time to time so I found that I am able to include some of background knowledge which could be helpful to me in my production.

This is an example of a contents page in an RnB magazine. Personally, I felt that this contents page did not do enough justice for me to want to continue to read on. This is because of the way it looked plain and a bit boring. In addition to this, I did however like the photograph that the publisher used. The reason being is that she was able to do a striking pose which was able to grab the attention of the target audience. It also helps that the female model is a well  known RnB artist which means that more people from the public will be drawn in a lot easier. Whilst continuing to look at this particular contents page, I noticed that the word '' Contents'' was not together. By this I mean that the publisher did a bad job of making the word look the way it does as it came across to me as disorganized. It also made me feel that the publisher could not be bothered to make it look better than it did, it just looked as though it was rushed. The black writing that was used was suitable but, it just became boring to look at as there was no change in the way it was set out which personally made me loose interest. When I come to design my own magazine, I will make sure that my contents page is not boring but at the same time I will also remember what my target audience would like to see and I will also have to make sure that I do not create new additions that will cause it to be become more chaotic. Overall, I feel that this contents page was ( at least ) suitable as it was fit for its purpose and it did not mislead me at any point.

Here is an example of a double page spread in an RnB magazine. I really enjoyed looking at this magazine as I liked the way in which the publisher used an attractive layout. By doing this, it gave me the urge of wanting to read more so that I could find out what the interview was about. I personally liked the way the photographs were set out. This is because of the way in which we were able to see two different perspectives of the RnB artist. For instance, on the right hand side, we were able to see her in an almost black and white effect. We also see that she is dressed in accordance of the given music genre which in this case is RnB. This is  shown by her hair being tied back, followed by her wearing a hat and so on. On the left hand side of the magazine, we are able to see her ''natural '' look which makes the target audience feel that they are able to relate to her more on personal level. The set out of the interview was good as it was clear and easily readable. I also noticed that the vocabulary that was used was apprporitate and there was no evidence of colloqulisim that was used anywhere.

Contents Pages

Lesson Ten - 14/03/2011

NME
In today's lesson, we were able to look at various contents pages in order to look at its strengths and weaknesses. This is able to help us create ideas on how to design our own contents page when we come to complete our own magazines. I decided to take time to look at the NME magazine contents page and I found that it had more weaknesses than it did strengths. The first thing that I noticed was the bold title at the top which says ''SNAPSHOT''. I found that this helped to tie in with the main image that we were introduced to which was a man who was singing at what looked like a concert. On the left hand side of this contents page, I noticed that they went straight into a story which was kind of welcoming to the target audience as they were instantly informed on the story and what was going on. On the right hand side, were the contents that are inside the magazine. The font colour used was consistent and it made it easy to read as it was in alphabetical order and the consistency of the colour did not cause chaos or confusion. A good thing about this contents page is that it does not have a lot of things going on which makes it easier for the target audience to find their way round. The only bad thing with this contents page is that it did get boring to look at as it came across as being to simplistic and dull. Personally, it did not make me want to continue on reading the magazine as it just created a negative vibe and it did not excite me enough to want to read on.

KERRANG
The kerrang contents page was a lot different compared to the NME contents page. This was for the way in which it appeared to have more going on, but it was still able to grab my attention and keep me interested to read the contents that will appear in the magazine. I feel this was able to be successful from the way in which they used a lot of primary and secondary colours to take away the feeling of boredom. The use of colour helped the contents page become much more exciting and I also became eager to know what would be included in the rest of the magazine. This has shown me that they were able to keep those who were not really part of the target audience and those that were; interested.  Another positive thing that this contents page had was the ability to entertain before I even started reading the actual magazine. This was done by the way in which they used a diverse variation of photographs. I thought that this was a good idea as the publisher made sure that each photograph that was shown had its own individual purpose and link to whatever was in the magazine. It made it seem like it was okay to have all the photos on there as long as it did not cause chaos or confusion which was not the issue in this case. However, when I come to do my own magazine , I do not think I will use that much photos on my contents page. The reason being, is that I want to be able to keep my audience engaged with what they are about to read and I would also like to build exicte plus a hint of an emtional strain so that they beocme eager to want to continue on with reading the inside contents of my magazine.

Starting To Create My Music Magazine

Lesson Nine - 11/03/2011

In this lesson, I have started to create my music magazine and I am finding that it is going as planned. By this example shown, I have managed to use consistent colours so that I do not mislead the audience. I have successfully been able to use the background colour of my choice. I have done this so that I am able to create a less chaotic front cover as it could put off my target audience. When I include the main image onto my magazine, I will make sure that I do not over exaggerate the  front cover by adding in unnecessary things which do not have any link to the magazine what so ever. The use of the gold colour helps to symbolise and represent my chosen genre which is RnB. This is for the way the way in which RnB artists are shown on screen to have huge chunky jewelery followed by a number of male RnB artists who have '' gold '' teeth.

Desgining And Planning My Own Magazine

Lesson Eight -7/03/11

In this lesson, we were given the task to create our own magazines. We started off by using A3 paper in order to come up with ideas of what type of magazine we wanted to do. This is gave us the opportunity to come up with names for our magazine, as well as choosing colour, font size , images etc. I found this particular exercise helpful as I was able to be creative and it would also help me to use more original and unique ideas that I know nobody else would use. Whilst drawing my magazine, I had to think about the positioning and the layout. The reason being, is that I dont want my magazine to have so much going on as it may cause the audience to be misled in what I was trying to sell. Not only this but it would be too choatic and cause confusion. Before planning the front cover of my magazine, we were given the opportuinity to look at previous work of other students. This helped all of us as it showed what not to do and also gave us ideas of how we could improve to make our magazines even better. For instance, we saw a couple of magazines which had a lot of spelling errors as well as punctuation. This showed me that I have to make sure that I spell check my work thouroughly in order for me to gain marks instead of loosing marks.
Here is an example to show my ideas for my front cover magazine.

This is an example which shows an idea of how I would want the front cover of my magazine to look like. When making this, I will have to make sure that I consider the positions of where I will place the flashbacks. This is so that it does not cause chaos in the front of the page. I would initially like to be able to draw the target audience in without having to use so much information on the front of the magazine cover as I do not want them to loose interest in what I am tyring to sell. I plan to use a dull background. This is so that I am able to use colourful writing to attract the audience making sure that I do not go over the top with my design. I would also like to make sure that I remember to draw my target audience in by making sure that whatever I sell to them will get them to feel more engaged in the product. It is important that I remember what they like and the types of things they would want to read in the magazine. For instance this could be celebrity interviews, information on tickets etc. When using the font types I will make sure that I use a consistent style of writing and design so that I do not confuse the reader or put them off wanting to buy my product.  

NEW EDITION

This is what I chose to be the name of my magazine. It will be an off yellow to gold colour. The reason being is that it will help to symbolise and represent the genre which is RnB. This is for the way in which you get the whole idea of jewelry consisting of big gold chains and hoops etc. The reason as to why I have chosen the name 'NEW EDTION' is because I feel that this magazine can bring something new to the target audience. I also hope for my design to be unique by this name title and I hope to show this by including a different feature of the other magazines.

On the front cover of my magazine I hope to include an image of the posing celebrities I will be mentioning.When taking the photographs of this image, I would like to use a mid-shot. The reason being is so that the audience can feel more drawn in by their ''idols'' and so that they get a chance to admire them. It could also help to show their dress/fashion sense especially for those who are number one fans. Another reason for this is that I am able to get the celebrity models to position themselves in a more dynamic was in order to engage and attract the audience to the magazine. In addition to this, I plan to make sure that the people I use in my magazine, will be able to dress well in accordance to the genre as well as pose in various ways. By doing this, I hope to show how creative I can be with my ideas.