Evaluation

Evaluation

Final Pieces

Final Pieces

Drafts

Before settling on my final designs, my products front cover went through a different style before settling on the final piece.

This image was my original plan for the front cover. It was not used because I felt that the bands faces were not suitable for the cover, as they may put some people off. Also, after having a discussion with the band, we decided that having Mike's back towards the audience may have negative connotations, so we decided not to use it. The image wasn't too suitable regardless, as having both members on the cover meant little room for titles, which were important.

However, I do not regret making this draft as it served as a practice towards using InDesign; a software I did not use for my preliminary.

Use of Photoshop

I do not want to heavily rely on photoshop to manipulate photos through the making of my magazine. This is because I had agreed with the band that heavy use of digital editing is dishonest and they are against it. I had to respect the bands wishes, but they agreed to allow me to adjust the front cover image, as it was not yet completely suitable for the cover as the musician appears to be too dark.



This is the image as without digital effects.
As you can see, not only is it too dark, but because of his sunglasses you can easily see me taking the photo in the reflection.



Here is the improved image.
It is a lot brighter, with a bluer sky and greener grass. The musician's face also stands out a lot more, making people more likely to notice him. To do this I had to edit the image's contrast and curves until the desired effect was achieved. Unfortunately, this added colours to areas of which I did not want colour to be, such as the whites on the eyeballs and the teeth, forcing me to edit them to resemble the original picture. I did this by selecting them individually using the quick select tool and putting them through the same process as before.

We decided to add the galaxy to the sunglasses because this was a simple solution to the glasses reflection problem and it portrayed the bands interest in the supernatural. I achieved this effect by aquiring a copyright free image of the galaxy. I needed to select the inside of the glasses using the quick select tool and creating a layer for the galaxy. I used a clipping mask on the selected glasses to allow the galaxy to appear through it. I decreased opacity slightly to give a small amount of reflection to the glasses and added a Guassian Blur to make the galaxy appear to be blured by the glasses.

I needed to add the magazines logo into the background during this time because I only knew how to implement it using photoshop, I did not know how to achieve this on Adobe Indesign.

Photos for magazine

In order to have content which fits my target audience, I felt I needed to have a band which said audience is likely to listen to.

I got into contact with a local group called Icarus. After asking them, they were happy to feature in my magazine in both photographs and an interview.

We discussed potential ideas for the photographs and decided to collect the props needed for the pictures. We carried out a risk assessment.

This is the risk assessment.

http://www.scribd.com/full/30911975?access_key=key-2l9ahokkejghjor7pycn
General Risk Assessment Form

We decided to shoot the photos on the 21st of March as this day was unlikely to have bad weather.


Here are some of the photos taken on that day.



This photo features props we had aquired for the shoot, such as a red arm chair. Arms chairs are often used to symbolise culture, so we felt placing it in a natural atmosphere creates contrast between the band, representing their maturity despite their chaotic environment.


This image shows the band climbing the tree. It would fit naturally in an A4 picture because of the portrait format. The image could be showing their adaptation to nature and, with the shakespeare bust, intelligence.




This image shows the band on a cliff. It shows danger and movement due to the unlikely position of the band. It shows danger and is an action shot, giving an exciting vibe. Unfortunately, I do not believe this image can be used in my final product due to the flash ruining the quality of the image.



This image shows the band using the armchair from the previous image as a vehicle in the road. Although they were not actually moving, I was able to make them appear to be by focusing on the road instead of them. This image could be showing supernatural abilities or daredevilishness due to the unlikely image. Again, this is not suitable for my final piece due to the low lighting and flash.

http://yfrog.com/g4img3021gj

This is my final image. It is suitable for the main cover because it is quite well detailed and features room for text. The mountains in the background also provide information into the location of band.

IDEA

I have decided that the target audience I wish to appeal to are aged 17-30 rock music listeners. This is because the group is large and I believe their is potential for a rock music magazine in a mature style aimed at this age group.

CONTENTS

This is the contents page from DRUMMER magazine. The contents page is used to inform the reader which pages they can find their desired articles on. This specific contents page is just one of many in this magazine, as there are different contents pages for different genres, i.e. Features, Gear, Lessons.
This particular contents page is for Features, but still has a range of different articles, such as interviews, instruction articles and reviews.

This magazine article is from Classic Rock magazine. It has similar features to Q magazine, such as columns to signify an informative content and a footer, but also some new ones. First off, it has a highlighted beginning paragraph, summing up the article and providing an introduction. This will catch the readers attention and can provide them with the information needed for them to become interested. The magazine also featured a quote from the interview which the text wraps itself around. This makes it stand out, and is also likely to be eye catching, snappy and informative. The image of the band is used to show who they are and to demonstrate their enegetic personalities.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD ANALYSIS

This is an article from thepopular magazine Q about singer Lady GaGa. This particular article features many conventions common to magazines. An example of this is the Boders on the top and bottom. These allow headers and footers, giving relevant information such as article name, page number, date and website without having to change page. It also features a indent with a large capital letter on the first paragraph, signalling the beginning. This could be a sign of class because it is a feature many novels use as well. The article is written in columns, like a newspaper, possibly to represent its informative content. There is a giant L in the background to represent Lady GaGa. This piece of decoration is attractive and makes the magazine appear interesting.

Questionnaire

In order to discover my targer audience and to research them, I decided to make a questionnaire, tallying the answers. Use of a tally keeps the answers simple and Consistant. I walked around Carlisle city center outside many newsagents and other shops asking people the questions. This is because this is where I believe I am most likely to find people who will buy a product similar to the one I am about to make.

I decided to interview males and females seperately in order to find out if there is a noticable difference between the two. In each one I interviewed 40 people.

Questionnaire Male

This is the female questionnaire

Questionnaire Female


ANALYSIS

Questionnaire Research

From this research, I can conclude that it would make sense for my target audience to be rock music listeners between the ages of 17-30.

This is my Preliminary Excersise

http://www.scribd.com/full/28904036?access_key=key-7klh0by870mnrc53fej

Preliminary Exercise

Magazine Cover Analysis 3

http://blogs.buffalonews.com/.a/6a00d83451b85a69e20115703aa422970c-800wi
Listen Magazine.

This magazine shows a calmer style than the previous two, as it has very little happening on it's cover, suggesting a simpler atmosphere. The logo on the top of the magazine has a skinny, basic font with out a too decorative style. This could be seen as boring, but it supports the magazine's title, as little visual embellishment could get the message across that the reader should listen and concentrate on the music. The subtitle LIFE WITH CLASSICAL MUSIC shows that it is a classical magazine and use of the word "Life" suggests that the target audience are dedicated classical music listeners. These latter titles are all in yellow font, which makes them stand out from the covers monochrome theme. An unusual feature of this magazine is that it has only 4 subtitles of the magazines contents. However this is most likely to avoid the clutter usual covers have. This emphasises these titles, but could risk creating the misconception that the magazine has few articles.

There is only one image on this magazine cover, featuring in the foreground an elderly man in a suit, relaxing on a sofa and smoking a pipe. This could represent the magazines mature, relaxed sophistication respectively, giving an idea of the magazines style and contents. The man's age, combined with the black and white colours, suggest a highbrow traditional style. In the background of the image there is a grand piano. These instruments are often associated with a wealthy, higher class lifestyle, which could be reflective of the magazine's target audience. The entire cover gives a formal tone, from the short sentanced language used to the visual theme.

Magazine Cover Analysis 2

http://darrennewbery.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/agm-cover.jpg
Acoustic Magazine

This music magazine is about acoustic music and is therefore likely to have a safer and less aggressive tone than Kerrang. There is evidence of this from the logo, as it is in standard block capitals, possibly to give the a more mature appearance. However, the letters overlap each other horizontally, giving a more stylistic form to the text. This would suggest that the target audience are people with a similar style to the magazine, stylistic yet mature, which can appeal to all ages. The subtitle to the logo reads The UK's only dedicated acoustic guitar magazine. This informs the reader of the magazine's status and would appeal to people who take acoustic guitars seriously, as they have no other option. Both titles are in white, a colour which stands out well over a dark blue colour, helping the magazine to attract attention. Other titles which inform of different articles are titled in yellow. This colour is used to standout, making them easy to read on the blue background. It is also used as a stamplike logo informing us of a competition used to promote the magazine, so you can tell you have a chance of winning a prize just from the front cover. However, the prize does not say what exactly it is, just giving the brand name Washburn D10 SCE. A newcomer to acoustic music is unlikely to know whether this is an acoustic guitar, an amplifier or another object. This shows that experience with acoustic guitars is needed to understand the contents, suggesting the target audience must have some previous knowledge on acoustic guitars before reading.

The main image of the cover is of the musician Taj Mahal. His name is also written in white and is of a similar style to the magazine's logo. This not only causes his name to stand out to attract existing fans of his, but also keeps consistency within the cover's titles. From the man's image, it is possible to assume that he is a blues musician. Evidence of this includes how he is in blue, he has a white trilby, is holding an acoustic guitar and is wearing a suit and tie, all of which are associated with blues fashion. This also is supported by his African American ethnicity, a race which is credited for the rise of blues music. His formal clothing give the impression of sophistication, but his facial expression and colours of blue and yellow are vibrant and colourful, deviating him from the norm and giving a more exciting appearance. Overall, his appearance matches the aforementioned style of the magazine. The other man on the cover is another acoustic guitarist, who is in monochrome. This is to separate him from Taj Mahal's vibrance and to possibly emphasise that he is of a different style. His clothing also shows his differences, as he is dressed in a more casual way with an open jacket and an unshaven face. We can tell he is unlikely to be a blues muscian and more likely to be of a indie rock music background. His appearance on the cover would represent the magazine's diversity, showing that it is not just a blues magazine. The third image shows a single black combo amp. It's appearance is likely to represent the magazine's technical knowledge as it presents a contrast with the other two images. This increases the chances of someone reading the magazine because of the broad range of interests which are represented by these three images.

Magazine Cover Analysis 1

http://welovezoe.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/kerrang-avenged.jpg
Kerrang Magazine

Kerrang Magazine is a metal music magazine, as suggested by the onomatopœia title. The logo on the magazine has a smashed effect on it, which is a violent and loud image. From this logo alone, we can assume that the target audience are metal music fans, who are usually teenagers or young adults.

The majority of space in this magazine cover is of the band Avenged Sevenfold. This shows us that they are important and are likely to be the main focus of this issue. Their positioning gives us an idea of their status within the band, as the man who is in the middle is closer to the camera, suggesting to us that he is the front man. He also has a larger mass, which could symbolise being of a higher status than the other two members. The band's importance is also shown by how their picture is a layer over the Q Magazine logo, creating the illusion that they are breaking out of the magazine. The band's style is suggested by their costume, as they are all wearing black colours with silver chains and are holding pipes and chains in a threatening manner, associating themselves with violence. From just this, the audience can expect the band to be a dark metal band.

The text used compliments the band's style, saying Sex, Drugs, Violence, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, THE WORLDS MOST DANGEROUS BAND. The band's name is in large, Bold, Capital letters. This would by eye catching and immediately states who the band are. It is also likely to be the first thing the reader sees, as it is not only large but it is also easy to read because it is white text over a mostly black background, showing a contrast. The Sex, Drugs Violence title is in a font resembling handwriting, suggesting rawness, and the second subtitle is in Capital letters, emphasising the importance. Both subtitles are in yellow, which usually has negative connotations in the western world. However, in China it is the colour of the Emporer's robes, possibly making the band appear to be powerful. Yellow is also the colour of the magazine's header and footer, possibly showing that the other bands shown there are also powerful. There are other smaller images on the front cover, showing the other contents of the magazine. They are arranged in an angled, messy style, showing that the magazine is informal. The other bandnames on the subtitles are coloured in red, a colour associated with violence and power, keeping with the magazines theme. There is also a title saying FREE POSTER SPECIAL. This will attract attention, as the Free is in bold, giving reasons to buy the magazine.

The brief

I have decided to choose print for my AS Media coursework. This is because I believe it is important for me to add variation to my work, as it is likely I will make film for my coursework Film Studies. Choosing to create a magazine would be more advantageous and would lead to a wider portfolio, resulting in a larger range of experience and opportunities should I decide to work on magazines in future.