starting to write double page spread - these are ideas about what to write about

I want my double page spread to be about Chloe, the front cover image, this is because she is the main feature of that issue in the double page spread I want the text to involve chloe and the interviewee. I want this because it makes the reader feel more personal with the artist.

what I like and dislike about ideas and what I have done so far

I like that it links with other artist/disclosure however I don't like that it creates a barrier with the model so the audience don't feel connect to her.

editing

To edit my photo I am using several different websites and using the different tools to suit and make my image look better or different.
These are a few websites I am using to edit my photos:

http://pixlr.comhttp://fotoflexer.com http://ipiccy.comhttp://www.picmonkey.comhttp://www.befunky.com

In process of editing photos/testing different tool:

As one of my ideas I thought I could make my image be different but also fit perfectly with the popular music artist that have a good ideas as their album covers. I looked through music albums over and over until I came across disclosures album cover, I like their front cover it's very different and creative so I thought I could do the same with my image. This is what I got from that idea :

I applied the white lines around their faces to the image I took. 

This is my first attempt, as you can see it doesn't look accurate so far but I'm going to continue improving on this idea.

The way managed to get the cartoony looking white lines of the face was searching how they do it, then I found that using facebook they had an app which allowed you to use the template and place it on the face where you needed. 

what I want my magazine to look like...

I want my model to stand out above the others in the market, I want my magazine to look different not as in bright and colourful but neat and new. Using a simple layout as the front cover, I want little text so the image stands out and speaks for itself. Using different sized text I want to amplify the importance of the main headings, using san-serif fonts to make my magazine look bold and youthful.

I want my model to seem dramatic on the front cover, as that image explains the main feature of the magazine. I want my model appear young and make my audience interested by doing this I made my model experiement with different looks, I have shown a range of images which explains the process during the shoot with chloe. At first she adventured with the natural look but I thought using that as the front image may come across boring and dull but also made her look innocent and fresh, however we still changed her costume (see through white top) which may of gave the impression that she was rebellous and stylish, by using dramatic makeup I wanted to audience to be interested (heavy black makeup) and changing and adjusting her hair so the images weren't repetitive and that it gave more images to use from.

I want my magazine to look like i-D or Dazed magazine this is because these magazines look youthful and up to date, for example they just one focused image less text and focus on the model they have taken a photo of but in my case I would take a focused images of the model/artist and make my masthead and headlines music related and make the magazine more fun.
I like the simple but statement front covers that doesn't say much or look over the top but looks interesting and stands out because it's different.

again using FLICKR more photos updated from second shoot

http://www.flickr.com/photos/111045264@N02/

more detail of second photo shoot ideas

Second photo shoot plan

2nd picture image idea's/plan


I planned to do my second photo shoot on the 20th of December, again during the evening around 5pm estimated to finish around 7pm with hopefully plenty of photos to work with. 
I've created a mood board to display the sort of images I want to be taking, again I've used a simple back drop with a plain white wall behind the subject I've done this because I want the model to stand out and not make the magazine front cover look too busy. I want my model to look different by this I want the subject to have weird/interesting make up so they stand out on the stands at shops, look more interesting to other magazines.

My model Chloe is going to be my subject, I've asked to use her as she has a good image I cant experiment with the way she looks in each photo by changing either the costume, makeup, hair and pose. Chloe is 17, perfect for my target audience because she looks youthful and interesting, using her as my subject on my magazine front cover will be very effective because she looks different. I will make the images look unique and more interesting to attract my audience and make my model look like a established artist that students/teenagers idolize.

following from the first photo shoot

From the photo shoot I learnt that its difficult to get the right shot, after taking over a 100 photos only some photos are appropriate to use. I want my front cover to look simple but unique, with either a black and white image or a focused image without a busy back drop. I have displayed all my photos on my flickr account, I've used the flickr account so it's easier to access all my photos and show my progress using different camera angles,edited images and not edited, different styles and costumes because it allows an unlimited amount of photos.
I can't use some of the images as my front cover because the images are using cigarettes as props, I can't use these in my magazine as this promotes smoking which shouldn't be displayed in the media. I am currently using the images at the moment because I think they look effective and because I'm trying to learn to edit and adapt my photos. As a front cover I'm using the images to see what I need to use as a future front cover image that I'm planning to do.

What I liked about the shoot and the images produced is that they are all simple and not too busy, I like that the subject was the right age and was suitable for the front cover. I would of preferred if the back drop was smooth, as most of the images were taken outside at night it restricted me and the subject to take more creative images also as it was difficult because no plain white walls were outside. What I disliked about the shoot and the images is that I had lack of creation/ideas, all the images are very similar and get tedious I wish I would of made the subject look more interesting by using variety of different costumes, hair styles and maybe using makeup to make the model look different.

First attempt of images

Photo's I have taken- displayed on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/111045264@N02/

Currently these display all the photos I've taken on my first attempt at a photo shoot, these current photos with the 'unedited' title are obviously not edited, at the moment I am trying to pick and edit specific photos that could possibly a potential front cover picture.

more detail of first idea shoot

first photo shoot plan

1st picture image idea's/plan

I'm going to do this photo shot on the 9th of December, during the evening around 6pm til I've taken enough photos to work with.
I've asked my friend Tom White to do be my subject/model, I've specifically chose him to be my model as he fits the age group of my audience (16 years old) if I want my audience to be attracted to my magazine the sort of model has to be appropriate so they can relate to that model or artist.

As this is my first attempt at a shoot, I've only used a simple plan which means I want my model to be very casual and relaxed I want the image to look more natural and not overly posed. I want my model in this specific shoot to look like a student because I want my audience to feel involved and not envy the model instead relate to them so using a very casual image/pose my audience might be more comfortable.

I want the costume to look casual this means having very casual clothes such as shirt, jeans as this is male model make up isn't the key aspect as it would be with a female model that I plan to do.I want my model in the photo shoot to have messy hair so the shoot doesn't look over done.
I think I want to use a black and white image like the ones I have shown in the collage of photos I've shown above where there's a mix of ideas that I am inspired to do, for example very simple back drop, model looking straight on with serious facial expression that gives the impression that the model is looking at you.

I want to have either natural lighting when trying images outside, but in side I want a high lighting focus
ing on the face because I want the image to be either a close up or a mid shot. Mise-en-scene in this shot is showing a young adult/teenager in front of a bricked wall or a plain wall, anywhere the allows complete focus on the subject only.By doing this I am having a head on photo of the model, as that the camera will be straight on and central.

Mood board

I asked my audience their opinion on magazines ideas so far

I have a youtube video yet to upload

What I've learnt so far

So far in media I have learnt many new skills, firstly beginning able to understand media terminology which became difficult but because I constantly went over them I learnt them during the course of my work when starting media I developed a lot more visual contections, applying what I'd learnt in lesson to the general media such as the TV, magazines etc.

Studying the media has become interesting, working with different fonts, images and using other peoples work to compare.....

rule of thirds research

"The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. As follows."

In the rule of thirds, photos are divided into thirds with two imaginary lines vertically and two lines horizontally making three columns, three rows, and nine sections in the images. If an image is taken it looks better and more focused if the image is directly in the middle of the scene especially with portraits or when the photographer is focusing on one specific object or try to highlight a specific part on a image or person. The rule of thirds is used a guideline when trying to capture an image and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section.In a landscape photo the rule of thirds is used because pictures often look better if the horizon falls on the upper or lower horizontal dividing line. If the focus of your image is on land (i.e. mountains, buildings), the horizon should fall near the upper third and if the focus is the sky (i.e. sunsets, sunrises), the horizon should fall near the lower third.
The subject doesn't always have to be in the center of the scene because sometimes not having the image solely based in the middle allows more interest because the person viewing the image has more to look at this is commonly used more in landscape photos. For example the image below the lady isn't directly in the center of the image however you can still see her clear but this image gives more of a 'awkward' shot but what it does allow is an additional point of interest. If you wanted the person to be the main focus area zoomed in focused images are usually used when having close up or mid shots when doing portraits.

Rule of Thirds Example: PortraitsHere is an example of a rule of thirds portrait. As you can see, the eyes are lined up with the upper horizontal line and each eye is where the upper horizontal line intersects with a vertical line.

Photo plan ideas and things I need to consider

1. Type of shot
2. Single or group shot 
3. Color scheme
4. Hair
5. Connotations
6. Camera angles
7. Back drop
8. Model/subject 
9. Facial expressions
10. Body language
11. Representation
12. Make-up
13. Costume
14. Mise-en-scene
15. Props
16. Lighting
17. Editing effects

3rd attempt at mastheads

Using the same masthead names I have experimented with different fonts to see whats looks better, still keeping the consistent black and white theme because I think it looks more professional and neat. I have used similar fonts used previously on the other attempts however used different masthead names.
I like the fonts at the beginning of the page and ALARM in the techno font because I think they look more appropriate, I'm going to continue using different fonts, edits and colors until I find the suitable masthead for my magazine.

Following on from photo planning

Planning more of an idea of photos and genre of music

I created this planning sheet of different music artists to give a clearer view of what type of music and artists I'm going to focus on when doing my front cover from the photos their are several different music genre but all in which I like and as do my audience when I asked them in the questionnaire. I wanted to focus on both the music side to my front cover image but relate it to the close up kind of images I am planning to take.
I have tried to do music that suits all people in this planning sheet so it relates to every music taste and allows more room for audiences to be attracted and gives an overall music genre instead of been restricted to one genre of music.

There are a few images that I would like my end photo to turn out like for example the black and white photo of Beyonce, Lorde (first image), Jake Bugg (bottom left, second photo in) and Crystal castles (image with blue haired women and man behind) this is because these images are focused using close up and mid shots, they look interesting and young. I like the editing technic shown in the image of disclosure (second photo down from the left) in my planning i'm going to try different technics to make my front cover photo have the white outline around the facial details, this looks really effective and different, suitable for music magazine front cover.

Photo planning sheet for my front cover

Photographs I'm planning to take to my front cover image

I have choose this specific photos as an idea of what kind of images I'd like to take for my music magazine, even thought none of these photos are actual music artists, I like the way most of the images are close ups, eye level and are very focused of the blank facial expressions.Most music magazines use close ups as their image in order to make it look professional and stand out, if I were to use this idea I would use a music artist/model with a fixed close up just like as shown in many of the photos above. 

I think it's important to have these kind of images on the front cover because it is very showy and allows the audience to immediately view/notice who is feature in that specific issue of the magazine. Most of the images are super imposed, also in the majority of the photos the subject is looking directly into the camera which is vital when using the image for the front cover because it attracts the audience. 

There are a high mass of females in these images, I plan to use either females or males however with females you can experiment with make up and costumes. In most of these images all the females look natural and the image emphasis the features in the women's face. All models in the pictures are fairly young and youthful looking which is appropriate for my audience, as they are students, it allows the audience to relate to the models featured in the images. As most images are zoomed in it doesn't allow much room for costumes unless they are a mid shot image.

The similarity of these pictures are that they are black and white, unconsciously I choose these images without realising the colour theme but this shows that the black and white ones stand out, I like the simple images they allow the masthead and other text stand out, which makes the magazine look different and professional. i-D magazine does this commonly and as I am following this magazine style as a template because my audience voted it as the preferred front cover.
I want to have a shuttle back drop that looks plan and simple, they need to front cover image to be to look simple and focused on the face and the back drop to be blurred out or have one fixed colour as the background.

Kate moss models in a few of the photo has a natural look in all the images, I have used her as a good example as she features in a lot of close ups and in these specific images she looks very young and fun. In the image of her in front of a shed/wooded back drop which would still be suitable as a front cover for a music magazine, even though detailed back drops don't always work in this case it does. The mid shot/close up still looks professional and appropriate for the front cover, other images on the collage such as Kristen Stewart (model with hair tucked into stripped top) and Twiggy (black and white photo with her mouth open) these are the images I want to use these sorts of images that are very simple, what I specificly like about these images is that they are focused and the subject look interesting so the audience are intrigued by the front cover image and want to read more. 

Photo shoot planning

Layout plan

These are my simple drawings that I'm using to plan the documents for working out the structure and layout of print products.

Questionnaire analysis

This is a run through of my questionnaire and the results I received, from these results I came up with a overall target audience which is currently is young adults/students around the ages of 16-18 in group E. By understanding my audience I have a clearer view of how to plan my layout, my masthead and further details related to my magazine. I now understand it must be youthful and bold to fit my audience I must use the suitable artists to fit the front cover and ensure my magazine is better than other music magazines in the market.

2nd attempt of mastheads

These are my 2nd attempts of mastheads I tried to use different images and fonts in order to make my logos look effective, however I don't think these mastheads look very professional so I'm going to continue editing and gaining more skills on how to make this look better. Out of these mastheads I think either NEW BEAT or ciTy. or i-M simply because these look more professional and neat.
I have so far evaluated that less detail and colour makes the masthead look more professional this is because other magazines available have simple mastheads which are usually one colour and one worded without any images inside the text and without and imaged boarders.

First attempt at mastheads using possible names (with black and white theme)

So far these are my attempts at my mastheads I originally wanted my masthead to be simple and one worded so I thought black couldn't be simpler. These are just experiments on different fonts/sizes and boldness, I am going to continue trying other masthead using colour or fonts, I want my logo to stand out and be catchy/noticeable/rememberable. Out of the mastheads I've done so far I like SOUND, pitch and ALARM I like these because I think they look different I've never seen a magazine following this kind of styled font before. I am unsure of what to name my magazine but I'm happy with the ones I have collected currently. 

I like SOUND the most out of these set of masthead ideas because I believe it looks very youthful and bold, it stands out and is very appropriate for my audience as they are teenagers. 

Brand identity and brand values

Brand identity is how all the elements that contribute to the visual appearance work together to distinguish that brand in the mind of the audience/ consumer.  This could be the use of colour, fonts, style of imagery, layout and house style.  All successful brands work very hard to establish this recognition within their audience/ target market.

Brand values are things that are deemed important by a brand, the things that it stands for and it represents.

For my brand identity I would like to keep my brand name simple and modern this is so it’s catchy and memorable, I would like for my brand identity to be unique and young to suit my target audience. I want my brand identity to be professional and new, I like the block idea of simple logo and a showy photo which attracts the audience. Following from my questionnaire I will use the same music and theme they best prefer. I really like the conventions of the music magazine 1-D because I think my target audience would best suit this style magazine it’s simple and contemporary, the layout and be edited to suit any artist/band on the front cover.
For example this very basic but from the questionnaires done many people prefer the full photo front cover, they believe it stands out and they’d prefer to buy a magazine like this.

My brand values need to be suitable to my target audience I want my magazine to make music that is up to date and established. I want my audience to be suitable for a wide range of people so the magazine becomes popular however I don’t want my magazine to be look to similar to other magazines targeted at the same people. From my questionnaire the audience for my magazine is young adults so this magazine must be up to date and follow their interests, using colourful themes, less text and interesting images.
There are products on the market that are similar to the magazine I'm looking to create such as VIBE this is because that magazine follows the music industry and have a simple professional front cover, I like the theme and layout they have so with my own magazine I want to improve by picking out selective convents that make each magazine look good and youthful and apply them to my magazine.

final questionnaire

                  Questionnaire

1.      Are you male or female?

                 Male [    ]

                 Female [    ]

2.      What age range are you in?

A.      16-18 [    ]

B.      18-20 [    ]

C.      20-30 [    ]

D.     30+     [    ]

3.      What is your socio economic grouping?

Group A (Professionals)

Upper middle class, e.g. Barristers, Doctors, Executives [    ]

Group B (Managerial)

Middle class, e.g. Bank Managers, Teachers [    ]

Group C1 (Non-Manual)

Lower middle class, white collar workers, e.g. Office Workers [    ]

Group C2 (Manual)

Skilled working class, Blue collar workers, e.g. Car Mechanic, Machine operators    [    ]

Group D (Partly Skilled)

Semi or unskilled manual workers, e.g. Assembly line worker [    ]

Group E (Unskilled)

Casual workers, dependent on state benefits, students  [   ]

4.      What socio economic grouping best describes your partner or friend?

Group A (Professionals)

Upper middle class, e.g. Barristers, Doctors, Executives [    ]

Group B (Managerial)

Middle class, e.g. Bank Managers, Teachers [    ]

Group C1 (Non-Manual)

Lower middle class, white collar workers, e.g. Office Workers [    ]

Group C2 (Manual)

Skilled working class, Blue collar workers, e.g. Car Mechanic, Machine operators    [    ]

Group D (Partly Skilled)

Semi or unskilled manual workers, e.g. Assembly line worker [    ]

Group E (Unskilled)

Casual workers, dependent on state benefits, students  [   ]

5.      What genre of music do you prefer?

A. Indie [   ]

B. Hip-hop [   ]

C. Pop [   ]

D. R&B [   ]

E. Rock [   ]

F. The chart music [   ]

6.      If you were to buy a magazine now which one would you buy?

A. NME [   ]

B. Q [   ]

C. MOJO [   ]

D. VIBE [   ]

E. Billboard [   ]

   other [   ] 

If so what other magazine do you buy and why?

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

7.      Do you prefer monthly or weekly magazines?

A.      Monthly [   ]

B.      Weekly  [   ]

8.      What price would you be willing to pay if the magazine was weekly?

A. £1.99-£2.99 [   ]

B. £2.99-£3.99 [   ]

C. £4+

9.      OR if the magazine was monthly how much would you pay?

A. £1.99-£2.99 [   ]

B. £2.99-£3.99 [   ]

C. £4+

10.      What front cover do you prefer? And why? 

1.  [   ]

2.  [   ]

3.  [   ]

4.  [   ]

___________________________________________________________________________

11. What contents page do you prefer? And why

1.  [   ]

2.  [   ]

3.  [   ]

___________________________________________________________________________

                               

12. What magazine name do you best prefer?

A. i.M (international music) [   ]                                       

B. iMM (independent music magazine) [   ]                                       

C. ALARM [   ]    

D. Other  [    ]                                   

Ideas for my magazine name

Brand identity and brand values of Q and Billboard magazine:

Q magazine

The success of Q magazine has come from their high quality magazines, this music magazine is very popular because they use established artist on every front cover with very professional photography that captures a lot about he individual band or artists using good positioned images of the artists, studio shoot images.. (Q is the UK’s number one actively-purchased music magazine.)

This magazine remains modern using san-serif font on any headlines, coverlines or text in the magazine this to keep youthful and bold, the magazine stands out with only a simple but bold logo that is short however very easy to identify.

Also because Q has been printed for a long time readers trust the magazine to deliver, they always refresh their important they keep upper coming music artists. They display a variety of different music types which suit everyone, any genre this is good to keep their consumer rates up. 

In the magazine they deliver very good reviews and display interviews, this is how the keep the readers interested, all their front covers look very presentable and fun, they usually hold some sort of theme which makes the magazine stand out to other music magazines. Their images and text on the front cover layouts always look very though-out and suitable, all their text is placed appropriately around the main superimposed photo. They continue to keep the best graphics in their covers, they use a lot of essential conventions that suit the magazine perfectly.

Billboard magazine

Billboard 

PREZI Detailed Analysis & Textual Reading

Final front cover and contents page

 

FINAL COVER AND CONTENTS
I have chose these to be both my front cover and contents page because I believe these look more professional and work well together with both house style and color theme. They both have the same text themes Sans-serif font. I've added the improvements I need to add to my front cover for example more information on coverlines and pull quotes, I also added a pug/starbust to make the magazine look more professional and organised.
With my content I made small adjustments such as use prom photos and added banner across the bottom of the page relevant to the school news letters.I think I should of added more information to the content page such as an editors letter to make the page look more full and competent.
 

Key media terms. (Terms I have learnt)

    Key media terms. (Terms I have learnt)                                                                                            

Media language-

Is the way in which the meaning of a media text is conveyed to the audience. Media conventions, formats, symbols and narrative structures which cue the audience to meaning. The symbolic language electronic media word such the same way as grammar works in print media.Media texts are polemics meaning they open to many interpretations. Media texts can be conveyed differently depending on the signs and symbols and how it's read also they cultural background of the reader of the media text/language.

Media institutions-

A media institution is an established, often-profit based organization, that deal in the creation and distribution of advertising. entertainment and information services. It helps gather information and perceptions about different groups of people and their originality.

Cultural and political conventions within media productions are put together and describes the people who have a role in production process. 

For example:

ITV 

BBC

ESPN

Media audience-

Audiences are specific individual or categories of people that media is everywhere it's accessible to anyone therefore the target audience, the director may of set could be wrong depending on the audiences response.

For example:

BBC news would have a huge mass audience of people of the news however the news tends to be audienced at adults/people with a high understanding on social understanding.

Media representation-

Media presentation is ways in which the media particular groups, ideas, topics, ages cultures etc. This could be stereotyping people by putting into categorizes.  Example = "Facebook and Twitter make us bad people"

3rd and last attempt at front cover

Attempt 2 at contents

First attempt at content page

Second front cover analysing

My second front cover analysing 
I think I could again improve my this cover this is because the masthead also looks unprofessional however I prefer the color theme, I think the text is placed well around the image.I have used to pug to make the magazine look more realistic and also I've used the actual text for plantsbrook "be the best that you can be" which really suits the magazine and it looks suitable for the school which attracts the right audience. 
Again I think I should have more text, for my final front cover I will use more text and add the improvements I haven't done in either of the covers yet.I should use a better photo as well that is suitable for both the headlines and the masthead.
I will still continue to use sans-serif font to make the magazine look more modern and youthful which is appropriate for the audience,I think I should super impose the photo to make it look more professional and bold, keep the red black color theme.
More improvements-
• use different font sizes on cover lines and pull quotes
•make the layout more full (with text) but keep organised 
•create a better masthead 

A layout of a simple contents page