Music Magazine

Photography Call Sheet

Magazine Proposal

Introduction to Illustrator

Notes:
*Shapes tool is useful
*Effects- e.g blur, 3D
*You can import JPEGs & convert it to vector using LiveTrace (stylized look)
*Selection tool can be used to move, resize and rotate etc.
*Right click text to create outlines. This creates anchor points which allows you to isolate and edit smaller parts of the text.
*Pen tool allows you to add or alter anchor points.
*To export: File---->> Export---->> PNG file. Select high resolution. Make colour transparent
*Switch colour palette to RGB to match colours to photoshop

After experimenting with illustrator for the rest of the lesson I managed to create a possible masthead for my magazine:

Evaluation: My college magazine

Evaluation

Prior to creating my own magazine I previously analysed another college magazine and this allowed me to recognise the conventions of a magazine and even more specifically a college magazine and effectively apply the same conventions when making my own. I recognised that magazine mastheads were usually bold to help it stand out which prompted me to make mine bold also. I used the same font throughout my piece to keep consistency as using too many different fonts may over complicate my work. Furthermore I tried to stick to a colour scheme of yellow, blue, white and black as too many colours may again over complicate my magazine and it may not attract readers as there’s too much things to focus on at once. Although I recognised that mastheads were usually horizontal across the top of the page however I decided to put mine vertically at the side of the page to be more creative however the disadvantage of this is that if my magazine was on a newsstand the masthead wouldn’t fully be seen which means it wouldn’t be as successful in reaching out to the audience. My medium close up shot used of the student allows the audience to see the facial expressions clearly which from the picture I used they’ll get the idea that students at the college are happy. Also the MCU allows the audience to see that the person is wearing a ID card which without seeing the masthead they can already identify the genre of the magazine.

I also created a contents page which wasn’t as effective as my cover page as I didn't spend as much time on it but still has some good features such as the fact that I stuck to the colour scheme by using yellow and black. This allowed the audience to identify the clear colour scheme and also made it feel more like it’s from the same magazine because of the same house style kept throughout. Also magazines usually divide their contents page up in sections to make it easier for the reader to find exactly what they’re looking for which is what I did. I also included topics that would usually be in a college magazine which I think is good as it makes it more realistic and also makes it clear what the genre of the magazine is.

 After getting feedback on my work one suggestion for improvement was that I could have added more subheadings as my front cover as it looks empty and also that I should’ve put ‘free magazine’ at the bottom by the barcode as prices being placed at the there is a convention of a magazine and where the potential reader will look for the price. For the contents page I could improve on the layout by including more pictures relating to the topic in the magazine and also including more information on the topics. Also I think my contents page looks rather bland so could’ve laid it out in a different way so that I can fit more pictures and also I could’ve added more colour to make it stand out more to draw in the audience.

When going on to make my music magazine I’ll ensure that I’ll make a plan of how I want my contents magazine to be laid out as I only did a plan for my cover page and I think this is why my contents page was weaker than my cover page. Also I'll use more cover lines to make the front page more fuller and less bare. Lastly I'll use different shots to be more creative and make my magazine more interesting.

College Magazine

College Magazine: Layout Plan

Photoshop

Today I was introduced to the programme photoshop for the first time. After trying to get used to it I came across some difficulties which was mainly based around the issue of layers.

College Magazine Analysis

Case Study 2

Case Study 1

Production Schedule

Induction Evaluation

Evaluation

The article I created was made for Vibe which is a music magazine. The target audience for Vibe is predominantly young, urban followers of hip hop and R&B. My article links in with this as Jessie J features in my article which connects with the target audience because Jessie J is an R&B artist. One of the weaknesses of my web publishing skills is that the layout and colours don’t fit an urban magazine as they are too plain and in some way too formally organised which means that it isn’t attention grabbing to the target audience.

My research included many strengths such as the fact that I found out the history of music piracy and how it all began, this is effective as it educates the reader. I also included examples of music piracy websites and an opinion from a member of public who downloads music illegally and this allows the reader to see other people’s opinions and can also persuade them to make up their mind on whether they think music piracy on a whole is good or bad. However there are also some weaknesses about my research which includes the fact that there isn’t really a balanced argument within my article as I didn’t include another opinion from a member of public that contradicts the opinion of the person currently in my article. Also to improve my research I could have explored (for example) more about music piracy such as how many people illegally download per year and included information on who is the most illegally downloaded artist this year. Furthermore I think my article would have been more effective if I included an overall judgement on whether I think music piracy is good or bad.

To get some audience feedback I designed a questionnaire which consisted of 7 questions based on elements of my article such as the typography, the iconography and whether they were ideal. Also about the colour scheme and any improvements for my article. The feedback I received is that although the iconography and typography were appropriate for the article, they suggested that I use brighter colours as it will be more eye catching. Another improvement was that I should include more quotes from artists so that the reader can get more of an insight into what other artists opinions are on music piracy.

Finished Article