Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Friday, 18 October 2013
Initial ideas for Music Magazine
The magazine I am going to create will cater towards a more niche audience. It will consist of hard rock and metal bands, a sub-genre which is popular with its own audience but not as popular as other genres on the mainstream as a whole. Some examples of this sub-genre are popular metal bands like Disturbed and Slipknot, to some lesser known bands like Machine Head and Divine Heresy. This way, metal fans of all levels can enjoy my magazine.
This will use an informal mode of address, as this connotes rebellion and non-conformist, which are things this sub-genre is usually stereotyped as. The layout will follow the same style, informal and rebellious, as will the font used. Colours will generally be darker but certain things will be lighter to highlight them, such as text and image borders. Perhaps a yellow and black scheme, for example.
This will use an informal mode of address, as this connotes rebellion and non-conformist, which are things this sub-genre is usually stereotyped as. The layout will follow the same style, informal and rebellious, as will the font used. Colours will generally be darker but certain things will be lighter to highlight them, such as text and image borders. Perhaps a yellow and black scheme, for example.
Plan of Action
Week 1:
- post initial ideas
- institution research
- front cover analysis
Week 2:
- Analyse 2 contents and DBS pages
- Start pitch using Prezi
Week 3
- Complete pitch
- Complete further research into chosen sub-genre
Week 4
- Present and post pitch with audience feedback
- Complete mock-ups
- Produce brand identity/house style sheet
- Organise models, locations and props for photo-shoot.
Week 5
- Develop front cover
Week 6
- Further develop front cover
- Make adjustments according to feedback
Week 7
- Develop contents page
Week 8-9
- Develop double page spread
Week 10
- Finalise all designs
- Begin draft of evaluation
Week 11-13
- Evaluation
- Final blog check
Main Task Brief
My main task for my AS media coursework is to create my own new music magazine. This will consist of a front cover, a contents page and a double page spread.
Saturday, 12 October 2013
Evaluation of Preliminary Task
Evaluation
From the masthead to the puff, my magazine represents a informal and free-form layout, which connotes young and relaxed. The cover lines and splash are angled, not confined to a certain alignment or trying to fit around my central image. Many magazines use this style if they are informal as it expresses how relaxed and informal the magazine is. My colour choice is consistent and I have used a single bright colour (red) with two duller colours (black and grey) to make the red more expressive and outstanding. My chosen fonts are both sans, which is a less formal looking style of fonts, the fonts are more fun and interesting, connoted by the artistic styles of the fonts. The mode of address I use is as relaxed an informal as anything else, including lots of exclamations and simple wording. In combination with my font choice and colour, the magazine seems like it will be much more appealing to a younger audience as intended.
The content I have created for my magazine represents students, mainly around the teenager age. It is not directed to any gender in particular. The articles inside cater to a range of different hobbies and interests, making sure everyone enjoys the magazine. This represents students as people with a broad range of interests, and the more covered, the more chance of sales. For example, my central image shows a student male playing a guitar, connoting creativity and appealing to those musically inclined. However, the splash also contains video games and movies, so you can immediately get a feel for the contents of the magazine. Text is kept short and simple, as I feel people of this age would rather not read heaps of text on a small reading session of the magazine. I do not intend this magazine for people to sit down and spend an evening reading, as I see that as something older people would do with magazines that cater to their interests. The text I have used could be seen as stereotypical, saying all teenagers are into video games and music etc. and there is not a single mention of a book or other medium people may enjoy, but what I have put on my magazine caters to the majority.
I think I would like my magazine to be purchased within the college, as this would mean a higher chance of students seeing it, and that is who the magazine aims for. It would have to be on sale somewhere more interesting than say, the library, or the front desk. An outside company could possibly publish it, one that is linked to other magazines that this audience is interested in, such as Bauer media group who publish “Kerrang” magazine. However this may be more expensive. It should still be sold in college rather then shops though.
In the process of creating this project, I have learned a great deal about things I never had any knowledge on before. This is the first time I have used a Mac computer to construct a project. In the end, I still prefer the PC, but it did help me learn how different, and how similar, Macs function to PCs. InDesign, the program which I used to construct the final design of my magazine cover and contents, was actually quite simple to use once the basic functions were learned and I had ease creating with it. The layers system helped keep the work organised, especially with the large amount of separate text boxes near one another. I do remember the program having issues when the file was crowded, simply moving an object slowed the computer right down to a near full-stop, making precision placement of object near-impossible. The Photobooth application was also new to me, but again was very simple to use and achieved exactly what I wanted, the files were easily placed onto the blog post with no issues. The main thing this taught me about was Blogger. I had never read a blog properly in my life, let alone create one. Blogger was incredibly easy to use but was also extremely effective with its system. Blog posts are easy to find, read and create. The only annoying thing was the method of getting the InDesign work and Word Processor work onto the blog. The file had to first be converted into a PDF file before then being coverted again into a JPEG. This was easy to forget how to do the first few times.
From the masthead to the puff, my magazine represents a informal and free-form layout, which connotes young and relaxed. The cover lines and splash are angled, not confined to a certain alignment or trying to fit around my central image. Many magazines use this style if they are informal as it expresses how relaxed and informal the magazine is. My colour choice is consistent and I have used a single bright colour (red) with two duller colours (black and grey) to make the red more expressive and outstanding. My chosen fonts are both sans, which is a less formal looking style of fonts, the fonts are more fun and interesting, connoted by the artistic styles of the fonts. The mode of address I use is as relaxed an informal as anything else, including lots of exclamations and simple wording. In combination with my font choice and colour, the magazine seems like it will be much more appealing to a younger audience as intended.
The content I have created for my magazine represents students, mainly around the teenager age. It is not directed to any gender in particular. The articles inside cater to a range of different hobbies and interests, making sure everyone enjoys the magazine. This represents students as people with a broad range of interests, and the more covered, the more chance of sales. For example, my central image shows a student male playing a guitar, connoting creativity and appealing to those musically inclined. However, the splash also contains video games and movies, so you can immediately get a feel for the contents of the magazine. Text is kept short and simple, as I feel people of this age would rather not read heaps of text on a small reading session of the magazine. I do not intend this magazine for people to sit down and spend an evening reading, as I see that as something older people would do with magazines that cater to their interests. The text I have used could be seen as stereotypical, saying all teenagers are into video games and music etc. and there is not a single mention of a book or other medium people may enjoy, but what I have put on my magazine caters to the majority.
I think I would like my magazine to be purchased within the college, as this would mean a higher chance of students seeing it, and that is who the magazine aims for. It would have to be on sale somewhere more interesting than say, the library, or the front desk. An outside company could possibly publish it, one that is linked to other magazines that this audience is interested in, such as Bauer media group who publish “Kerrang” magazine. However this may be more expensive. It should still be sold in college rather then shops though.
In the process of creating this project, I have learned a great deal about things I never had any knowledge on before. This is the first time I have used a Mac computer to construct a project. In the end, I still prefer the PC, but it did help me learn how different, and how similar, Macs function to PCs. InDesign, the program which I used to construct the final design of my magazine cover and contents, was actually quite simple to use once the basic functions were learned and I had ease creating with it. The layers system helped keep the work organised, especially with the large amount of separate text boxes near one another. I do remember the program having issues when the file was crowded, simply moving an object slowed the computer right down to a near full-stop, making precision placement of object near-impossible. The Photobooth application was also new to me, but again was very simple to use and achieved exactly what I wanted, the files were easily placed onto the blog post with no issues. The main thing this taught me about was Blogger. I had never read a blog properly in my life, let alone create one. Blogger was incredibly easy to use but was also extremely effective with its system. Blog posts are easy to find, read and create. The only annoying thing was the method of getting the InDesign work and Word Processor work onto the blog. The file had to first be converted into a PDF file before then being coverted again into a JPEG. This was easy to forget how to do the first few times.
Friday, 11 October 2013
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
Experiments with mode of address
From the research I did on what the target audience would want in a magazine, I have opted for a less formal, colloquial style of writing in my magazine. This will also be sided with a small amount of formal writing which addresses important subjects or issues which demand a more formal style of writing, such as charity explanations.
To accompany this, the title of my magazine will be 'Your life'. This connotes that the magazine is focussed on you and what you want. Students will see by the title that my magazine covers the things they want to know. The central image will always consist of a person who is the same age as the target audience, so they can instantly relate upon seeing it.
To accompany this, the title of my magazine will be 'Your life'. This connotes that the magazine is focussed on you and what you want. Students will see by the title that my magazine covers the things they want to know. The central image will always consist of a person who is the same age as the target audience, so they can instantly relate upon seeing it.
Target audience research
The target audience for my magazine is college students aged 16-18 and above.
Questions to ask my target audience:- What kind of stories and articles would you like to see in a magazine?
- How much would you be willing to pay for a magazine?
- Would you rather a less formal or more formal approach?
- Would you rather a bright, stand out or a duller, more mature colour scheme?
- What kind of layout do you prefer? More clutter or more structure?
I asked these questions to a group of college students to gather their input.
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