Final products

Front cover

Contents page

Double page spread

Preliminary contents page

This is the contents page of the school magazine that I created for my preliminary task. I used the same colours on this page as I did for my front cover because I wanted the two pages to match as they were going to be next to each other.



I didn't want to give too much away about what was inside the magazine, I wanted to just give a brief discription to the audience about what to expect to read.



Like most contents pages I put page numbers next to the text so the readers could find the page they wanted to read with ease. I put a picture of the school that I found on the internet on the page because I thought it would show extra representation of the school.

Contents page

This is the contents page of the music magazine that I created for my main task. I changed this background from plain black to going from black gradually to white by using the 'Gradient tool' on Photoshop, I did this because I wanted the background to be black but I wanted it to look different from the front cover, I think I achieved this.


I kept the topics on my contents page brief and to the point because I didn't want to give too much away, I wanted the readers to want to buy the magazine in order to get the full story.


At the side of each caption I put a page number so the audience could go straight to the page that interested them, I noticed during my research that most magazines do this.


I tried to include what usually appears in music magazine contents pages, such as, reviews, interviews, and tours, I think this makes it look more like an already existing contents page.

Double page spread

This is the double page spread of the music magazine that I created for my main task. I thought white and black would keep up with the theme of the magazine. I put only one photo of the band on this page because I wanted the main feature of the page to be the interview and I thought too many photos would attract the audiences attention from it.


I started off my article with drop capitals, I did this because most magazines start off their articles with drop capitals, so this way my double page spread looked more professional.


I have noticed that in most interviews there are certain parts that stand out to attract the audiences attention. I have done this in my interview, I put the text in red and made it a bigger font size to grab the readers attention.


At the end of the interview I put the bands 'MySpace' page on so the readers could visit it and listen to some of their music.

Front cover

This is the front cover of the music magazine that I created for my main task. I wanted the background of the page and the photo itself to be in black and white, this is because I thought it looked more professional this way and I wanted the text to be in red so it would contrast against the black background and be more eye catching for the audience.


I wanted the girl in the main picture to look as if she was working on a song, so I had the girl holding a microphone in one hand and she was holding headphones up to her ear in the other. I had her looking away from the camera to give a more natural effect and to make the audience think that a spontaneous photo had just been taken whilst she was working.


I gave my magazine the masthead 'CLASH'. I decided to call it this after the band 'The Clash' that had a far reaching influence on the alternative rock genre which is the theme of my magazine.


I put puffs such as, 'Exclusive' and 'Plus' on my front cover to gain the audiences attention and make them want to read the magazine to find out more. I put a bar code on the right side of the page, I did this to make it look more like a professional magazine because most music magazines have a bar code on them so the audience can identify the issue number and price of the magazine.

Preliminary front cover

This is the front cover of the school magazine that I created for my preliminary task. I wanted to incorporate the school badge colours into my front cover so I used a light blue colour for the background.


I put the school badge in the top left hand corner of the magazine; the school badge is recognised by every student and will show representation of the school. I wanted different areas of the school on my front cover, such as, exam results, school productions, school improvements and achievements. I chose these areas for my front cover because it shows a positive representation of the school and I think the students would want to read about this.


I found the photos that are on the bottom of the page on the internet, I put these in because I wanted to show the readers different aspects of the school and the fun side to it.


I used the masthead 'Deyes Daily' because I thought it was catchy and to the point. I made the masthead black because I wanted it to stand out from the rest of the page and nothing else on the page is black. I put the text in white because I wanted something that would stand out from the background and I think white contrasts well with the colour blue.

Evaluation

How does your magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real magazines?

Whilst researching other magazine front covers I noticed that most of them included, bar codes, banners and puffs, I kept this in mind when creating the front cover of my magazine so it would look more like a real magazine. However my magazine challenged some conventions of real magazines, a lot of magazines have the person in their main image looking at the camera, but I had mine looking away from the camera as I felt this made the photo look more natural, which is what I had wanted.

My contents page is different to real magazines contents pages because I didn't want a lot of design on it, I felt that some of the contents pages I had looked at looked slightly cluttered and I wanted the main focus of the page to be the text.

The interview in my double page spread begins in drop capitals, this is the same with most magazine articles. Most magazine double page spreads have a few photos in them but I put one on because I wanted the interview itself to be the main focus of the page and I thought if I had more than one photo on then it would take attention away from the text.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I would say my magazine represents teenagers with an interest in Indie music, I think this because the artists in my magazine would follow the latest trends in the Indie scene and the audience would want to follow these trends.

What kind of media institution would distribute your product and why?

I think the Bauer Media Group-a large German publishing company privately owned by the Bauer family based in Hamburg would distribute my product because they already own successful music magazines such as, 'Q', 'Mojo' and 'Kerrang'. These magazines all attract the same audience as my magazine is aiming at. The Bauer Media Group would be beneficial as the distributors of my magazine because it operates in 15 countries worldwide and is the largest magazine publisher in Britain, this would make my magazine well-known.

Who would be the audience for your project?

The demographic for my magazine would be the fans of Indie music, this is because my magazine is of the Indie genre and features Indie artists, so the fans of this genre would want to read the articles on their favourite artists and find out what's new.

How did you attract/address your target audience?

I used puffs on my front cover to gain the audiences interest and make them want to read on, I also added an existing band on my front cover and in my contents page because I thought it would make it look more realistic if there was some bands mentioned that people recognised. In my contents page I tried not to give too much away, I wanted the audience to read it and want to find out more. My double page spread would appeal to the target audience because I have set it out as a question and answer interview, and when I read an interview I prefer to see who said what.

What have you learnt about technologies in the process of constructing your magazine?

Before I started this coursework I had never used Photoshop, and when I started making my magazines I struggled at first but then I got used to the software and was able to use it efficiently. I was able to upload photos onto the software and change the colour of the background to suit my needs. I learnt how to change coloured photos into black and white to get the effect I was hoping for, and I could put effects on the photos to make them look more professional.

What have you learnt in terms of progression from your preliminary task to the final product?

From my preliminary task to my final product I have learnt how to use Photoshop more competently and was able to, in my opinion make my end product look more professional than my preliminary task did.