Blog 7 - Photos

Before :

This photo is for my double page spread. As you see by the photos to the left that there are before and after photo. There is also an in process photo to show how I got to the final result.

The before picture is dark and quite dull. I wanted to make this photo have a old fashion look to it. I did this by the changing by first changing the lighting of the photo to make it brighter and to highlight the band member faces and body outlines. I then changed the colour and contrast to make the photo have a more yellow tint to it. This will create the old fashion photo look. After


In process:

messing with the contacts and trying to not have the facing of the band member, epically Adam, faces so bright that their faces were white. I then wanted to make key objects of the photo brighter and have a shine to them.

In the 'In process' photo you can see that I
messed the photo up the first time by how the band members face are really bright and there was light scruple around and above their heads. The first time I edited this photo I was mixing and exspermenting with how I wanted the photo to have a old glow to it but as you can see by my first attempt it didn't work out as planned. So I did it again.

After :

When I did the brighter the second time I tried my best not to go over board on trying to make the faces of the band member not get lost in the photo and this is the end result. You can see that the indie/ old fashion look of the yellow tint has work quite well and you can see that all the outlines of the band members heads and bodies. I also added this brightener to the fan, drum kit and some of the guitar swings. The hardest part about this photo was trying not to make Adams face to white and bright, this was hard because Adam face was in the main point of the flash.

Before:

This photo of 'Rob the Rich' is for the contents page of my magazine. I didn't have to change much in this photo because the lighting of the photo wasn't as dark as the other photos and also I wanted this photo to look more natural. So for this photo all I edited was the lighting, to brighten the photo make and then contact it so that the lighting balance was equal. I also make the key colours of the photo more prominent, like the red on Adam's coat and the brown on Rich's.

I also sharpen up the photo to make figures more defined and tried to make the pink glow on the band members shoulders jump off of the page

After:

more so that the lighting mixed in with the colours of the photo. I also feel that by making the pink glow so prominent the photo of the band more friendly, it also highlights the mood of the photo of the boys having a laugh. I highlighted the pink light by mixing between different colour changes and contrast

Before:

This photo of the boys is for my front cover. As you can see by the before picture that this picture is very dark and you cant really Rich's (at the back) face. I wanted to go for the same old, indie look that I did for the double page spread for the front cover. First I had to brighten up the picture so that you could actually see every ones faces equally. Then I had to do the contrasting which made it look like the 'In process' photo which is very grey, dull and take the life out of the photo which I really didn't like.

I decided that I needed to liven the picture up

In process:

more so I adjusted the colour of the photo by using the same colour scheme as I did in my double page spreed. This has given the photo a yellowy tone to it and gives it a indie look of it not being the perfect photo and being a bit ruff around the edges. The lighting and colouring of that I have made for this photo also made the sharpness of the photo not as good so I had to sharpen it as much as I can but because of the editing it has made the quality of the photo go down.

But even though the quality of the photo has gone down it doesn't go in with the look of my magazine. I thought that simplicity i the edit was right for the look I was going for so I didnt use any fantasy editing for this front cover.

After:

Blog 3 - Analysis of existing magazines.

Front Cover 1 :

On this cover of NME they have made the image of the band and the bands name, 'Arctic Monkeys,' the main event of the page. They have used a beige for the band name, this contest with the white headings and the white shirt that on of the band members are wearing. The main heading is also in bold and is the biggest font on the page. The font style is un-classic because in sans serif typeface giving the magazine a less up tight feel to it.

The image on the front cover is dark toned with a spotlight highlighting key parts of the band members top half of their bodies, ie. parts of their face. Also in this image their is a black and white theme because the band members only wearing black or white tops, this contrast with the light/mood of the image because there are black shadows with a white spot light highlighting fetchers.

This also contrasts with the headings because some of the headings are white, they highlights the words on the background (which is the image.) The headings are also in sans-serif typeface. The text changes in size depending on where the text is on the cover. For example, when the headings are on the bottom of the page they are smaller then the headings that are middle-left on the page. There is also a difference in font and size when it comes to the sub-headings. Of course the sub-headings are smaller then the headings are their font has also changed into a sans typeface. I think is because are are on misses out when the readers is reading the cover because they are small then the rest of the font on the cover so by using a sans front it makes the writing clearer and makes it stand out more.



The title of the magazine is the only colour difference on the cover because the rest of the text is either in white or beige where the title of the magazine (NME) is in red and white. Red is a bases colour and white is outlining the letters. By having the title of the magazine is a different colour to the rest of the text it makes the title not get lost in the rest of the magazine so it can stand out but to stop the title of the magazine taking over the whole of the magazine it is tucked behind two of the band members heads. This makes it blend into the cover more. The title is also smaller then the main heading and is in sans-serif typeface.

Double-Page Spread:

Its this double page spread is from NME. The layout and colours schemes are used to pull in the target audience of males ages 16 -35. There is only 4 colours used. Blue, red, black and white. Blue and black the main colours on the double page spread. There is a minimal amount of writing in the article but the writing is in a serif typeface. This is for the article with the white background and the article with the black background.

Most of the sub-heading, the heading and pull quotes are all on a electric blue background, this makes them more eye-catching and makes the text pop out from the page. Blue is also a very 'In' colour which the people of the target might find all attractive. The text on the blue background is either black or white. The white is mostly uses in the sub-headings. Black is only really uses in the heading ' The Teenagers' and one title of a sub-heading.

There are 6 images on the spread. The main images is of the band 'The Teenagers' lying on a bed looking at the camera. The image is very casual with the fact it is on a bed and the band are wearing jeans and t-shirts but even though their outfits are casual they still have an indie/trendy feel to them. This will show that the band is like everyone else in the fact that they are 'chilling' on a bed and it also will attract the target audience because the people that read 'NME' stereotypically wear. The other images on the spread are a lot smaller then the main image. They are also not as eye-catching and are really just little snap shot to help portray or explain some of the article. Like the main image all the little images are all of bands which goes back to the theme that this is a music magazine.

Front Cover 2:

On this cover of 'Q' they have made the lead singer of the band 'Muse' the main image. They have made the logo of the magazine 'Q' the main event of the cover. The main and most eye-catching heading on the cover is the name of the band 'Muse' which is in a sans-serif typeface in bold and in white. The heading is also the biggest sized font on the cover. The heading also crosses on to the image of the leader singer leg, which kind of links the two together.

The four main colours of the cover are white, black, red and grey. The white and red links with the logo 'Q'. Everything in the main image the cloths and props the leader singer is wearing or using is either red or white and the image background is grey. This links with the fact that all the headings or sub-heading are either in those colours or white. The most the main heading are either grey or white with one being red, they are all serif-sans typeface. There is a red underline on some of the important key words in the headings, this catches the readers attention to the key words so they are more attracted to the key points in the magazine. All the sub-headings are either black or white, these are all in sans typeface. All the different colours in the headings are sub-headings contrast each other making them more eye catching and show out to the reader.

There is another image apart from the main image on the page. There is a photograph of 'The Beatles' (which an article is about) which has a white framed edge around it which makes it stand out to the rest of the writing. It also stops the photo becoming it the background of the cover.

The logo of the cover is probably the most eye-catching thing on the cover because it will different to everything else on the page. As the logo looks like it is being shamed by the guitar and has little bit that look like coloured glass coming off it, it makes the logo apart of the cover instead of it being just a thing on the page telling you what the magazine is.

Contents Page:

This contents page is from 'Q' magazine. It is a simple contents page. There is two photos on the page. Their is one main photo which is a picture of the main band that this magazine issue is based on. This photo takes up about half of the page. The second photo is in the same kind of style as the main photo but is a lot smaller and is underneath and to the left of the main photo.

Most of the information about what is on different pages is to the left of the page and takes up about a 3rd of the page. There is section of the information and there is also section inside the main sections. For example the sub-heading of 'Features' (which is has a box background of red with white witting in serif-sans typeface) is following by page numbers and information until it cuts off with 'Oasis Special!' (which is in a light olive green in sans typeface). In the cut off section the numbers change colour from red to the olive green like the heading colours. After the cut in the main section headings there is another sub-heading saying 'Every Month' which is in the red box with white writing. The majority of the witting is in serif-sans typeface.

There are other banners on the page which are the main headings. They are in black boxes and are bigger then the red sub-heading but also has white writing. Their are two of these headings on at the top of the page which takes up the full of the width and the other one is underneath the main photo. The second banner is also followed by a light blue mono tone coloured box which has the second photo in it and information. The biggest differences from the sub-headings and main headings are that the main headings have the magazine logo which is to the left of the black heading box. The logo being on the black is a good contacts because of the fact the magazine logo is red. The other differences is that in the black boxes there is more writing in them then just the word for the heading. For explame in the first black heading box the heading word is followed by the date of the magazine that has been issued.

The simplicity of the magazine with the contract of colours makes the content page of 'Q' more eye-catching because most contents pages are cluttered and jumbled the 'Q' contents page catches most attention. This means more readers will want to find the magazine because the main items in the magazine will be quiz and easy to find. The big photo of the main band is also a big eye-catcher because its the first thing you see when you see the contents page and more of the readers will read the magazine because of the main subject.

Blog 2 - Target Aundience

For the magzine I am making I got inspiration by the music magazine NME. NME is ABC1 and is mostly has male readers (69%) (where there are only 31% that are females.) The average age of readings is 24 years old. (Information from IPC Media.)


Another inspiration from my music magazine is Q. Q has 66% of the readers being ABC1 and of the readers being between the ages of 15-45. 77%

readers are being males and 34% being females. Their are 666,ooo weekly readers. (information from NRS).

Q and NME both have very similar target audiences. Both of there aim are the same, aiming at new and up and coming artistes and trendy music. They are both mainly in the rock and indie genre. Also because they are aiming at particular genre and audience both magazines are very successful.

My magazine is going to be very similar to both of these magazines. I want my magazine to also be about new and coming artistes and trendy music. I also want, like both Q and NME, to aim my magazine at males but unlike NME and Q I want my magazine to be aimed mostly at males around the ages of 16-35 but I would also like their to be thing for women as well but I think mainly the women who would read the magazine would be musicans. Like NME and Q I also want to aim my magazine at ABC1 readers. If I had to base an average person that would read my magazine I think they would be big music lovers, maybe musicans. I think we would be in to all kindas of music because if they are reading a up and coming/ popular music magazine then they would have to like different type of music.

Introduction

My main coursework task is to design and produce a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a new magazine. I am hoping to improve how I use the software, general quality of my work. I want this magazine that is about up and coming music. Kind of like NME. My target audience is music lovers from the age of 16 - 35.

Flat Plans

Front Page - I chose to have the Title of the magazine as black because I think its a main colour so whatever my picture is it will go with it. I also decided that the headlines should be in colour, ie orange/red ect, because it would brighten up the page and make it stand out. I thought that the headlines should also have a contrast in the writing and size so that certain important facts like a number would stand out and grap the readers attention. I thought that having a star and circles in different colours would also stand out to the reader on certain headlines. I have used simple short headlines so that the reader can easily read the headliners and not get bored in trying to find out the main articles in the magazine.

Contents Page- For the contents I thought that it should all be in the same font but in different colour which caught the readers eye. I think that by adding colour into the pages it pin point what the reader should be reading and as my age group is teenager i think that that age group needs a bit most of a pushes/grabs there attension. I also decided that a clear layout would also help with localing thing more.

Images

I didn't choose this photograph because it is to far away and I want a closer picture. I don't really like the framing in this because it just doesn't show the model clear enough.
















I chose this photograph because it is a clear shot of the models face and also she looks happier. There is a good radio of wall and person so that you can see her better. Also a head shot with shoulders is more appearing then a top torso shot. I think this will appeal to the target audience because the model is happier then the other one. By having a happier faced picture is makes the magazine more friendly and appealing to the audience.

Evaluation

I think that the front cover isn't too bad. I think that the use of colour was a good idea because it really does make hte words and icons pop out on the page. I think with a little more time this cover could be a lot better. I think that there should be more headlines on the front cover to show how much the magazine has to offer and also because will fill up the gaps, making the cover looked fill without over crowding it. I'm very pleased with the contents page because it simple but it serve its part. I also think that putting the names of the bands ect. in black and a bright colour around the letters makes the words stand out more. My target audeince thought that if the front cover was a did more eyecaughting they would think about reading it. I agree with this.

Georgina Levey - AS Media Preliminary Task

I have been asked to re-design a magazine cover for a college magazine. My target audience is for students then are from the year of 16-19 who are interested in the arts, for example dance, performing arts, music, visceral art ect. It is also for students that are interested in the college side of the arts and also the outside side of the arts.