Name :Sally Kate Phair ,John F Kennedy School, Candidate number: 6217, Centre number: 17131,

fINAL COVER, CONTENTS PAGE, AND DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD.

Feedback from my peers

Jessica Walshe - I really like the colours on this magazine and the type of music it is about.Just with reading the front cover i would be very interested in reading on in the magazine.

William Keenan - The colours you have used are very effective and fit the genre of music you have chosen well. The masthead you have stands out very well if I was in a shop and saw this magazine I would be tempted to purchase it straight away!

Jade Keating- The front cover of the magazine is my favourite. The colours and photograph's you used really fit in well with the genre. The magazine is very eye catching, as it stands out mainly because of the photograph's.

Rachel Sweeney - I think the front cover is very effective and i think the border at the bottom completes the cover. The colours work very well and fit well with the genre of music the magazine is based on. I also feel the contents page works well also and completes the magazine.

Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product

From looking back at my preliminary task, i can see a vast improvement from my first project i did. In my preliminary task i think my final front cover did not really look like a front cover, it could be interpreted as another form of item , such as a leaflet. I do like the layout of the cover, but prehaps the back ground is a bit too much as well as the different colours. I was pleased with my image for the preliminary task, as i think it is posed nicely and has a nice soft touch to the picture, and looks quite vibrant. Compared to my music magazine, i think this task has come out alot better, due to more planning and reserach. I am pleased with my final designs for my magazine, especially the front cover as i think it looks more detailed and has a more conventional layout, common to magazines. Also i think the colour scheme works well. During the preliminary task i developed my technical skills, which was usefull for the next task, as it allowed me to feel more confident when using the camera equiptment and programs such as Photoshop and Microsoft Publisher. I feel as i have improved alot during these two tasks.

Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Technologies i used for this project included, A computer/laptop, and used programs such as Microsoft word, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft publisher and windows picture editor. I think Photoshop is very useful for this project, as it allows you to do a lot with an image, e.g. enhance it, and colour it. And of course i learnt how to use blogger.
I learnt to use an LSR camera, and also how to use the equipment in the photo studio, e.g., tripod, and light-box.

Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience

I tried to make my imaginary magazine, as attractive to the target audience as possible, by sticking to a retro and suitable colour theme through out. I used quite a conventional layout, that is common to music magazines. I included artists that would appeal to the intended audience and made my imaginary artist look as though she was part of the genre used in my magazine. I included competitions and features to attract the audience and entice them into reading and hoping they would win the competition. I think a unique selling point of this magazine is that there are not many magazines around that include this genre of music. There is a pop market, a rock market and thats about it really, i have not seen a big dance music market for magazines. I think the image on the front is the main thing i like about my front cover. It suggests the genre, is very conventional and typical to have that type of, posed image on the front.
I think my layout for the contents page is attractive, as it is different to most music magazines i analysed. Again i stuck with the bright colours against the black background for a club/retro/electro feel. The contents of the magazine is layed out clearly so it is easy to read and find what page you are looking for. The image of the band La Roux at the top shows and also suggests genre and is conventional to have a band on the page showing the type of artists shown in the magazine.
The double page spread again sticks to the colour scheme, and uses images of my made up artist 'Jay-Jay' to show the interview and pages are dedicated to her. This will attract the audience, as they will be interested in seeing and hearing about a brand new and upcoming, fresh artist.

Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media project

I have made a collage to represent the kind of people that would read my magazine.
The type of person that would read my magazine would be of the age range of 16-25, male or female. They would watch television programs such as skins, T4, and music shows. They would probably wear quite colourfull and retro clothes clothes, to stand out. They would probably shop at topman/topshop. They would go clubbing in london often and be interested in the latest electro events. I think my magazine has successfully got the potential to catch this kind of target audience.

Question 3- What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My magazine is quite similar to Kerrang which is published by Bauer Consumer Media. I found that researching Kerrang magazine helped me alot with the project process. My layout and style is similar to this magazine, although the genre isn't. Institutionally the magazine 'onion' is very similar to mine. It is an electro magazine, but it is not very well known. I found out while researching on the internet. Also it is similar to smash hits ( which ran from from 1978 to 2006 founded by nick logan), and mainly kerrang(first published in 1981 by Geoff Barton).
But i think Bauer Consumer Media would be the most likely candidate to publish my magazine, as its layout and content is very similar to mine.

Question 2- How does your media product represent particular groups?

I have put merged an image of Lady Gaga and 'Jay-Jay' to compare similarities. I used this picture of Lady Gaga because i thought it was interestingly similar to this picture i took for my magazine. They are visually very similar. They are both biting pieces of musical equipment, which may seem odd, but is obviously quite trendy in the music world! Their look is vert similar too, they both are wearing colourfull sunglasses and have a bright hair colour. 'Jay-Jay's pose is a little more relaxed and freestyle, where as Lady Gaga is more uptight and posed. It is the same case for the facial expression. The image of 'Jay-Jay' however gives off a more sort of rock/electro image, because of the colours and lighting. The Lady Gaga image gives off more of a pop vibe. The social group that would be appealed to my picture would probably be young people interested in clubbing/electro music, and also quite trendy people.

My evaluation

1. In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In this document i have screen-grabbed nine elements of my project. First of all my masthead has got a kind of broken and messy effect to it due to the jagged edges of the letters, the black and pink emphasizes the genre of the magazine, reenforcing a dance/rave/club kind of feel to the genre. The light grey writing introduces a neutral tone to the masthead. Having two-three different colours used on the masthead is quite common on music magazines. The actual name of the magazine 'raise the roof' suggests the magazine features music of a loud/bass type.
I screen-grabbed an element of the contents page. Similarly to the masthead it has a messy feel to the writing. The white writing contrasts the black background. I've seen this effect used in Kerrang, NME and smash hits. Also for the title of the double page spread i used this effect of messy/broken writing.
The two images i took, of an imaginary new to the scene artist, were thought through carefully. I thought the pose of her biting head phones would be quite a different idea. The prop of headphones still give a music/Dj vibe to the images. I thought about the colour of her clothes;black/gold and blue. The mise en scene of the images are having fun, being fashionable and portraying the genre.
I then screen-grabbed my front cover. This style of front cover is very common in music magazines. I kept a colour scheme and researched features that appear on music magazines and made them into my own features for my magazine. For example a quote from an interview on the cover is very conventional for a music magazine.
On my contents page, i again stuck to a colour theme. Having whats actually inside the magazine is obviously conventional. I used an image of an actual artist for the contents page, as i'd seen ion other magazines. This again links the genre to the magazine. I used another image in the middle of the page that i'd took which suggests the genre and dance/rave/dubstep. This again is conventional to have images suggesting genre. I have included the barcode on this document as i feel it is an important feature of the front cover, it is used on every magazine for a simple purpose of price.
I included a small section of my questions, i used two different colours to contrast and simplify viewing of the writing. On my double page spread i used a collection of images of the celebrity which is conventional, the images are almost like a photoshoot.

Final double page spread

This is my final Double page spread. I again, stuck to the theme of black purple and pink to match the other items. I am happy with how it has turned out, i like the use of images.

Final Contents Page

This is my final contents page. I am pleased with the final copy as it looks how i wanted it to. I stuck to the theme of pink, purple and black to match the front cover. I tried to make the layout easy to read and spaced out. The image of La Roux is very effective, as it looks live and colouful and bright and matches the neon colours i have used throughout my designs. The image in the middle which i took myself at a party, breaks up the contents nicely and also adds effect.

Final Front Cover

This is the final design of my front cover. I am pleased with the end result, i think it looks bright and attractive and has forfilled my imagination for this project. I think the image on the front gives the right impression for the magazine. I think the theme of pink purple and black goes well and gives a sort of electro image to the mind. I am pleased with the masthead i made, i like the sort of chipped away effect of the writing i made, it gives it an edgey feel.
I got various feed back about my cover, such as :
One classmate :"I like the colours and the lay out, it looks very planned out. I would maybe make the writing larger, some of it is a bit hard to read."
also :"Your magazine looks very interesting, as i like these bands that are on it i would deffinatly read it."

Annotations of contents pages

I looked at NME amoungst other magazines i had collected, to analyse and get ideas for contents pages. I noticed a pattern, and features that all magazines have, and noticed all magazines have a totally different theme and idea to each other.
Analysing gave me a great idea for my own contents page.

Idea for front cover

I used publisher and photoshop to come up with a basic layout for my front cover usuing my drawn designs. This was just a basic guideline to help me develop and process the cover further. I later went on to develop the masthead and add further details and items to the page.

Rough plans/ideas

Here are some rough ideas i sketched to help me think about and develop my layouts on the computer. It includes front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Pictures i took for magazine

I plan to use this image of La Roux i took in february when i went to her concert. I like the lighting in the background.








I took these pictures in the photo studio, using the right light settings and trying to achive the right kind of angles for the shot. I dressed my model in clothes sutiable for the type of magazine i am creating. I am happy with the pictures as i think they look very cool.

Here is a rough desing which helped me to clarrify the genre of magazine.



I decided to design and get ideas on mastheads i would use for my magazine using photoshop. These designs have helped me to think about what kind of masthead i want

I decided to research and analysie mastheads to help me with designing my own magazine

Electro/Techno Collage

I have made a collage to represent the genre of magazine i have chosen.I chose the genre of electro/dance music, which is quite a trendy genre, popular with young people and something i personally like so would therefore enjoy researching. I made the collage vibrant and attractive, with images of artists associated with this genre. I think the collage successfuly captures the vibe of the music genre and has given me a lot of ideas for my magazine, and also colour schemes.

3rd Annotation

2nd Annotation

First Magazine Annotation

Final contents page after feedback

I changed the font after feedback as it didn't look appropriate for a contents page and it now reads much more clearly. I am happy with my final contents page i like the colours and the design.

Image i took

I carefully planned and took this image making sure the lighting was right and the picture gave an educational image. I used a camera which did not allow zooming from the creative media department. I think the image gives out a good message because she is smiling and reading a good so it associates pleasure and education. I like the warm lighting of the image and how the background is blured out so you focus on the person and the book she is reading.

Final Front Cover

This is my final Front cover. I am happy with the final version and think it is eye catching and bold and also the image on the front is just how i wanted it to look. I'm not sure if it looks or resembles a profeesional magazine cover but it looks suitable for a school and features all aspects it should.

Annotation of final front cover

Final Contents Page

This is my final contents page. I am pleased with it as i think it looks suitable for its purpose and attractive. I like the different designs used and the colours match well together. I think the contents and title are bold and clear and easy to read.

camera lesson

Masthead ideas

These are my rough ideas for mastheads, i tried to experiment with font and colours that would be suitable for my task.

Masthead ideas

2nd contents idea

These are my rough ideas for contents page, where i was trying to figure out a layout and what would feature on the page although it is hard to see as the picture didnt come out very well!

Contents page idea

second front page idea sketch

I roughly made ideas and plans on how to arange and how my front page would look and what would need to be on the front cover.

Front page idea annotation