CANDIDATE NAME: ASHLEIGH CUSACK
CANDIDATE NUMBER: 6024
CENTER NAME: THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS WILMINGTON
CENTER NUMBER: 61119
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Double Page Spread Picture Development
The image at the start was not far away from the finished product I wanted it just needed a fair bit of work done to perfect the image I had in mind. Firstly I smoothed out the image and filled out any gaps in the body paint and removed any paint that had got into the models hair and other details like this. I did so using a combination of the clone stamp and the spot healing tool, two tools which proved to be invaluable in my editing of all of the pictures. After this I spent a while trying to find the perfect levels of contrast and brightness for the picture in fitting with the over exposed looking images previously used in other pages of the magazine. 
Contents Page Picture Development
The image I started with was completely different to the end result of the image. You can see in the first picture that it looks rough and unorganised as opposed to the final product which is a lot better and more attractive. The first thing I did was get rid of the somewhat unsightly paint, frame and doorknobs on the door. I did this by using the clone stamp tool to make the door all one shade and almost completely clear to leave space for where I would eventually place the text. After this I fixed the models makeup and used the spot healing brush to smooth out her skin and to remove her freckles which would not have fit in with the tone of the image. Lastly I adjusted the contrast to make the picture have this much more different, more dramatic feel to it .
Front Page Picture Development
At first I edited out any blemishes and rough patches of paint using spot healing brush and the stamp tool to create a smoother more appealing image. I removed any flaws which would make my image look amateur or messy blurred to give some aspects a softer image. I then changed the contrast and brightness to give a more effective and dramatic look to the picture. This immediately made the image look more suited towards the magazine and fit in with the sort of image I researched for this. After this I changed the image to black and white and yet again changed the settings such as contrast and brightness to better fit in with this harsher black and white look I was attempting to achieve.
Double Page Spread Progress
At first I started with a rough idea of the layout I wanted as you can see in the first picture. This included where I planned to put my picture, paragraphs, my quote and the background to the text. I then wrote out the interview and put it in the place I had planned the text would go. Since I had written the interview I could then decide which quote I would put in the position I had decided for it. Next I added the picture which allowed me to see how the product would look finished allowing for a small ammount of tweaking to the layout. It was at this stage I decided to review the double page spread I had based mine on and decided I liked a certain aspect of it and so added a similar look to my magazine by moving along the paragraphs and decreasing their size to allow for the smaller picture at the left side of the page and the writing in green to the right side of the page. I then added a mirrored text effect to join the top picture and the bottom background together a bit more.
Contents Page Progress
To start with my contents page consisted of the main picture background with a simple line of text down the side which were the page references for my magazine pages. I had to change this however as having the text like this meant the writing was over writing on the road sign in the picture and this looked messy and very much unprofessional. To fix this I put the text into two separate columns, trying to stick to the 'rule of thirds' in order to keep the page orderly. I also added subtitles to each aspect of the page and modeled the design of them on a part of the background picture (the black and white sign to be exact). I almost completely imitated this sign but inverted the colours. This change in layout however prompted a new issue in that there was white writing over a white background. I then fixed this issue by changing the selected parts of text to black instead of white so that they contrasted with the colour of the background.
Front Page Progress
At first I felt my front cover should be completely in black and white to create the originality and difference I have continually mentioned throughout the process of creating the magazine. You can see the way in which this looked in the first picture. However it feels boring and a bit too simple without any splashes of colour included at all therefore I moved onto simply changing the colour of the title which I think gives a completely different effect to the magazine. It may not be a big change however it gives the cover a much more interesting look without going too far over the top. I also then added more text on the page as I felt the cover did not look enough like a real magazine would look with only one feature mentioned. As to allow the page to still look clean and uncluttered I just added a list of artists related to the genre of music of my magazine to the side of the page and left justified them as to position them in the way a professional magazine would do. After doing this I added a barcode and the month of the issue to create a genuine feel.
Monday, 30 January 2012
Evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge conventions of real media products?
I believe my front page challenges what is commonly seen on a magazine. I have made my product this way intentionally to allow it to stand out in an otherwise mundanely typical market. The differences which can be seen on my front cover is the use of mainly black and white with only a small amount of colour. This automatically makes my magazine stand out when compared with others of its genre. Another aspect is the way the image has been edited, I have intentionally made the picture harsh and sharp as opposed to the way in which other magazines make images in black and white look soft and comfortable. In doing this I feel I have again brought a new atmosphere to the magazine which is rare and mostly unvisited by others. My contents page fits in more with what is expected from this sort of magazine due to its very casual feel which can be found in many other music magazines. It is in this way my magazine uses real media product's conventions.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I believe my magazine is a similar style to others such as Vibe and Blender which are mainly Rap and R&B oriented, due to this I feel mine reaches out to the same or similar social groups and has the same audience as these highly popular magazines. My product is aimed at many social groups as although it does have this main audience others could enjoy the magazine due to its mature and professional feel which is perhaps not always accomplished in 'Rap' style magazines. My magazine adresses these social groups in the selection of models, who are of the age group and style of those who would be reading the magazine, allowing them to relate to the magazine. The golden theme also relates to the genre of music as it was inspired by Kanye West and Jay-Z's album 'Watch The Throne' which presents a fully golden album cover without anything else. The use of gold also refers to the unattainable feel most models have in magazines which are made for this age group.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
I feel my magazine appeals to a high end market as it is different and edgy such as magazines like ID. It does not fit in with what is commonly sold at corner shops and newsagents and instead is the sort of magazine you would rarely find in these places. I feel my magazine would fit well with specialist stores such as music shops and book stores. Putting the magazine in a music shop gives a highly professional feel to the magazine, again enforcing the way in which the magazine is different to others of the genre yet still appeals to the right audience, even if they have to go to a bit more of an effort to find the magazine. This also adds a more rare and exciting aspect to the magazine. With so much focus on social networking and the Internet in this digital age I feel it would also be a smart move to also create an online magazine subscription option. This allows the magazine to still feel original and special yet allows a different experience for the readers. Along with this digital idea, creating a version for smart phones and tablet reading would also ensure my magazine is fresh and up to date.
4+5. Who would be the audience of your media product? How are they attracted?
As I mentioned before my target audience would be those interested in listening to and finding out about 'Rap' and 'R&B' styles of music. A majority of the artists mentioned on the front cover and contents page of the magazine are of this style, for example Odd Future are a group mainly known by this audience and have not yet become so popular as to become mainstream. Other artists mentioned such as Jay-Z, Beyonce and Kanye West are much more well known and loved by a much wider audience as well as being constantly in the media therefore attracting not only those interested in the genre but also interested in these singers/ rappers themselves. My use of certain colours and fonts has also helped towards aiming my magazine at my target audience's age range. I feel the mature fonts and basic colours appeal to an audience of 16 to 25 year olds, who are also the age group mainly interested in the genre of the music in my magazine. The group my magazine relates to would want aspirational and inspirational images which I feel I have fulfilled by using the golden model in two of my photoshoots and the using the road signs in my other photoshoot which are unusual and quite thought provoking.
6. What have you learnt about technologies since starting this product?
Before this experience I was not able to use any of the main programs needed in order to make the magazine. I had never before used adobe photoshop, something that was essential in the editing of all of my pictures. I am now able to make adjustments to the pictures such as changing the contrast and brightness, which is something I found use for in all of my pictures. I can now give an airbrushed effect to pictures and remove any blemishes which would have made my pictures look messy and unprofessional. I can even now change the look of an entire picture seemingly effortlessly due to the skills I learnt in this program. I have also learnt to use adobe indesign without which I could not have put my magazine together effectively and would not have achieved the finished product I have now.
7. What have you learnt from the progression from preliminary to full task?
Due to my research of other magazines I have learnt the reasons behind the placement and use of certain aspects. For example the use of the 'rule of thirds' and why you should make sure there are no 'hanging words' on the page. These are things I perhaps didn't pay enough attention to in the preliminary task yet concentrated a lot more on in the main task. Upon starting my preliminary task I had no idea hold to use any of the programs needed to make my magazine but now I have progressed in my skills in using these programs a fair amount and did not hit any major issues along the way whilst making my products. Comparing the overall results of my preliminary task and my full task it is clear to see that not only have my skills developed but also the level of planning and organisation I put into the work. I did not manage my time well for my preliminary and therefore did not have time to complete it to the standard I would have hoped whereas I can confidently say that I have managed my time much better in the full task and therefore produced a much better magazine. The quality of my pictures is also a difference to be noticed, but this again was due to not having the time to conduct a good amount of photo shoots to achieve a good enough image. You can see how much better the quality of the pictures used in my full task are due to me allowing myself the time to take three different photo shoots to develop my ideas. In the preliminary task I used my iPhone camera which meant the image was not very clear and could not be easily manipulated to make it look more professional. This is why the pictures in the preliminary task have such a poor quality and therefore make the magazine look very amateur and uninviting. Instead of trying to change this which could have ended up taking me a lot of time, I decided to take it as a lesson and made sure I would not allow the same bad results in my full task. This meant that I knew I would not make the same mistakes by using a bad quality camera again.
Double Page Spread Font Research
For this page I decided to stick with the types of fonts I had been using throughout the rest of the magazine. I have used trajan pro which I have used on every other page as I feel it has the exact right feel for my magazine. I have used mainly sans serif fonts excluding the font which has the mirrored effect which I feel stands out even more due to the fact it is the only different type of font on the page.
Double Page Spread Photo Research
An idea I have been considering is the use of body paint to make my front cover stand out amongst others. This technique has been used in many magazines and music videos to add something extra to an otherwise plain shoot. A well-known example of this is Rihanna's Umbrella music video in which she was completely coated in silver. Paris Hilton has also been painted gold for a magazine shoot and Kim Kardashian was recently covered in silver for a magazine. These pictures almost immediately become iconic due to how dramatic and different the images are.
The use of gold on a magazine draws attention to whatever level it is used, for example these magazines are placed in order of the amount of gold actually used however each picture stands out from 'normal' magazines which use plain colours.
Contents Font Research
Magazines
which I would view as being similar to mine appear to mainly use quite classic,
official looking fonts for their contents pages. These again create a more
basic and clean feel to the magazine, which as I have mentioned before is the
direction I would like to travel in with my magazine. These magazines only use
a small amount of more playful, serif font types which is usually only
used in the page title, which I feel is something I would
like to leave out of my magazine as to create a feel of continuity. I plan to use a very professional, serif
font "trajan pro" for the writing on my page as I also plan to use this font on both my front cover and my double page spread. Along
with this I have also noticed most magazines play with their title fonts as
opposed to keeping them plain and boring. This is why I have chosen to have my subtitles at a slant
with a contrasting background to create a label effect.
Contents Photo Research
Further
to looking at contents pages, I have been noticing that different magazines
have a very different concept of what type of pictures should be used on their
contents pages. For example fashion and gossip magazines tend to mostly include
candid, paparazzi taken photos, whereas music magazines will use those taken by
their own photographer. There is still a difference to be seen in the types of
pictures used in music magazines, in some, often the slightly cheaper magazines
there can be mainly pictures which have been taken live at concerts and only
possibly a few modeled pictures, whereas those slightly more expensive music
magazines all or a great deal of the pictures will be modeled, this gives of,
I feel, a more professional vibe to the magazine. This is the path I plan to
take with my magazine and I plan to use only modeled pictures for my contents
page.
Something
that has been music related for a while now is the use of road signs and road names.
I want to include this in my contents page in a similar way, I still would
like to keep this simple however so I will try to mainly focus on the writing
with the road signs in the background.
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