DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC FRONT COVER

This is the busiest I have managed to get my fron cover. I like the continuity of colour and I have also decided to change the font and colour of 'IVA' because it is much more bold as of this one. I have yet to put on more information but I really think this draft is one of my best. The one above is a continued version of the one to the left. This is the best draft I have come up with, I think, and I'm very likely to keep this one.

This is my first start to my front cover of my magazine. I have positioned the PULSE just above the model's head, because this was shown in a lot of my research on the fron covers. I'm still not sure about the colouring and the font of the 'IVA' next to the model's head. I have also been playing around with a phrase or something to use to support 'IVA'.

SECOND PHOTO SHOOT

THESE ARE THE FEW FAVOURITES THAT I PICKED OUT

I love the bright red in this picture, although it is slightly blurred. I like the angle of the camera. The picture with the headphones would be good for my double page spread or my contents page. I won't use it for my front cover because I would like a picture of her whole body. The picture with the 'peace out' on the chalkboard is also another favourite. I like the humble look on her face also accompanied by the high camera angle. I think these picutres are aimed at teenage girls.

These next two pictures are two of my favourite. Although I like the one on the left with the head phones, i would not use it on my front cover because her face is not visible. Although I really like the picture. It really captures the essence of music and I think teenagers could relate to it because most teens have an ipod accompanied by headphones, which they listen to their favourite bands on. It highlights the fact that the magazine is all about music. The picture below is my favourite, I think. It shows innocence, which I believe is relevant for this artist, aiming her music towards an audience of teenage girls. This would be a very good potential front cover photograph.

This picture above is a good one because it is quite personal to the reader. They would see the hand reaching out and feel as if the artist is directly addressing them. It is a fun picture, allowing the artist and the reader to be light hearted. The photo to the right is a little more serious, like some of my research on photographs. This will probably be used on  my contents page or double page spread. The two pictures below also show light heartedness like the one above. I love the angle of the one on the left. Her facial expression shows lightheartness, fun and laughter. I think this could be good with the idea of innocence. The picture below on the right is also a bit of fun whilst also being quite aggresive. I will definitely use this picture on the double page spread.

Front Cover start

The original picture was taken against a very flowery wallpaper but i have edited it out in order to get the colour of the background of the magazine.

Another potential front cover picture

Music Magazine Contents page research

This contents page for kerrang, in my opinion is quite effective. It is obviously packed with information, complete with photographs of the bands being mentioned. Also, there is an evident colour scheme of yellow which runs throughout the contents page. The is also an evident if slightly off centre example of having the contents page in thirds. I really like this layout.











This magazine for Q is quite like that of kerrang, but it is no where near as busy. I think the other contents is more effective as it tells us more about what is happening in the magazine. Like the other one, there is an obvious continuing colour, but this magazine uses red, not yellow. I do not believe this contents is striking enough compared to the other one. It does not make me excited to read it, which is what a contents page should do.

This contents page is on of the best in my opinion. Any paramore fan would know that 'riot' is the name of their second album. Already, this appeals to Paramore's fans. If I am right in thinking, this edition of this magazine is entirely dedicated to paramore. The layout is not too messy, it is clear to read and there is an obvious connection of red again. The labels claiming what else is to come in the magazine gives the reader more of an idea of what is to come and also making them want to read on. I'd like to use something catchy like the 'its a riot' on this contents page for my own contents page.

 This contents page follows the same sort of allignment as the other two like this. I like the big, bold 'THIS WEEK' at the top of the page and plan to use this kind of thing in my contents page. I also really like the side menu on the right of the page. It's clear and informative but also catches your eye. These two examples below are examples of different side menus.

Music Magazine Font Research

These are just a few fonts that I have selected from the possible ones that I like. The last one is probably my favourite because it is bold and eye catching. Unfortunately, I have acquired these fonts from the website www.dafont.com , which means that it is difficult for me to use them without them becoming pixalated like they are at the moment. The last font is quite stencil like, and I have found these fonts below which are quite similar to it:

This font above is rather similar to the one I liked before. It is possible that I will use this for the title of my magazine. However it is annoying that this font has seriffs. I liked the other font because it didnt have any seriffs. I could try to edit out the seriffs but this may make it more pixalated.

Preliminary Evaluations

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

Our preliminary task was to create a magazine in which represented a school. Being interested in performing arts and dance, I wanted to create a magazine of a performing arts school. I started looking into school magazines at first, just to get a general layout for my magazine. I could not find any dance magazines in my research and so I researched photographs instead for the dance theme. Many magazines I researched showed group dancers/performers but I wanted to go for a slightly different approach. I used my friend, Tilly, as a model for she is a very good dancer and she was very good at all the poses. The font I used was quite basic because I wanted the magazine cover to look quite simple. The colours are all quite similar too. I dimmed the colour on the picture because I wanted it to look more black and white than full colour. From dimming the colour, I found that the best colours that went with the picture was blue, grey and purple. i stuck with these colours in the contents page too.


2) how does your media product represent particular social groups?


Obviously, seeing as my magazine is a dance magazine, it would be for people interested in performing arts. The magazine represents young people interested in performing arts through the photographs used, etc. The magazine would be available to students at 'The Morganville Academy' and also their parents and to anyone interested in coming to that school. I think the magazine addresses these social groups by the language used on the front of it. The photograph is also of a young dancer, appealing to young students at the academy because they would aspire to be like that.




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


There are two major media publishing institutions that I have researched. One of them is Bauer, which mostly involves quite a few of the major music industries including Q magazine and Kerrang magazine. Bauer is a very widely known institution which publishes quite widely known magazines and radio stations so therefore I don't think it would be the suitable distributor for my 'The Morganville Academy' magazine. The other distributor that I found in my research is IPC publishers, who publish magazines that are based more around lifestyle and hobbies. Because my magazine is about performing arts and that is a hobby, I think it more likely that IPC will publish my magazine. They are widely known and well-respected and will give 'The Morganville Prophet' a good reputation.


4) Who would be the audience of your media product?

The audience of my media product would be the students and parents of The Morganville Academy. The age range would probably be from about 16 to 20 in the school, but also for parents. I think that the magazine would attract girls more than boys but having said that I think a dance college would have equal amount of boys and girls. Obviously, the magazine would attract an audience of people interested in performing arts.

5) How did it attract/address your audience?


The photograph on the front of a student from the school is clearly used to address my target audience because she is a girl who belongs to that school. The text on the page is quite colourful, addressing the young audience that it's aimed at. I've also put text on the front page displaying what is new in the school and what can be found in the contents of the magazine. I think that this will make my audience intrigued to read the magazine, attracting their attention, especially as it is information on what is going on in their own school.

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


I have used programmes such as photoshop and indesign in making this product. I have learnt how to use tools in photoshop to amend my photos to get rid of any blemishes and change the colouring of the photo. I have also learnt how to use blogger in which I have been updating all of my developments of my products. In making my front page and contents I have also used my dad's canon eos 30D camera to take the photographs on my front page. I have learnt how to use it efficiently but hopefully in the main task I will be able to use it a lot better in order to take the best photographs for my music magazine.