Welcome Post

Dear Moderator,

I have completed all the tasks in this process myself including my preliminry task, a school magazine as well as my music magazine which I have made a front cover, contents page and double page spread for. I have completed all these using Photoshop and I have made my evaluation using Prezi. I have included in my blog, the different things which I used to help me throughout this process and I hope you enjoy looking through it all.

From Lizzie Marsh
Candidate Number: 9121

Evaluation

This is my evaluation which I made using prezi...

http://prezi.com/lihe1qqul69-/evaluation/?kw=view-lihe1qqul69-&rc=ref-33362105

Double Page Spread, Finished...

Before this I had each page of my double page spread separate, I left them separate to make it easier for myself when editing them both on Photoshop, but now I have finished editing I have joint them together to show that it is a double page spread and that I do know that this is the way it is meant to be...

Contents Page, Finished...

Front Cover, Finished...

Double page spread, 2

This is the second half of my double page spread (both pages will be put together when finished) and similarly to the first half I have the same white wall background and pictures at the side of the page. This is to ensure that the both pages link to eachother and that if the magazine was taken apart, it would be easy to put it back together because of how similar the two pages are. I also used the same 'REPLAY' banner which I used on the contents page to keep in the readers mind of which magazine they are reading.  

I used two pictures this time because there was more space to fill and I thought it would make it look more interesting. For the bottom image I copied and pasted the whole image into this page and then used the eraser tool to go round the edges and get rid of the background. For the top images I used the magnetic tool to cut around each of the girls and then joined them together again on this page just so I got rid of the whole background of the setting in which they were in. 

I used the same font and colours for the interview using blue for the questions and pink for the girls answer. I also used a quote from the interview which is bigger than the rest of the interview and beaks it up a bit and makes it more interesting.

At the bottom of the interview I put in the details about how to download the girl band album for free using the code which is given. I also included a part where the readers could get in touch with the magazine and get involved in what questions they'd like the magazine to ask and suggestions of who the magazine could interview. This will make the readers feel more included into what the are reading and would hopefully get a good response.

From my planning of the interview I didnt actually use everything which I wrote down because I didnt have enough space unless I made the text really really small, but I thought it would be better to make it readable and miss parts out rather than write it all and have the text tiny.



Double page spread, 1

For my first page of my double page spread (both pages will be put together when finished) I made the background a white wall, and then I added the 2 pictures of Remi and Katie and placed them by the side below the title. Both the images of the girls are from the same picture and I used the magnetic tool to cut around each of them and then I placed them at the side and rotated them round so it looked like they are poking out from round the wall. for the title of the interview I made sure I used the same font, and colour as the bands name on the front page to make it linked.

Then I wrote the interview, and using my ideas I got from More magazine, I decided on having larger quotes from the interview as a subtitle. I also used a brief introduction as well which was bigger than the actual interview. I made sure I kept with the colour sceme of pink and blue as well...

I made the questions in the interview blue and the answers pink to define them as different and make each part stand out. Also to keep with the colour sceme of the whole page. I made it so there were two colums of text to make it look like a more proffessional interview.  

Contents Page Edits

To make my contents page look a lot more interesting, I added a background which I made on paint and moved over to photoshop. To make it I made 1 cirle which I then copied and pasted a lot of times to make a full pages of dots. Then I changed the colours to make it look more colourful and interesting. I also think that this background makes the magazine looks more like a pop magazine.

Then I added the picture of Chusdey which i used the magnetic tool to cut her out and paste her in. I also went round the edge of her with the fade tool just to make her look more of a part of the page rather than like she has just been stuck on it randomly.  

Then I added the 'message from editor' at the top of the page which I made dark blue so that it stood out infront of the background. I said 'love from lizzie' to make it more personal because I think the readers would appriciate it. I would have liked to have added more pictures but I wouldn't have had enough time to do this, so i left it like this...

Editing the Front Cover

After I finished making my front cover I made a few changes. I made sure that all the key words in the stories were able to be seen a lot clearer than they already were and I also made the colours brighter to make them stand out more...

For example here, I made it so that 'Chusdey Bravo' is bigger and stands out more than the 'behind the scenes' part since readers would be more interested in who it is rather than the 'behind the scenes'

Editing Process

This is the editing process of one of the photos I used for my double page spread.
 

   

 

I used the magnetic lasso tool to cut around both the girls and cut them out of the background. I then cut and pasted them into my double page spread.

 

 

 

 

Then I used the eraser tool in size 100, and the one that fades to go around the girls and make the cut look better. I then placed them to the side of the page like shown in the picture above.



Double Page, Interview

From the ideas I got from More magazine, I created my interview which will be in my music magazine. This interview will be for the girl group on the front cover 'Bloom'...

The layout of how I wrote it out won't be how it will actually be, because obviously I will have pictures and stuff, but this is what questions I will be having, and the answers that the girl band will be giving.

Double Page Spread Ideas

To help me write out what I want on my double page spread I looked at some old More magazines, where Alan Carr does a question and answer interview with different celebrities. For my music magazine I will be doing this style of interview so looking at these gave me a few good ideas.

I decided that I like how they have some parts of the interview as larger like titles, and having a brief introduction to the interview. For my magazine I will do something similar to this.

I also liked the idea to have some questions which the readers have sent in, which will hopefully make my target audience feel more involved in what goes into the magazine. 

Contents Page Pictures...

These photos were taken for the contents page of my music magazine. I tried to get a picture of Chusdey actually singing, but they didn't come out very well so I decided just to have one of her smiling.

 

    

Audience Profile

age: 13 - 17 years.
gender: girls.
music tastes: pop music, charts music and popular artists.
other interests: fashion and celebrity gossip.
disposable income: my age group would still be in either school or college and its unlikely that they will have a job so their disposable income would be quite a small amount.
education level: the magazine would be informal to suit the way young people speak.

To target this audience I will use the gratifications made in 1987 by Dennis McQuail as well as the gratifications made in 1974 by Blumer and Katz.

Escaping, or being diverted from problems.
My magazine will give my audience the chance to get away from their problems and read something that they will find interesting, therefore distracting them from their own lives.

Surveillance, or gaining information.
This is probably the main thing my magazine will offer my target audience. My magazine will include information about particular events going on around the UK and around the world in music as well as giving advice and opinions. My magazine will satisfy the readers curiosity and general interest in music as well as helping them to gain a sense of security through knowledge.

First Draft: Contents Page

Here is my contents page so far for my music magazine. I still need to get images for this page so havent got any on there at the moment. But this will be the layout of the page...

Instead of having what every single page in the magazine has on it I will have 'on this months cover' shown below and on the other side to that I will have 'the best of the rest' showing other parts of the magazine which the readers may find interesting.

In the blank space at the top there will be the 'message from the editor'.

First Draft: Front Cover

This is my first draft for my front cover of my music magazine. I used one picture as the main image and then put the other stories around it. I made it so that the girls heads went over the title of the magazine, which would show that the magazine is well known enough not to see the whole title as well as so that the girls heads weren't covered over.

 

 

 

I used lots of different colours for the test surrounding the main image, this was because it is a pop magazine, and these types of magazines tend to be bright and colourful. I tried to use some different style of fonts as well, although I didnt use too many so that it didnt look too messy and childish. 

 

 From doing this I have now got a better idea of how to actually use photoshop and I think I have already improved a lot from my preliminary task where I hardly used any tools. On this I made sure I tried them all and I now have learnt what effects I like and dislike and it is becoming a lot easier to use.

 

 

 

 

 

Bauer Publishing vs. IPC Media

To publish my music magazine I have chosen to go to 'Bauer Publishing'. I chose them because they are a worldwide publishing empire comprising 238 magazines in 15 countries.

Bauer is also the largest consumer magazine publishing company in the UK, so obviously must be good. Looking at both companies websites Bauer seems to publish more music based magazines than IPC media, and since I am making a music based magazine I thought Bauer would be a better choice. Bauer also seem to have more bigger name magazine so I thought that their publishing services would help to make my magazine more well known as the others that they publish like, 'Empire', 'Kerrang' and 'Q'. 

From looking at these publishing businesses I have learnt more about the industry and it has given me a better understanding of magazines and who they are published by.

Kerrang Double Page Spread

As a group we looked at a double page spread out of the magazine 'Kerrang!'. We looked at the composition of the page, as well as the images and the text and how it all fitted into the house style of the magazine. By doing this it helped us get a better idea of how to set out our double page spread, and what sort of things we need to do in order to attract our audiences attention.

Photos I won't use...

These are the photos I will not be using:

 

I will not be using this image because i have cut of Katie's head and also I think the sun has created lots of shadows making it look a lot darker and its harder to see their faces.

I don't want to use these two either, I don't really like the angles of how I took them nor do i think the girls poses look very natural or comfortable.

Photos I will use...

These will be the images that I use in my magazine:

 

I  will use this one for the main image of the front cover. I will use it because it is kind of already set up in a way that I could have the title of the magazine at the top and the stories around the girls on the dark background which is a plainer background than other images which I took, like the ones with the green brick wall. I think this image has good eye contact with the audience as well so would be good for the front page.

 



These images will all be used on my double page spread.

I will use the magnetic lasso tool on the two top pictures to get the background completley out of the image. I will do this because I want them to look the same and fit into the page better, and I think taking out the background will help.
With the bottom image I will either keep the background or take it away like with the other two depending on how much space the interview takes up.

 

 

 

 



Photoshoot Pictures

These are the images I took of the 'new girl band' who will be called 'Bloom'. They will be on the front cover of the magazine as well as the double page spread. There were over 40 photos taken but these were the better ones..