Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Screen shots whilst creating my front cover...
These are the screen shots of the process I went through to create the front cover for my final magazine:
As the most popular colour scheme for a rock magazine was black, white and red, that is what I used. The only change I did make was putting the name of the new band in blue, so that it stood out from the rest of the text. I altered the lighting of the image so that it was clearer, and made the window behind the models red, as it was blue previously. I think that the window looks like it has been splattered with paint, so adds into the whole edgy, rebellious side that is a connotation of "rockstars." I think that the location where I have taken the image is good for a band named "The Underground", but if there had been one near where I lived, then I would've taken it at a tube station, so it was actually 'underground.' The only part of my front cover that was from the Internet was the image of the barcode.
Monday, 28 March 2011
Monday, 21 March 2011
Photoshoot Planning
I decided to do a rock magazine in the end, as it fitted well with my title "The Amplifier", so I chose locations which I thought would be best for the rock genre of the magazine. As I decided to take the photos within the school grounds, I asked three girls in my media class if they would model for me, as it was more convenient to go out and take the photos whilst we were all in the lesson together. I decided on two locations: one in front of the brick wall of our youth club, and the other on the stage in our hall. I decided to have guitars as props in the magazine, but apart from that I wanted to keep it quite minimal and have the main focus on the models.
For my contents page I decided to use my sister as a model and take photos in front of the wall of the garage where I live. I thought that this was a good idea, as it kept the effect of the wall in both images. With the double page spread I am going to use a large image of my 'band', so I will get a variety of photos for this.
In terms of costumes I made sure that the girls brought clothes into college with them which would be suitable for the whole 'rockstar' look. My sister wore a black leather jacket and black trousers, and three of them (my sister included) backcombed their hair to give themselves a 'rockstar' image. For the images I took in college I needed two guitars to make the band look authentic, so two of the girls provided these, as I did not have any. The images I took of my sister did not require any props.
For my contents page I decided to use my sister as a model and take photos in front of the wall of the garage where I live. I thought that this was a good idea, as it kept the effect of the wall in both images. With the double page spread I am going to use a large image of my 'band', so I will get a variety of photos for this.
In terms of costumes I made sure that the girls brought clothes into college with them which would be suitable for the whole 'rockstar' look. My sister wore a black leather jacket and black trousers, and three of them (my sister included) backcombed their hair to give themselves a 'rockstar' image. For the images I took in college I needed two guitars to make the band look authentic, so two of the girls provided these, as I did not have any. The images I took of my sister did not require any props.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Vibe Magazine Recreation
I took a photo of a male similar to the one on this front cover, and re-created the magazine, as shown below:
Original cover:
My re-creation:
The Process
To create this I used Photoshop and inserted the image into the program. I cropped around the image and used the rubber to try and make the body/head of the model in the image look as smooth as possible. I then put the text into the image using a similar font and the same colour scheme, and inserted a title so that it was in the same position. When I took the photo originally I told the model to wear glasses like the model in the one I was copying. If I were to go back and take the photo again I would take it in black and white, as this is an effect used in the magazine which I re-created. It was also difficult to get rid of the background behind part of the glasses which the model is wearing, so I had to leave it, and this makes it look less proffesional than it could be.Overall, I think that it is a good attempt at re-creating the original magazine, but it would look better if the edges of the model's body had been cropped more smoothly, and if the background behind the glasses was not visible. I think that the position the model on my magazine is in is good, as it looks relitavely similar to the magazine I re-created.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Market Research: Questionnaire
I carried out a questionnaire which I created on the computer, asking people questions about music magazines, so that I could decide which genre and title I was basing my magazine on, and also to get an idea of the content that the magazine would need.
After carrying out this market research it will be helpful, as I can find out what people within my age group would like in a magazine. I can then begin to think about the location, costumes, colour scheme and title in more detail, and decide on a final combination of ideas, using similar magazines as inspiration.
The questions which I asked are shown below:
1) Which name do you prefer for a magazine
2) Which combination of colours appeals to you the most when buying a magazine?
3)Which genre of music would you buy a magazine for?
4)What price would you pay for a music magazine?
5) Which story would you expect there to be on a double page spread?
After getting people to answer these questions the most popular selections were:
For question 1: A title of "The Amplifier"
For question 2: A combination of the colours red, black and white
For question 3: The most popular genre of music was Dance
For question 4: The price most people would be willing to be was £2.00- £2.49
and
For question 5: People would expect new bands to be featured on a double page spread
Even though Dance was the most popular genre, I am going to do a rock magazine, as I feel that it fits better with the title and colour scheme. This is not a key issue, as dance was only more popular by one person.
After carrying out this market research it will be helpful, as I can find out what people within my age group would like in a magazine. I can then begin to think about the location, costumes, colour scheme and title in more detail, and decide on a final combination of ideas, using similar magazines as inspiration.
The questions which I asked are shown below:
1) Which name do you prefer for a magazine
2) Which combination of colours appeals to you the most when buying a magazine?
3)Which genre of music would you buy a magazine for?
4)What price would you pay for a music magazine?
5) Which story would you expect there to be on a double page spread?
After getting people to answer these questions the most popular selections were:
For question 1: A title of "The Amplifier"
For question 2: A combination of the colours red, black and white
For question 3: The most popular genre of music was Dance
For question 4: The price most people would be willing to be was £2.00- £2.49
and
For question 5: People would expect new bands to be featured on a double page spread
Even though Dance was the most popular genre, I am going to do a rock magazine, as I feel that it fits better with the title and colour scheme. This is not a key issue, as dance was only more popular by one person.
Friday, 4 March 2011
Mood Board
I have been creating a mood board where I have thought about ideas for my magazine. These include aspects such as location, costume, colour scheme and titles for the magazine. I have also looked at current magazines, but have tried to make my ideas different and original. All parts of the mood board are from my own ideas, and I have tried to come up with a variety to suit my target audience, so that when I carry out my market research I have plenty of planning. I can then develop this and use it in the final design.
With my ideas I have put things in each catergory which are associated with each other such as a field or stream for the photoshoot with the title "Smooth Music" or the guitars which would be contained within "The Amplifier" magazine. The colour scheme of green, turquoise and yellow would also fit into the "Smooth Music" magazine, as they are colours associated with natural things, such as water, grass and the sunshine.
However if the photoshoot was done near a wall then this would link better with Hip Hop, and the costume would be a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms, with the colour scheme of red, black and white to make it look good.
In some cases the colour scheme, title, location and costume would not fit together. An example here would be if the models were wearing leather and had the photo taken near a stream, with the final colour scheme being purple, pink and blue and the title "Free Movement." This would not work because a rock band would not be in a place of nature, and would probably be located on a stage instead. It is about getting the balance between these four key areas right and finding the correct connotations within each section.
With my ideas I have put things in each catergory which are associated with each other such as a field or stream for the photoshoot with the title "Smooth Music" or the guitars which would be contained within "The Amplifier" magazine. The colour scheme of green, turquoise and yellow would also fit into the "Smooth Music" magazine, as they are colours associated with natural things, such as water, grass and the sunshine.
However if the photoshoot was done near a wall then this would link better with Hip Hop, and the costume would be a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms, with the colour scheme of red, black and white to make it look good.
In some cases the colour scheme, title, location and costume would not fit together. An example here would be if the models were wearing leather and had the photo taken near a stream, with the final colour scheme being purple, pink and blue and the title "Free Movement." This would not work because a rock band would not be in a place of nature, and would probably be located on a stage instead. It is about getting the balance between these four key areas right and finding the correct connotations within each section.
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
IPC Media Research
The International Publishing Corporation (IPC) is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the UK. In the 1950's the IPC Media were dominated by several companies including George Newnes Publishers and C Arthur Pearson. "In 1958 Cecil Harmsworth King chairman of a newspaper group which included the Daily Mirror and the Sunday Pictorial (now the Sunday Mirror) together with provincial chain West of England Newspapers, made an offer for Associated Press." Over the years IPC Media went on to create six seperate divisions: IPC Magazines, IPC Trade and Technical, IPC Printing, IPC Newspapers, IPC Books and IPC New Products. IPC Media groups its current titles under five magazine divisions: Connect (women's weeklies such as Now Magazine and Look), Inspire (leisure and specialist), Ignite! (men's lifestyle and entertainment), SouthBank (women's lifestyle and home interest), and TX (portfolio of television titles).
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPC_Media
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPC_Media
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