Photoshop Skills Development

I started off by opening my original image, duplicated the image of Jarvis Cocker, selected duplicated layer and then used the magic wand tool to highlight the background, by pressing the delete button I cleared the background. After this, I added text for my masthead and coverlines. To get my masthead behind Jarvis Cocker I arranged the layers so the masthead was in-between the background layer and the duplicate layer. I then inserted an image of the barcode in order to make it look like a magazine. I will use these Photoshop development skills to help me produce my music magazine later in the term.

  

 

Institution Research

Within this post I have researched different UK Publishers to find a suitable publisher for my music magazine. Out of these four institution's I will use Future PLC as my publisher because of the similarity with their already produced magazines. They offer online content for tablets and smartphone, which will be highly suitable for my target audience, especially since I'm producing an indie/rock magazine for late teens early twenties.

Institution	Details	Publications
PPA	The Professional Publishers Association (PPA) represents around 220 companies, ranging from consumer magazine publishers to business-to-business data and information providers, customer magazine publishers and smaller independent companies.	Beano Vogue Cosmopolitan Radio Times
Hearst	Hearst magazines UK is the largest digital publisher in the UK their reach extends to 1 in 3 UK women and 1 in 4 UK adults.	Best Men’s Health Reveal
Future PLC	Future is an award-winning international media group and leading digital business. They reach more than 51 million international consumers a month and create content and advertising solutions for passionate consumers online, on tablet & smartphone and in print.	Guitarist Total Guitar
Warners	Established in 1988, Warners Group Publications plc is a magazine publisher specialising in niche titles.	Campers Collectors Gazette

 

Stage 2 Planning

Brief:

With the inspiration of other magazines, I plan on producing an indie/rock music magazine which will have a target audience of late teens/early twenties from both genders. My magazine will include the major conventions of which a magazine should have as well as others in order to make it a successful magazine. I will use a range of images with different angles/shots in order to make my magazine look professional and to stand out from the competition. Within the production of my magazine I may face difficulties that I hope to resolve throughout the production.

Genre/ sub genre:
Similar texts/music magazines which have inspired my thoughts are magazines and downloadable versions of NME, Q and Kerrang! However NME is my biggest inspiration simply because I follow this on Twitter, have the downloaded version on my iPhone and this is the magazine I purchase the most as opposed to the other two.

Target audience:
My target audience, like already stated in Stage 1 will be for late teens/early twenties of both genders. This target audience will share similar interests, with ‘introducing acts’ as well as though who are avid gig/festival goers and love live music, since there will be chances to enter a competition in my magazine to win free tickets to a gig/festival, this relating closely to the personality of my audience.

Major conventions

The major conventions within my magazine will be that I ensure that my mastheads are clear and stand out well enough from the background. I will use a specific colour scheme in order to allow my magazine to ‘flow’ well for the reader. This colour scheme will be colours related to ‘rock/indie’ music, with the use of reds to show passion and blacks to emphasise power. I will also use the obvious conventions on my magazine, a barcode on the front cover as well as a range of coverlines of the articles inside my magazine.
These coverlines will stand out from the main image on the background of my front cover. On my contents page I will emphasise selected arcticles from my magazine by increasing the font size but still keeping it professional. My double page spread will include a large main coverline as well as other major conventions such as captions under my images etc.

Conventions:
The conventions in my magazine I may change may be the camera angle on my images, as these may not be as best as possible for what I’ve already stated.

Original images:
As stated in my stage one planning I plan on using one large main image for my front cover, with this either being a single person (if so, an extreme close up of he/she) if a group (a medium close up from an high angle shot). On my contents page I plan on using three/four primary images of the ‘introducing act’ pictures from previous gigs/festival and a possible music instrument in order for my audience to be aware of what is involved in the magazine.
My double page spread will have large images of the main article which will be an interview with the ‘introducing act’. This will have a large image on one page, the full A4 with the text on the opposite page to it. Yet, judging on the presentation of my magazine this may also change and I may have a few images on the DPS in order to show different actions of the act.

Potential difficulties:
The potential difficulties I may face whilst producing my magazine, other than the things I have already mentioned, may be that my models for my images may not show up the shoot when needed. Other academic studies may result in me falling behind in my coursework for media also since it is my first time using Photoshop I may struggle to use it correctly, and it may take a while for me to get used to the software.

Coursework Stage 1 Planning

The type of magazine I will produce will be a music magazine. At the moment the name of my magazine will be ‘Musicrocks’ however this may change later in the production of the magazine. The audience for my magazine will be late teens/early twenties for both genders as there will be a range of music genres which can relate closely to both sexes. The attitudes and interests of my audience will be those who enjoy reading interviews/reviews as well those who enjoy attending gigs, as I plan on using my own primary images from previous gigs/festivals to help relate to my target audience which will be a great selling point for my magazine.

My magazine will be able to be bought from main superstores, i.e. Tesco, ASDA as well as music stores like HMV near the genre of music that will be in my magazine, in order to increase revenue. I will also make downloadable versions for tablets/mobiles as technology is in our everyday life and this will be a lot more necessary for those who are ‘always on the move’ and use their electoronic gadgets a lot more.

The necessary information which will be on my magazine will involve the selling price, information if explicit lexis is used pre-warning the reader and ensuring the right target age purchases the product, as well as the issue number and date of the magazine. My magazine will have a range of selling points, some of which I’m unsure exactly what however some ideas may be a ‘free large poster’ or chances to win tickets to a gig, once again, this relating back to my target audience.

The theme of my article will be an interview to an ‘introducing’ act where I will be using primary images and relating it closely to my inspiration bands which has already been uploaded on my blog. This will be so my readers can relate closely to magazine and hopefully keep reliable customers. For my front cover I plan on using one large main image of the ‘introducing act’ which will be in my article so my readers are aware of what the main coverline will be about. This will hopefully be an impressive selling point for my magazine as I will use an interesting camera angle. The images inside will all be primary images, some of which from previous gigs (for the contents page) also different primary images of more ‘introducing acts’.

Front Cover Deconstruction

 

Front Cover Deconstruction from itc6swa

This is where I deconstructed three magazine front cover's and analysed what techniques were used from the publishers. I will use this knowledge to later on help myself when producing my own music magazine. 

Evaluting a Selection of Previous Student Work

Analysing Previous Student Work

Name of Magazine	Strengths	Weaknesses	Grade I awarded and reason
Reckless	Ø  Consistent colour scheme Ø  Use of primary images Ø  Varied contents page, i.e images, articles Ø  Range of page numbers Ø  Use of essential info on front cover	Ø  Lacks of structure on the front cover, their coverlines aren’t in a specific order Ø  There’s no set font style Lack of information on DPS, background also clashes with colour Ø  Lack of structure	I would give this magazine a D, due to his primary images which are quite good however since there’s no set font the magazine looks unprofessional compared to most other magazines.
Rockhound	Ø  Creative fonts, relating to the ‘rock theme’ Ø  Has essential info on Ø  Good use of colour scheme Ø  Wide range of primary images Ø  Use of taboo language relating to the target audience	Ø  The magazine hasn’t used the same masthead on the front cover and contents page Ø  Doesn’t have a page number on DPS Ø  There is a range of font styles Ø  Some colours clash with their background (white on yellow)	For this magazine I would give Rockhound a C/B because of the use of primary images as well as the creative article. However the range of font styles and clash of colours brings down the grade.
Unheard	Ø  Large image on front cover Ø  Bright background, gives us a ‘live effect’ Ø  Use of essential info on front cover Ø  Clear contents page	Ø  No specific use of colour scheme Ø  Unclear images although primary images were taken Ø  No set font style Ø  The use of the drop caps on the DPS doesn’t ‘fit in’ well with the text	For this magazine I would give it a grade of a D because the structure and colours don’t really flow like a magazine should, making it hard for the audience to read it. However there are a range of primary images used and creative coverlines.

What have I learned from looking at last year’s student work?

From looking at last year’s student work I have learnt that font, colour and presentation are a key essential to make a successful music magazine. Without a clear ‘flow’ to a magazine readers won’t be interested in the articles never mind the images as well as key information is essential to put on a magazine.

How will I apply this to my own work?

I will apply this to my work by making sure I use all the essential info a magazine needs as well as following a set scheme of fonts and colour in order to make my reader interested and to keep presentation key in order to make my magazine look as professional as possible.

Preliminary Task Front Cover & Contents

For my preliminary task I have produced both a front cover and contents page on Microsoft Publisher which is for my college magazine.

Here are my designs below.

 

 

 

 

I think that my preliminary task front cover and contents page both look neat and tidy however there are many things I would change on it in the future. With the feedback I have received, I intend on making my contents page clearer and make sure the font stands out from the background on both my contents page and front cover. Although I've used a range of camera angles on my images on my next magazine I will use better images of higher resolution and have similar font schemes which stand out from the background. Both my contents page and front cover will have similar colour schemes which relate to my audience of the magazine. My front cover would need the biggest improvement and I will focus greatly on making sure my audience can actually read what’s on the magazine.

Inspirational Texts

I have been doing some research on the type of artists that may appear in my music magazine, here are a few videos from them...














I have furthered my research and concluded that these are some of the bands which I hope to use as inspiration in my magazine, with an indie rock theme. I used www.bighugelabs.com for my mosaic collage/moodboard of bands/acts.

Prelimnary Task Flat Plans for my Cover Page & Contents Page

 

In my magaize I plan to have the layout as above, I have decided to have my Masthead at the top of my front cover so my readers are aware of what the magaize is called and to attract their attention. My Main Image will take up most of the front cover so it once again attract the readers attention and will be a close up of the person/thing. I have placed the essential info at the side of the Masthead so my readers will be able to notice the price easily. On top of my main image I will have my coverlines and main coverline (as above) so my readers are aware of what other story lines are in my magazine.  The caption will be located at the bottom left of my main image, so the readers are aware of what the image is for.

I will be using a basic colour scheme for both my front cover and contents page linking greatly with my fontology and there will also be an anchorage with all my image, text and background.  

 

My contents page will follow my main cover's format, with similar font and colour. Although, it will have three images as appose to one large image. The story lines will be down the left hand side of the page, and like before my Masthead will be at the very top of the page to make the reader aware of the magazine and to emphasize it. The three images have various camera angles and a range of props and techniques to intrigue the reader of what is in the magazine. Which will give them a 'sneak peak' of what to expect. I plan on having both the contents page and cover page quite simple, so my readers can easily navigate through the pages.

 

Double Page Spread Deconstructions

Within this blog post I have deconstructed three different Double Page Spread's I have tried to use three different genres and with the help of my deconstructions I plan on using the skills for when I produce my music magazine. 

The layout of this Double Page Spread (DPS) is very different yet eye catching. The use of the three columns makes the DPS look organised so the reader will be able to read the article a lot easier. I especialy like how the producer has layered the images, rectangles and had Justin Bieber as a main image just on one page. The use of this image will attract greatly to the reader, especially if they're huge fans of Justin Bieber. The colour scheme on this DPS once again gives it a 'simple' feel yet relates closely to the article. As the lexis says: "girls" the use of the reds and whites show connotations of romance (about the article) and relating it to females. I especially like the contrast of the colours which helps us to read the arcticle easier and gives the magazine a professional feel. The use of the large one image of Bieber will attract greater to a female audience which will be a huge selling point for this magazine. I also like how a caption has been used as well as the alliteration of "dressing room demands" the impact of this gives the arcticle a unique 'catching' feel and will make the reader a bit more attracted to the what is in the red box. 

Similarly this DPS has the artist (Lady Gaga) on one page and the article on the adjacent page. Unless the previous DPS we can see the page number a lot more clearer which will be great for the readers of Q, as they will be able to navigate to that page. However I don't really like the use of black on red on this page, as it makes it a little difficulty to read unless before, yet the connotations of the colours red and black represent Lady Gaga a lot. Showing us her 'passion' for her job and the sex appeal of how she has on the music industry. The way the image has also been grey-scaled definitely focuses us more on the 'red' which stands out focusing the readers on the article. I especially like the drop cap, a great feature for written columns. Similarly this DPS has three columns on it, I will focus on this feature when producing my magazine.  

THis magazine has taken a totally different anchorage of colour scheme compared to the other two, yet it still contrasts with the font. Which judging by the previous two is a key aspect for magazines especially in order for the reader to understand. Unlike the previous two this magazine doesn't look as professional but still only uses one 'main' image. Helping us to focus on the main artist. Once again only a selection of colours have been used keeping it 'plain and simple'. One downpour on this magazine is the use of the 'stars' around the border which I believe makes it look tacky and the size of the headline is a key feature as it attracts us to the main article. 

These three DPS have gave me an insight on how I plan to produce my own double page spread. 

Contents Page Deconstructions

Here I have analysed three different contents pages for future reference for when I produce my magazine. By hopefully following the layouts and ensuring I use as many key features I aim to produce a successful magazine.

Media Studies Contents Page Deconstruction from itc6swa

Magazine Cover Key Features



Masthead: The Masthead is the logo of the magazine, which is at the top left which informs the reader what the magazine is called.
Essential Info: The essential info on a magazine is the date of issue, number of the issue and usually the price.

Main Image: The main image builds an image and a unique identity for the magazine.

Subhead: A Subhead explains what is in the article and teases the reader.
Coverlines: Coverlines inform the reader of other stories that are in the magazine.
Main Coverline: The main coverline is to attract the audience’s attention and draws them in.



Print Brief

You must complete two linked tasks. The set brief is as follows:

Preliminary exercise: using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally you must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate your grasp of DTP.

Main task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine (if done as a group task, each member of the group must produce an individual edition of the magazine, following the same house style).

All images and text used must be original, produced by the candidate(s), minimum of four images per candidate.