C13 Evaluation

FOUNDATION PORTFOLIO ... Evaluation ...

I have now made my music magazine MUSE. I have created using the programme photoshop and using my own photography a front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Here I am comparing my front cover to an existing top music magazine. Q is a magazine that I have already researched in great detail and I liked the way in which they presented their front covers. I have used arrows to explain feature on my front cover and have circled those that are also found on the front cover of Q magazine. The various similiarites show that my version of a music magazine is comaparable to that of the real thing.

Here I have images of my contents and page and double page spread shown next to images of those pages from existing music magazines. The double page spread looks professional and has many similarites to the real product. However I am not so happy with my contents page which looks a little amatuer. I would re-think the style of contents page if I was to repeat this activity and would also like to present my contents page over a double page spread like you would find in an ordinary music mag.

Here I have pin pointed various features of my magazine that I have used to attract my target audience. I have included image and caption. These regard various feature such as the artists used, free gifts and low prices.

I have decided that if I was to publish MUSE, then I would like BAUER to be the company I work alongside with. This is because they are successful dealing with magazines like my own and yet do offer any existing magazines that will cause a threat to the production of MUSE. I think that BAUER is a good strong choice of industry. I have also included the other music magazines that they have produced. I have not named them, I have simply posted their logos, these logos are well known and a vast majority of the public could guess the magazine from the logo itself. This shows how successfull BAUERS other magazines really are.

I have bullet pointed the main areas that concern my 15-25 year old target audience. I have also added various images of people who are that age to present a small audience profile.

I have learnt alot during the process of this portfolio including technical and personal development. I am proud of my achievments that I have worked reach. This task was not easy however I think that I tackled it with the right frame of mind and was open minded to learn new skills and to work my way through vast series of trial and error when trying new things.

I have been on a rollcoaster of a journey from when I made my front cover for my preliminary task to completing my final music magazine. The diffrence between the work I have made is very clear when comapring the two images. But the way in which I handled the tasks and used the software has changed immensly. I am now more confident and I am satisfied with usinf photoshop. I have come a long way and do not want stop this new learning curve.

To finish my conclusion I have simply analysed each page and given myself suggested improvements if I was to carry on with this task further. I think that it is important to realise that more potential can be made so that you progress with your knowledge. However to make most of the improvements I want to I will need to do a lot of learning from tutorials etc, as some of the technical aspects are very complex.

I am least happy with my contents page because I do not think that it looks professional. Although I am desperate to be able to create this element over a double page spred so that I have more space and opportunites. I think the main problem with this page is the lack of space, therefore the page looks very overcrowded.

I was very happy with my double page spread but it wasn't until I had finished my evaluation presentation that I realised I had forgotten to add page numbers. Although it seems a minor detail, the contents page would loose it's purpose if pade numbers were not inserted. This has shown me how easy it is to forget something so trival which yet could lead to a major problem. I understand now why it is so important in the real publishing industry to have proof readers and editors who look closely to ensure there are no mistakes printed in the final copies.

I concluded a few of the major points to end my evaluation. Throughout the slides there is number of yellow stars that indicate certain sections of my blog. This is to ensure that further expanded ideas and answers can be found easily through a simple directory.

Overall I have really enjoyed the task I was set and would love to do a similar challenge again soon. I have made myself proud in what I have learnt, this includes how much patience I have now tolerated myself to have! Especially when things do go wrong. I will leave this blog with all three images of my MUSE music magazine pages below.

Goodbye from me...

Karmann Damiral

new producer of MUSE.

Titles

I have given each one of posts a title so that I can refer to these in my presentation that shows my final evaluation.
There are three sections to my titles, A, B and C.

A = Early stages of research to magazines and audiences. This is just general research.

B = Topics relating to my preliminary task.

C = All relating to my final Task!

I hope that this will make referencing to certain points in my blog quick and easy to do!

C12 Double Page Spread

This is the my double page spread for my music magazine MUSE. The article is about the new high flying career of singer and song writer Lucy Day. I have written an interview based article so that it is easy to read and appeals to those who are interested in the artist as well as those who do not like reading long tedious scripts. I have added quotes from the interview to draw attention to the readers so that they read further. I have also added small images to attract the readers attention. Each individual image has been edited and airbrushed so that it looks more professional. Although I am not an expert, I think that I have pulled off the techniques wuite well.
As with all the images posted on my blog, just click the picture for a larger image.
I am glad my magazine is completed and I will look over all productions to make sure I finalise them to look professional.

C11 The magazine Industry

The magazine Industry!

The three of the biggest magazine and multi-media publishers include:

IPC

E-Map

Bauer

I need to research these companies in order to make a suggestion regarding whicj of these major companies I would like to publish my magazine, Muse.

IPC




http://www.ipcmedia.com/

I visited the IPC website to find out the relevent information. and with over 80 popular magazines and a specialist section called IPC Ingnite that already works with other music magazines it is a strong contender. I would be looking for a company that has experiance in publishing existing successful music magazines.

E-Map

http://www.emap.com/

I personally found the EMap website very confusing as it was not at all straight forward. This has made it hard for me to find out relevant information about music magazines they publish. For reason I am not going to consider this organsisation to publish my magazine as I want a compnay which is simplistic and successful and easy to use and access by my consumers.

Bauer



http://www.bauer.co.uk/


The first thing I noticed about the bauer website was that it was bright and colouful. It also had images of one of their successful existing magazines which is a promising sight, that they are advertising their publications from the first page.

This is the magazine advertised on the first page.

The website was very easy to use and I found a page showing all of the magazines that they publish.

These magazines include music magazines such as MOJO, FHM, KERRANG and Q. These are top leading magazines which shows that the company are successful in dealing with this genre.

Bauer is successful with 282 magazines in 15 countries with 6,600 employees worldwide and annual turnover of 1.79 billion Euro. I think that this could be the new contender for publishing my magazine!.

C10 Step by Step

Step by Step

This is an image that I would like to use in my double page spread.

As you can see the thread of the scarf can be visibly seen. This looks unprofessional and I aim to get rid of this using the spot healing tool.

This is the spot healing brush tool.

This images shows that the thread is no longer visible. I have not perfected the use of the skills just yet but I am pleased with my progress!

Happy Photoshopping!

C9 Tutorials

Tutorials

Again I have been busy watching tutorials posted on youtube (http://www.youtube.co.uk/) which have been teaching me the tricks of the trade of photoshop. Youtube is a great website for watching videos such as tutorials as many are professional and easy to follow. They are free of charge and you can pause and rewind as much as you need!. I thought I'd add a hyperlink showing just one of the more advanced tutorials I found on the video posting website!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kIkarvhoa8

This particular video demonstrates how to enhance an image to make a perfect eye. Although I my not need to do this myself, it does explain what certain tools are and shows me how to use them. There are very obscure and intricate videos including those on weight loss, air brushing and teeth whitening. These are all skills that if I was to make a real music magazine I would need to consider, as very rarely will a magazine publish an undited photograph!

The before and after...

C8 Contents Page

This is my first draft of my contents page. However I do think that it needs further work, but it is something I will be looking into and asking for various outside opionions. I think that to improve the look of my contents page I would like it to run over a double page spread. Although, I am proud of the skills and techniques I have used.

Again, for an enlarged image just click the above picture! :)

Tip!

Just thought I'd add, if you click on the small image of my front cover, a full sized version does appear! :)

C7 Front Cover

Not the best picture, but this is my front cover of my music magazine MUSE so far. I have spent a lot of time researching and planning and have finally created a draft of my front cover. I have now decided to stop, take a break and return to research. I think that taking a short break and then returning to my work will allow me to take a fresh look on it, therefore being able to make further improvements that now I may be unable to see. I am proud of the piece I have made but it hasn't been easy. I have learnt lots of new skills but unfortunatly most of these have been learnt the hard way. Even after watching many helpful tutorials, I am still learning the creativity of photoshop via the application of trial and error. I seem to have more error than anything else but it has lead to various success in the end. I have also begun the task of making my contents page which I am pleased to say is coming along a little more successfully now I have built the confidence with photoshop! My life has suddenly changed - I seem to eat breath and sleep photoshop but I can see the difference between my work and it is definately proving worth while. Even when the task is finished I think that I will not give up with using photoshop. The skills I have learnt and the sheer professionalism of the techniques and effects availiable are too valuable to never use again. I would like to continue my usage and develop my knowledge further. This task has definately been an eye opener to a new technological world.

I will upload a picture of the first draft of my contents page as soon as it is completed! :)

C6 Planning and Research

Final Product... Planning and Research!



After weeks of planning and research my final product is finally on the go and I feel that I have everything organised and prepared.

I now have photoshop CS3 at home and I have been busy watching every tutorial on You Tube so that I understand how to use the tools to create the effects I desire. The tutorials are very helpful and I have learnt a lot of new skills. I am already noticing how much I have improved working with photoshop since creating my preliminary task.

Although my use of photoshop is improving bot everything has been plain sailing. In order to capture my images I made a lot of plans to use certain actors, props and locations. However, this is not the professional world where people are paid and contracted therefore more than one person pulled out at the last minute. This was the major problem that inhibited my work. Although I have been fortunate enough to look at more music magazine that are already existing and I have been full of creative ideas for new photos. Lighting has also not always been on my side, especially when all of sudden night comes a little too quickly and my actors and I were plunged into darkness. I think that if I was to do this same task professionally, with the appropriate actors, settings and lighting then the final outcome would be of a much higher quality. Although I was surprised with quite how much I could do with a program such as photoshop. I think that I am lucky to be able to access such technology.

I am constantly referring to my target audience. The more I research into magazine criteria and genres the more I begin to realise the importance of the profile of my audience. For example, If I was to create the entire magazine, I would need to have appropriate advertisements. I am also thinking of adding a free gift to my magazine. either a CD or poster, as well as special listings such as a first hand gig guide.

I imagine my target audience to be teenagers and young adults who are edgy and sophisticated. Interested in music, fashion and the latest news and gossip. The ideal image of my target audience profile will be like the models used for topshop and topman! I may even include a special offer regarding this shop as their consumers are those I am aiming my magazine at.

Looking back at my photos I think that I planned them well, although I can see where I should make improvements if I was to complete the task again. I have used a variety of shots, including mid-shots, close ups, two shots and long shots. However I am limited to how many images I could use as I am only creating few pages. Too many images will create a crowed layout which will be hard on the eye and unattractive. I also need to integrate text with illustration to add interest and variety.

I have also been looking at the type of language seen and used in other existing music magazines. This is often informal using a range of blasphemed words and slang. This is deemed as acceptable within the genre of music and the audience that follows.

I have also been making use of decision and revision. I have been asking other people who have a outside perspective on my work and creations to understand their opinions. These people I ask are those who are in my target audience, therefore their comments need to be taken into consideration in order for my magazine to include successful criteria. I then take on board their decisions and revise my work to improve it. This is a technique that I find extremly useful. Especially as I am looking very closely at myy work and therefore it is easy to miss imperfections, where as an outside eye can pick up on the smaller details. This is something that I will be using until the very end to ensure my work is of the best quality.

I am looking forward to seeing my final product finished and complete and I am proud of myself, I have managed to require a number of new skills on a programme that at the beginning, I found so very difficult. I have impressed myself and I am looking forward to what else follows.

C5 Photos

FINAL TASK! - HERE WE GO!

Some of the unedited images I have taken so far!




Originally from Essex!










Lucy Day no longer has to live the boring life!






Lucy Day is at her best riding her beloved bike





New singer and song writer reveals all!





Two upcoming music artists show us their talent on the grand piano!

I have had some very busy and hectic days in the last week in order to capture all the rock star moments that I found myself in front of.

Well maybe it wasn't all that glamorous! The last few nights I have found myself posing in muddy fields to get close to graffiti walls, I have laid across gravel drives to pose with porshes, Posed in Homebase becuase their make shift display kitchens are big and spacious. And have plastered my face with make-up in order to be a real life 'celebrity'.

Overall I am happy with the final outcome of my photos. I have also installed photoshop on my home laptop so that I am able to create my final product.

I have already begun the process of editing photos, slimming out lumps and bumps and adjusting lighting and effects. I have also begun the making of my front cover which so far I am very pleased with although I worked trough a million and one hiccups on the way.

C4 Main Task preperation

Main Task!

It has come around so quickly but here I am, beginning to pull together all my preparations in order to successfully complete my main and final task.

I am grateful for todays lesson, as we finalised what ideas and features need to be considered before creating the final task. This allowed me to make a list that I can stick to when preparing and creating my music magazine. However, seeing everything wriiten down, I realised quite how much work there is to be done. But I like nothing more than a challenge.

For homework, we have to create a 4 page mock up of our ideas. I have just completed mine, and although it is done in rough and drawn out by hand on white card, the process has really helped me. I have seen positive and negative factors in my own work which means that I will not make the same mistakes again in the future. Although it is really only a rough guide, it has helped me to picture my final ideas more clearly.

I have to make a front cover, contents page as well as a double page spread. And these are some of the important factors on my list in which I must consider:

-Choosing a genre - I have chosen to focus on the genre Indie, this is very popular in the music industry right now and I think that this theme gives me alot to work with.

-Define Target Audience
-Make audience profile
-Life style choices
-admirations
-interest trends - My audience will be aimed at those who are interested in the Indie music and lifestyle and aged between 15 and 25. Like most music magazines, the audience will be more male than female. I must take this into consideration.

-Uses and Gratification
-Surveillance
-Buying
-wearing
-watching
-listening
-Interaction, links with other people
-a wider community

- Pleasure
-relax
-enjoy - I must make the magazine an easy read that readers will find relaxing and not challenging or tedious.

-Design Features
-house style
-image style and presentation
-variety of shots and distances
-title - I am thinking of calling my magazine muse, as a muse is something a song writer thinks of and aspires them to compose a song. I will also be using alot of black and white as this is sophisticated and edgy. I am also aiming to take a variety of shots.

-contents
-articles/features
-inventing the stars - I am looking at using articles such as battle of the bands, exclusive interviews and top ten charts lists.

- Headlines
-language (in line with genre)

-Planning for photos
-location, props, mise en scene - I have arranged to take photographs of two sperate bands at their studios. This allows me to use the band members, instruments and lighting to create my desired shots. I need images of the bands as a whole and of each member individually to accommodate the type of article I want to produce.

Overall I think that planning in such detail is very helpful and I cannot wait to begin taking my photographs next week. Bring on the challenge of the main task!

C3 Mojo Magazine & Presentation

Mojo - the Music Magazine.

In todays lesson, I was given the opportunity to furthen my reserach on music magazines as well as express my creative side by making a presentaion slide show.

I chose to make the presentation on the music magazine Mojo, which is a monthly magazine that focuses nn the genres of Classic rock anthems and mods and rocker. I looked at factors such as target audience, readership, circulation, themes and publishers. I also looked at the type of poeple who read the magazine. For example, the audience of Mojo magazine was prodominantly male. This is important because I must create my own music magazine with these facors in mind.

When creating the presentation, I tried to make each slide follow the same style as the magazine. It is important to keep a consistant house style so that the theme is recognised by consumers and audience.
This is my presentation!

C2 Existing Music Magazine Research

Q Magazine

After returning to school I have made sure I have caught up on any work that I missed out due to being in and out of hospital in the previous week.

For homework, I bought the music magazine Q, a magazine that is greatly popular and looks at a wide range of music genres. I read and anaylised the magazine and then looked at the online version. This can be found at http://www.qthemusic.com/

I then wrote an essay comparing the two versions and explaining how they attract their audience as well as identifying who their target audience were.



I found this helpful as in the near future I will be creating my own music magazine. In addition to this I must participate in as much research prior to the final task as I can to make my product to the best quality.

In looking at Q magazine, I made sure that I noticed the positive and negative factors of the magazine in order to help me later on in the task. I think that it is important to not only aknowledge the good factors, but also to understand how some factors inhibit readership consumption as this will only improve my own work.

I am looking forward to the task ahead, but I want to make sure I am more than prepared for the work that is needed to be done.

Absence

:(

Unfortunately, this week has been a complete painful nightmare and I spent alot of time going in and out of Doctors surgeries and hospitals. By Doctor's orders I have been summoned to stay home from school until the following week, so my blog may become a little back dated, however, on my return to school, I will be ensuring that I catch up on 0f all the work I have missed and will update my blog with the relevant information as soon as possible!

C1 Music Genres

Music Genres

In todays lesson we began to look at what we know about the different genres of music, in preperation for our main task. We brainstormed in small groups our ideas forming around the music genres, POP, HIP HOP/RnB, ROCK and DANCE. This is important because we will not be able to create a successful music magazine if we do not understand the music itself.

We considered factors such as the target audience, age and gender. Colours, clothing, language, lyrics, tone, volume and popularity. We even identified bands and solo artists who perfom in each genre.

Overall I think that reflecting on the different types of music has helped me to understand the differences that I will need to consider when selecting certain factors of my magazine. For example, which bands can be featured together, what colours should I use and what age am I targeting.

Here are some other music magazines that each follow a different genre...