Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Thursday, 22 January 2015
Evaluation answers (draft)
1.1.
The genre of my magazine is hip-hop/rnb/neo soul
particularly showcasing underground or alternative artists. My magazine is quite niche and leans more on
the side of case study 1 (wordplay) but has many aspects which I think work
well from Vibe magazine (case study 2).
e.g The bold masthead for maximal attraction
and clear branding is derived from vibe magazine. (show print screen). I have developed the convention of a minimalistic front cover of wordplay with my magazine, and implemented more cover lines than them. Personally this is one thing, wordplay didnt do so well so from the case study so i made my front cover have more coverlines to attract different audiences. Having just one main cover line will not suffice as people are not only attracted to the magazine by the main cover story only, they want other content as well. However even this being an addition, the front cover still remains quite spacious in comparison to vibe's where alot of information is present. In my media product, i wanted a balance in order to stand out from competitors and make my magazine look unique to a potential consumer. A very obvious convention of hip-hop/RnB magazine is having the main cover image thus cover story a female focus. Although my image isnt overtly sexually appealing such as vibe which they do often, having a female subconsciously attracts male audiences. The blank stare and the model to be looking directly at you suggests that her real self will be revealed in the content of the magazine. Moving on to the masthead.
The masthead of my magazine is word smith and has instances of denotation and connotation.If we look at it first hand, word smith has similarities of the word black smith. Black smiths in reality create things and in this instance, the genre has a lot of creativity involving words and language (lyrics). The masthead is a development on my case study on wordplay magazine. They are very similar in denotation but connote different aspects of the genre. Both magazines of my case study had bold lettering for the masthead and I definitely used this in my own magazine also. The masthead is very important to be read as it is the one of the first things someone judges a potential purchase on alongside with house style and cover story.
Moving onto the contents page, my contents page is spread over 2 pages but with the second page being the main part of contents. The first page is related to the main cover story which is what vibe magazine had done. This ensures that the focus of the main story is kept. I had models pose as the band elevation and captioned that they performed in the our studio. Highlights of this are available on the pretend website and im sure most magazines would want to spread their media across a variety of platforms. This is an example of where i accentuated an already existing convention of music magazine. The actual contents are laid out in a expected fashion, main story having the largest section with order of importance decreasing in font. I kept the contents quite simple and bland so not to much is given away at all. I want potential consumers to read and look through the magazine than just look at the contents and be given half of the stories. The housestyle itself is based upon contrast and bright colours and this compensates for the lack of detail in the contents.
Finally my DPS, is minimalistic like Wordplay but works well. The convention i have used and put my own creative input is having Shana on the pages like she is actually sat there being interviewed. This gives off connotations of her true input as it is evident that she actually was with wordplay and this isn't any old telephone scribed made up article. The purple really suits the femininity of Shana and again purple has connotations of royalty of prestige which makes the design look slightly more appealing.
Moving onto the contents page, my contents page is spread over 2 pages but with the second page being the main part of contents. The first page is related to the main cover story which is what vibe magazine had done. This ensures that the focus of the main story is kept. I had models pose as the band elevation and captioned that they performed in the our studio. Highlights of this are available on the pretend website and im sure most magazines would want to spread their media across a variety of platforms. This is an example of where i accentuated an already existing convention of music magazine. The actual contents are laid out in a expected fashion, main story having the largest section with order of importance decreasing in font. I kept the contents quite simple and bland so not to much is given away at all. I want potential consumers to read and look through the magazine than just look at the contents and be given half of the stories. The housestyle itself is based upon contrast and bright colours and this compensates for the lack of detail in the contents.
Finally my DPS, is minimalistic like Wordplay but works well. The convention i have used and put my own creative input is having Shana on the pages like she is actually sat there being interviewed. This gives off connotations of her true input as it is evident that she actually was with wordplay and this isn't any old telephone scribed made up article. The purple really suits the femininity of Shana and again purple has connotations of royalty of prestige which makes the design look slightly more appealing.
2. My magazine target quite a specific but varied range of social groups. Something not done in most music magazines that is done in my magazine is how it has articles that help towards aspiring musicians that read the magazine or anyone involved in parts of the industry. For e.g , on the front cover , a cover lines reads, Mr Carmacks guide to the perfect vocals. Also my main cover story on the interview DPS has many many examples of Shana telling the readers to just get out there and create showing that the social groups reading my magazines are aspiring creatives like herself. There are many other ways i have represented social groups in my magazine. The contents has a whole page with a high quality image of Shana's band (elevation). They look very hip and urban and this is appealing to the audience or social groups reading my magazine. Some of the clothing items and accessories they are wearing in the shot are written down for them to purchase if they are interested. The lexis in my journalistic writing is middle to high lexis and this is to keep some formality and for the reader to take the interview in a serious manner. In the interview itself, Shana responds with some of her own philosophies in life which in this sense represent social groups who are intellectual and ambitious. Bearing in mind my readership will primarily have people who have music as a major part of their life be it as a profession or not. As mentioned in my pitch, my magazine will have a particular focus on the art of music itself and not as much to do with showbiz which attracts an entirely different type of readership. Social groups who are dismissive of popular culture and do their own things in terms of life.
3, A media institution such as Dennis publishing would publish my magazine. They specialise with quite niche publications and i consider my magazine to be quite eccentric/different myself. Also haven't done a music magazine before so positively for them is an expansion of their media empire. Me as a developer, can be influenced by their already held ideas on what magazines should include and vice versa. From my pitch, i remember Dennis to be good with electronic publishing. From this they would be good as my target audience will be technologically up to date. Facebook and twitter pages will need good maintenance and I'm sure Dennis would aid with that.
4. My audience first of all will be gender balanced and this is something vibe magazine did quite well.
This would in turn be the best way to gain popularity of a magazine as both genders are appealed.
5. I attracted my audience in a number of way. The styling of my models was a major factor as fashion is a major factor in knowing you have something in common with someone. As my target audience will be quite fashionable and be looking to look trendy, having Shana and her band look quite urban will automatically make people think they like their style and want to read on.
Language used in the magazine was quite laid back but had a standardised Lexis as we wanted to come across as serious in our content and not just dishing stuff out for money. A major focus in my magazine was the art behind the music so through this it attracts creative s themselves to my magazine. The standard register throughout helps with this as it keeps a professional but friendly throughout emphasising that this inst any old music magazine but one for motivated people.
Review audience feedback
6.Many technoliges i have used throuhgout this creative process.
They include: word, blogger photoshop, indesign, DSLR, photography studio, compact camera, internet (research purposes).
Blogger made me realised that keeping a track record of everything helps as you have something to look back on if stuck. Important in a competitive industry where you have to be step ahead of everyone else. I was already familiar with photoshop and the DSLR (photography) but did learn some skills on indesign. I feel that adobe is the industry standard for all media products. I am only a college student but i fell i have created something that could eventually be sold.
7. compare prelim and final product
3, A media institution such as Dennis publishing would publish my magazine. They specialise with quite niche publications and i consider my magazine to be quite eccentric/different myself. Also haven't done a music magazine before so positively for them is an expansion of their media empire. Me as a developer, can be influenced by their already held ideas on what magazines should include and vice versa. From my pitch, i remember Dennis to be good with electronic publishing. From this they would be good as my target audience will be technologically up to date. Facebook and twitter pages will need good maintenance and I'm sure Dennis would aid with that.
4. My audience first of all will be gender balanced and this is something vibe magazine did quite well.
This would in turn be the best way to gain popularity of a magazine as both genders are appealed.
5. I attracted my audience in a number of way. The styling of my models was a major factor as fashion is a major factor in knowing you have something in common with someone. As my target audience will be quite fashionable and be looking to look trendy, having Shana and her band look quite urban will automatically make people think they like their style and want to read on.
Language used in the magazine was quite laid back but had a standardised Lexis as we wanted to come across as serious in our content and not just dishing stuff out for money. A major focus in my magazine was the art behind the music so through this it attracts creative s themselves to my magazine. The standard register throughout helps with this as it keeps a professional but friendly throughout emphasising that this inst any old music magazine but one for motivated people.
Review audience feedback
6.Many technoliges i have used throuhgout this creative process.
They include: word, blogger photoshop, indesign, DSLR, photography studio, compact camera, internet (research purposes).
Blogger made me realised that keeping a track record of everything helps as you have something to look back on if stuck. Important in a competitive industry where you have to be step ahead of everyone else. I was already familiar with photoshop and the DSLR (photography) but did learn some skills on indesign. I feel that adobe is the industry standard for all media products. I am only a college student but i fell i have created something that could eventually be sold.
7. compare prelim and final product
Monday, 12 January 2015
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Task 9 Journey DPS
First of all I used photoshop to manipulate the main and only image for the dps. It was a professionally shot photograph shot with a Nikon D7000. I used to magnetic lasso tool to cut the image out from its backdrop with precision and used the blur tool to cover some of the obvious intricacies. This worked well when i transferred it onto indesign.
Saturday, 3 January 2015
Task 9 construction - The journey/process of creation FRONT COVER
I did not decide to regularly update my post with my progress on the aspects of the magazine.
What i chose to do is to regularly take print screens everytime i made substantial progress or made any sudden changes and now will take you picture by picture my journey into the creation of Wordsmith's front cover, contents and DPS.
Front cover
I decided to use the font impact for my masthead
straight away as out of all the fonts , in think its the most bold and clear. I decided to use a long shot of the band "elevation" but soon realised that it wont suit the focus of the dps as it is only about one ex band member, Shana. I kept to the black and white imaging as it contrasts with different coloured cover lines. Also my magazine wordplay follows aspects of conventional magazines such as wordplay e.g bold lettering and layout but with uncoventional additions inspired by wordplay magazine. Vibe magazine also influenced my actual masthead.
I decided to change the main coverline and make it more bigger and a more striking play on words for attraction of my target audience.
I finally decided to change the main image and have just "shana" from the band elevation as she is the main focus in the main cover story/DPS.
The medium close up shot works well as she is looking straight ahead as though she is looking at a potential reader and a lack of expression on her face can make people subconsciously want to find out more about her. We are lucky to have had access to a professional photography set-up so the quality does resemble industry standards.
This is how much front cover looked after adding some more teasers, coverlines and additions to the main coverline. A barcode which is neccesary on a magazine was also implemented with pricing, dating and issuing.
The main coverline is prominently the largest on the front cover which makes sense as this is the story that should potentially sell the magazine or has the most emphasis in detail, information and entertainment.
What i chose to do is to regularly take print screens everytime i made substantial progress or made any sudden changes and now will take you picture by picture my journey into the creation of Wordsmith's front cover, contents and DPS.
Front cover
straight away as out of all the fonts , in think its the most bold and clear. I decided to use a long shot of the band "elevation" but soon realised that it wont suit the focus of the dps as it is only about one ex band member, Shana. I kept to the black and white imaging as it contrasts with different coloured cover lines. Also my magazine wordplay follows aspects of conventional magazines such as wordplay e.g bold lettering and layout but with uncoventional additions inspired by wordplay magazine. Vibe magazine also influenced my actual masthead.
I finally decided to change the main image and have just "shana" from the band elevation as she is the main focus in the main cover story/DPS.
The medium close up shot works well as she is looking straight ahead as though she is looking at a potential reader and a lack of expression on her face can make people subconsciously want to find out more about her. We are lucky to have had access to a professional photography set-up so the quality does resemble industry standards.
The main coverline is prominently the largest on the front cover which makes sense as this is the story that should potentially sell the magazine or has the most emphasis in detail, information and entertainment.
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