Finished Double Page Spread

Finished Contents Page

Finished Front Cover

Diary entry: Week 6 and 7

For the last two weeks, I spent most of my time working on Photoshop, editing each page to make it look more realistic. I finished cropping and neatening up all my photos and inserted them on to my magazine. i also began to write my article. i read a few different interveiw of Katy Perry and Pixie Lott so i could grasp their interveiwing style and their personality. I then added a barcode, date and issue number on to my front cover to make it look more realistic. I think these small items contribute a large amount to making it look more professional.

I also decided I needed another smaller image for a insert picture on my contents page, so I took some pictures of a female subject against a brick wall. I used a background on this image as I wanted to show variety instead of all my images looking the same.

I added stories to my contents page with page numbers, i tryied to feature popular television programs and artists such as Gossip Girl and Paolo Nutini to increase popularity of my magazine.

Making the 'USA' and 'UK' font

I wanted to have UK Vs the USA as the theme for my magazine, so I decided to make a statement out of ‘UK Vs USA’ so to do this I constructed a font, I used a photograph I took of the Union Jack and the American flag and I cut out each letter using the flag as a background for the letter, I then but an outline round it to make it stand out, I also changed the contrast and lighting of the image to make it stand out. This was very time consuming as it was extremely hard to get the right part of the flag and the right size font that I was cutting out, but I felt it was worth it as it does make a statement and looks professional.

Rough Cuts And Feedback

Feedback

I summed up the main points made from my feedback, and bullet pointed them below.

Front cover

More stories

Change strapline 'borderline indie'

Cant make out logo 'Up'

Move 'Influential woman special' Doesnt stand out and isnt clear.

This feedback helped me as i wouldnt have thought of the 'Up' logo no being visible as i knewit was there, so this helped me to see what other people think about my Front cover. Also the advice to change my strapline was very useful as its more obvious to the reader and 'borderline indie/pop' isnt a very well known genre of music so it would most likely put people off buying my magazine.

Contents page

More stories needed

'Influential woman' too long, looks out of place

More page numbers needed and also on images

This infomation helped me to improve my contents page as i didnt realise i hadnt put a page number on one of my insert pictures until soeone pointed this out to me. I changed the positioning of 'Influential woman' as it looked out of place. And i also added more stories to the page to make it look more full.

Double Page Spread

Article needs to be longer

Page numbers

Name of magazine could be mentioned

Looks very 'spacey'

Other people reading my article helped me to identify mistakes i hadnt noticed, such as capital letters needed. this helped make my magazine look more real. Also a piece of infomation i found the most helpful was that as its a double page spread, the center line will be down the middle and since my article was in the middle of the page, it wouldnt be readable so i decided to move it to the left handside of the page and put the two images of the subjects next to each other on the right handside. This solves the problem of not being able to read the article and it also solves the problem of it looking 'spacey.'

Diary Entry: Week 5

Diary entry week 5:

This week I started constructing my magazine, I started on the contents page, I added my main image and edited it. I then began adding stories and page numbers to make it look more realistic. I also began coming up with ideas for the name of my magazine…

F.A.B
Fresh
Very
Re-load
Plus
Bold
Lock
Down
Up

I then shortlisted these names to those below:
Fresh
Re-load
Plus
Bold
Lock
Down
Up

Then after much deliberation I settled on ‘Up’ as I thought it symbolises the music chart.

The image on the left was my contents page taking place and what I achieved this week.

Original Image 5

I originally used two images and merged them into one, I took separate photos as the subjects had a large height difference which I thought wouldn’t look profession, so I took each image separately, merged them together and then but them in proportion before editing them. I cropped the background out as I wanted them to be standing behind a flag to represent their country.

Original Image 4

I used this image for my contents page, as it’s the main image I took lots of care and time editing it to make it look like a real contents page. I cropped the background out, I also replaced the colour of the lolly pop with red as I thought green clashed with the rest of the page, and I also edited out a pink strap on the dress to make it look more professional.

Original Image

I used a cream background for this image originally, but then I decided to continue the white background theme throughout my magazine as I thought it looked more professional, so I cropped it out. I also originally had a chair in the image which I later cropped out as I didn’t think it was in keeping with my style model. This image appears twice in my magazine, once in the contents page and once in my double page spread, I have lightened the image as I thought it looked better. I also rotated the image so that the subject is at the opposite side of the photo.

Original Image 2

I used this image as an insert picture on my front cover, I used a white screen as my background as the costumes used were very patterned, the checky shirt in-particular, I didn’t want to have a cluttered background because it would distract attention from the image its self.

Original Image 1

This is the main image I used for my front cover, I took it a bright corridor as I wanted to use natural night because I find that artificial light give the image a more yellowy tone. I decided to have the subjects wrapped in an American flag and a Union Jack, I decided this as I wanted it to symbolise the battle between the two artists and America and the UK. This is also the reason why I had them positioned back to back.

I cropped the background out of this image so I could have a gray/white background on the back of the magazine cover. I also edited the photograph in many ways to make it look more realistic. I changed the lighting on the left hand side of the photo as it was a little darker, I airbrushed the subjects and also edited their teeth. I also made the image lighter as I wanted it to be very light.

Diary Entry: Week 4

Week 4

This week I evaluated and analysed my questionnaire results. I have presented this information on graphs to the results. My results helped me decide on important aspects of the design of my magazine such as the price, images on the front and it also helped me to identify a style model to base my magazine on, I chose ‘Q’ magazine.

I also drew the first drafts of my magazine by looking at and taking information from my initial ideas spider diagram. This helped me to visually create the ideas I had on my initial ideas mind map.

Photo Planning Sheet Continued

Photo Planning Sheet

First Designs: Contents Page

First Designs: Double Page Spread

First Designs: Cover

Analysis of results:

I decided to complete some audience research to identify my target market. I constructed a questionnaire to do this. I have presented my results on graphs.

What magazines do you buy?

This graph tells me that ‘Q’ is the most popular magazine bought. This information has helped me decide that I am going to use ‘Q’ as my style model. I think using the most popular magazine as my style model will make my magazine more realistic, more successful and exactly what my target market wants. By choosing ‘Q’ as my style model I am targeting young adults who have a very open taste in music. And as ‘Q’ is the favourite and most popular magazine, proved by my results, hopefully If I style my magazine on it, mine will be successful.

What celebrities/music artists would you like to see on the cover?

I learnt that Katy Perry and Pixie Lott are the most popular images for the cover, from this graph. Therefore I have decided to feature both artists on the front cover. As both the artists are very current, and very poplar at the moment I think it will increase the popularity of my magazine and also they are very stylish which I hope to incorporate style and sophistication but with a hint of youth…similar to that of my style model, ‘Q’.

What images would you like to see on the front cover?

Singers are the most popular image that my target market would like to see on the front cover, according to my graph. This is ideal for my magazine as I liked the idea of having two artists on the front cover instead of one. My style model, Q often does this too. I think having more than one singer on the cover will also be more aesthetically pleasing than just one image as I think it will attract more readers who are fans of each artist.

What price would you pay for a magazine?

£1.51-£3.00, is by far, the most popular price that a consumer would pay for a magazine, I will use this information to market my magazine at a price in-between £1.51-£3.00.