Powerpoint Work

By looking through powerpoint's in my media lessons it has helped me to learnt different things on photography, and how it can effect the image on the front cover of a magazine. During getting taught about the different types of photography we learnt that that the essentials to take a good photographs were;

• The shot distance 
• The use of tilt/angle 
• Eye line (the way the model is looking at the camera) 
• Tone 
• Line 
• Colour, (including vivid and monochromatic)
• Texture 
• Patterns 

By learning this, it helped me when i was taking my own photos, to try and get the right light in the photo and try and i tried to get the eye line of my model to look down the camera, this is so that the model on the front cover of my magazine, is able to get a eye contact mainly with the people that are looking at my magazine. Also to do with photography i learnt different poses on images. The four main poses on the front of magazines are; invitational, super smile, romantic and sexual and chocolate box. The pose that i am planning on using on the front of my magazine is chocolate box, this is because there is no emotion showed on the models face, this doesn't give anything away to the reader. 

Other things that i have learnt by looking through the class powerpoint's are things like 

• Language used in magazines
• What makes up a magazine 
• Primary codes 
• Secondary codes

These things all helped me with what should go inside the magazine, to make my magazine good, and to get it up to the standard that are already on the market. 

Inspirational texts

Colour Scheme 

While i have been planning my magazine, i have been looking at different Fonts and colour schemes for my magazine..

My main colours for the front of my magazine are;

• Black
• White
• Red

I choose these colours because this is what i think would stand out to my audience, and its unique compared to all the coloured magazines that are shown on our shelves. At first my colour scheme was just going to be white and black, when i re thought about this i realised that i need some colour in my magazine, to make it stand out more and the first colour that came to mind was red. This is because it is a bright colour that stands out against other magazines and when people are just scanning over magazine shelves if there is a magazine with a bright colour on it, its more likely that they will pick up this magazine. It also inspired me to try and do something different compared to magazines that i have looked at previously. 

Fonts

While looking at different fonts, i found it hard trying to find a font that will carry on right the way through my magazine, keeping a recurring theme going. I have finally decided on doing one font for all of the writing right the way through the magazine, apart from the masthead which i have chose to do from dafont.com. 

 

The font that i have decided to do for my masthead on the magazine is called;  Varsity by Brøderbund Software. I chose this font because it was the font that stood out to me most, whilst i was looking through the site, and i thought that it would stand out on the front cover of a magazine. It also inspired me to use it because it is unique compared to the other fonts that i have seen on the front of magazines i have looked at in class and also magazine that i have read myself at home. 

The font that i have chose for the writing through-out my magazine is called;  Avenir Book. I chose this because it spaced close together like writing in other magazines. Also the size that i have choose for the font inside of the magazine on the article on the double page spread is size 12. I think this is a reasonable size for people to read, but also fit enough information onto the page, to write a decent enough article. The writing for sub headers, enigma codes etc, are going to be in size 17 to stand out to the audience and that they are able to see them clear enough and so they can get a idea of what kind of articles are going to be shown in my magazine. 

Jarvis cocker task

By doing this Jarvis cocker task it has taught me what needs to be put on the front of a magazine, by getting feedback from helen it's helped me to realise what I now need to add to the front cover of my own magazine. To try and improve my Jarvis cocker task I could have put more sell lines and an enigma code on the front of the magazine. Also could have used a brighter colour scheme to jump out to my audience more I could of also put the main sell line across the middle of the magazine cover to stand out to the audience and to name the person on the front cover. I took this into consideration to add to the front of my own front cover when I make it.

Magazine survey

I made a magazine survey, to give out to a number of people to get results in to help design and also the contents of my magazine. By getting results it will help me with my magazine to get a certain target audience, in the best way that I can for the age range that I want. It will also help me with the colour scheme and what people like to see in magazines. It will also help me make it more unique to my audience. This will create a niche in the market for my magazine.

Simpsons poster activity

For this piece of work I had to use photoshop to make a poster. This will help me in my own work because I will be able to use some of the tools on photoshop and have a bit of idea about what I am doing. During the activity I managed to use tools such as the magic wand, the paint palette, rotating tool and manage the layers. This sets me at a advantage for when starting my own magazine as I will already have some idea what I am doing with the tools and where I can find them on the programme.

Preliminary task front cover

This is the front cover for a college magazine that I got asked to do for my preliminary task. For the image we went round the college and took photos and then added relevant information and a name to the magazine. Before going on to make a contents page. For the contents page we also took photos around the college. And then added page numbers, a title and other information to go with the contexts of the magazine. We then handed the magazine into helen which then marked it for us and give us a mark. Which I got a D for, I then looked at the magazine and looked what I could improve for when I make my own managing. The preliminary task took me 2 hours by the time i took the photos and then added all the text and positioned everything properly. It also helped me with my own magazine as to what it needs on a front cover.

1st contents page construction

For the contents pages I labeled the main pieces of information that jumps out at the audience to make the contents page catch the readers eye. I labeled things such as; page numbers, main title and different ways of getting in touch with the magazine.

Construction of NME Magazine front cover

This is the second construction of my magazine front covers, and on this construction i also commented on the type of pose that the model was doing in the image, also i commented on the contrast of colours because the colours that are used for the writing and for the mast head, are the same colours that are shown on the models top.

Previous student work

Name of Product	What I thought were the strengths	What I thought were the weaknesses
VARISTY The grade that I would give the magazine is C	On the cover; I think that the strengths of the magazine was the contrast of the colours that were used (green and white) that is used on the front of the magazine, also the photo was central on the page so it pulls the reader in because the model on the front of the magazine looks like she is looking at the reader, also the front cover has all the necessary information that should be on a front cover (e.g. barcode, issue number, date, etc). The contents page is good because they carried on with the same colour scheme from the front cover and they give the subjects of stories that are mentioned in the magazine, and made it clear the number of the page. They also put relevant pictures to the stories that are told, also in the contents there are some advertising to subscribe to the magazine. On the double page they advertise the cd that is being talked about and put quotes and relevant photos to the article.	I thought that the weaknesses on the front cover were that they should have kept to the same font, to keep a recurring theme through-out the magazine, also the title of the magazine could have been more exciting to appeal to the audience. On the contents page the font had changed again, I personally think that it should have been kept the same as the font on the front of magazine. Also on the contents page I think that the images should have been made smaller and more information should have been wrote on, or more photos added instead of having large photos covering most of the page. On the double page spread I think that the weaknesses are that they have changed the font colour and the type of font used again, and also the title font has changed compared to the font used on the front cover for the title of the article, also the writing that follows under the title of the article goes right across the a4 sheet and then the next line starts and only goes half way across. Also I think that the title of the article should be at the top of the page and there should be a introduction paragraph of what is being talked about in the article.
FUNK The grade that I would give is a B	I think that the strengths on the front cover were the title, as it is different compared to the rest of writing on the front cover, and I like the image is the main part of the front cover, and stands right out to the audience. The colour theme is also very good, the use of black, red and white, this theme also carries on all the way through the magazine, which I personally think is better than changing half way through and makes it look more professional. The magazine also has all of the necessary information on the front, but it’s good because they don’t take up a big amount of space. The front cover tells you what you can find inside apart from just the main story. The contents page is good because it keeps to the same colour scheme and font, also it has the issue number inside and it tell you about subscribing to the magazine, and shows small images from some of the articles with page numbers on, but also holds a lot of information as well as just photos. On the double page spread its good because it still stays to the same colour and font theme also the title stands out and the image and it has a introduction to what is being talked about in the article.	I think that the weaknesses of the magazine front cover were that the picture was slightly blurred and more information could be held on the front cover, e.g. sub headers and information. I think that the contents page is very strong for a magazine but I think that the double page spread looks like it would attracted a young audience compared to the rest of the magazine (front cover and the contents) and also there isn’t much information in the article either, it’s quite a short article for being on a double page spread.
ETA	The strengths of the front cover are that it portrays the types of musicians that are shown in the magazine, this is good because it is a music magazine. I think that the strengths of the contents page is that the page numbers are more unique compared to other magazines that I have looked at before. It also shows the issue number. I think that the strengths of the double page spread is that it has a lot of information on the page.	I think that the weaknesses of the magazine are too much is going on, on the front cover of the magazine for it being a music magazine, I think that the weaknesses for the contents page is that it doesn’t tell the reader that it is a contents page and it doesn’t have the title of the magazine anywhere, also I personally think that the contents makes the magazine look very unprofessional because of the photos that have been used, most of them are blurred and the font doesn’t follow the same right the way through the magazine. Also there is a lot of left cover space.
UNHEARD I would give the magazine a grade D	I think that the strengths of unheard magazine front cover, is that they have a main image that is central on the page, it also has the main story across the middle of the magazine, which relates with the picture this is easy for the reader to see what the image is for on the front of the magazine. Also I like the colour theme that has been used on the front of the magazine, orange, black and white, this matches the colours that the model on the main image are wearing, also it has sub headers, saying about other things that can be read about in the magazine. And the magazine front cover has all of the relevant information that should be shown on the front of a magazine. The contents page is good because it has a logo of the magazine shown, and also tells the reader that it is a contents page, and the page numbers are clearly shown to the reader, and the same font is used, and near enough the same colour theme. Also relevant pictures with page numbers and information what is found on the page. On the double page spread is good because it also has the magazines logo on the pages, as well as page numbers and a main image which takes up the full background of articles. There is a clear title and header of the articles and also a kicker, which tells us what we will find in the article.	The weaknesses that I found on the front cover of the magazine is that there could have been more stories advertised on the front cover, but apart from that I thought that the front cover was generally good. On the contents page I think that there was too much going on for the reader and the contrast between the yellow colour where the page numbers and information about that articles were didn’t go to well with the orange and bage over the top of it. On the double page spread I think that the writing on the main part of the article should have been kept the same colour right the way through, instead of changing from white to black, also the image was quite blurry which could have been changed. Also the writing could have been moved up the page as it starts further down and it goes right to the bottom of the page, leaving hardly any room, and looks like it balancing on top of the page number and logo.
NEON TIGER I would give the magazine a grade U	I think that the strengths shown on the front cover of the magazine is that the they have all of the necessary information on the front (issue number, date, price and barcode). The strengths on the contents page is that it has all of the relevant page numbers. The double page spread has original images.	I think the weaknesses of the magazine is that on the front cover they don’t give the name of the people shown on the front cover, they use a lot of images and only one is their own image, and the rest are secondary images and there is no sub headers or information on the front of the magazine, it also doesn’t look like a music magazine it looks more like a gossip magazine by the colours that have been used (bright orange and neon yellow) Mainly all of the title is covered by the girls head and the own image is all pixelated. The weaknesses on the is that it doesn’t tell the reader that it is a contents page and they use loads of secondary images and use different types of fonts right the way through and on the information that tells the reader what is on each page is basically just artist and band names listed down the page, there is hardly information on the page, it is taken up by secondary images and on primary image. The weaknesses of the double page spread, is that the titles is on the opposite side of the page, so you read the article before you read the title and header, also the colours that are used are just bright  colours that wouldn’t attracted the reader. Overall the magazine isn’t good at all, and wouldn’t attracted the reader to read it.

I looked at other peoples work from previous years, that had done the same as what i am going to do, and then i evaluated it on this table by putting the weaknesses and strengths. By doing this it then enabled me to look into depth about things that I want to put onto my contents page, front cover and double page spread. It helped me to try and achieve a high grade for my magazines as I won't include what I have put in the weaknesses on my table and try and focus on the strengths of my work.

Construction of 'the crack' front cover

In media i constructed a magazine front cover, i commented on the connotations that i could see on the front cover of ,The Crack'.

I commented on things such as the positioning of the title of the magazine and the colours that are used, by doing this it helps me get more knowlodge and understanding of what should be shown on the front cover of a magazine, this will then carry on to help me start and develop the idea for the front cover of my own magazine.

The Aims of this course

The aim of this course is for me to:

• Enhance your enjoyment and apprecation of the media and its role in my everyday life;
• Develop critical understanding of the media through engagment with media products and concepts and through the creactive application of practical skills;
• Explore production processes, technologies and contexts;
• Become independant in research skills and their application

I'm am heading towards making my own magazine which contains a Front cover, contents page and a double page spread. In this i have to do a lot of planning to find a target audience for my magazine and to find out what a range of people like to try and add it into my magazine, to find a niche in the market. During the planning i am going to do a preliminary task, which is going to be a college magazine, where i take my own photographs and make a magazine front cover and a contents page.