Images

Front Cover

Why I chose that model

Has the rock image;

·         Messy hair

·         Has a wide range of rebellious clothing: studded items; creepers; camouflage & leather jackets etc.

Not bothered about appearance- will do poses and expressions some people may not because of being self-conscious

See often- convenient and no risk of sudden cancellation of shoot as we could always do it on another date

Why they are wearing their outfit

·         Rebellious image

·         In fashion at the moment (camo jackets and creepers)- makes it relatable to the audience and the model will also seem like an icon that one could look up to

Why I chose that location

·         Challenged convention- being in an abandoned warehouse it isn’t then clean-shot, studio image often used. Also gave me the freedom to do the shoot anytime and not having to bring the model into school during term-time

·         Props- In the warehouse there were abandoned vehicles, tables, chairs, drinks machines, broken windows and generally unkempt. This meant I could use props within my photoshoot: the front cover image I used in the end was taken whilst the model was standing at the back of a van, this gave me the opportunity to experiment with shot-types: low angle; high angle (I stand on the van and him stand below); straight on shots etc.

·         The warehouse consisted of 8 separate buildings which meant I could find different backgrounds and textures that could be used in the contents and d.p.s as well as the front cover

·         Easy to get to- would be no complications in terms of transport

Favourite Images:

These are my favourite images as the model is in focus and there is space around the sides of him and over his head for the sell lines and cover lines to go

Final image:

Double Page Spread

I used images from the same shoot as my front cover, as in music magazines shoots are normally kept similar/they use the same photographs to portray continuity.

Favourite images:

Final Image:

Initial Ideas- Moodboard, Reader Profile & Sketch

Audience Research- SurveyMonkey Results

Response-

• Rock Out & Tune In were the most popular in my survey: I think this was because of 'The Buzz' having no connotation to a music magazine
• The other results I recieved were not appropriate and were joke answers
• 'Rock Out' sounds very cheesy and may not use because it's cliche
• 'Tune In' relates to music as many teenagers 'tune in' to the radio to listen to their music (possible idea- could mention within my magazine about having a radio station to make it similar to 'Kerrang!' magazine)

Response-

• Since my readership want a magazine aimed at females I could use a male model on the front cover as it implies he is a 'love object' to the audience. This would also capture a male readership as they could see him as an 'idol' or 'inspiration

Response-

• The most popular magazine was 'NME' but only by one vote
• All the magazines were popular in my research so I will combine research from Q, Kerrang!, Vibe and NME in order to appeal to the biggest audience possible
• The 2 'other' answers were names of pop bands- irrelevant to question

Response-

• By far the most popular answer was the image. This shows that my magazine should have a 'famous' artist on the cover as he/she will draw the audience to the mag. I will have to chose my location and model carefully in order to make the use of image effective
• 'people' was also another answer, this reinforces my point above

Response-

• The most popular was obvious again- 'black, red, white'. This is a very common colourscheme used by most rock magazines as the colour 'red' connotes danger and rebellion; a common image my readership would want

Response-

• Most of my readership want a new generation rock magazine to be released as it is modern and fresh (something teenagers want to read as it is new information to them and something they can discuss with friends)
• With this, I can style my magazine in a fun, exciting way as this will engage the audience into reading about a cool, new artist 

Research into Similar Media Texts

Final Drafts of Magazine + Peer Feedback

Feedback:

Does the front cover engage the reader's interest? Why and how?

• Bright colours are eye-catching
• Eye contact from the student
• Distinct colourscheme

I agree with the feedback given and I believe I could not further improve my front cover from the feedback.

What do the sell lines reveal about the reader?

• They strive for success
• Want to combine school with a social life and job- they are an average student
• They are into humanities- Psychology AS for example

This is exactly what I wanted back from my questionnaire and I'm glad I did not alter the sell lines from my inital draft as they worked well on this copy.

The next questions were 'who do you think the magazine is targeting and how can you tell?' and 'what does the representation in the image and/or in the language tell us about the potential reader?' but these got very similar results to the last question.

Offer one comment about the use of image:

• Quality could be improved
• Like the eye contact and dark clothing (does not take away any focus from model & cover lines)
• Good composition- room for sell lines and masthead

For the image I used an SLR which is good quality, however I did not use a professional backdrop as I did not have access to a white one (a black one would be inappropriate for a magazine as an institution would not be willing to print excessive amounts of black due to expense) nor did I use any professional lighting, this is what let the quality down. None of the other responses say the quality is bad so it would be okay to use this image as it is not that noticeable.

Offer one comment about the use of language:

• Good sell lines, range of linguistic techniques
• Informal- suitable for school magazine
• Too many exclamatives (slightly cheesey)

The comment about exclamatives is fair as 4/6 of my coverlines are exclamatives. I could improve this by using another rhetorical question or a declarative.

Do the pages engage the reader's interest immediately? How could this be improved?

• Yes, lots of text and images
• Good use of highlighting cover lines
• Relatable images, could reduce text size and add more?

The text size is 18 which is huge for a contents page. They are definitely right, I could reduce the font. This would make room for more images and an editors letter.

Does the contents page suggest this is a busy and exciting magazine to read? Offer a suggestion to help improve this quality

• The amount of text shows the magazine is busy 
• Use of rhetorical questions & exclamatives
• Way 'contents' is split up is exciting (needs to be larger than magazine logo)

I do not need to alter the amount of text as it is sufficient. The page layout is also effective as there is limited white space.

Are there several subheadings to divide the contents into sections? How effective are these subheadings and how can they be improved?

• Yes- bold, easily visible
• Could be made a different font to stand out further
• Yes, made good use of subheadings

The subheadings are the same font as the rest of my text (except from the subheadings), changing the text would be effective as it would stand out more and make it more exciting visually.

Who do you think this magazine is targeting and how can you tell?

• Not obvious it is targeted at 6th form in comparison to front cover
• Students from FSG
• Pupils and teachers

I have not effectively designed my contents as the target audience is not clear. I attempted to target 6th formers but I put in general articles rather than those targeted at the 6th form.

Offer one comment about use of images

• Good images, relevant to school
• Appropriate amount of images for a contents page
• Could use more images of 6th form students

The images I have used are very general and barely apply to 6th form students. In order to improve this I could take images of friends in school.

Offer one comment about use of language

• Appropriate articles
• Good
• 6th form events???

The articles are general, also. A way to improve them is to include events specifically for 6th form as suggested.

Give one comment about the editors letter

•  There is no editors letter

Every magazine has an editors letter but I didn't include one. For my contents page to meet convention I need to include one.

Images- Original, Manipulation and Final

Here are my original, unmanipulated images:

I have chosen image P1110006 because it was portrait (most suitable for a magazine cover), both models are smiling and there is minimal shadow on both their faces:

In my manipulation I experimented with using both models but found it was hard to make room for coverlines due to there not being any room either side of the models. Instead of using this image I decided to use P1110005 (image to the left in the printscreen). This way there is space either side of the models:

The model on the left moved during the photo so I cropped it down to just the right model:

Here I have edited my image by making the background whiter, airbrushing her skin, making her eyes brighter and lips redder:

Here are all my coverlines & images added from my initial design of my front cover:

Peer Feedback

These are the comments I recieved as feedback for my magazine front cover.
Does the front cover engage the reader's interest? Why and how?

• Great academic image portraying the happiness of being in education
• The colourscheme is simply yet bold
• The model is in the middle and looks happy
• The shapes used make it interesting

This is what feedback I wanted to get, I made the front cover simple yet effective and wanted the colourscheme to be eye-catching and relevant.

What do the sell lines reveal about the reader?

• They are a student in 6th form interested in fashion & socialising
• Pyschology students -interested in humanities
• Image-aware girls
• Mature and want to succeed in 6th form

This is what I wanted to reveal about the reader. My aim was to make the reader those interested in looking their best yet want to spend the majority of their time on studying and revising for their important A-Level exams.

The next questions were 'who do you think the magazine is targeting and how can you tell?' and 'what does the representation in the image and/or in the language tell us about the potential reader?' but these got very similar results to the last question.

Offer one comment about the use of image:

• Very good
• Good image & colourscheme
• Girl is in uniform yet is a 6th form magazine?

I'm glad I got at least one constructive comment, when I put my new image in I will make sure the girl is not in a uniform but in her own clothes to emphasise she is in the 6th form.

Offer one comment about the use of language:

• Use of language is appropriate for target audience
• Good variety of colour and font sizes
• Try language techniques- i.e. rule of 3, rhyming etc to engage the reader

The same as above applies to this question, although I did try to vary the linguistic techniques- exclamatives, questions

Initial Design for Front Cover + Sketch

This was my initial sketch for my school magazine:

Features:

• Masthead
• Coverlines
• Barcode
• Linguistic techniques
• Date issue
• Main cover issue- smiling
• Price
• Significant colourscheme
• Intertextuality
• Various fonts

In this draft (a mock-up) the image is not my own. However, I plan to take images similar to it so the coverlines will fit around it.

School Magazine Research- Previous Coursework

Reader Profile

Market Research- Questionnaire & Feedback

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/R3WZHYN
Here is my questionnaire that I created on Survey Monkey. Here are the results from it:

Initial Ideas for School Magazine

Purpose- to educate and inform students on the most effective ways of studying for A-Levels, appropriate attire for 6th form and how to balance a social life, job and studying.

Ethos- To inspire students to enjoy school and their chosen subjects and to guide them in the right direction for career choices. 

Possible magazine names-

• Sixth Sense
• 6ixth

Possible cover-lines-

• Helpful hints for homework
• Stuck for a Uni? See our guide!
• The perfect CV
• We talk to year 12- sixth form: term one

Main cover image-

• Group photo- feeling of unity
• Posed in school- looking happy, confident, inviting
• Could have results/book in hand- studying, celebrating (positive)
• Looking into camera y/n? Looking into camera looks more inviting and happy, but looks posed and robotic in some photos. If I get the models looking away from the camera whilst they are busy (taking them off-guard) it will look like they are getting on with their work well and are happy to be at school.

Codes & Conventions of a Magazine

Starting the Course

After completing Media Studies GCSE at grade A last year I decided to take up Media AS. At University I am looking to do Fashion Marketing & Communication, within the course it is recommended that any students wanting to participate in the course have some form of media background, so Media AS would be a good idea. I also enjoyed Media GCSE, especially the magazine design unit. AS Media also covers a magazine section (music magazines- in comparison to teen magazines in GCSE) and this blog will my personal record of achievement in the magazine unit.