Evaluation, Question seven

I answered question seven as an essay:

What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from creating the school magazine (preliminary task), to creating your music magazine?

I feel I have learnt many things from making the preliminary task to finishing my music magazine.

I have learnt that when using Photoshop that time and care must be taken to avoid mistakes and to enhance the image editing. I have learnt that music magazines require more detail and more effort when making the magazine then there appears to be, I have learnt that when taking photos for a music magazine that the angles and the light are the two key elements that must be taken into consideration.

I have learnt that there is more to a making a magazine than there appears to be and how difficult it can be, I have learnt several facts about the making and distributing of magazines. I feel I have learnt many new skills that I did not have before creating a magazine, I have also learnt how to create a blog and how to upload and publish my work onto my blog.

I feel I have learnt and acquired many new skills and knowledge about music magazines that I previously did not have. 

I feel most of the information and skills I have acquired from the making of my prelimenary task and my final magazine are all directed at using Photoshop which is previously a software I had never used before, now I feel confident when using the software that I can achieve what ever I need to do 

Evaluation, Question six

Question six was answered as a short essay: 

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your music magazine?

I have learnt many things during this process about technology.

I learnt how to use Photoshop, a piece of software that I had never used before.

I learnt how to:

Ø  Remove items from a photo without making the photo look edited

Ø  Add in a sun flare and sun rays to add an extra effect to the photo

Ø  Add text to a photo and make it look professional

Ø  To adjust small details of an image

Ø  To clean up a photo

I have learnt how to use blogger and how to create and publish my posts and adding photos or videos or links to the post

I have learnt the importance of using the correct technology when taking the photos, so the photos do not look cheap and so they look professional. I have also learnt the importance of light, angles and other general facts about taking photos. 

Evaluation, Question five

Question five is answered in a Prezi presentation: 

There is a screenshot of the presentation and the link to the presentation in more detail 

http://prezi.com/j4hhifvqgvyf/edit/#4_24309637 

Evaluation, Question four

Question four was answered as a Prezi presentation:

This is a screenshot of the presentation I did and the link that leads to the presentation 

http://prezi.com/mw6yg7x692rn/edit/#27_45341393 

Evaluation, Question three

I answered question three in a powerpoint, slideshow:

Evaluation, Question two

My second question I answered through making a poster:

Evaluation Question one

I decided to do question one as a powerpoint slideshow:

Double page spread interview questions and answers

When and why did you start signing?	I started singing at the age of 16 because there is nothing better to do in South Shields
Were you influenced by old records & tapes? Which ones?	Yeah all the great rock bands from the day like AC/DC, deep purple, UFO, rainbow.... I grew up listening to them
Who are your favourite musicians or singers?	MUSE defiantly
How would you handle mistakes during a performance?	If it's a massive mistake like if I completely screw the song up I would acknowledge it and bow haha but if it's a little one I ignore it and continue but I beat myself up backstage for doing it
Do you get nervous before a performance?	All the time every single show I do I'm backstage shaking with nerves
What advice would you give to beginners who are nervous?	Do it because you love it, don't change your style to fit in and don't take any crap from people especially record company's it will be hard but stick with it
How do you balance your music with other obligations?	I don't haha I'm not the most organised person in the world
What do you like most about your profession?	Getting to tour the world and meet different people especially the fans they are awesome
What do you like least about your profession?	Mmm i don't really know probably the lack of privacy but like I said it comes with the job
What do you do in your spare time?	Hang out with friends, Shopping and swimming
What’s the side of you that the public never sees?	my angry side if I can't get a song to go the right way I take a right hissy fit haha
Do you wish you had more privacy?	When it comes to special occasions I do, but hey it comes with the job; got to take the bad with the good
Do you think the public and critics expect too much from you?	Yeah I suppose they do but it’s like that with everyone, they key is to just  ignore them and do what you want to do
How hard do you push yourself in order to stay in this business?	Very hard, you can never let up but having said that I would never change, it’s good for me to be put under pressure; that’s when I produce my best work
When are you completely satisfied with your work?	Never I'm always changing it up I can settle on a good version for an album but then when it comes to the live shows some of the song changes I'm always improving them
Why do you think you have succeeded in a field where so many others have failed?	I don’t know luck? But maybe  it is the support  I’ve had of everyone I know
What do you believe is the key to success? Do you live by a philosophy?	Yes I do, that everything happens for a reason whether it be bad or good, but you can’t let it knock you down
If you could collaborate with anyone who would it be? Why?	MUSE definitely they are my muse haha they are the first band I ever truly loved I think together we would make the best rock song ever
If you could tour to any country where would it be? Why?	I love touring America but it would be great to tour Italy more I love the culture and history
Where would you aspire to be in the next 10 years?	Still doing what I'm doing but I would love to sing in space though haha
How do you feel about your success at the EMAs recently? Winning the ‘Artist To Watch’ award	It was a massive shock, I really didn’t think I would win, especially with the other nominees they are all so great
What do you have planned for the year ahead?	I'm going to relax for a bit then start work on the new album
How do you find handling the fame when you’re from a small town in the North East?	I don’t consider myself to be that famous haha but I have the support of my brill friends and family to keep me grounded
If you could sum up the year you’ve had so far with everything you’ve done and everyone you’ve met, how would you sum it up?	It's been one of the best year  I have ever had so far

These are all the questions I asked my model in her character of the artist and these are the answers she gave me, so there was no confusion I typed her answers up in bold

Double Page Spread and explanation

This is my double page spread, for this I placed the image on the left and the interview on the right which is not the traditional lay out of a interview, it's normally the other way around, this is to compliment the title of the magazine.
The image is in the centre of the left hand page with a quote goign through the middle of the image, at the top of the image is the name of the singer with a page number at the bottom of the image. The quote is taken direct from the interview and it is there to grab the attention of the reader and make them want to read the interview.
For the interview I sat with the model and told her to act like she was a brand new singer who had great success in her first year and to answer the questions as that character. I asked several more questions but I picked the ones I felt would be best to place in the magazine. So there was no confusion on which was the question and which was the answer I put them in different colours. I selected bright colours to cover the fonts to make them stand out and look interesting and different linking it back with the name of the magazine.
All the writing on the page is in different colours, however that is not clear or visible on the electronic copy of my double page spread

Double page spread editing process

 This is the original photo, for this photo I decided to use it in my double page spread, I picked this one as I believed it was more welcoming and for all it was simple it looked good.

This is the same image but editied. The first thing I did during the process was to clean up the image, I started with the beach to clean the sand which I did, the second thing to do was to clean up the floor and the frame she was leaning on before cleaning up her which mainly consisted in removing sand from her shoes.
I decided to add in the light rays from the sun to make it feel like summer and that it was a nice day during the shoot but it also brightens up the photo and adds in it's own light so that I myself did not have to adjust the brightness.
Making the image black and white I believed helped to emphasise the rays and I believe it looks better in black and white then it did in colour and adds to the interest of the photo

Contents page with explination

This was my first attempt of the contents page, I stuck with the same font for the titles as I did on the front cover but the actual contents I put in a normal font that was easy to read. Originally only the contents and the mast head were in colour and all the other writing was plain black on white underneath the image and I did decide on only one to save room for the contents itself. I did decide to add colour to the main writing to make it easier on the eyes and to make it more interesting, however you cannot see that on the image above

 





Contents page editing process

This is the process of how I got to the image I did on my contents page

Image one:



 This is the original photo, I picked it for the contents page as it looked good but it would also leave room for me to put in a contents and writing.
The image itself I felt needed to have all the flaws removed so that's what I did.

 This is the first edit, as you can see I removed the dirt from the stones and the sand and generally cleaned up the image to make it look cleaner and more professional.

 This is edit number two, this was going to be the photo I used. In this image I brightened up her lips and made the image brighter, but after careful consideration I decided not to use this image as I thought to myself it may be too bright for the reader but it is also very obviously edited and I had already very obviously changed the front cover photo, so I didn't want all my images to look edited and fake

So I kept the idea of the bright lips as I thought it was nice and stood out, and the reader's eyes had one point to be drawn to which is her face compared to the above photo where their eyes could have been pulled anywhere and the reader may have not looked at the photo or enjoyed looking at the photo
So I turned down the brightness to leave this photo with a more natural look about it and still have it look clean and interesting

Final Front Cover and explination

Front cover 

This is the final copy of my front cover, I have all the typical features that would be expected to appear on a front cover, I named my magazine 'Artistic Diffrences' and decided that I wanted to convey that through the font, colours and the image. I believe the image stands out more through the pose and the image generally itself, to the coverlines and titles, and the positioning of the features.

The mast head is where the mast head normally goes at the top and it is large and eye catching, the font is eye catching and I added colour to make it easier to the eye and to add interest to it, the coverlines are few as I did not want to cover the photo's effects completley/ I have a quote across the middle if the photo, it is the largest coverline and I tried to use a interesting quote to draw in an audience and make them want to read the magazine.

The barcode is where people would expect to see the barcode, this makes it easy for the reader to locate it and the price which is above the barcode along with the price of the magazine, this also could be more appealing as the barcode is in a familliar place which could add to the appeal of wanting to buy the magazine.

The other cover lines are to add curiosity to the readers to make them want to read it and buy it, it is to advertise other companies and but also add to the apeal of the magazine with the promise of 'buy our magazine you could win a great prize but if not there's an exclusive poster' which adds to the appeal

I believe the front cover has just enough but is still simple enough for anyone to navigate, I also believe it is easier on the eyes as there are no bright colours and there is not so much put on one page that readers would give up with looking at the front cover properly. I believe that the front cover is easy to follow and the reader can move from one feature to the next easily without too much going on around the feature.

The main image I believe is more appealing as it is not too bright and I believe it looks more interesting then a normal colourful image with sun lenses I believe it adds a nice effect that the readers may enjoy looking at, I believe the image due to it been grayscale looks better next to the colours put through the text making it look different and complimenting the magazine's name of Artistic Diffrences 

Editing process of the front cover

This is the original photo that I took for the front cover, I decided that it needed to be edited

This is the same photo but edited. I thought it would be best to lighten the photo and to tidy up the photo by getting rid of all dirt and any flaws in the photo 

 

This is the third lot of editing that I did on this photo, I believed it looked better black and white rather then in colour and I added a light effect to it to make it look like the sun was shining and the rays had fallen upon Jess 

This is the final copy of the front cover, I added in all the other features that one would typically expect to see on the front cover of a magazine 



Font choices

When it came to picking out my fonts, I decided to go online and see what fonts I could find. However I found that the first font I came across was the one I liked and the one I believed would go with my magazine

 



 I used these in my magazine, I believe they are more interesting then plain text and I alos believed they complimented the title of the magazine which is 'Artistic Differences'

 

AS Coursework Proposal Table – Stage 2

Proposal Form

 

Describe your idea for the brief:   My idea for the music magazine is to create a magazine that brings together different genres of music, meaning readers that are interested in several genres can purchase my magazine and read about all different artists from different genres of music.

Genre/ sub genre: list similar texts which have inspired your thoughts   NME, Kerrang, Billboard

Target audience: gender/ age/ characteristics/ behaviour   My target audience is from late teens to the late twenty’s and anyone interested in the genres of music and the artists that will be discussed and featured in the magazine.

Major conventions I will use   I will try and make my magazine stand out, with the colours, arrangements and the photos, so that the magazine looks interesting and will make people want to buy and read it.

Conventions I may subvert/ change/ not use   I may include features such as; posters, free items to be won, competitions ect in order to enhance the chances of my magazine being bought.

Original images: what/ where/ what   My images are of a friend who offered to model during a photo shoot, they are taken in many different locations in South Shields. We tried to vary the images, so we did different angles, heights, poses and locations. The locations are not conventional photo shoot images, they were taken outside and I believe they have a more likeable appeal as some readers may recognise the locations and therefore relate to the magazine.

Potential difficulties/ Plan B:   The potential difficulties were; my friend being unable to model for the shoot, the camera dying before we we’re done and the weather being terrible and not allowing us to take the photos.

 

AS Coursework Proposal Table – Stage 1

AS Coursework Proposal Table – Stage 1

 

Type of Magazine (fashion, music, etc)	Music
Name of Magazine	Artistic Differences
Audience (male/female)	Male and female
Audience (attitudes and interests)	Interests in many different genres and artists
Outlet (where it can be bought from?)	Shops Internet
Necessary Information	Competitions Free items
Selling Point	Advertising free items, competitions, posters ect Or the image and coverlines to peek interest
Theme (article)	My article will be an interview about the year the model has had so far
Images Front Cover	One main image And some smaller images
Images Inside	Contents page- one main image and two smaller images Double page spread- one main image