Diary Entry 4 - February Half Term

Over the half term, we were asked to complete any outstanding tasks that we have been given. For me, that was completing the drat for my audience research and completing my analysis. Because the deadline is on the 4th March for some of the work to be handed in, I have been working extra hard to complete each task to a high standard. I managed to complete the draft for my audience research, which will involve me videoing my focus group once we return back to school. This holidays involved me scanning in several pictures of work that needed to be uploaded onto the blog, as well as spending most of my time analysing each front page, contents page and double page spread to a high standard.

Contents Page Analysis

This is a contents page from an old Kerrang! Issue.

This contents page uses the 'Blocky' style for the contents page, which means it uses several images in a certain style. In this case, most of the images have been placed into a box that takes up most of the space of the page. There is no set colour scheme for all of the images, but they compliment each other well. The images are all linked to certain articles, giving the reader a look at the pictures of the article and see if it interests them.

The fonts are a lot more simplier compared to any of the front covers. They use one main font for the actual names of the articles, but make them look different by using bold for the titles of each sub-sections. The contents page uses the same font as the quote underneath it. These are also bigger than other fonts. The serif fonts are bigger than the sans serif to make them stand out more. Only 3 colours of texts are used, two of which are very commonly found on the page, and the very little use of the white colour text is found in the bottom right hand corner of the page. The usually codes and conventions found ona contents page that can be found on this page is the use of a letter from the editor, complete with a small picture of the front cover, the date of issue and captions.

The layout is the 'Blocky' style, which means it uses bold colours to highlight important parts of the page. The text is mainly around the outside of the box of images. But there is no particuar set place for where the text is found on the page. There is only one main column on the right band side, broken up my sub-sections of where each article belongs. No photoshop effects are very obviously used on the contents, but they would have arranged them using the hand tool.

I think this is a good contents page, but I wouldn't personally use this. This is because There isn't music description and the pictures are too big for my liking. It fits the target audience of people who are interested in certain articles which have been photographed.

  This is a Rock Sound contents page.

The image used is a full A4 page sized close up of one of the main feature articles. This controls the set up of the text on the page also. The colour scheme uses a plain background with the model in opposite colours, making him stand out against the background.

There is little font variation used on this page. Different text effects and colours give the page more variety and can help separate different aspects from each other. This technique is mainly used in the column containing all the main features. Each page number is in a different colour and the title of the article is in a bolder, bigger font compared to the description below it. The quote found in the bottom left hand corner is in a different font to show it isn't the same as the other block of text. This makes it stand out on it's own. Only using 2 colours gives the contents page unity, matching the tie the model is wearing. The main features are explained on the right hand side of the page, separated from other text on the page by the models body and arm. Having a description of the articles aren't a typical code or convention found with an image-dominated contents page.

The layout is controlled by the image in the middle. The way he is positioned constructs the layout of where the text is found on this page. The title found in the top right hand corner is separated from the main features by his arm acting like a barrier. The long column explaining each article is broken up by the title of each different article with different font style and different colour page number. The most noticeable Photoshop aspect used is using layers to have things layered on top of each other. This would be done by ordering the different layers.

My opinion of this is it is eye-catching, but I feel if I did a image-dominated contents, my magazine would be filled with too many big images, and would not show any other images from different articles. It is clear this is targeted for people who are fans of this particular artist. I would describe this as an image-dominated contents with a few codes and conventions altered.

This is a Kerrang! Contents page using their newest common style of contents page.

Nine images are used on this page, each different sizes and laid out according to the article. Bring Me The Horizon is the biggest image on the page, because it is one of the cover stories found on the front page. Three of the images found at the top half of the page each have captions stating which band it is and the page you would find them on. The image of the editor is used above her column to show what she looks like. A logo for the band 30 Seconds To Mars is used next to the article title. The main album review gets a picture next to it to show what the artwork looks like. The images in the bottom right hand corner overlap each other. Gustav Wood is with the article Famous Last Words. The image overlapping him is previous issues of Kerrang! with a push to subscribe to them.

The texts only use two different text fonts, but they use it in a way that makes particular pieces stand out from others. The articles are broken up into sections, shown by a sans-serif font in yellow with a black background just around the font. This makes each title stand out more and matches the words 'Contents' at the top of the page in the left hand side. Each article title is in bold, with a red page number, standing out above the descriptions found on some of the articles. To make some of the text look different, four different colours are used to create this effect. It also depended on the background to which colours are used.

The layout is made in a 'Blocky' style, which means it contains a lot more text and is set in a more clear organised way. Its used to create more of a 'Masculine' style contents. The text is set out in organised columns on the bottom half of the page. One column is used for the letter from the editor, the other four have all the article titles.

I like this design because you get the chance to explain different articles and use a variety of pictures. It also fits in more with the sub-genre of rock I am going for. It is clear this is for people who have taken an interest in the front cover stories.

  This is a Rock Sound contents page.

On this page, six different images are used, each labelled with a band name and page number to match the article. Each picture has a slight chunk taken out of it, surrounded by a white border to highlight it. This fits the theme of the magazine as the chunk is shaped as part of a star that you can find in the bottom left part of the page. Each picture overlaps another, similar to other effects found in magazines. Each picture uses different colours, not really having similarities.

This contents page follows the codes and conventions of using three different font colours and only two different font types. Making the subsections bold and in a different colour with a red box behind it makes it stand out and become more eye-catching for people who are simply intending on skimming to the article they want to read. It is more user friendly with the different colours because it makes the important things stand out.

This layout is known as a 'Blocky' layout. The page is broken up into two colours. The red side dominates the page more, making the images stand out more. Each side has a similar style, with the main background colour and complimented with the colour found on the other side of the page. It has an effective one long column on the left hand side of the page, broken up by the section titles. It is well organised and has a 'masculine' appeal to it. The whole page itself is very consistant, which isn't very common with rock magazines, as they tend to have a messy layout.

My opinion of this is it is very well organised but it doesn't contain the messy layout appeal the other contents had. This also doesn't contain the description of articles that is usually associated with the 'Blocky' layout. It is clear this is for more of the serious music reader, which stereotypically is an older generation. However, I am aiming for the younger generation. The photoshop effects are clear to see on the images. They used it to cut part of the picture off, and placed a border around. They also used the layers correctly to overlap the photos carefully on top of each other.

  This is a Kerrang! Contents page using one of their older layouts.

Kerrang! Use a organised way of displaying their images. They have nine images taking up most of the room on the page, each in a square shape, containing the name of the band/person and a description of the article they are in. Apart from the biggest one, they are all of the same size and are mostly posed (with the exception of 3, one being an album cover). Each image uses a very distint colour as the background, highlighting their outfits and the models themselves. Previous magazine front covers are found in the bottom right hand corner, a common convention found on most Kerrang! Contents pages.

The text used is only found in three different colours, one of which is only used in the advertisement on the bottom of the page. To make some of the text stand out more than before, the editor has used a box of colour around the sections and the main title, acting as a separate background colour to the rest of the page. Even though the same colour text is used for the article titles, applying that effect makes it stand out more. Also, using bold is effective for the page numbers, so you can see the numbers clearly. The fonts on this page are all sans-serif. The text is primarily found on the right side of the page, with the letter to the editor taking up the top of the page.

The layout is set in a 'Blocky' style. This is a very commonly used style of contents page for rock magazines. The images have been carefully set up so they are eye-catching and link into the text well. The column of texts are broken up my using titles of the section they belong in, making it easier to find a certain article you may be looking for. No major photoshop effects are obvious, apart from the use of layers and free transform tool.

My opinion of this is I like the use of the 'Blocky' style, but I feel the images are too small for my liking. If I were to change this, I would have experimented more with how the images are placed on the page and make it look a little different.  

Front Cover Analysis

This is a Kerrang! Front cover featuring All Time Low as the main article.

On this cover, there is one main image with 3 smaller ones placed on the bottom horizontal third of the page. The image is set up so the faces dominate any objects around them (the title) and their bodies are partly covered up by the titles of different articles and the smaller pictures. The colours from the pictures are quite neutral colours, dominated by the bright yellow writing, which draws your attention to the band name that is displayed on the front cover. Some of the fonts lower down on the page compliment the background colour and some of the clothing wore by the band. The smaller images also fit with the bigger image due to the colours used inside the pictures.

When closely looking at the fonts, there are three distinct types used. The font used for the words 'All Time Low', the banner right at the top of the page and the titles of articles in the bottom third of the page are using serif fonts. The other font that is used on this page are sans serif, and give the magazine more of a casual look as it is meant to symbolise handwriting. All of the titles are put in a much larger font compared to everything else and in a different style, which makes them stand out more. All of the sans serif fonts are similar sizes and used as titles for different articles. The cover is very consistent and only uses three different colours. In order for some to show up, they have put a black box behind them to make them also stand out more.

Altogether, only 4 images are used on this front cover in a variety of sizes. The biggest one covers the whole page, whereas the three smaller images take up most of the room on the bottom horizontal third. The effect this gives the cover is that there is so much information inside the magazine it looks like they tried to cram it all on the cover. This is more of an organised mess look which is a common convention found on rock magazine. It is hard to tell if many Photoshop effects have been used, apart from one involving layers which means the heads of the band can go above the title itself. My opinion on this magazine is that it is very well constructed but personally I find it a little too crowded. If I was to improve it, I would have moved some of the titles from the side of the page and moved them onto the bottom so it also looks neater.

This is a Rock Sound front cover featuring Lostprophets as the main article.

On this cover, only one big image is used, with two tiny ones in the bottom right hand corner next to the bar-code. They set up in a very neat and organised manner, leaving the centre of the page to be filled with the main central image. The band in the photo are all put into the background at the same level, so show they are all equal, with the main icon of the group in the foreground, so people at a glance would be able to identify the band easily without having to read the titles or anything. The colours used are quite neutral colours which compliment each other well. The little images, however, are bright and slightly more eye-catching compared to the main image. There is no particular colour scheme because each image shown contrasts against each other.

This magazine cover uses several different front styles on the cover, not keeping a very consistent theme going. The title of the magazine is similar to the title 'Lostprophets' as it is both using a serif font and using the same colour show they are the most important titles on the page. The colours have been kept consistent to four main colours, which all go well with the background behind the main image because it is a gradient grey background. The font styles seem to fit with the font size and I have spotted 4 different font styles used. This gives the cover more of a variety of styles combined together. The text is laid out so it is mainly found in the far thirds of the page. No texts overlaps each other and it is kept very neat and organised.

Apart from the main image and title, the rest of the images and texts have been set up in an organised way. The texts are set up into columns on each side of the page, which means you can see the picture of the band more clearly. It looks less cluttered than the Kerrang! Magazine. My opinion of this magazine is that it is clearly set out; however it doesn't have the same eye-catching affect some other types of rock magazines have. It is clear this is set for an audience who prefer to read the articles and would get the magazine for the people on the cover rather than much of the contents inside. To improve it, I would have added a couple more images to draw more attention to other parts of the magazine mentioned.

This is a Kerrang! Front cover featuring You Me At Six as the main article.

On this cover, a main image is used as well as four little ones. The little ones are found in the bottom third of the magazine, 3 of which overlap, still showing what the image is but also making the page look buys and jam packed. The red border around them helps them to stand out from each other but still work well together. The main image has the lead singer in the foreground and at the centre of the page making him stand out a little more, catching people’s eyes as they glance at the magazine and recognise the band shown. The colours they are wearing are dark, which makes the text on the page show up better because they are in a lighter colour. The three little image grouped together are different because of the backgrounds they use because two use a light colour whereas the other one is darker than the other two.

About 3 or different fonts are used on this page in a few ways. The ‘Kerrang!’ logo is cut up, making it look like it’s slightly broken up, but it is hidden behind the band’s head. The words ‘You Me At Six’ are in a clear serif font in white, making them stand out against the dark clothes the band are wearing. The purpose of having a bold simple font as the title makes it stand out against the other parts of the page and it draws your attention to it. The rest of the fonts on the page are slightly softer in their appearance, making them look less harsh. This page doesn’t follow the conventions some other magazines follow because they use more than three colours and use five colours instead. This gives the page more colour and variety on it.

Some of the colours on the page are used to make borders around certain sections of the cover, making certain parts stand out on each part of the page. This also means that not everything would blend into the background and make each part look different because they are about different things. A Photoshop aspect that has been used is that the little images together are on a slight slant to each other so they overlap and still show most of the image. They would have created through the free transform capability.

My opinion of this is that it is very well organised, it doesn’t look too overcrowded and has all of the necessary information required. It is clear this is designed for the music lovers who would like to be updated on their favourite bands.

This is a Rock Sound cover featuring Paramore as the main article.

On the cover, there is the usual main big image taking up most of the space of the magazine and then two little ones located in the bottom right corner of the page. The little pictures overlap each other, making them look as if to stay on the busy page they have to overlap in a small space. The main picture is set up with the lead singer being the main attraction in the foreground, the band are more spaced out away from her, making her seem more important compared to the rest of the band because none of her is cut out of the picture whereas some of the band have been cut out from the cover. The colours on the pictures are all bright and compliment each other.

On this page, there are around 3 to 4 different fonts used. The word ‘Paramore’ uses an affect that you would find when watching a 3D film, making it stand out more compared to the rest of the words in the page. The writing used in the bottom third of the magazine looks rough and like a scrawled handwriting. It looks rushed and squished together but using the two different colours shows where one band ends and another band name begins. Apart from the effect around the title ‘Paramore’, the magazine only uses 3 different font colours. The black font colour is only found at the top of the magazine, whereas the yellow and white is a constant theme through the page.

The layout has the main image in the centre of the page, with the texts mainly surrounding them. It acts like a border around the picture. The top of the page is organised and neatly set out, whereas if you go further, the text and images are on a slant (most likely to have been created in Photoshop using the free transform tool) fitting in around the bottom of the image. It gives this the effect that it has a lot of information too much for just the cover itself.

My opinion of this is that it looks too full of information. If I was to change this, I would have put less writing on or move some of the items around a little more. It is clear this is created for music crazy fans that want a lot of information.

  This is a Kerrang! Front cover featuring one of the 9 members from Slipknot.

This front cover is a lot more simple than the others I have analysed because it only uses one image, which is the main one. This is a pretty extreme close-up used so the face & mask take up most of the page. It is set up so that the most eye-catching important part of the page. Having no little images around the main one drags your attention to the centre of the page rather than anything else around it. The colour used fits in with the scheme of the font colours as well.

Following the traditional codes and conventions that are usually associated with Kerrang! Magazine in particular, the cover only uses four different colours to create the desired effect. Three different fonts are used in different ways. The title of which band is on the cover is actually using the band's logo (known and recognised by fans of Slipknot everywhere.) The caption under the name 'Slipknot' is a sans serif font, which is the same as the words 'Free Posters'. These are similar sizes and fits in with the theme of rough looking, which compliments the band on the cover.

There is no text in the centre third of the page, meaning that the picture is the main element. All of the text is only found at the top and bottom of the page. No effects have been used on this one as it looks a lot simpler and neater compared to any other magazines I have analysed.

My opinion of this is that it uses simplicity well and doesn't look crowded. However, it is not as eye-catching as some of the other magazines have been, making it a little boring in a way. It isn't as clear who the target audience is this time.  

Diary Entry 3 - 14th February

This week, we were introduced into two new tasks; the inital ideas and audience research.
Inital ideas involved us thinking about how we could have our magazine in terms of the name, the style of front page, colours, how we would construct the double page spread etc. This was done on a A3 sheet which we would later scan into the computer. This is not the final decisions for our magazines, but it gave us a chance to see what we could do. This took only a lesson, to think about ideas and write them down. After that, we began to think about audience research. Our task was to research into what the target audience wants from the music magazine. This could be done in numerous ways such as a questionnaire, video interviews, focus groups, voice recordings etc. I chose to do a questionnaire involving my results to be displayed in a graph and a focus group, where I will show the group pictures of existing magazines in the similar genre and they are free to discuss amongst each other.
But primarily, once we were introduced to these tasks, we had the oppotunity to prepare the audience research or continue our analysis of magazines. The work that was not finished would needed to be completed over the half term.

Diary Entry 2 - 7th February

This week began the analysis of different magazines. We were introduced to a variety of different magazines where we came up with similar codes and conventions that are spotted on front pages, contents pages and double page spreads. Then, individually we analysed each one and found the subtle differences that are commonly found with certain genres.
For the front page, I found that the genre I am interested in used more dark colours and their images on the front cover. They also don't use any shadows and have the artists standing face on with the images ending around their legs, being covered by a row of pictures and the bottom.
I learnt the basics around how you can set up a contents page; either a 'blocky' design or an image-dominated design. 'Blocky' contents page involves a bold and consistent colour scheme, picture and captions. It is usually described as 'masculine' because of its unfussy appearance. An image-dominated look centres around the image and contains little texts. Usually the text becomes obscured because of the image.
The double page spread was slightly harder to analyse as you could have any style. Typically, the image dominated one half of the page and may slightly cross the fold line. However, there was a lot of exceptions for that. For example, in one issue of Kerrang!, when skimming through it, I came across 5 double page spreads. Within this, only 3 of the spreads followed the rule of having the image on one side and the text on the other. The other two were more image dominated and contained only a small section of texts, not following the usually convention of being put in three columns.
Our extra task was to analyse 5 front covers, 5 contents pages and 5 double page spreads and compare them to what we can apply to our own magazines.

Evaluation of the Preliminary Task

I created this magazine using the codes and conventions that you would find with a typical school magazine. In order to complete this task, I created a front page and contents using different conventions I found from existing school magazines. The magazine I analysed in the first lesson two different magazine which I incorporated two different magazines and used their ideas to create a more conventional magazine. The style model magazine models are called ‘Chill’ and ‘Fusion’. The reason I chose both of them is because they both used qualities I have noticed in other school magazines and also because they were both eye catching and I thought co-operating them together would mean I could use different qualities. For the front cover, I based my ideas around the ‘Fusion’ front cover because it was very eye catching and the picture was what drew your attention in. One of the more direct convention I used from 'Fusion' was the image that took up the whole page and placing any text around it. This meant that the image could appeal to the audience as well as incorporate any eye catching titles to draw the reader in. The words used were very informal and relaxed, aiming this for younger generations to read rather than the teachers. In the contents page, I used the codes and conventions from 'Chill' magazine because it had a good layout which is most commonly found in school magazines. Using the rule of thirds, 'Chill' had put all the description of each article in the left hand side and middle thirds of the page. I used the same conventions when I constructed mine because it keeps it organised and clear to use for anyone who wishes to simple see a certain article. I also used the convention of making a letter from the editor on the right hand side third and using only little images of certain articles to give the reader a little more of an insight to some of the article. One thing I did not used from each of the magazines is the colour scheme. I used one to match our school colours and to match the picture on front.

I learnt a few things from technologies like how simple movements can affect what type of camera angle is used for a picture e.g. taking one step forward could change the picture from a medium shot to a close-up shot. It shows that you have to be careful whilst taking pictures. Another thing I learnt was how effective photoshop can be when creating a magazine for simple things. For example, when I was putting a picture of the front cover and noticed a flaw within the picture, I could use the clone stamp and the healing tool to cover it up and make it look neater. Also being able to use layers affectively like being able to cover part of the title whilst still having the image in the same place. Also, I learnt a lot of useful short-cuts on the computer keyboard that allows me to use Photoshop quickly and more effectively. Light is also a big issue. With my picture on the cover, I used nautral light which is a lot more effective when highlighting certain aspects on the model. Artifical light is better to be used when you want a more flawless effect and to have light manipulated to the way the photographer requires it.  

Diary Entry 1 - 31st Jan

The task for this week was to complete the preliminary task, which involved analysing codes and conventions, taking primary images, make a front cover and contents and writing an evaluation for homework.

In the first lesson, we were given 6 different types of school magazines and asked to analyse one or two of them. We were asked to identify any codes and conventions that are common within school magazines and record them within the blog. The next lesson, we planned how we were going to set out the pages. This was done on paper and scanned into the computer. This was used as an accurate guideline for what we were going to create. However, later on some editing was needed in order to fit everything neatly and organised onto the page. The rest of the lessons were spent taking pictures of the models and putting them onto the magazine. Angles were a key component when taking the pictures. A medium close-up shot was crucial to the magazine type and it takes a little bit more effort to make it fit in with the ideas that I came up with. Editing and organisation were the main tasks when working with Photoshop. I learnt this week that you have to be careful what elements of Photoshop you use because you still want the images to look natural. I also learnt that you have to be careful how much text you use and the font size, otherwise it could cause the picture to look overcrowded and slightly more unattractive. The task was completed by the end of the week and I was able to complete my evaluation also, meaning I had no tasks to do over the weekend.

This was an interesting task to complete and it encouraged me to look forward to the music magazine ahead.

Preliminary Task - Finished Magazine

This is the preliminary task; front page of a school magazine

This is the contents page of a school magazine