Thursday, 16 October 2008
Amrita's Evaluation
We were told to pick a genre of our choice, and my group and I chose to do Pop. We were also told that every other image had to be original, taken by ourselves and we were allowed only two found images. In our groups of four - Amrita, Lipi, Nasima and Lisa, we had to create two Pop magazines. Me (Amrita) and Lipi chose to create a Summer edition of our Pop magazine 'Melody' and Nasima and Lisa chose to create a Winter edition of our Pop magazine.
Our cover consists of a central image which is me, i am meant to be a model who turns to a music artist. The central image is of a young upcoming model who works herself from the fashion ramp to music as a Pop music artist. The central image of Amrita (me) catches eyes of teenage girls as Amrita looks glamorous, sleek and stunning, this appearance is what all teenage girls look for in teen magazines.
After researching many similar teen magazines, we found that a plain background and a large central image catches teens and many other target audiences. Our magazine has a tangy orange background to suit the Summer edition theme of our magazine and the central image is Amrita, who is wearing a white and black flowered dress with black oval earrings with a ball inside it and a beaded and pearl, white and silver necklace with bits of her hair out in front of her face and on the side of her shoulders.
In order to attract/address the audience, we have designed the title 'Melody' with the font 'Bauhaus'. This font is a bubble type of font and has a dark blue outline. The same font is used for the price '£2.80', the date 'May 1st - 30th 09', (the date issued and price has been located at the bottom left corner, where the bar code has been placed), and also the strapline 'Bring Out The Music In You'. We used this strapline as we thought that this strapline not only means to bring out the music in the star, for example Amrita, but also in the audience, to bring out the music in the 11 to 15 year olds.
To make Amrita, the star of this magazine stand out, we have put across her, on the bottom of the page, in a pink box 'Amrita's Exclusive Interview From Model to Music'. The text of this main coverline is in yellow as it stands out and is a good contrast with pink. Beneath the coverline is a black box with pink text 'Win a £50 HMV Voucher!' this promotes a competition and also gets the teenagers to apply to win. There are also another three coverlines. On the top left hand side there is a found picture of the band 'Take That' which was found on google images. Beside the image on the right is the coverline 'Win 2 tickets to take that concert!' Under 'Take That' image is another coverline 'Girls Aloud vs Sugababes', the girl bands font is in purple and we have added a purple plastic shine style to it from photoshop. The reason for puttin these two bands is the fact that teenage girls love Girls Aloud and Sugababes, plus it would be a real blast to see both girl bands verse each other. Beneath Girls Aloud and Sugababes coverline is the last coverline which is an image of Britney Spears. The image of Britney is a sideways faced (left) photo of her, and her hair is wavy and left out. The coverline for Britney Spears is 'Britney: "The Ups And Downs Of My Life". The font is a shiny, red style in capital letters. The coverline also overlaps onto Amrita's right shoulder, this could also represent the ups and downs in Amrita's life.
On the very top of the page is a banner stating activities and things inside the magazine. 'Musiz quiz* free CD case* High School Musical poster'. Our magazine has the conventions of a real music magazine as we have used all the required cover terminology in any magazine. ITV and Disney Channel may distiribute our music magazine as our 'Melody' magazine is ideally aimed for 11 to 15 year old teenage girls. Also ITV publicize a lot of music shows, for example X Factor and Pop Idol. And Disney channels show all the latest music albums, shows and magazines.
The technologies myself and my group have learnt from the process of constructing our magazine front cover is the software Photoshop on the Apple Mac computers. Photoshop allowed us to use and discover all the features used when creating a magazine. Also if we were to use a regular software programme on a standard computer, then it would have been a very difficult task.
If I were to make another front cover, I would change the background to something a bit more lively and also plan from top to bottom before starting a magazine. I would also add more information on the front cover. Overall, I am relatively happy with what we have done as it looks interesting and realistic.
Editing the Music Magazine Day 1, 2 and 3
Lipi and I firstly edited our central image which was me! We cut out the blue background which was not needed and it was a mission to do as my hair is a very dark black and due to the flash from the camera there were white patches which was very difficult gettin rid of. After getting rid of the unnecessary bits of teh image we had to chose a background. We firstly chose a vibrant background, which was creative and busy. It was animated music notes and headphones and DJs, fiiled with bright rainbow colours. We thought it was a little too much, so we decided to go for a completely plain tangy orange which would also suit our theme of the summer edition. We now chose a font for a title 'Melody' which was 'bauhaus' font. This font looked perfect as it was not too boring nor too childish. The same font was used for our website 'www.melody.com' and also our strapline ' Bring Out The Music In You' and also for the price '£2.80' and date 'May 1st - 30th 09'
Day 2 - I was unable to attend this media lesson as it was a Hindu religious festival. But my fellow partner Lipi continued the work. Lipi edited things like the fonts and colours and added texts. She also decided that as my picture was taken facing slightly side ways, it would have looked worng to position the image of me in the middle, so we positioned it on the right hand corner of the A4 page and enlarged the image.
Day 3 - We now had quick and easy things left to do, although it took most of the lesson. We added a main cover line which was an exclusive interview with Amrita (the main star.) We had also added a pink box vertically around the chest which included the main cover line.
As we were only allowed two images from the internet we used an image of Britney Spears which was placed on the middle left side of the page. The caption/story line under her picture was Britney: "The Ups and Downs Of My Life" We also had a picture of the band 'Take That' which was placed on the top left hand side on the page. Beside their image was a caption advertising two tickets to be won. In the middle of 'Take That' and Britney Spears' picture was another story but without any images. It was 'Girls Aloud vs Sugababes' We also added font styles to make the music magazine look more lively and professional.
The really hard task of editing was choosing colours and fonts as well as styles for the font.
As well as editing the magazine we got to learn and get confident using Photoshop, which was a very good experience for us all!
Amrita's Photoshoot
We took pictures on a plain (blue) background. This was because our teacher told us that we should be taking pictures against a background that would not clash with our clothe or hair, etc.
We made a decision of taking pictures directly looking into the camera and only the upper body. This would not only look professional but will also attract our target audience (11 to 15 year old teenage girls.)
We all came up with poses, for Lisa we took a variety of pictures. Photos of Lisa standing against the wall in just her rainbow jacket and a green scarf, then we took photos of her holding an ipod. We decided the photo of Lisa holding the ipod would be perfect. For me, we chose a simple picture, as i was meant to be a model who turns to a music artist. In my photo you could see my earrings and necklace, so that was like a promoting product.
Next lesson we will be editing our photos on Photoshop!
Amrita's Photoshoot ( Rescheduled)
Me and Lisa decided to stay in and decide what we would include in our music magazine. We thought of ideas such as giving away a free ipod player, CDs and concert tickets from the new faces in both the Summer and Winter edition music magazines. By doing this we would also be promoting the items.
Can't wait till next lesson now!
Lipi: Evaluation
Our magazine has the conventions of a real pop music magazine as we looked very carefully at real life magazine covers in order to produce our own one. Like real magazine covers, our cover has a plain background, so that the items on the cover stand out very much in order to catch our audience’s eye. What makes it even more realistic is the use of the masthead that is very large, just like other magazine covers. We also have a strap line that is very catchy and encouraging to our target audience. In a real magazine cover you would find images that suits its audience, on our cover we have a glamorous, glossy image of Amrita. Our target audience of 11-15 yr old girls would see her as being the ‘ideal’ look. We also added Britney on our cover as she is a pop queen who succeeded alot in the music industry.
The social group that our magazine cover represents is girls aged 11-15 living in the UK with a normal lifestyle. Todays teens are attached to music and the media, they relate themselves to celebrities and the latest fashion and gossip.
I think ITV would distribute our magazine cover because, ITV broadcast alot of music related shows such as the x factor, pop idol, American idol etc. And having our magazine cover would attract more audience as it is a pop music magazine.
The technologies i used to create the magazine cover is the software, photoshop. To begin with, the software was very difficult to use. However after being taught and trained, i found it easier to use. I learnt that making a cover involves alot of patience and time. As while editing you can change your mind many times to make it look as professional as you can imagine.
If i were to make another cover, i would plan out my magazine more thoroughly. I think if i had more time we could’ve produced a better one. However i am still happy about the way it looks as it looks reasonably realistic. I would definitely change the main image of the cover as it is quite simple and no very attractive. Next time i would add more information on the cover and not leave it that simple.
Evaluation
Our group, Amrita, Nasima, Lipi and me, decided that we would do a Pop music magazine, with an audience of 11-15 year old girls. The basic concept was that it would be a magazine used for promoting new up-and-coming artists; thus being the reason for Amrita and I being on the covers. To us, it seemed more realistic, rather than putting us on the covers and pretending that we were already big stars.
At the end of every lesson, we would write about the day’s work in an online blog. This was compulsory to the assignment, but it also helped us reflect back what we had accomplished, and let us see what still needed to be done.
As our magazine is a Pop magazine aimed at young teens, we needed to make it fun, affordable for their limited weekly pocket money, and also stand out from the other magazines when displayed with them on a shop shelf. We researched common themes/ideas used in Teen Pop magazines, and found that most of them displayed a plain background with a main picture of an artist, who was featured inside of the magazine. There was also a lot of writing, promoting competitions or freebies, and telling the readers what other stories could be found inside. We used these ideas when creating our own front covers. We decided that we would do monthly editions, with Amrita and Lipi creating one for May 2009, and Nasima and I doing November 2008’s instalment. Due to our magazine being sold in Autumn/Winter, we decided to use a dark purple background, as it is a cold, wintery colour – and yet still girly. The writing that we used was bold and fun, with bright colours bouncing off of the dark background, to attract the attention of the teens.
The Masthead that we decided on is “melody,” as we liked the reference to music, and it still sounded fun and girly. Our strapline is “Bring Out The Music In You,” as we felt that it fit well with the title, and also sounds like a catchy song from High School Musical (a film that most people of our target audience age category will have seen): “You Are The Music In Me.” We chose bright orange as the colour for these two elements, as they contrasted well with the dark purple of the background, and they really stood out, as they were eye-catching. We also added a web address at the top of the masthead, giving our readers the chance to interact with us via the internet. We wrote this in yellow, as we felt that we had used enough orange, and the yellow went well with the writing underneath the Hilary Duff picture, and the background on the Jonas Brothers picture.
The main central image was of a “new artist,” who’s first single had just been released, and reached the No.1 spot on the charts. Across the body of the artist, me, a banner displaying the words: “XCLUSIVE Interview With Lisa On Her New No.1 Single…” was added, with a quote from the interview: “Thank you all! I’m so grateful!” featured below that. “Exclusive” was spelt “xclusive” to identify with the target audience, as, with new technological programs such as MSN, words are often shortened or abbreviated amongst teens.
Like most Pop magazines, we offered freebies, such as posters of the ‘hottest pop artists’ of today. We also advertised many competitions, and chances to win prizes, such as tickets to pop concerts. We offered one reader the chance to win an iPod signed by the cover artist, and had her posing with the iPod as a way of proof.
We had a banner across the top of the page advertising games and music reviews, and a slanted banner running along the bottom, telling the readers of the other Pop artists that were featured in this issue (Justin Timberlake, Christina (or Xtina, as she is often referred to as).
As young girls and teenagers are big fans of Pop Boys (most of whom come from the Disney Channel), we added a picture of a band that is very much in demand at the moment – the Jonas Brothers. We knew that their faces would attract their legions of fans.
Before making the magazine, I had never used Photoshop before. Things were a bit of a struggle at first, but luckily, we had a teacher demonstrate the basics, and my partner, Nasima, was also a great help, as she had used it before and helped me a lot. I can now use basic Photoshop, and hope to soon learn more complex things. Some of the functions were a lot like Paint, which I have used before, and so some things were quite easy to figure out, such as how to draw shapes and fill them in with colour.
If I were to do the magazine again, I’m not sure there is much I would change, besides the central image. We’d still use the same person, of course, but I just think that a nicer picture could’ve been used. It would also help if we had more time, so we could Photoshop the actual picture, such as the skin tone, as I think it would make the magazine look more professional. No one buys a magazine if the person on the cover doesn’t have flawless skin. However, I am please with the overall finished product, as it turned out better than I first expected. We have met the criteria of a typical teen pop magazine, yet put our own little twist on it, with the idea of featuring and promoting probably previously not well known artists.
Monday, 13 October 2008
Evaluation
Our task was to create a music magazine cover. My group decided to call the magazine "melody", which would be aimed at an audience of 11-15 year old girls. our cover includes a main cover image of Lisa who is a new pop star and also holding an ipod.she is looking in direct mode of address at the audience so they get attracted to the magazine. It also has the main cover line "XCLUSIVE Interview With Lisa On Her New No. 1 Single..." this is going right across the main cover image with orange font on a green banner, which is faded out so you can still see through the block Green colour. there is also a quote coming from the interview of Lisa beneath the main cover line "Thank You All! I'm So Grateful". It also consist of 6 other cover lines which are "Fashion Tips By Hillary Duff" this includes an image of her on top of the cover line. there is also an image of the Jonas Brothers with a cover line saying "WIN! "2 Tickets To Watch Us Live In Concert." Beneath the Jonas Bothers there's a cover line about the xfactor "The XFactor Behind The Scenes". also at the top of the magazine there is a banner which includes what else is in the magazine "free posters*games*puzzles*reviews&lots more" this banner has all the interactive items which is included with the magazine and the other banner which is below the quote of Lisa has a list of who else is in the magazine, " Also Inside...HSM3,Justin Timberlake,Xtina,McFly..." The masthead is at the top of the magazine which is orange so it's bold and attractive it also has a web address on the top of the masthead so audience can interact via the Internet. we also put a slogan "Bring Out The Music In You" below the masthead. the magazine also has the price, issue date and the barcode on the bottom of the magazine.
The magazine we created uses the convention of real music magazines. Our magazine has a plain background which many pop magazines have so they images and cover lines stand out and not blend in with the background. In real magazines the masthead is always large and at the top of the cover also the main image usually covers some of the masthead, which shows that the audience would know what the magazine is called. As do the real magazines have a slogan we put a slogan beneath the masthead, which is very catchy, like a song. Also the real pop magazines have a lot of cover lines on them which makes the magazines look like its packed with lots of articles. my magazine "melody" also has these extra features of cover lines. we added some with images and some without. We also added competitions, which many pop magazines put on their front covers so they attract the readers. In many pop magazines which are aimed for girls there is normally a section in the magazine which is devoted to fashion. we have followed this and put a cover line of Hillary Duff giving top tips. As today's audience follow what celebrities are wearing and get influenced on it. real magazines also put item which can interact with their readers and we have done so on the top of the magazine we have put an banner which states what games and puzzles are going to be inside. The colour scheme we used, was picked of the central image so the colors ties in with image. many magazine use colours from the central image so that the magazine looks complete and looks professional.i think by keeping the price and barcode small we have followed a real magazines publication because magazines would want to keep their prices and barcode small so that the readers don't get put off by the higher price and also so they can fit more feature onto the magazine.
The music magazine we have created "melody" represents the working and middle class 11-15 year old girls. i think this because many of today's young girls are more into the world of music, boys and fashion. these young girls would use their pocket money on this kind of magazine because it comes with free items and also they have a chance to win concerts tickets and ipods.this social group of this age represent a materialistic lifestyle for these young girls.
I think that bbc may distribute our magazine because as they have one magazine already which is "top of the pops" it is less about the music and more about fashion and gossip, whereas our magazine is more about the music and how artists are doing in the music world.
The target audience for our magazine would be 11-15 year old girls from all backgrounds and from the working-middle class status.
We attracted our audience by having the central image in direct mode of address attracts the reader because she is looking straight at the audience and is welcoming them. Also by having a cover line which they could win an ipod, which does cost a lot. this attracts them because they have chance to win an ipod which is also signed by a music artist for free. i think also the image of the Jonas brothers attracts the girls because they are a new popular and attractive boy band. adding the "WIN" attracts readers because they have a chance to go to a concert to see Jonas Brothers, which can sell out very quickly also as they are saying it attracts the reader to show that they want them to come and watch them. Using the word exclusive this attracts readers because it makes readers excited and want to read the magazine because the interview may be not on other magazines. i think also with the behind the scene attracts readers as it is a popular show. The colours which are bright also attract the readers because they are girlie and in your face.
i have learnt about technologies while producing the magazine is that it is quite difficult when you first start making the magazine but when you do start using photoshop more than once you get use to it. Also if you don't cut the images properly the magazine doesn't look very realistic or professional. i also found out that you will have to try and test out different effects and design before you find the perfect magazine.I also found it that you will have to be very patient with the technology as it can be very delicate and detailed and can take some time.
If i was going to make another music magazine i would use a camera with a higher mega pixels so that the image comes out more clearer and looks more professional, i would also plan out how the magazine should look like, so we have a idea how it should look like. also i think i would think about more in detail what the artist would be wearing, so that i can get a proper colour theme and everything would match. i also would add more coverlines and images to make it look like a real pop magazine. I would also think about more music based coverlines to attract readers.
Overall i am very pleased with the issue that I and Lisa have created.