Amrita's Evaluation

Our task was to create a music magazine cover. We decided to create a magazine called 'Melody' which would be aimed at an audience of 11 to 15 year old teenage girls.

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

Day 1 - It was so cool! Me and my partner Lipi were doing the Summer edition of our music magazine. Our whole group now decided on the name 'Melody' This title was not only shorter than our previous title but it was also music related and was something which teenage girls would want to read!

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

Yes! today we finally got together at lunch time and took the pictures for our music magazines.

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)

Our Photoshoot had to be rescheduled due to Eid for Lipi and Nasima, and also it was raining so our hair and make was awful!

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 task was to create a music magazine cover. Our group of four decided to make a pop magazine called ‘Melody’ which would be aimed at an audience of 11-15 year old girls. Our cover consists of a main image of Amrita, who is a well known pop star, who worked her way up from being just a model of the catwalk. The picture of Amrita is glamorous, glossy and girly to attract our target audience. She is also addressing the audience directly as she is looking at the camera. In our magazine there are 4 different cover lines. The main one is Amritas one, where it says, ‘Amritas exclusive interview from model to music’. This cover line goes across her picture to show it belongs to her. It also has a background that is faded out. The three other cover lines includes, ‘win 2 tickets to take that concert’, ‘girls aloud vs. sugababes’ and ‘Britney: the ups and downs of my life’. Our masthead ‘melody’ is very clear to see as it has a dark blue outline. This goes well with our background colour of orange. Just above our masthead it states our magazines web address ‘www.melody.com’ in the same colour as our masthead. Also right at the top of our cover there is a banner stating some of the things our magazine includes ‘music quiz*free CD case*high school musical poster’ Just below the masthead, our cover has a strap line that is ‘bring out the music in you’. We used this strap line because it is an encouraging slogan that everyone can remember. It also tempts the reader to buy it as the magazine brings out the music in the audience. In order to make our magazine even more realistic and professional we have added a barcode, price and date.
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

For our Media assignment, we were told to produce the two front pages of a new music magazine, with a genre of our choice. The only rule was that only 2 found images were allowed for each, and the rest had to original, and taken by us. We were put into groups of 4 to decide the content of our magazine, the layout / design, and to take the pictures that we would need.
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.

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.

Lipi: Editing the magazine- day 1, 2 and 3

We were finally sitting in the editing room! The first thing we had to do was confirm are magazine title. We decided to call it 'melody' as it is shorter and music related. Me and my partner Amrita were to do the summer edition so we first thought of doing a multi coloured background, however, it looked over the top and busy. So we ended up choosing a tangy orange, as it is a bright summery colour. We looked at a 'top of the pops' magazine cover for some examples. We took some ideas on the font of our title, we wanted it to look funky and 'popish'. We decided to put on the fon 'bauhaus' which gave our magazine a very funky vibe outlined in blue. The same font was used for the strapline of the magazine which is called 'bring out the music in you' and the extra little information. Such as the price, date, website etc.

We changed many things during the editing, like the colours and fonts. Our main cover picture was cropped onto the page very carefully. We wanted to place it in the centre of the page, however, we thought it didnt look right so we placed it on the right side of the a4 page. After that we thought of our main cover line which was the exclusive interveiw of the covergirl Amrita. We put it on a faded pink box going vertically on top of her picture. The font of the writing is yellow and the same font used for everything else. We added a picture of the band 'take that' as we thought they were pop legends who have comeback. Next to the picture we wrote ' win 2 tickets to take that concert!' in dark font so it would stand out. Also it was the same font used for the title etc. We also decided to add a picture of Britney Speares to add some celeb gossip. We chose to write 'britney: the ups and downs of my life' as we new that she had many significant things in her life.

On top of our magazine cover we added information on some of the things there was inside the magazine, like posters and quizes. We put completely different colours to make it stands out. There is also a barcode added on the page on the bottom left hand side of the cover. It is also surrounded with the price and date. The most hardest part of editing was choosing the colours that suited the cover! We also added a couple of special styles on the fonts to make it look professional.

Lipi: Photo shoot

I was unable to attend the photoshoot lesson due to Eid, so we were rescheduled to do it on thursday at lunch time.
We all met up at lunchtime and borrowed a camera from the media department. Our photoshoot was set inside the college buildings. We decided to capture the pictures on a plain background as we knew it would be easier to crop the images on the page.
We had decided the clothes our two models will be wearing the last lesson. Therefore both our covergirls had brought in there clothes. Amrita was confirmed to be in the summer edition cover, so she wore a white dress with flowers on them. Lisa was going to be on the winter edition so she wore a white hoody and a scarf. We also decided to feature an ipod on the winter cover as there cover includes a competition winning an ipod.
We tried many angles, from low, to high. Our photos all had the covergirls looking straight at the camera as we thought this would appeal to the audience more.
We took as many as we could so that we would be able to have a wider variety in choosing the picture.
We also tried many different poses such as using props like umbrellas etc. Our photoshoot went as expected and planned

Editing The Magazine Day 3

Today was the final day to edit and completed the magazine. we changed and added many thing to the magazine and i think the final outcome is pretty good.
We added a banner on top of the masthead so we could include more features which are going to be in the magazine, the banner says, free posters*games*puzzles*reviews&lots more! we put this in so the audience know they are getting alot for their money, persuades them to buy it because they can interact with the magazine.
Below the banner and on top of the masthead we added a web address "http://www.melody.com/", this so the audience know that can interact online as well as through the magazine.
We added an image of Hillary Duff with a cover line "Fashion Tips by Hillary Duff" this mixes in with magazine because she is a singer and also has her own clothing label called "Stuff by Duff." Many young girls also look up to and may listen to her music. we cropped her out of her background and added a light blue one instead because it ties in with the colour theme and also she stands out better.
the Jonas Brothers cover line was changed to "WIN! "2 Tickets To Watch Us Live In Concert"" this grabs readers attention because it is actually coming from them and they are part of the magazine.
The X Factor:Behind The Scene was added because the show will be airing in November, everyone watching it will get addicted and will want to know juicy gossip and behind the scenes.
The colour of the font is red because the actual logo is red and the audience are familiar with it.
We also added a quote from Lisa's interview "Thank You All! I'm So Greatful" below the main cover line. This can attract the audience because she is thanking them for where she is now also as its part of the interview they would want to know more. As you can see there is a spelling mistake it should have been "grateful", however i don't think the audience will realise with everything else going on in the magazine. This was also on a banner which followed the slant of the main cover line, the colour we chose for the banner was orange so it would stand out from the magazine. adding another banner below which tells the audience what else inside attracts the reader even more because they know there is more stars and celebrities. the cover line says "Also Inside...HSM3, Justin Timberlake,Xtina,McFly..."

I am very glad how the magazine turned out. All that's left for me to do is the evaluation which is coming soon.

Editing The Magazine (Day 3)

The final day! We finished our magazine today. We actually changed quite a lot, and added a lot more. What we did:
. Added a website (www.melody.com) above the masthead, giving the readers to catch up with us online
. Changed the Jonas Brothers text. It now reads: WIN! "2 Tickets To Watch Us Live In Concert!" (giving the impression that they are part of the magazine)
. We added a banner at the very top of the magazine, which says: "Free posters*games*puzzles*reviews&lots more!" This allowed us to include a lot more inside, and also persuade the reader more to buy the magazine, as it contained a lot of fun things for them to do.
. We added a story about Hilary Duff - she was to give fashion tips to the readers, as she has her own clothing line: "Stuff by Hilary Duff"
. We included "Behind the Scenes" gossip from the X Factor, as it has recently started again, and would still be on air during the release of the magazine "November." The X Factor can get addictive, and we all love reading about those juicy cat fights!
. We added a quote from Lisa, below the Main Sell Line (The interview with Lisa), where she is thanking everyone, and stating that she is "so grateful!"
. And finally, we added another section near the bottom, which tells of what other stars are also inside: "Also Inside... HSM3, Justin Timberlake, Xtina, McFly..."

I am pleased with how the magazine turned out, although I have noticed that we have made a mistake on Lisa's Quote (oops). We have spelt grateful wrong. It says "greatful." Sadly, I don't think we can change this, as we have flattened our entire cover. (Hopefully our readers will have bad spelling skills). Besides that, however, I am happy with the final piece. I was doubtful of how it would look in the beginning, but I think it's safe to say that I am reassured now.

The only thing left to do now is my evaluation, which needs to be finished by next Friday.

Editing The Magazine (Day 2)

Thankfully, we got a lot more done this lesson. We finished off the main picture, sorting out the rough lines. The magazine still looked a bit weird to me, but once we started adding things, like the text and the barcode, I felt a lot better about it. We decided to hold competitions such as "COMPETITION! Win A Free Signed iPod" (as the main picture is of me holding up a silver iPod), and "WIN! 2 Jonas Brothers Concert Tickets" under a picture of The Jonas Brothers (a new, well known pop band, that young people are sure to like (especially if they watch the Disney channel)). Competitions always excite readers, and we were confident that it would persuade them just that little bit more to buy the magazine. As a group, we decided that the magazines should come out monthly, with me and Nasima making the November Eddition. We included the date "1st - 30th Nov" and the price "£2.80" - as monthly edditions are always more expensive than weekly.
We came up with "Bring out the music in you," which is now our Strapline. We liked that it went with the Masthead "Melody," and was music related. It also sounds like a song from High School Musical ("You are the music in me"), which most young people will surely know, and therefore be able to relate it to.

There are a few finishing touches we need to make, and a bit more text, but all in all, I'd say we are pretty close to finishing the magazine cover.

Editing The Magazine

The photoshoot is complete, which means that we can get started on actually putting the magazine together. This is a lot harder than I first thought it would be, especially considering we are making 2 edditions, and therefore, must have a constant theme throughout. Nasima and I are a pair, as are Amrita and Lipi, doing the Autumn/Winter and the Summer edditions respectively.
We have decided to change the name of our magazine to "Melody" as it's shorter, sweeter, and more music related than our last name (The Nxt Big Thing). For us, the seemingly most easy task was actually the hardest - choosing the background. We cut out the front cover picture, and pasted it onto an A4 sized document in Photoshop. Considering the girl (me) in the picture is wearing a white jacket, we had to choose a contrasting colour to make the picture pop, yet that still followed the rules of a contempory pop magazine. We've opted for a dark blueish purple, as it is still relatively girly, and provides a nice contrast. We were going to have a multicoloured backround, but it seemed too 'busy' - and most Pop magazines have plain backgrounds, with lots of pictures and quite a fair bit of writing.
Choosing the background took most of the lesson, if i'm honest. We started to choose the font for the Masthead, but haven't settled on a definite idea yet, as we still need to sort this out with Lipi and Amrita. Hopefully we can get more done next lesson.

Editing the Magazine Day 1 and 2

On Friday we were in the editing room and used photo shop so we could edit the photos and also start the cover of the magazine. The group of 4 split in pairs so one pair who were Amrita and lipi who done the summer edition and Lisa and I done the winter/autumn edition.

Lisa and I started to edit the photograph, we got rid of the blue background which the photo was taken on. we opened a new A4 page so it was the right size for a magazine. deciding on a colour for the background of the magazine was the next step, this seemed to be easy but it wasn't. we wanted a colour that wouldn't over take the image. we also didn't want to break any conventions of a pop magazine. searching on the Internet on other pop magazines made us realise that the background of magazines were mainly plain like the Top Of The Pops magazine (see below).

using a deep purple shade made the photograph stand out. both the groups then had to decide on the masthead, which had to be the same font in every edition.
As we are producing two editions of the magazine we had to have the same concept running through out the magazine.

Day 2 of editing

we got straight into the editing. firstly we had to tidy up the edges of the main image as you could still see some of the blue background. this was quite difficult, we used the magnetic lasso aswell as the magic rubber to do this because it was very intricate and detailed.
After doing this, we decided we needed more supporting artists on the cover which would attract the 11-15 year old girls. the artists we chose was the Jonas Brothers, we chose them because they are new, fresh and the young girls would get attracted to them because they are attractive young men and are famous in the world of pop. cutting them out of there white background was easy except some of the white of their clothing disappeared. Using the shape tool we made a square so that we could put it behind the Jonas Brothers so the would stand out. we chose a colour that could incorporate with magazine. choosing a sherbet yellow which was already on the jacket of the model's (Lisa)jacket. we then re sized and repositioned it, we layered the image and shape so it was underneath the main image. the cover line for this image was "WIN 2 tickets for Jonas Brothers concert" this would attract readers to buy the magazine and also enter the competition.
the main cover line was not that difficult to come up with as we knew that it had to do with her number one single. we finally came up with "XCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Lisa on her new number 1." we had this going across the image so it filled up most of the bottom half of the image. we also put another square shape behind it in a green color but this wasn't in block green colour but the opacity was decreased so it was translucent but still could see the green. the colour of the font was orange similar to the color of the masthead so all the colours tie in stand out in front of it's green background.
As Lisa was holding an ipod we had to make up a cover line for that. The finalized cover line was "COMPETITION win a signed ipod by Lisa". The colour of the font was the same orange as the main coverline as it is linked to the same artist.
attaching a barcode,price and the issue date on was very easy, the cost of the magazine is £2.80 we resized this so it wasnt to big this is because poeple might be put off by the price and not purchase the magazine. The price had to be expensive because it is a monthly issue and not weekly. the slogan for this magazine is "bring out the music in you", we chose this because it is music related and also it sounds like a song from High School Musical which alot of young girls would watch and can relate to.

Photo Shoot

Our groups photo shoots was rescheduled for the Thursday lunchtime, where we took the photographs for the front cover also some extras.
The images were taken on a plain background so the models were able to stand out also when editing it would be much easier.
as this magazine is fro 11-15 year old girls we decided that the models should be looking straight at the camera, direct mode of address, so they would attract the readers. We chose to do the winter/Autumn addition of the magazine with the model holding an ipod, this can also attract readers because the coverline of the magazine is going to be about the singer and how you could win her ipod. we also took a photograph for the summer edition of the magazine.

Photo Shoot Lesson

Today we were meant to shoot the cover photos for our magazine. Unfortunately for my group, it was raining outside, and two of our group members were away due to a Religious Holiday. Instead, we decided to plan out the rest of our front cover and inside page, and take the pictures at Thursday lunchtime.
We started thinking of things that would grab the attention of the reader, making them want to look at the magazine in the first place. We decided to give away free gifts with the magazine, such as a CD featuring songs of up-and-coming pop artists. We would also have competitions, such as the chance to win a free iPod, and concert tickets. We have thought about showing the front-cover star listening to the iPod, as a way to promote the competition.
We then discussed what we could have as our inside story in the magazines. The most sensible option seemed to be the interviews with the cover stars - congratulating them on their first single, and finding out about them (seeings as they are a new artist we are trying to promote).
Next lesson, we should have done our photo shoot, and got all of the pictures we need. Then it is just a case of manipulating them. I'm excited.

Magazine Research

Today, we started our projects by researching and annotating Magazine Covers for Music Magazines. My group had the Magazine "Q", which featured a picture of Noel Gallagher, with the Main Cover Line screaming "Oasis Are Back!"
We were asked to discuss the features of the magazine, and point out elements such as the Masthead, Strapline, and Cover Lines. We also discussed why the media produced magazines; the main reasons being to advertise and make profit. Once finished, we were asked to guess what sort of audience the magazine was aimed at - who was mosy likely to read it? We figured that it would be "Indie-Rocker" people, and the elder generation, who had liked Oasis back in the 90s, and were interested in reading about them again and getting information on their 'comeback.'
Starting our second project, we were told that we would be creating our own Music Magazine Covers. We had to think of the genre of music that we would be portraying in our magazine, and chose "Pop," as it was fun, and left a lot of options open to us - such as a wide audience range. We also had to plan out our Magazine Cover, as we are having a photo shoot next lesson. We decided to call our magazine "The Nxt Best Thing," and use it to promote up-and-coming pop artists. We decided to do two additions - Summer and Winter. This will be alot of fun to work with, as we get the chance to dress up in the clothes of those two seasons, and have fun with the photo poses, like actual magazines. Our target audience is mainly 11-15 year old girls, as these are the ones most likely to be interested in pop music. However, we all know that a lot of older girls can't resist taking a peek at their little sister's magazines when they think that they are alone, as they are interested in the boys of pop.
I am looking forward to next lesson, and can't wait to get started on our magazine!

Lipi's Magazine research

In todays lesson we analysed and discussed the use and genres of magazines. We also learnt that all media products are made to make money. Magazines make money to cover price and advertising. We analysed music magazine covers in groups and discussed what sort of people they would be aimed at. We also discussed how there lifestyle would be, e.g the type of food they would eat.

Our group looked at a magazine called 'Q', which we assumed would be aimed at indie/rock people. This is because on the cover, it says 'oasis are back'. The band 'oasis' are an indie group who were big presently and in the 90's. We were asked to pick out the connotations and the denotations of the cover. We came up with features such as the strapline, the mast head and the main cover line. These features all some up to make up a magazine cover.

Looking at such examples would help us with our project in making our own magazine cover. We were also set to choose what genre of musi we were going to do. Our group have decided to make a 'pop' music magazine as we thought it would be something different and has a bigger variety of content. We also decided to name it 'the nxt big fing', a it sounds very appealing to our audience of 11- 15 year old girls. However, we are not completely satisfied with the name.

Our next lesson is going to be the photoshoot, itis going to be held inside the college buildings. We have decided to have two covers with two different people on the front. We also decided to make a summer and winter edition.

The two people on the cover will be dressed with winter and summer clothes, to suit the issue date.

Our group cant wait to work on the magazine as i will be very fun and a good opportunity on learning how to use photoshop!

Magazine Research

In today's lesson we learnt about magazines and audiences. We learnt that magazines and other media products are produced to make money. They make majority of their money through advertising and also the cover price.

We analysed music magazine, Q. As we analysed the magazine, we found out the connotations of the magazine and also the dennotations. The slogan of the magazine says "Britain's Biggest Music Magazine ", this gives an opinion so that we should buy it, because of this reason. The image of Noel from Oasis is in black and whit this can connote that Oasis are back, this can also mean that the target audience may have grown up listening to them. The cover line of the magazine is "Oasis are Back!", this would attract the readers of this genre of indie rock.

the targeted audience of this magazine would be 25 year old + male. There weren't any other images except of Noel this can emphasis that he is the big headline and this would attract readers. the cover in general didn't look very attractive to me but maybe to the target audeince. there were also few coverlines around the magazine.

After analysing the magazine, me and the rest of my group brainstormed our ideas for our magazine. We thought about who our target audience are, when the magazine would be issued either weekly or monthly, the genre of the magazine and also the location of the magazine's photo. we also decided on what the two issues front covers are going to be about.

we decided that the magazine would be targeted at 11-15 year old girls, come out weekly, and the genre of the magazine will be pop. the reason we chose pop because there is a very large audience who would buy this genre of magazine. we aslo came up with a name for the magazine "the Nxt Big Thing". But for me i think we could come up with a better name because i kept repeating the name and for some odd reason i think we can change it, but we'll have to decide this when the group comes together.

the magazine would have new and upcoming artists, interviews, competitions and also freebies given away.

Amrita's Magazine Research

In today's lesson we learnt about magazines and audiences. We learnt that magazines/all media products are made to make money. Magazines exist to deliver consumers to advertisers. We analysed music magazines. The magazine we analysed was Q magazine.

Q magazine is aimed at 16 to 25 year olds. We figured that the target audience of this magazine is people who might be living in studio flats, and listen to music like Indie music. In a group we discussed the lifestyle of people who read Q magazine.

The reason we say 'Q' magazine is aimed at those who listen to Indie/rock music is because on the front of the cover the strapline is 'Oasis are back'. there was also an image of Neol Gallghar. From this magazine we were asked to present to the class the denotations and connotations of the 'Q' magazine. We also learn't technical terms for features on the front cover of a magazine, for example strapline, masthead, cover line, etc.

We were introduced to this as we were to make our own front cover magazine. our whole class was excited.

In a group of four, we had to pick a genre for our music magazine. We decided to do a 'Pop' magazine. this was aimed for 11 to 15 year old teenage girls. We then had to decide on a title. After a long thought we came up with 'The Nxt BIG Thing'

As this title was too long We had to decide on another name. We also had to make to seperate magazines in our group of four. So we came up with a summer edition which me and Lipi were to do and a Winter edition, which Nasima and lisa were going to do.

Our next lesson we will be doing our photoshoot. We have decided that I will be the central image for the Summer edition, therefore i will be wearing summer clothes, whereas Lisa will be wearing Winter clothes. We will be taking the pictures within the college as we will be using Photoshop to edit our magazine.

Personally i can't wait till the photoshhot then using Photoshop. My group is also impatient. We look forward to the next media lesson!