Magazine Evaluation Plan

Finished Version Of My Magazine DPS

Finished Version Of My Magazine Contents Page

Finished Version Of My Magazine Front Cover

Double Page Spread Draft due Monday 30th November.

Contents Page Draft due Monday 30th November.

Front Cover Draft due Monday 30th November.

Work In Progress

In today's lesson I managed to add two images to my unfinished contents page without them being distorted. I have also managed to add some of the content that will be included within my magazine under the 'Interviews' category although I struggled to think of what artist to interview.

Photography Contact Sheet

...

Call Sheet For Photoshoot

Email Address: Vibezmagldn@gmail.com

Telephone Number: 0208 4561 333

Address: 46 BP Avenue E13 78G

Date: 20/11/15

Assignment: Music Magazine Photoshoot

Location: Letyton Sixth Form College Studio

Client: Vibez

Photographer: Kefentse Omari Selah

Costumes: Costumes are chosen by the models

Model 1: Ebrahima

Model 2: Anthony

Model 3: Tanaka

Special Instructions:

- Wear an outfit that relates to rap and r&b music 

- Wear black trainers/footwear 

- Wear prefably black

Magazine Proposal Presentation

This is the video of my magazine proposal presentation in class.

Photography Studio Induction in Mondays Lesson

On Monday, all of the equipment within the Photography Studio was presented to the class. We received in depth explanations on what all pieces of equipment are needed for and on how they can be used. Also, we were informed about to avoid the potential causes of damage that can occur to the equipment by the teacher as he demonstrated how to use the equipment in a correct manner. Furthermore, key terminology such as 3 point lighting, boxhead and flash kits were taught to us within the lesson.

From the induction, I learned that there are different features on the cameras that will be used and they are:

- The F-Stop
- ISO 100 or 200
- White Balance

I have not finished editing my work yet.

Magazine Newsstand Task.

                                                                                                                                                 

One thing I noticed when looking at the different music magazines at the news-stand was that the music magazine titles were all very unique to their specific music genres within the magazines. Furthermore, it was noticeable that the two main locations of the titles on the magazines were either on the top left hand corner of the magazines or the top centre of the magazines. The majority of titles were displayed in a very large and bold way making the titles extremely noticeable and eye catchy. In further detail, almost all of the magazine front covers are content full meaning they have very few empty spaces on the front cover. Also, with regards to cover lines and images, it was clear that most of the magazine front covers contained an average of eight cover lines with one main enlarged image placed at the centre of the magazine. Moreover, as you can see in the images, the most popular magazines are placed at the front of the news-stand hence allowing shoppers to visualise the full font covers of the popular magazine,whilst, on the other hand, the less popular magazines are placed at the back of the news-stand meaning shoppers can only only see the titles, mastheads and teasers of the less popular magazines.

Magazine Distribution Methods:

- Sale or Return: The distributor gives a set number of magazines to outlets (e.g. 20), if less than what is given out sells (e.g. 15), the remaining magazines (e.g. 5) will be returned.

- Online Publishing: This consists of E-Zines which look like magazines but can be accessed on the internet. Also, this consists of online magazine subscriptions as well as subscribing to iPad and Kindle versions of a magazine, hence meaning the physical copy is replaced. Furthermore, it includes magazine advertisements on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

- Direct Distribution: This is when the magazines are given out for free to all members of the target audience.

- Postal Subscription: This is when people pay to receive weekly or monthly magazines posted to their house. This has been a very effective distribution method as it saves people's time due to the fact that they do not have to leave their houses and most people prefer to stay at home.

What I Done During The Lesson.

In today's lesson, I practised text manipulation on Adobe Illustrator in order to gain more of an understanding on the software, hence meaning I will be able to produce a really good masthead for my own original magazine creation.

Magazine Proposal

Magazine Proposal

Magazine Title:

The name of my magazine will be Vibez. I have chosen this to be the title of my magazine due to the fact that the word Vibez within the chosen title correlates with the two specific genres that I have chosen to base my magazine on as the genres provide a certain vibe to the audience.

Chosen Music Genre(s):

With regards to my music genre, I would like to use the following genres of Rap and R&B within my magazine. However the main reason for me choosing these genres is due to the fact that both Rap and R&B music is in extremely high demand by the vast majority of individuals as both genres provide the audience with a happy and lively vibe.

Design Features:

My masthead will supposedly match my chosen colour scheme and will include two letters which are S and F, standing for sooth flow. I don’t want my masthead to be simple as I feel that having a simple masthead may make my magazines front cover look boring, so it will have to be eye-catching. Also, the lettering will be a suitable size (size 8 or size 9) and will be a suitable colour from my chosen colour scheme. Furthermore, I have decided that my colour scheme will be blue, dark grey and light grey as they are all very simple but exciting colours.

Magazine Publisher:

After some hard thought, I have come to the decision that Bauer Media will be the publisher of my magazine. Initially, I was thinking of Townsquare Media being the publisher of my magazine but I decided to change to Bauer Media as they are very well known within the UK, which is where my magazine will primarily be distributed. Furthermore, Bauer Media have been very successful within the music magazine industry having published ‘Kerrang!’ magazine for many years.

Target Audience:

The target audience of my magazine will be both males and females aged 16-25. The reasoning behind my chosen target audience is that both males & females really enjoy listening to R&B and Rap music. Furthermore, I have chosen the age group of 16-25 due to the fact that it has been statistically proven that the average person is mainly interested in R&B and Rap music from 16-25. In addition, I feel as if the target audience will mainly be lower and middle class people as upper class people are rich and don’t usually show interests in my chosen music genres.

Content to Include:

Two examples of artists that I may include within my magazine are Bryson Tiller and Meek Mill. This is because both artists represent my chosen genres extremely well. In further detail, Bryson Tiller is an up and coming R&B artist who has already produced a fantastic debut album called ‘Trap Soul’ recently, whilst, Meek Mill has been in the rap game since a teenager looking for a way out of the gang life and has been producing top quality rap songs such as ‘Monster’ and ‘Ready or Not’.

Also, I will include a few free gifts within the magazine that act as a thank you gift to all members of the target audience that decide to purchase my magazine.

Moreover, my aim is include things within my magazine and to do things to my magazine in order to make it different from magazines that have already been published. An example of something I could do to make it different is including random up to date mix tape CD’s in the magazines at no extra cost. This would make my magazine unique and would also help the income received from the sales of my magazine massively.

Ideas From My Case Studies.

The case studies that I chose to analyse contained some really good ideas. However, I feel that the XXL magazine contained a lot more ideas as I could relate to the genres represented within the magazine in a better way than I could with the Kerrang magazine. 

The two main things that I liked on the front cover of the XXL magazine was the colour scheme used and the image used. These things gave me fantastic ideas as they illustrated the fact that I could be a lot more flexible in selecting both a colour scheme and an image for my front cover within the future.

Referring to the Kerrang magazine's front cover, there was only one main thing on the front cover that I liked and it was the image. The image was very powerful and conveyed/portrayed a strong meaning.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

Self-Evaluation:

The main thing that I wanted to achieve when working on my preliminary task was to produce a decent front cover and contents page for my college magazine. The reason for me wanting to achieve this is that I wanted to aim for a professional-like production regarding both the front cover and contents page due to the fact that I wanted to give myself a challenge. I wanted to achieve this by using both Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign in order to manipulate multiple images and text variations so that I could attempt to produce a good front cover and contents page.

There are both many good things and many bad things within the front cover and contents page I have produced. With regards to the front cover, the good things are that I stuck to a simple colour scheme and I included all of the vital/important things in which a front cover of a magazine should have. A few examples of these things are cover lines, a skyline, a flash puff, a barcode, a price, an image and a masthead. However the bad things with the front cover include me not including a date and not laying out the text & the image appropriately. On the other hand, referring to my contents page, the good things are that the contents page is very well laid out, it looks professional and I have included all of the necessary information in which a contents page needs. However the bad thing about my contents page is that I only included two images on the page when there should have been a minimum of three images.

Others think that between my front cover and my contents page, the contents page is the better production. They have said that this is because my contents page looks very professional and appealing to members of the target audience due to the colour (green) within the images I used connoting happiness, whilst my front cover is quite dull and poorly laid out hence making it look much less professional than my contents page.

My three main points for improvement are:

1.      To improve the overall layout of my front cover by putting things on the front cover in appropriate places so that the front cover will look more professional and more appealing to the audience.

2.      To add more content to the front cover by filling up unused spaces with more puff flashes and more cover lines. This will enhance the look of my front cover and will make it look less boring & more exciting.

3.      To add an extra image or two to my contents page. Although this would mean that I have to rearrange my contents page, it would result in more images correlating with the information that is already provided within the contents page.

Work In Progress

In today's lesson I struggled to complete my initial idea of remaking my contents page on InDesign instead of Photoshop due to the fact that the image manipulation on InDesign was playing up every time I wanted to insert an image onto the document. This means that I now have to attempt to do it again at home later on.

Work In Progress

In today's lesson, having found out that the contents page for my college magazine had to be created on in design, I tried to re-create the one that I had already made on Photoshop.

Preliminary Task: Contents Page

Preliminary Task: Front Cover

Work in Class

Today, during the lesson I took some pictures that will feature in my college magazine, they will be uploaded at a later date.

Practice Creating a Music Magazine Front Cover.

This is the final creation of my practice with using photoshop today for creating a magazine front cover.

During my photoshop practice, I learnt quite a few things I did not know before. These new things consist of using the eraser tool both efficiently and effectively and learning how to use the ruler tool efficiently and effectively.

Audience and Institution of XXL magazine. Part 4.

The audience for XXL magazine are people that are interested in Rap, R&B and Hip-Hop music. This is due to the fact that the magazine is primarily based on Rap, R&B and Hip-Hop music and is designed for people who have a strong passion for at least one, if not all of those specific genres.

Townsquare media are the people that produce XXL magazine on a weekly basis. Townsquare media, just like Bauer media, also have cross-media interests of radio stations and have 310 radio stations to their name. They also have over 325 local companion websites with streaming capabilities.

Townsquare media have also branded a wide variety of websites based on many different genres of music.

Textual Analysis of XXL magazine. Part 3.

Conventions of page layout:

• The text is set out in a Q&A format. This means the text within the DPS is more like an interview than an article.
• There is a strong relationship between the text and images included due to the fact that the image strongly relates to what is being said within the text. This is due to the fact that the image includes Bobby Shmurda and the text is about Bobby Shmurda.
• The text is broken down in to four individual columns on the right page of the DPS. At the centre of the four columns there is a caption that is very big and bold stating 'what's goin' on' which takes up some column space within the centre of the right page within the DPS.
• Referring to alignment, the arrangement of the text within a straight line is very good due to the fact that the text is laid out into four individual columns.
• There is a drop cap used within the text. It it used for the letter 'O' within the first word of the article in order to catch the audiences eye and make them more interested in the article.

Language:

• The mode of address is informal as there are quite a few phrases within the Q&A that are informal. An example of this is where Bobby Shmurda says 'My support system is my fans'.
• The structure of the text is in Q&A as questions are being asked within the text and are then followed up by answers. However the first quarter of the text is not in the structure of a Q&A.
• The tone within the DPS is positive reflecting Bobby Shmurda's positive way of thinking due to being in jail at this current moment.

Genre:

• The genre of rap music is portrayed within this DPS due to the fact that Boby Shmurda specialises in rap music and is speaking about the love he gets in jail because of his songs within the text.

Textual Analysis of XXL magazine. Part 2.

Image:

• The image within the first contents page is an extreme long shot due to the fact that you can see all of the individuals full bodies within the image whilst the image within the second contents page is a long shot due to the fact that you can see the woman's entire body.
• The lighting within both images on both content pages is ambient lighting due to the fat that the images are taken with light already present at the scene.
• In the image on the first contents page all of the costumes are modern 21st century outfits in which individuals within society, particularly in America, like to wear on a day to day basis. On the other hand, in the image on the second contents page the costume is a seductive summer dress in which a wide variety of females like to wear during the summer.

Conventions of page:

• The font choices are very similar on both content pages due to the fact that two different fonts are used on both pages.
• The XXL masthead is used on both content pages and is placed in the top right hand corner of both content pages.
• On both content pages teasers are used a lot in order to attract the members of the target audience to the main articles based on the specific teasers.
• The information on both content pages are located on the left hand side of the pages in order to allow space for the images.
• On the left margin of the first contents page, the teasers include the main topics within the magazine of: year-end report card, it's goin' down, make a scene, like my style, what's goin' on and on that level.
• Furthermore, on the left margin of the second contents page, the teasers include the main topics within the magazine of: editorial, 60, eye candy, x-rated and doin' lines.

Genre:

• The genres of rap, R&B and Hip-Hop are portrayed within both content pages due to the fact that the information within both content pages are based on artists that specialise within those specific genres.

Textual Analysis of XXL magazine. Part 1.

Image:

• The image on the front cover of XXL magazine is an extreme long shot due to the fact that you can see the full bodies of all ten people within the image.
• The lighting within the image is ambient lighting due to the fact due to the fact that the picture looks natural and looks as if it was taken with light that was already present at the scene.
• There are a wide variety of costumes within the image. All of the costumes included are modern 21st century outfits in which individuals within society, particularly in America, like to wear on a day to day basis.
• The props included within the image include the jewellery that individuals within the image are wearing.
• The denotation of the image is ten young music artists taking a picture together because of their recent success.
• The connotation of the image is that the ten individuals within the image are the best prospects within the music industry at this current moment.

Conventions of page layout:

• The masthead on the front cover is located in the top right hand corner of the front cover. It is bold and it is in the colours of white and red.
• There is one main font used within the front cover of the magazine. The font is extremely noticeable due to the fact that it is very wild-like and is scattered all over the front cover.
• There are quite a few cover lines on the right hand side of the front cover although they are hard to notice due to the font.
• The image and text have a clear relationship. This is due to the fact that there are ten up and coming new artists within the image whilst the text at the bottom of the front cover states '2015's XXL freshman class built to win'.

Genre:

• The genres portrayed from the front cover of XXL magazine consist of Rap, R&B and Hip-Hop due to the fact that the artists within the image all specialise within these music genres.

Audience and Institution of Kerrang magazine. Part 4.

The audience for Kerrang magazine are people that interested in Rock music. This is due to the fact that the magazine is primarily based on Rock music and is designed for people who have interests within Rock music.

Bauer Media Group are the people who publish Kerrang on a weekly basis. They have cross-media interests of radio stations and have branded 62 radio stations including Kerrang, Kiss, Heat and many more popular radio stations.

Bauer Media Group also publish an extremely large amount of magazines including the world's leading classic motorcycling monthly magazine called Classic Bike.

Textual Analysis of Kerrang magazine. Part 3.

Conventions of page layout:

• Within this DPS of the magazine, there are two main fonts used.
• There are six different columns within the DPS although there is an image on the bottom left hand corner of the left page which takes up quite a lot of the space that would be required for the second and third columns.
• Referring to alignment, the arrangement of the text within a straight line is very good due to the fact that the text is laid out in columns.
• There is a pull quote within the DPS which states 'I was with the best musicians in the world!'
• The text is set out in a Q&A format. This means the text within the DPS is more like an interview than an article.
• There is a strong relationship between the text and images included due to the fact that some of the images strongly relate to what is being said within the text. An example of this would be the text stating 'I'm a Los Angeles punk-rocker' linking with the first image of a a man wearing all black holding up a sign saying 'American Idiot'.

Language: 

• The mode of address within the DPS is formal due to the fact that the text makes clear sense and include 100% formal language.
• The structure of the text is in Q&A as questions are being asked within the text and are then followed up by answers.
• The tone within the DPS is happy which also reflects the mood.

Genre:

• The genre of Rock music is portrayed within the DPS due to the fact that the text is based around Rock music.

Textual Analysis of Kerrang magazine. Part 2.

Image:

• The shot type of the image within the contents page is a medium long shot as you can see the man's entire body apart from the lower half of his legs.
• The lighting within the image is reflected light due to the fact that you can see the light is within the image is dim hence illustrating that the original light source had reflected off of the red background.
• The costume within the image is very old fashioned and is tailored to the man's body.
• The make-up used within the image is black eye-liner.

Conventions of page layout:

• The font choices used within the contents page consist of two different fonts.
• The information included on the contents page is placed on the right margin of the page in order to allow space for the image to be on the contents page.
• A text box is used on the top right hand corner of the content which includes information based on Kerrang's yearly Rock Confessions issue.
• On the right margin of the contents page, the information included consists of News, Features, Posters, Lives, Reviews and Gigs.
• There is a relationship within the image and the text within the text box. This is because the information within the text box includes bands telling Kerrang things they usually wouldn't tell anyone else hence leading me to assuming the image includes a band member that has told Kerrang that he likes to dress up in an old fashioned way.

Genre:

• The genre of Rock music is portrayed within the contents page due to many reasons. One of which include the fact that a lot of people, especially that are in to Rock music tend to wear make up which is illustrated within the image of the contents page.
• However, the costume included within the image may suggest otherwise due to the fact the the clothes the man is wearing look smart and non rock-like.

Textual Analysis of Kerrang magazine. Part 1.

Image:

• With Regards to framing, the image is taken so that the attention can be focused on the fact that the man within the image looks like a person that is associated with Rock music as his body language would suggest so.
• The main image of the front page is a medium close up shot as you can see the top half of his body.
• The lighting within the image is Ambient lighting as the image lighting appears to be natural.
• The image contains few props, but the props that are included within the picture are bracelets and black earrings.
• The denotation of the image is a white man with tattoos that has water dripping off of his body with his arms half the way up.
• The connotation of this image is that listening to Rock music can make you as if your sins are getting washed away and your soul is being cleansed.

Conventions of page layout:

• The masthead used for the front cover of this magazine contains the word 'KERRANG!' and is made to be extremely bold and red.
• The font choices for the front cover differentiate slightly but there are a maximum of three fonts present on the front page.
• There is one cover line located on left hand side of the front cover towards the top of the magazine that consists of exclusive information.
• The front cover includes a flash puff on the right hand side of the cover illustrating the fact that there are 6 mega posters within the magazine. 

Genre:

• The genre of Rock music is portrayed within the front cover as there are many elements of the front cover that refer or relate to rock music.

College Magazine Similarities and Differences to Music Magazines

This College Magazine front cover is similar to music Magazine front covers as it includes:
- A Masthead (Title of the magazine)
- A Star Image (The main image on the front cover of a magazine) 
- QR Code (Barcode on the magazine which is needed in order for the magazine to be purchased)
- Flash Puff ( Small circular item usually placed in the top right hand corner of the magazine)
- Price (How much the magazine costs)
- Date (The release date of the magazine)
- Cover lines (Information on the front cover of the magazine)
- Colour Scheme (Dark Green, Light Green and Blue)
- Free Gifts (Gifts available within the magazine such as the lunch vouchers, concert tickets and timetables)

This College Magazine front cover is different to music Magazine front covers as it:
- Doesn't look professional
- Doesn't contain any references to music on the front cover
- Doesn't include a recognisable musician as its star image
- Needs a clear colour scheme (Two different tones of green were used)

Kefentse's Timeline

Induction Assignment: Article

Introduction to My Blog

Hey, my name is Kefentse Omari Selah and this is where I will be posting all of my Media work.