What Have I Learnt?

What I have learnt since my preliminary task is;

• How to effectively use Corel paint shop pro to edit images, and to create the pages for my magazine
• How to add a glow to text- The masthead and anchorage text on my front page
• How to use my DSLR to take professional-looking photos
• How to use the space on my front page more effectively, to enlarge text/images to fill the empty spaces
• How to use a colour scheme more effectively and how to change some colours but to still stay within the theme

Who would Publish my Magazine?

The media institution who would market and distribute my magazine would perhaps be Bauer Media- they reach over nineteen million adults in the UK across various media types, and owns over eighty influential media brands such as Heat, Kiss100, Kerrang!, and Q. I would choose this media owner because Bauer is renowned for being extremely popular and successful; because of the well known brand, my magazine would have a fair chance at being well published and widely distributed-increasing the magazine’s change of success.

Target Audience

Who would buy my magazine?

The audience which my magazine would appeal to would be a young audience of between 14 and 25, who are into the dance/pop/rnb music scene, because that is the sort of music I would include in my magazine. Both male and female audiences would buy this magazine as it incorporates a mix of interests for both men and woman, so as to appeal to a wider audience of both sexes. 

Skills

The skills I have learnt through photoshop and photography when creating my music magazine are;

·        How to sharpen an image, it appears to bring out detail that was not there before, whereas what it actually does is emphasise the edges and make them easier for the eye to pick out, making the image seem sharper- no new details are actually brought out.

·        How to enhance the skin tone so there are fewer blemishes and imperfections so the image looks more professional, because all magazines use photoshop to enhance their image so it will look more like a professional magazine.

·        How to make the mise-en-scene minimalist and contrasting in colour to the focus of the image, so the background is easier  to cut out and edit later

Analysing my Music Magazine- Double Page Spread

This image is of my double page spread for my music magazine, "Bass".

The theme of the magazine being grey, white and yellow is slightly altered on these pages, in the way that the yellow hass been replaced with baby pink so it is more relevant to the feature- in particular the artist that the article is about. I decided to call my artist "Ems" which is a nickname for my model's actual name- Emily. I wrote her name in pink in the same font as the masthead on the front cover (platinum beat btn) which contrasts to the white background and catches the eye. The image on the first page of the double page spread is a full length one of Ems standing side on but looking at the camera, with one knee bent behind her. I dressed my model in an ankle-length plain beige jumpsuit and brown high heels, but added splashes with her jewellry- I added a lot of multi-coloured bracelets, necklaces and earrings, and bright lipstick. She wore her hair straight and smooth to add some glamour. I dressed Ems in this way because the look I wanted to create was one of a young, modern, down to earth girl, so the readers can relate to her and be more inclined to buy the magazine. I cut out the background of the original image on Corel photoshop X2 and then added a block of colour behind the image at an angle, which made it stand out against the white background and added an element of colour to the page. The introduction to the interview wraps around the image, to the left, and is written in the same alternative font I used on the front cover, and in grey, so as to carry the theme on into the magazine. On the facing page, I used four images, three down the centre of the page and one at the bottom. The three in the middle are at angles to each other and have a border in the same pink colour as the block background on the opposite page. These three are all images which shows a fun side to Ems. The image at the bottom was cut from one of the central images, it shows just her eyes, and I have included the grey background which makes it appear as though Ems is looking through blinds or a letterbox. This shows a misschevious side and is eye-catching and interesting for the reader. I chose to use a variety of images in the double page spread so I could create a good balance between text and pictures, so there was more visual effects to the feature. The interview itself flows around both sides of the central images and the text wraps around the pictures. The interviewer's text is in the same grey as the introduction and Ems' text is in the same pink as the page title and other pink features, in order to co-ordinate with the theme, and to make reading the interview simpler for the reader, also to make sure the words stand out from the white background. The font is simple and easy to read. I think it works well as a double page spread because it is easy to read, with a good balance of text and images, with different fonts and colours which attract the eye.

Analysing my Music Magazine- advertisement

I decided to create an 'advert' for the page before the contents page in my magazine, because professional magazines often include advertisements. I chose to advertise a fragrance from (made up) brand "Belle Femme" which means "beautiful woman" so it is clear that the fragrance is for women. The advert is very simple; just an image I took of of grass in the sun. following on from the theme of the image, I called the fragrance "spring" which I wrote in a font called "gigi", in white which is a very fresh, spring colour. I used the same font for the words at the bottom, which just describe the advert and what brand has made the fragrance.

Analysing my Music Magazine- front cover

The image below is of the front cover of my music magazine:

I called my magazine 'Bass', because there is a lot of bass in the Dance music genre, and I wanted to include dance music into my magazine because it was popular in the questionnaire.

From doing research on various current music magazines and concluding that they often use plain backgrounds so a bright coloured font would stand out, I decided to use a plain grey background, and two bright colours; yellow and white. For the masthead and important wording such as ‘Ems’, ‘Plus!’ and ‘DJ Dave’s’, I used a bright yellow font called “Platinum beat btn” and all the other text such as the slogan, the issue number and price, the musical symbol, the anchorage text for the central image, the text under ‘Plus!’ and ‘DJ Dave’s’ are in a white font called “iguana lover btn”. I did this so that all the text ties in with the same theme and can link together the main text and subtext. The only grey writing was on the yellow strip, where the yellow or white font would not stand out, but its being grey, makes it tie in with the theme.

  I gave the masthead a white glow, so it stands out and is eye catching for the buyer, with a vibrant, urban look. The only other text I used a glow for was ‘Ems’ because after the masthead, it is the most important word on the front cover, being the main feature.

  I decided on my slogan being “On-the-beat music news” because it gives the feeling of the magazine being up-to-date and fresh, because on-the-beat is referring to a music beat, and also it means to be current.

  My main image is of the pop star ‘Ems’, and is anchored by her name in yellow, and the words “exclusive interview with the new rising star”. These words aim to entice the buyer, because ‘exclusive’ is an important word in media, meaning no other magazine (or radio/tv channel etc.) has had this interview, therefore this is the only magazine you can buy to read this interview. The image is of Ems looking straight at the camera, which suggests honesty, but her smile is closed, implying a certain amount of information might be withheld. She has her hand on her hip which suggests attitude, which I tried to incorporate into my magazine.

  The image of ‘DJ Dave’ is anchored by the text explaining he has been in rehab, and the border and other rectangles surrounding this image are made to have a psychedelic-look, relating to the fact that he went to rehab to cure his drug-addiction- drugs make you spaced out, and the angle of the picture makes it seem as though DJ Dave is spiralling downwards, because of his addiction.

   The strip of yellow at an angle at the bottom of the page stands out against the grey background to catch the buyer’s eye. The text being in capitals makes the words stand out, and because the posters are free, the buyer is more inclined to purchase the magazine because they don’t have to pay extra.