production log

Today I started making my front cover of my magazine, I used adobe photoshop and adobe illustrator. I used adobe illustrator for the 3d effect on my front cover.

production log

Today I took pictures of the main artist of my magazine at the city learning centre. I took as many images as possible so that i could have a variety of images. I Only took pictures for the front cover so I will I am to take pictures for the rest of my magazine some other time.

First draft of my magazine cover

This is the first draft of my magazine cover I have chosen a name for my magazine but as I go along I may decide to change the name. The name I have chosen is 'Sreet Ent'. I have chosen this name as I feel that the name fits in with the genre of my magazine. As you can see my first draft has the typical conventions of a music magazine, for example it includes a barcode, date of issue, issue number and a large area for a main image. This first draft look quite plain as I aim to produce more drafts and develop a lot more ideas.

Questionnaire Results

I gathered these results from my questionnaire and selected a few questions so that i could input the data into a chart.

My Questionnaire

This is my questionnaire; I gave it out to people between the ages of 14 and 20. My questionnaire included 10 questions with most of the questions being closed questions so that I could transfer the data into a graph/chart and it would be quicker for my target audience to fill in. The questionnaire allowed me to get a greater understanding of peoples tastes and what the enjoy most about magazines. The results from my magazine will aid me in what features I will include in my magazine and what features will be included to allow my magazine to be both unique and appealing to the younger generation.

Textual Analysis Of Double Page Spread

This is a double page spread from an NME magazine, in which the British pop/rock artist Lilly Allen is being interviewed. In this double page spread Lilly Allen is represented as a stereotypical rock star. This is shown through the use of dark makeup around the eyes and jet-black hair. The type of clothing she is wearing is associated with rock rather than pop as it is not colorful. The mise en scene of this image allows us to have an understanding of what type of magazine this is. Lilly Allen is also posing in an unusual way, her body language suggests that she doesn’t care; this is the stereotypical attitude of a rocker. Although it looks like she doesn’t care, there is still direct address as she is looking at the audience.

This double page spread has unconventional features. One of the unconventional features is that it only has one image. The image is very large as it takes up a whole page. This could have been made to show the audience that Lilly Allen is very important. NME have also made the double page spread look a lot like a poster. This could have been deliberate, as it will attract their audience to read it. The big image mean that the interview is limited to a small amount of space therefore it may attract a lot of readers as too much information could get boring. The title of the magazine looks very attractive as it the text is laid out in blocks. The double page spread is very visual with large images to take up space. There is probably more of the interview on the next page, if so this is a very good way to lie out a double page spread, as it is very visually entertaining. This double page also has conventional features as the text is laid out in columns; this is seen in every professional double page spread, making the text easier to read.

Another conventional feature of the magazine is that it has a direct mode of address. This is very important, as the correct mode of address will keep the audience reading. The text has to shut the audience preferences and should be writing n a way that the target audience can read. For example if a pop magazine interviews were writing as if it were to be in a Hip-hop magazine a lot of the audience would find it hard to understand therefore the magazine will loose a lot of their target audience.

This double page spread is also conventional as it has a floating quote. The floating quote in this magazine is “People think I’m an attention seeker, but I’m just honest” this a very effective quote as it what an artist would say as they say what every they want to say. The quote also allows the audience to know a bit more about the person the magazine is interviewing. In this double page spread the quote is at the top of the interview, which takes up a lot of space. This is very unusual as quotes tend to a lot smaller than the main image taking little space. The use of colors in this magazine is very limited to about three colors white, black and red. These are very dull colors and there aren’t any bright colors to attract the young audience.

Overall I think that the magazines unconventional features overweigh the conventional aspects. The use of the layout looks attractive and looks as if it will attract the target audience.

Textual Analysis Of Double Page Spread

This is a double page spread from Karrang magazine. From looking at this magazine you can come to an assumption that it is a rock magazine. This magazine looks very convention in terms of the use of colours. Black and red are strong bold colours, these colours are usually seen with rockers as they have dark hair and wear dark makeup such as eyeliner. This title of this article is “were being the best MCR we can be” this suggest that they are doing there best whether you like it or not. This title is very effective as this is the type of attitude of a stereotypical rock star. The colour red in the title could have connotations of blood, suggesting that they put their blood, sweat and tears in their music.

The article is presented in columns making it look conventional and professional. There are a lot of images on both pages. These images take up most of the space so there is a limited amount of text, although there is a limited amount of text on this page there is probably a whole page filled with questions and answers on the next page. The pictures subvert typical conventions as none of the images are giving direct address; none of the images are looking at the audience. This is very common in most rock magazine as this represents their attitudes toward rock.

The title of the magazine is also a floating quote. This is conventional in most double page spreads as it gives an insight of the type of people they are interviewing. The aim of floating quotes is to attract the audience so they have to be interesting to be successful in attracting the audience. In spite of this floating quote is unconventional as it takes up a lot of space in the magazine. It is also unconventional as it is the titles of the magazine you wont see this in a lot of magazines.

Overall I think that this magazine subverts a lot of conventions. Without the direct mode of address less people will feel involved whilst reading. This could be good for the readers that understand the rock star stereotype and attitudes to life.