Magazine Brainstorm
Following analysing “Mojo” I was assigned to our practical music magazine group and together we had to decide and agree on what genre of music we should focus on for our magazine.
We were given an A2 piece of paper to construct a diagram where we could further elaborate on our ideas.
It was difficult to finally decide what the name of our magazine should be between "Explosion" and "BIG BANG." In the end we thought that “BIGBANG!” would be more appropriate as it complements our concept of new arising artists, instead of focusing on already established producers and artists “BIGBANG!” will focus on artists centrally in the UK and the US however more dedicated to the UK. We believed we all like the genres of Hip Hop and R “N” B and as they can be easily fused together, we then brainstormed ideas for what should be featured within the magazine, headlines, the straplines and what we would offer as graphics to entice potential buyers.
“BIGBANG!” will include reviews and opinions on new tracks, upcoming special appearances and sample tracks.
We think that “BIGBANG!” will appeal to anyone 16+ especially to purist music fans that are genuinely interested and love Hip Hop and R “N” B.
Also a huge selling point would be in-depth interviews with the upcoming artist/s, stating their purpose, ambitions and what they had done to be recognised. Also we plan to have a Q&A interview format section in which “BIGBANG!” will take the most interesting questions posed by readers.
Were also thinking we can include free sample track of whoever our main attraction is with every copy and to accompany that would be the lyrics to the track.
We then went into the computer room in which we used apple imacs to learn how to use the basics for adobe Photoshop; this is crucial for making the front cover of the magazine.
Monday, 20 October 2008
my first blog
As a class we analysed a front cover of a 80’s era magazine called 'Hip Hop' which was arguably established as one of the first Hip Hop magazines for the UK, we looked what the front cover appeals to what target audience it was being directed at.
As a smaller group within the class we analysed the front cover of a magazine called Mojo.
We then analysed the front cover of the magazine by looking at the masthead, layout, main cover line and strapline, graphics and cover line. The magazine that my group looked at was 'Mojo.'
The genre of the magazine was rock, which was dedicated to hardcore rocks fans of both music, behavioural antics and stereotypes. The main image of the magazine was of a band in a pose, which covered the magazine’s title which mildly suggests that the band is more the defining aspect of the issue than the name of the magazine. Also the colours were very dark mainly black and we looked at the features on the front cover such as the cover line, main cover lines and why they are so vital in the layout of a failing and successful magazine.
As a smaller group within the class we analysed the front cover of a magazine called Mojo.
We then analysed the front cover of the magazine by looking at the masthead, layout, main cover line and strapline, graphics and cover line. The magazine that my group looked at was 'Mojo.'
The genre of the magazine was rock, which was dedicated to hardcore rocks fans of both music, behavioural antics and stereotypes. The main image of the magazine was of a band in a pose, which covered the magazine’s title which mildly suggests that the band is more the defining aspect of the issue than the name of the magazine. Also the colours were very dark mainly black and we looked at the features on the front cover such as the cover line, main cover lines and why they are so vital in the layout of a failing and successful magazine.
Thursday, 16 October 2008
Magazine Evaluation - Ola Akinbolade
My group consisted of four people, which was me (Ola), Teddy, James and David. As a group the first thing we tried to tackle was deciding a suitable name for our magazine, a name that would reflect what we wanted our magazine to be about. We came up with loads of different names for the magazine such as ‘A*’ and ‘EGG’, but we all agreed to go with ‘Big Bang’ as this reflected what our magazine was all about (new artists/talent breaking into the mainstream). Our magazine focuses on new up and coming artists/talent, both here in the United Kingdom and in the United States. After this we had to decide what type of genre our magazine would focus on, our initial idea was to do a Rock, Hip-Hop, R n’ B, and Funky-House magazine, but we later on decided that we were trying to target a huge market and would therefore not be able to cater to them all. So we scaled down the genres of music that the magazine would set focus upon, and limited it from Rock, Hip-Hop, R n’ B and Funky-House to just Hip-Hop and R n’ B (these two music genres are closely linked with each other).
Whilst doing my magazine front cover I decided to use colours that would stand out on the shop shelves, stand out from other magazines, be very eye catching, be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, to appeal to both males and females, and to emphasise certain points. The ways in which I fulfilled these specifications are as follows:
The colour of my background had to be bright so I picked a bright light-blue, this colour was perfect as it could appeal to both males and females. The ways in which I used colours emphasise certain points was by; using contrasting colours to the rest of the text for example the price was written in red and the names of the main artists were written in yellow or pink with a bigger font size or different font all together.
The magazine logo was half white and half black, it was written in the font ‘cracked’, and was obviously of the largest font. I decided to have the logo behind the image of the main star “O.Dot” as I think the stars on the front cover sell magazines and not necessarily title.
The ways in which my magazine matches the forms and conventions of real magazines are that it has cover lines, a main cover line, banner, mode of address, masthead, main cover image, bar code, price and issue date.
The ways in which my magazine represents social groups is the fact that everybody on the front cover is quite young, and of ethnic minority; this was done for realism as most Hip-Hop and R n’ B artists are of ethnic minority, though their fan-base may be more diverse.
The type of media institutions that could potentially distribute my music magazine cover are big chain stores such as ‘Borders’, ‘WHSmith’, it could also be advertised through businesses such as Choice FM and MTV Base as they are often associated as helping up and coming artists/talents make it into the mainstream, finally it could also be distributed through small businesses such as corner shops. I would also like to add that these shops would only be the branches in urban areas/major cities such as: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. The reason for this is that our target market is young people aged from sixteen to early twenties, and the fact that most of the teenagers living in rural areas are less likely to listen to this type of music strongly due to the lack of diversity in that part of the population, and the simple fact that their lifestyles are different; they would be more likely to go horse riding instead of staying at home surfing the Internet and or maybe that their general taste of music is different e.g. they may be more interested in classical music than what we have to offer in our magazine (Hip-Hop and R n’ B).
The ways in which I attracted consumers was by enticing them with incentives such as competitions giving consumers a chance to win concert tickets to see the main headliner “O.Dot”, a large main cover image to make sure that any potential consumers see the headlining artist, bright colours to help emphasise information such as the price.
Through the process of developing and creating my magazine front cover I learnt how to use software that was new to me such as Adobe Photoshop. Whilst using Adobe Photoshop I learnt how to cut images out from backgrounds and how to place different layers that contained images and text. Also whilst making my magazine front cover I learnt how to use hardware such as the Apple Mac and it’s software. I learnt how to use the mouse which is very different to what I am accustom to; I had to adjust to using a mouse with one click rather than two. After this I learnt how to use the Apple Mac’s internet ’Safari’ which I found difficult at first because I was only familiar with Microsoft’s ‘Internet Explorer’. The final thing that I learnt whilst constructing my magazine front cover was how to take professional photographs using a digital camera, I leant that the camera must be portrait not landscape and that the background must be contrasting to what the person in the photograph is wearing as this could make cutting them out in Photoshop a very difficult task.
If I was to make another front cover what I would do differently are as follows: I would have a main cover image with the person in the image looking directly at the camera to create a false sense of connection between the artist and the consumer, I would use boxed text to help information stand out more, I would use graphics to highlight special offers; such as the price, and a strapline to help promote a website.
Whilst doing my magazine front cover I decided to use colours that would stand out on the shop shelves, stand out from other magazines, be very eye catching, be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, to appeal to both males and females, and to emphasise certain points. The ways in which I fulfilled these specifications are as follows:
The colour of my background had to be bright so I picked a bright light-blue, this colour was perfect as it could appeal to both males and females. The ways in which I used colours emphasise certain points was by; using contrasting colours to the rest of the text for example the price was written in red and the names of the main artists were written in yellow or pink with a bigger font size or different font all together.
The magazine logo was half white and half black, it was written in the font ‘cracked’, and was obviously of the largest font. I decided to have the logo behind the image of the main star “O.Dot” as I think the stars on the front cover sell magazines and not necessarily title.
The ways in which my magazine matches the forms and conventions of real magazines are that it has cover lines, a main cover line, banner, mode of address, masthead, main cover image, bar code, price and issue date.
The ways in which my magazine represents social groups is the fact that everybody on the front cover is quite young, and of ethnic minority; this was done for realism as most Hip-Hop and R n’ B artists are of ethnic minority, though their fan-base may be more diverse.
The type of media institutions that could potentially distribute my music magazine cover are big chain stores such as ‘Borders’, ‘WHSmith’, it could also be advertised through businesses such as Choice FM and MTV Base as they are often associated as helping up and coming artists/talents make it into the mainstream, finally it could also be distributed through small businesses such as corner shops. I would also like to add that these shops would only be the branches in urban areas/major cities such as: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. The reason for this is that our target market is young people aged from sixteen to early twenties, and the fact that most of the teenagers living in rural areas are less likely to listen to this type of music strongly due to the lack of diversity in that part of the population, and the simple fact that their lifestyles are different; they would be more likely to go horse riding instead of staying at home surfing the Internet and or maybe that their general taste of music is different e.g. they may be more interested in classical music than what we have to offer in our magazine (Hip-Hop and R n’ B).
The ways in which I attracted consumers was by enticing them with incentives such as competitions giving consumers a chance to win concert tickets to see the main headliner “O.Dot”, a large main cover image to make sure that any potential consumers see the headlining artist, bright colours to help emphasise information such as the price.
Through the process of developing and creating my magazine front cover I learnt how to use software that was new to me such as Adobe Photoshop. Whilst using Adobe Photoshop I learnt how to cut images out from backgrounds and how to place different layers that contained images and text. Also whilst making my magazine front cover I learnt how to use hardware such as the Apple Mac and it’s software. I learnt how to use the mouse which is very different to what I am accustom to; I had to adjust to using a mouse with one click rather than two. After this I learnt how to use the Apple Mac’s internet ’Safari’ which I found difficult at first because I was only familiar with Microsoft’s ‘Internet Explorer’. The final thing that I learnt whilst constructing my magazine front cover was how to take professional photographs using a digital camera, I leant that the camera must be portrait not landscape and that the background must be contrasting to what the person in the photograph is wearing as this could make cutting them out in Photoshop a very difficult task.
If I was to make another front cover what I would do differently are as follows: I would have a main cover image with the person in the image looking directly at the camera to create a false sense of connection between the artist and the consumer, I would use boxed text to help information stand out more, I would use graphics to highlight special offers; such as the price, and a strapline to help promote a website.
evaluation TEDDY HAYWARD
My magazine is called big bang! In my group there is me, David, Ola and James. We decided to go with the idea of having a magazine that focuses on upcoming new talent in both the
I decided to not go over the top with my lay out. Looking at other magazines I did not want to over crowd the front cover with other pictures, instead I used one other picture, and that is of another group in my class. I put my strap lines all on the same side, this is so that the cover does not look messy and not thought about. Like most magazines I put the title of the magazine in the top left, and the barcode and price in the bottom right.
I decided to use a mysterious picture as my main background picture, this is for 2 reasons, the first is that it might entice the public to want to find out more about them. And the second is that the artists are supposed to be unknown and this is there big break to the public. It also is due to the genre of the magazine witch is hip-hop.
My cover is aimed at the older teen about 16, young twenty’s, as I do not think a younger teen of say 14 would read this certain magazine. It also is aimed at people that live in the Cities, living in urban areas such as central
Looking at the main picture of the cover we see 3 people standing on stairs, with there hoods up and you are unable to see the top half of there face. This may not attract people that live in the rural areas as they are not used to seeing such sights. The main picture is aimed at the more urban people that know about hip-hop and what surrounds it.
I think that my magazine would sell best in the average corner shop around the cities, this is because it is aimed at average people, and would not sell well in somewhere such as borders or waterstones because the audience that the magazine is aimed at are more likely to be going into local independent shops than big chain branches.
I have aimed the magazine at the older teen 16/17 up to middle 20’s. it would most likely attract more male customers than female, this is mainly because it has nothing of value to the female audience than other magazines can offer, meaning it offers nothing but pure music and what is happening in the music world. Compared to some music magazines that also offer fashion tips and celebrity gossip. However It is not ruling out the female audience completely, as there are a lot of female hip-hop artists that the female audience would be interested in.
My magazine attracts its readers in with a bold heading that can be seen from behind other magazines because it is at the top left, so it is unlikely to be covered up when stacked on a shelf. There is also the main image of 3 hooded figures, this would attract the audience of the magazine. It also has bold strap lines and subheadings that include artists name so the buyer can see what the magazine has to offer at first glance without having to open the magazine and flick through to see what is inside.
When I started this project I knew less than the basics at photo shop, and had hardly ever used a Mac, however I now can use multiple tools on photo shop, such as cropping images, cutting certain parts out using the wand tool. And may more tools that help you manipulate and control the image to make it do what you want it to do. I also know how to use Macs more, as the whole thing was done on an I Mac.
If I ever had to make a magazine cover again, I think it would be a lot easier as now I know the basics I know what I am doing, instead of trial and error. If I could change things, I would have used more, smaller images on the cover, advertising more for the magazine. This would mean it would cover more of what is inside the magazine. If I had to change the idea completely and start from scratch and use a different genre, it would be harder because the genre of hip-hop is a big one, so it is easier to create, however if I was to do say rock or indie, I would have to find a new location and different people for the pictures, at the end of the day I am happy with my front cover, and what I have chosen, the genre, the pictures and the text.
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Magazine evaluation. DAVID LE
my magazine has use most of the convention and forms of a real magazine such as; the title being in the top right of the magazine where most magazine place their title, this is for the audience sake as it allows them to see the title of the magazine easily on the shelf. the other convention that i used in my magazine are things like price tags, bar code, issue number and date that the magazine was publish, all these things are usually on a magazine cover.
i have decided to develop one of my convention to make it different from other magazine title which their title is usually in a horizontal way. i have done this this make my title stand out more from the rest of the other convention. My title "BIGBANG!" is in two colours black and white. Also i have tilted the right side of the title downward a bit. i also added an exclamation mark to make the audience realise that the title is important than anything else.
the social group that my magazine cover represents are of a mixture. as most of the people on my cover are wearing mainly urban clothing such as hoodies and caps, this represent the urban society which are examples of hip hop, r&b and grime. all of these genre are fitted into the urban society which makes it different from other social group. the clothes that are worn by the people in this social group are mainly baggy clothes, hoodies, caps and jewellery.
as you can see on my cover the images are mainly of boys rather than girls, this shows that boys are mainly interested in hip hop music than girls. although i think boys would be more interested in buying this magazine this magazine has two genre to it. the other genre is R&B.
i think this music genre will attract girls into buying this magazine because i think girls are more into R&B music than boys as from experience Hip Hop is more manly as the music is more aggressive when you listen to it than the slow dancing type of R&B music.
the age group that my magazine is really aimed at are young teenagers this is because my cover has image of young artist as this will help attract the young teenagers.
this magazine is really aimed for both sex but it is pulled slightly to the boys side as the images on my cover is mostly of boys or may i say it is all boys. but it may attract girls that are into boys and would buy the magazine to look at the boys and music. the age range are 15-18. this is because some teenagers wouldn't want to waste their money on buy the magazine so this was a case of choosing the right price for the magazine so the target audience woulds be able to buy the magazine with the feeling that it is not a waste of money. the price that my group chose was £2.99.
as the magazine is targeted at young teenagers i have made my cover attractive to them through the graphics on the cover such as writing "free CD" this will attract the audience as when the audience buy this magazine they will get a free CD with it so this mean that they will get more than just a magazine. another thing that i have done to my magazine to attract the audience is my group chose a price that is not too cheap and not too expensive.
my magazine will be more part of a urban institution as the music for my magazine is hip hop and r&b which falls under the urban area. companies such as 'HipHopDX', ' MTV' would be the right company for this magazine as these two companies contribute in hip hop and r&b music. its also talks about all the urban types of music like Rap music and also the lifestyle of these genre which this magazine is based on.
while making my magazine cover i have learnt that the technology has made it more easier as it makes the construction of the cover quicker. i used photoshop on a iMac computer which help me added different things to my cover like parts of an image that i want and not the whole image. the technologies made it more easier as it has all the tools that you need to make you cover. photoshop has made my cover look more realistic than other programs.
i also used a website for blogging. this has help me to plan my design step by step as every planning lesson i wrote on my blog the ideals for my magazine cover and what i did in that lesson. this was to keep track of the work and planning i did. this was also very helpful as you would not forget the things that you done from the previous lesson so it keeps you on track.
if i was to design another magazine front cover i would keep the name of the magazine as i think it is an attractive title. but i would change the background to make it more colourful that represent the type of genre the magazine is of. than it just being dull and dark. i would also add more exciting coverlines to it and different images which represent the urban culture. i would also add a bar at the top of the cover which would advertise some think about the music in the magazine
taking photos
during this lesson we went around the college as a group to take photos for our magazine cover. we went around the college to find backgrounds which would not clash with our clothes. when we did find a background we took different photos of our selves and as a group in many ways. we took photo as a group on the stairs, photos of ourselves in front of a background that did not clash with our clothes, 3 of us behind each over on the stairs, individual photos of everyone in different poses... as we was taking the photos we had to decided did we want the background or we was just going to use the picture of ourselves.
for each photo we had to take atleast 3 to ensure that one of them was to blury or somethink. we took many different poses so that we would have a lot of photos to chose from for our cover. as a group we took many photos from close shots, mid shots, angel shots and low shots.
as we was taking the photos we had to hold the camera the right way so that the photos would be perfect for our cover. we had to hold the camera vertical which makes the photo have less empty spaces. at the end of the lesson we took around 50 photos.
for each photo we had to take atleast 3 to ensure that one of them was to blury or somethink. we took many different poses so that we would have a lot of photos to chose from for our cover. as a group we took many photos from close shots, mid shots, angel shots and low shots.
as we was taking the photos we had to hold the camera the right way so that the photos would be perfect for our cover. we had to hold the camera vertical which makes the photo have less empty spaces. at the end of the lesson we took around 50 photos.
learning how to use photoshop.
during this lesson we was taught how to use photoshop as a class. we was taught basic tools from photoshop such as the magic wand tool, this tool allows you to cut out a particular part from an image eg: the body of a person.. aswell as cutting out a part of an image it can be difficult to cut some parts out as the background can clash with the part that you want to cut out so this will make it more harder. it'll be easier to cut parts out if the background does not clash with the part you want to cut out. as we didnt no how it would work we had a go at cutting a picture of someone out with the background not clashing with it which was easy but then we had a go at cutting out a picture of another person who clash with the background and there was alot of differences which one of them was that it was harder. when i try cutting the person out parts of the person was missing as the those parts was clashing with the background.
we then learnt how to add extra things to the page. we used the circle tool the add extra by cutting out a image in a circle frame. we also use the feather effect to make the image blend in with the background or the image that was already on the page.
during this lesson we also learnt how to add text to the page and how to look at different fonts without looking at them one at a time.
we then learnt how to add extra things to the page. we used the circle tool the add extra by cutting out a image in a circle frame. we also use the feather effect to make the image blend in with the background or the image that was already on the page.
during this lesson we also learnt how to add text to the page and how to look at different fonts without looking at them one at a time.
after this lesson i had learnt alot of things from photoshop. this will help me design my cover more easier as i now know how to use these types of tools.
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