Photo editing

Here i have edited my photos so that they appear better on the front of my magazine, i used various sites on the internet like Pixlr and Ipiccy to edit them using tools to get rid of spots or redness, adjust the brightness and contrast or to change the colour of the image completely to something like black and white or sepia, I have decided to use the black and white image on my front cover as I think it will look good and it will fit in with my colour scheme well, also as there is a lot of white on the page it will allow me to use black writing around the face and bright colours on the darker areas such as red or yellow 

Evaluation of photos

Taking my photos I was able to develop my understanding of some of the features that create a good photo, like lighting, props, facial expressions, body language and costume, all these things are extremely important when it comes to taking photos 

I made sure that my model was looking at the camera in all of the pictures I will be using as it engages the audience more with the magazine and also attracts more attention as people will be making eye contact with the model, I also made sure my model had a serious facial expression, as this sets the tone of the magazine and portrays its elements by setting the mood of the magazine. I followed my photo planning sheet as much as possible so that my photos came out to my satisfaction and how I had planned

By getting my model to wear different clothes also allowed me to change the genre of artist my magazine would be about which would change the audience and elements of the article altogether, the use of props such as the glasses and hat also allowed me to do this further

Most of the angles of my shots are straight on as I feel this is a simple and effective angle that allows you to capture them in detail and is not hard to capture. Most of my shots are midshots, this allows you to be close enough to see their face and expressions in detail but also allows you to see there clothes and the background, by using a plain background there are no distractions letting all the focus be on the model

In future photo shoots I will be experimenting with different angles and how they will effect the outcome of the picture, I will also be using many different backgrounds and will be going to many different locations to take my pictures  

Examples of photos from shoot

Fickr account

By creating a Flickr account and adding my photos to it I am able to take a lots of photos and but them on the internet so I can easily go on and choose the ones I will be using, I will be adding more photos to my Flickr of different people so I can show a variety of artists in my magazine, having a large amount of photos on Flickr also allows me to use the photos from the same shoot for my front cover, double page spread, contents and full page advert if I need to as well as me being able to do many different shoots for each feature of my magazine

Link to Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/111102308@N08/

Photo planning checklist

Things that I need to consider:

• Type of shot/angle
• Facial expression 
• Body language
• Colour scheme 
• Lighting 
• background
• How the shot/model is being portrayed
• Props
• Costume 
• Models positioning
• Colour effects (editing) 
• Equipment used (the quality of the camera)

When taking my photos I will make sure that I take all of these conventions into consideration as they all contribute to a well planned professional photo shoot, all of these things will help me produce high quality photos that will make my magazine stand out to customers 

Plan for photo shoot

Moodboard

In this mood board I have shown the types of things that will be in my magazine and what type of things it will feature, these things things will be shown through my front cover, contents, double page spread and full page advert. I have included many different companies that vary in product that could possibly sponsor my magazine, if my magazine was sponsored by a well known, big brand it would the reputation of my magazine. All these things on the mood board are either related to music or forms of media or are relevant to the magazine

The rule of thirds

The rule of thirds
this is when an image is broken down into lines of 3 horizontally and vertically, with all together 9 parts, you do this in your mind through your view finder or in the LCD display on your camera, this is also useful when it comes to editing you photo later on after you've taken it, many post production editing tools that have good cropping and reframing that fit within the rule of thirds and will allow you to use it 

The grid identifies 4 important parts when framing your image, it also  gives you 4 lines which are important for positioning your image

Placing someones eyes when taking a picture of them on one of the lines automatically make their eyes the natural point of focus. Also, placing someone off center on one of the intercepting lines with an object next to them will allow there to be 2 points of interest. Another good technique is when you are taking a landscape photo is to have the horizon level with one of the lines, preferably the top one as it lets you see both halves of the photo well

When learning to use the rule of thirds, there are 2 important things you need to think about: 

• What are the points of interest in the shot
• Where are you intentionally placing them 

examples: 

 

Photo shoot plan

for my photo shoot I want the person to be standing looking at the camera, or sitting down looking at the camera, if they are standing up it will be a mid shot of them from about the waist upwards so that the reader can see their face clearly, when I take some pictures of the person sitting down I want to show their whole body with them looking at camera, the reader will still be able to see there face and eyes clearly, but this will also allow me to show the background more as well. The shoot will be well lit up so that readers are able to see them easily but also so that they can see what clothes they are wearing, their facial expression will be serious as this will set the mood of the magazine and will show the audience its serious and of good quality. They will be male also as this could fit into the genre of being a hip hop artist or being a indie artist as there are more of these artists in those genres that are male. I would like my shot to be out doors in an urban location, so that not to much attention is diverted to the background 

Masthead ideas

Here are some mastheads that i have developed, I will be choosing one of these or one like it to be the masthead for my magazine, it will only be in one colour as I don't want to make it look overwhelming and too bright, but it will still remain looking professional and effective    

Front cover layouts

Questionnaire results analysis

AGE
21 out of the 25 people I asked were aged between 15 and 24, with 3 being below 15 and one being 45+, I want to aim it at young people because they are in to the latest music and are up to date with new styles/genres of music and new bands/artists. This is the age group my magazine will be aimed 

GENDER
Even though my questionnaire was answered by  more males, I will be aiming it at both males and females as both listen to the same types of music. My magazine will be covering mixed genres of music, ensuring both males and females will be able to read about there prefered music genre 

JICNAR
All of the people who answered my questionnaire except one are in Group E of the JICNAR scale, this is because most of the people I asked are students, this question has helped me a lot when it comes to thinking about the price of my magazine, as many young people in this group are not working and cannot afford as many expensive products 

DO YOU READ MUSIC MAGS
12 out of 25 people said they do not read music magazines, this is important for me to know as I did not expect the number to be so low, this gives me the chance to create a brand new, exciting magazine that will make those numbers go up as there is a gap in the market for new customers 

WHAT MUSIC MAGS DO YOU READ
The only magazines people said that they read are NME, Q and Vibe (only one person read Vibe). Out of the 3 NME and Q were by far the most popular, this lets me know that the people who answered my questionnaire are in to all sorts of music and also listen to new, established and well known artists, this is good news for me as my magazine will cover all different types of music and artists 

HOW OFTEN DO YOU READ THEM
Giving the options daily, weekly and monthly, monthly came up the most with 9 people however 8 said that they don't read them in any of those time periods, this lets me know that they are not popular with everyone and only some people actually read them, 3 people said they read them daily, these people are most likely reading different brands of music magazine as music mags tend to come out every week or are only reading parts of the magazine daily and not the whole thing 

YOUR PREFERRED GENRE OF MUSIC 
For this many people chose more than one genre of music, which immediately tells me a mixed genre music mag would be most popular, however the two genres of R&B and Hip hop/rap still stood out compared to the other genres, this tells me that these two genres of music are still the most popular and that even though my magazines will be mixed it should go into more depth in those genres and should possibly be centered around them, it has also made me re-think my entire mag and that maybe i should do a mag just about one of those genres as they are the most popular 

HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY
For this many people chose more than one, the most common price people would pay was £2 to £3 but with high numbers also only willing to pay prices below that, it is clear to me that people are not willing to spend a lot on a music mag and that my price needs to be low to sell, this is also linked to the age of the people answering the questionnaire as i said before they will not have a lot of money, my magazine could advertise a cheaper subscription fee offering a cheaper price all together

WHAT MAKES YOU BUY  IT
For this many people chose more than one, these all had mixed responses with similar numbers for each thing, besides with the brand and the artists in the mag, which received a lot of responses, this will help me when i construct my magazine, as I will make sure to concentrate on all of these aspects of the magazine, making sure they are all good enough for my reader to pick up on them, the brand of the music mag having the most responses also lets me know that people will choose a music magazine brand and stick to it, this means I will have to make my magazine to a high quality so that people will keep buying it, gaining the buyers trust that they know their buying a quality music mag

PREFERENCE ON THE FRONT COVER, CONTENTS AND ADVERTISEMENTS 
Image 1 in all of these pages received the most responses by a lot on each one, this makes it obvious that people prefer 1 large image that catches there attention but also keeps there attention, letting them concentrate on it as there is no other image on the page to distract them, this will be important when choosing the layout of my magazine as it will help me think of the sizes of the images on the page and also the quantity of images on the page, the people answering my questionnaire also preferred less words on the page as well, letting me know they prefer short pieces of writing that attract there attention drawing them into the image    

WHAT WOULD YOU PREFER IN A MUSIC MAGAZINE 
The most responded answer was up and coming artists followed by established, this is probably because it was a younger audience who listen to newer, younger artists, this is important as now know to include mostly new or established artists to get more people to buy the magazine 

WHAT GENRE OF MUSIC MAG WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE
All of the genres got fairly even responses, the category 'mixed' a lot more however, this shows that people want to see a varied magazine representing all different types of music, giving them a balanced magazine with all of the most popular genres in, this will be important for my target audience, it will allow me to aim it all different types of people who are in to different things 

Questionnaire results

Brand name ideas for my music magazine

• Pulse 
• Sound wave 
• Fresh
• Legend 
• Rhythm
• Beats
• Chronic
• Haze
• MM (music matters)
• Curve
• Tunes

Prezi research

Analysis of Q and XXL

Analysis of Q

-brand identity and brand values

 

Q magazines brand identity is very similar in each on issue of the magazine, on most of their front covers there is a main image that draws the most attention, with other images that are smaller or that are in the background of the main image, there magazines are very image dominated as well as the big red logo taking up quite a lot of the page. Their front covers are neat and organised, featuring big names on each front cover to attract readers with many interviews advertised on the front as well to attract more readers

Q magazines brand values are that the magazine represents quality and symbolizes a good, reliable music magazine that represents all genres of music giving you an honest view of these genres and the artists that make the music, the magazine is also trying to show that it’s a classy, respected magazine that consists of youthfulness but also maturity

Analysis of XXL

-brand identity and brand values

XXL magazines brand identity, like Q magazine, is similar in each issue of the magazine, there is a frequent colour scheme of white and black with the red of the logo, their magazines only feature one artist on the front, this is the artist that issue of the magazine is mainly about, the image of the artist takes up a large portion of the page as this is what they want the reader to look at, the headline is always the name of the artists as in the biggest font, the font isn't always the same on the front covers, but tends to be to be the same throughout many issues. There are some random colours that are not part of the house style, these are normally the colours of the clothes the artist is wearing, these colours stand out as the background is usually black or white

XXL magazines brand values are obvious in that it mainly covers black artists that make hip hop music, the magazine paints a picture of the type of way this genre of music is perceived and how they want you to perceive it. It is portrayed as being a cool magazine that shows edge, excitement and vibrancy, but still has that quality feel and look about it 

                        

Brand values and brand identity

Brand Values and Brand Identity

Brand Value: These are things that the brand symbolizes and what the brand is signifying and represents

Brand identity: This is the way all the visual appearances and elements of a product impact and characterize the brand of a certain company to the target audience. In magazines there are many elements that assemble their magazines, including Fonts, the use of photography, and the magazines house style, size of images or words and the different colours used

The brand identity of my magazine will be very modern and sophisticated, it will stand out as it will be different, but we still be targeted at all types of people and ages of 16+. There will be a lot of images on the page; almost all of the cover will be occupied by imagery. The focal point will be the headline with all attention on that as well as the main image

The brand values of my magazine will be that it will show quality and originality it will look at many well known old artist and many established artists, focusing on their lives and past music they've made and new music their making 

Target audience of my magazine

Target audience research

I will be using many different types of genres of music in my magazine. It will be similar to Q magazine in this way and will also be similar in the fact that it will have a neat layout on each front cover and inside the magazine, and using different genres will attract a wider audience. The artist will be well known and mainstream and the magazine will be aimed ages 16+, it will include interesting stories not just of the artists, but of festival highlights, album releases and merchandise of the artists. It will include many successful artists like Eminem and Lady Gaga, this is because people who like these artists idolize them and if I include them it will attract a wider audience, my magazine will also include upcoming bands and new artists, which will get them more well known and will also get the magazine well known, It will be aimed at both females and Males, being varied each week between Male and Female artists in each magazine representing all different genres of music  

Planned photo shoot

Planned photo shoot

I am going to take the pictures of these people in front of a plain background so that all the attention in on the person in the photo and so that there is nothing in the back ground that could be a stronger colour than the persons clothing. For my contents page I plan to have one photo with the rest of the page consisting of information. The photo will be a group of lads in year 11 on a school trip, it will be sunny and they will look as if they are enjoying themselves showing people reading the magazine they are having a good time, hopefully making readers will want to go

Here are some of the photos I took 

Finale contents page

Contents draft 2

Contents draft 1

Evaluation of magazine cover

I believe that my magazine looks very professional, I have included many conventions that are needed to create a good magazine, I used a picture to take up the whole of my magazine cover this allows people to focus on the magazine more and as its of someones face there attention is drawn straight to his eyes. My masthead was made using fireworks and has filters on it including drop shadow and a inner bevel, it is in 2 separate colours and fonts as that looks more effective, my headline is in a big white bold font with a black banner around it. It stands out on my picture as well and is eye catching because of the white on black background contrast. I have a banner going across the bottom of the page showing news about the magazine in a cartoon style, eye catching font, this also has many filters on including sharpen, drop shadow, inner bevel and glow. My magazine also includes a visual syntax as the masthead ends the reader looks at the picture mainly at the eyes and follows it down to the headline

Magazine front cover final

Magazine front cover draft

Conventions, audience and content of my magazine

Conventions

The conventions of my magazine will be a masthead to let the audience know what my magazine is called this will be the largest font, I will have a bold headline to draw attention to my magazine, and this will be something that students and parents are both concerned so it will catch the eye of a wider audience

My magazine cover will have a picture taking up the entire background that is surrounded by cover lines letting the reader know the other articles in the magazine these will also have features below them to lure the reader in giving them an insight on the topics inside the magazine, the magazine will keep a house style of red, black and white so that the audience is able to recognize it, there will be a banner across the bottom to attract attention, it will be red with white text  on it, so that it is easy to read and this also stays in colour with the house style

The layout of the magazine cover will be well organised and professional; there will be a strap line below my head line to give more information on the main topic, drop shadows will be used to make text stand out over the picture and banners

Audience

The audience of my magazine will consist of mainly students because it will tell them important information like deadlines and exam days/results, revision classes and things like after school clubs and things that school are doing general, it will also be aimed at parents letting them know what their kids school is doing and also letting them know the important deadlines so that they can keep on top of their kids homework and revision 

Content

The content of my  magazines will be important things like exam dates/results, extracurricular programmes like envision, 6^th form news, revisions classes, it will also include interviews with students and members of staff, trips, clubs and information on lessons, PB radio, school/year council 

Masthead ideas

Magazine cover analysis

Masthead- Sans serif, bold, bright colour on a white background making it stand out, all capitals 

The colour scheme on the front of this magazine of red, white and blue and gold with some of the writing in black as well, the colours go with the masthead and appeal to the reader, the bright colour of red is eye catching a draws your attention to the magazine when it is seen

The use of pull quotes has been used on this front cover giving a quote from Tyler the Creator saying “I DONT GIVE A SH*T ABOUT A ROYAL WEDDING” to some readers and also fans of Tyler this would be amusing. It is eye catching being wrote in a bold sans serif font in black on a white background and is also one of the first things the eye is drawn to after reading ‘TYLER THE CREATOR

There are coverlines at the bottom of the page that are shown in red and white to separate them from one another, this also catches your eye more because the colours go well together and they are easy to notice catching your eye quickly, they have used big names like ‘KAYNE WEST, ARCADE FIRE and ADELE’ which would catch the eyes of fans to these particular artists, even though this writing is eye catching it is not as big as ‘TYLER THE CREATOR’ who is the main feature of the magazine

The headline ‘TYLER THE CREATOR’ is wrote in a large sans serif font in bright red which very noticeable over the blue and white background which is mostly made up of the clothing Tyler is wearing, underneath this writing is his group ‘ODD FUTURE’ and also a strapline saying ‘ANARCHY HITS THE UK!’ this would be important new for Tyler’s fans and is written in bold black over a back ground that consists of mostly white ’

There are more coverline on the right of the page of big band names like the ‘SEX PISTOLS, ROLLING STONES’ and ‘THE DOORS’ which would draw the attention of the fans of these bands, these are also a different genre of music to the artists at the bottom which could be why they are separated attracting a completely different range of people, like the rest of the magazine cover they are in line with the colour scheme being wrote in a bold sans serif font in red and black on a white background making them stand out, there is also a strapline underneath the bands, it is a smaller font and the letters are more compact this is not as eye catching because it will be something the reader reads after bands

The image is in the centre of the page and is of the magazines main artist Tyler the Creator, he is wearing a crown on his head and is holding a bouquet of flowers, this links with the pull quote on the page, his a surprised and relaxed look on his face that suggest he doesn’t really care what people would think of his comment, this reflects his personality and would be familiar to fans, the images is masked over the mast head slightly which makes it stand out against the back it is the first thing readers look at when viewing the cover as the headline is written over the front of the image in a large bold font

NME front cover

Q magazine front cover anotation