Time Management, Week 4

During week 4, completing my preliminary product was not done and uploaded to my blog on time. While it was meant to be completed and uploaded nearly 2 weeks ago, I had only completed this last week. However, I thought the task wasn't hard, but it was certainly tasking due to the complex creating of the front cover and contents page.

Preliminary Task, Front and Contents Page

Time Management Post, Week 3

My time management for week 3 has been good upon completing the tasks, whoever, I haven't posted them to my blog till a number of weeks after. The work hasn't been hard, and has been minimal compared to previous weeks. I have had no trouble completing the tasks.

Preliminary Task Images

These are a selection of the images I have taken for my preliminary task. 

Magazine PowerPoint Notes

Masthead - Ususally at the top, and on the left side of the page.
Essential Info - Date, Issue Number, Barcode
Main Sell Line - Enigma code teases the audience and draws them in.
Sub-Head - Explains enigma/teaser.
Colour - The palette is restricted to a contrasting colours for maximum impact.
Main Image - Builds an image/identity for the magazine.

Invitational - The mouth tends to be shut with just the hint of a smile. The eyes are emphasized. The look is  mysterious with the head tilted or looking back over the shoulder.
Romantic / Sexual - Either the overt 'come on' usually directed at the single male or the sensual, dreamy self absorbed female icon, only hinting availability.
Super Smiler - A full-face shot, usually with a big smile. Head thrown back, the look is confident and assertive.
Chocolate Box - The look features a slight parting of the lips with a glimpse of teeth. The face is shot full on or slightly turned away. The emphasis is on flawless beauty.

• Covers are the front line in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
• 89% of magazines are sold through retail outlets rather than subscription.
• With over 8000 titles available and hundreds on offer in each store it is essential to maximize impact and appeal on the shelf. 
• Design must, therefore, respond to conditions at point of sale.

Setting the tone

• Framing
• Mise En Scene
• Font

Capturing An Audience

• Most magazines are self-consciously generational (they target and attract a specific age group)
• Magazines reflect and emphasize a scene of identity that allows target groups to stand apart from the crowd.
• Magazines can attract a broad readership but most cater for particular interests or 'niche' markets allowing for very focused advertising. 

Denotations and Connotations 

Every time we approach a media text we can read its codes on a denotative levels and a connotative level.

Denotation is the simple description of what can be seen or heard - it's factual and can be agreed by everyone. 

Connotations are the meanings and associations suggested beyond this literal meaning - these are more dependent on the individual's perspective.  

Time Management Post, Week 2

My time management for week 2 has been bad due to posts being published 2 weeks after they were meant to. Upon looking at the work to be posted onto my blog, I realized I had missed work, and had to complete it, or begin the task again. I have no completed any of the deadlines on task 3 on time, this could be due to prioritizing other tasks, such as my preliminary product, and the images for this.

Looking At Other Students Work

As part of my research in creating my own magazine, I had to look at past students blogs and final products as part of inspiration in creating my own. 

I am looking at Lauren Waine's blog and her final magazine, as part of this task. To the right, is her front cover, of her magazine 'TeenBeat'. Overall, I like Lauren's front cover as it is eye catching and attracting. The simple font and varied images including the main image are suitable for her target audience. However, since this is focused on a different target audience to what I am focusing on, this is not much inspiration to me. 

Looking at Lauren's overall blog, the colors of it seem coordinated, and she seems to have put time and effort into the organisation of it. The themes and colours also seem to coordinate with the work she has produced as well, which is very interesting as looking at other students work, you do not see. 

Research Into Target Audience

My target audience for my college magazine is going to be 16 to 18 year old's. I have chosen this range due to the most common college student ages being this, and as of being this age as well, I will be able to relate to the product I am creating. However, as well as looking at my own opinions, I will look into my peers opinions as well.

While looking into what my target audience enjoy on a day to day basis, I have found a number of things which I could incorporate into my college magazine. For example;

• Social Networking (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
• Instant Messaging Apps (KIK, Snapchat)
• John Green books
• Video Games (GTA V, COD) 
• Entertainment Brands (Apple, Sony, Samsung) 

Deconstructions, Magazine 1

Front Page

The masthead is very different as it is usually spread across the width of the page, however in this case, it is based in one corner as the masthead title is one letter instead a word or a series of words. Although this is very different and unique, which is an aspect I am trying to achieve with creating my magazine, I don’t think I would do this idea in relation to my own magazine. I don’t like the way it looks, and would prefer a range of words or a single word spread across the page as I think it would be more noticeable as people walk by, or are looking for a pop music magazine. 

The cover lines are noticeable as they’re capitalized and bold. I think this makes them stand out, and also easy to read against the main image. I would use this technique in my own production, as this is very attracting, however, it is also commonly used as I have seen in Billboard Magazine before. Overall, I would use this idea in my own magazine.

I like the cover lines coming down both sides of the magazine front cover, these cover lines are there to show what is featured in the magazine. I like the way they are positioned as they can clearly be seen, however, they make the page look cluttered which I dislike. If I were to use this in my own production, I would make the cover line font smaller and wouldn’t make it bold either. I like how the main image is positioned, and how it is in front of the masthead. This shows the main image has significance, and importance. The main image has a very different aspect to it as well as it has obviously been edited to make the band form inside Dave Grohls mouth. Although this is a good technique, I wouldn’t use it in my own production, as I want my production to be more natural.

Contents

On the Q contents page, there is minimal text. The purpose of the text is to inform about what the magazine features. To support this, the text also has subheadings which include page numbers containing the band names. There is no specific order of the text. I would use something similar to this in my own product, which would also be informative as this will direct the readers to where each band or musician is.  I like the layout of the text as well, and how it is organized down one side of the page. The use of numerical features also directs the readers to where each band is. Upon creating my own product, I will organize my layout similar to this as I like how tidy the text is, and organized it is as well.

The font is the same throughout the page. While creating my product, I would also do this as I think using different or a range of fonts would look out of place, and could ruin the contents page. The colour of the font is matching to the colour scheme, white and black. There’s no bold text, or italic text either. In my own product, I would match the font colour to the colour scheme, however, the more important words such as the main title, and subheadings would be either bold or italic.

There’s a variety of images on the contents page. The main image is centered and related to the front cover of the magazine, however, there’s also supporting images about what is featured in the magazine. The images are a range of sizes; this could be due to the significance to each to image and what they consist of. The cover of the magazine is about the Foo Fighters, and the largest images are also related to this. The remaining images consist of the remaining musicians in the magazine. I like this technique of the main image being centered and larger than the remaining images as this shows the significance and will also show the readers what the magazine is basing on this issue. I also like the range of images, and would incorporate it into my own production as well.

The colours of the contents page are coordinated, and they’re related to the front cover and masthead as well.

Double Page Spread

When looking at the layout of the double page, columns are used. There are 4 columns for the main text and this is so the text is organized. I would use columns in my own production as I wouldn’t want readers not understanding the text as it is disorganized. The images aren’t organized in any specific way. The headlines and sub-headlines are placed on the left side of the double page spread, I think this is because upon reading the double page spread, the readers will begin on the left side of the page, and the large and bold writing will attract their attention. I would use this in my own production so the headlines and what the double page spread is about is clearly shown. The images have a layering technique where the images on the right page are overlapping the main image. I might use this if there isn’t enough room for my double page spread to fit all the images.

The images on the double page spread are focusing on the band. They are there to show who the band is, and what they look like. The appearance of the band could also be related to the genre of music they produce and perform. In my own production, I will also feature images of the band focused on my double page spread. However, there are no illustrations on the double page spread. In my own productions, I would like to include illustrations as I think it would give a unique feel to the magazine I am creating as you won’t usually see illustrations in a pop music magazine. The images do feature celebrities, and this is due to the ‘Foo Fighters’ being popular musicians. In my own magazine, I think I will not include celebrities as it is a college based and locally based magazine. There is a couple of captions to the images describing what is going on, and who is who. I will be using captions in my own production as this will tell the readers informative information.