Re-search notes

To understand the way in which magazine target and appeal to their audiences and the way in which different audiences respond to different magazines.

The Differences between magazines and newspapers.


- Magazine come in a wide range of sub genres e.g lifestyle, comics, etc.
- Magazines are more detailed but with less timely information compared to newspapers.
- You are also likely to find features then hard news, as newspapers cover day to day stories where as magazines will explore and profile the issues and people involved.
- Magazines are generally kept longer are re-read and handed on making them permanent unlike newspapers which are short-lived.
- Magazines have a more specific target audience, unlike newspapers which have broad audiences.
- Magazines lastly are aimed at clients needs and interests.


The front cover of a magazine!


The front cover is its "face" as it is always shown and on the display and there is a wide list of topics you should take into account when designing a front cover.

• The title- is there any hidden meaning behind it?
• Strapline/tag line- caption or phrase, maybe to grab a specific target market.
• Fonts and colours used- they can either appeal to an audience or immediately put them off. It can be very suggestive about the magazine and the genre of magazine.
• The main image- this will often be the biggest attraction to audiences and will need to relate to the sub genre of the magazine.
• The anchorage and cover lines- these will reveal a lot of what the magazine is about and tell a lot about target market. These will entice readers into reading the magazine.
• Other tactics- for example using celebrities to attract audiences, or using "freebies", just anything to attract the readers. 

Between the front and back covers!

1. The contents page- an overview of the many features within the magazine and a sense of familiarity with the brand identity and layout.
2. The editors letter- connecting with the audience, giving it a personal touch.
3. Two page spreads- what format to use, the many layouts and how layout can effect audience.
4. The advertisements- how many advertisements are on a page, what do they say about the audience?

The magazine industry:

- EMPA, a major player in the industry, but got sold to Bauer.

- IPC, American-owned and part of the biggest media conglomerate in the world. Magazines such as Now, Nuts, Marie Claire, Sugar and more.

Globalisation suggests that magazines have made a stereotypical assumption about their audience. Magazines target different audiences like Kerrang and Mixmag that are target the sub genre of music but have a completely different target audience.

Recently the magazine industry has been doing less well and circulation figures for many titles. But competition still remains fierce, and are growing in technology like having websites for their magazines and in some cases being able to download contents on their phone.

"Me-time" is associated with magazines where computers and t.v can not match like being able to enjoy and take a magazine to bed, into the bathroom or on the bus.

Three different types of magazine

Total film- future publishing, £3.80 monthly. 


Future publishing started on a kitchen table in bath in 1985 and now publishes 150 magazines worldwide. The biggest being xbox 360, total film, T3, Official Playstation2, Digital camera, Classic rock, Total Guitar and Fast Car. It also hold the license for magazines from Microsoft, Sony, Disney, Nintendo to publish titles like Official Nintendo magazines. Using high technology will tell us a lot about the target audience and synergy. 
New films informs audiences about new films and celebrates old ones also having countdowns. On the future publishing website, "Total film" is describes as a "vibrant, funny and accessible, mixing A list- glitz with indie attitude, instant hits with timeless classics". The mode of address in "Total film" is playful, youthful and masculine. The stereotypical representations of gender in "Total film" reflects the gender bias in the main Hollywood film industry.  

Grazia- EMAP (Bauer), £1.90 weekly.

Grazia was originally launched in Italy 1938, owned by Italy's market-leading publisher Mondadori, and it is the number one weekly glossy in Italy and the UK. It features advertisements for D&G, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Emporio Armani and many more designer brands. It amazed people as it created "news and shoes" as a generic mix. This first glossy magazine, it combines glossy fashion, A list celebrities and real life. The magazine is mainly for the female gender and although being know to be gossipy, it includes some hard news features and quite classy. The mode of address again shows that this magazine is high quality and has a high percentage of readers compared to other women magazines.




2000 AD- £1.90 weekly.


This magazine was made through a punk era but is a child's comic and it is owned and published by Rebellion, which is know for developing computer games like "Alien vs Predator". It carries very few advertisements, maybe just one per issue such as a video game or 2000AD merchandise or even a similar comic. The genre is difficult to figure out as it has a range of genres, including war, science fiction, action and adventure. The setting of the magazine is generally dull/dark and futuristic which interlinks with mainly the science fiction genre. Some people didn't agree with the magazine because they associated "2000AD" with an harmful effect on audiences.

Conclusion

Magazine have been popular for more then a hundred years ago, due to leisure time among growing literate middle-class, cheaper printing, technology, better distribution and electric light.

Textual Analysis: Double Page Spread!

Double Page spreads

Mojo Magazine

This double page spread is very well designed and will attract the audience to reading the article. On one page we have a catchy title "New Year, New Voice" placed on a big dark block.  The Stand first introduces the interview, with background information of the  musician who has just one an award for being the best new artist. You tell it is an interview due to the questions written in bold black writing and the answers written in plain black. Questions asked are such things as "Has winning the prize opened up any new doors for you" which is quite friendly and chatty without being to formal. Also placed on that page are two small pictures once mid close up and one long shot which relate to the written interview. It also has captions explaining the two small pictures like "MOJO editor-in-chief Phil Alexandra introduces the new voice finalists". The other page has a very large mid long shot picture covering most the top of the page with again a caption. A smaller picture is then placed at the bottom left of the page of the main subject singing which relates to the whole article. At the bottom right of the page another tiny picture of a house with a small  paragraph explaining what the picture is about unlike the other pictures that just have a small caption. The mode of address is quite informal and welcoming. The ratio of texts to pictures i think is quite low making it more attractive on the eye and people i think personally prefer to look at images.

NME Magazine

This double page spread is a little different as the page looks like one instead of two different pages. In the top left corner the main title is written in very big font automatically catching the audiences eye and is it written in both red and black. It pulls the attention of the reader to the start of the article. Right at the start they also use a drop cap making it obvious where the starting point is and emphasising the first word. A standfirst is first written, summarising the article which then leads into the more detailed article.  The sub headings like "Feel The Heat" are written in red to stand out from all of the other text. There is also a picture which starts on the first page and continues over to the second page which interlinks the two pages together. On the other side of the page pictures are more of a dominant feature compared to the other page where there is a lot of writing. There are three quite big pictures and the layout is a box shape which all fit in together. Again this is quite informal and friendly, also lighthearted. The pictures summarise the article very well as the article is about being in the nightclub, and the location of the pictures are in a nightclub, and are very colourful. In the corner of each picture there is a small caption describing what the pictures are showing. The colour scheme here is set up really nicely as makes both the pictures and writing stand out to the audience, making it clear to read.

Textual Analysis: Contents Page!

Magazine:Q

Straight away from looking at this contents page, it looks very simple to read, not very complicated and quite attractive. By the design, layout and colours, you can easily identify which magazine this belongs too as the front cover is quite similar. At the top of the page in the middle the title "Contents" is written in a san serif font, immediately informing the audience what this page is about. Also just before the title we have the magazine's name "Q" in its logo, showing recognisation and familairity of the magazine. This logo is also again laid out at the bottom of the page, making readers remember the the magazine. Underneath the title there is a sentence which is quite eye catching "Discover Great Music" which associates this magazine with a good knowledge on the topic of music. A graphic is then placed below that writing informing audiences on the issue number "Issue 306". On the right there is one big mid close up of florence and the machine which shows her as one of the main features, also including the page reference to that specific article. There are additionally two small mid shots images, one of a group shot also black and white and the second, a two shot both next to their page references. These images make the page eye catching and doesn't make the page looks to busy and confusing. The column on the left, first a small title explaining that the following list is the "features". There is then a small mid shot picture of Ed Sheeran with its page number and the story line written in capitals with a little summary underneath. Further below the different page numbers and story lines are set out again with a brief synopsis. Everything on the page is in a box shaped making it look quite sharp and edgy. This magazine looks quite high class due to the fact that the pages are very spread and have quite a lot of white space.I think the colour scheme allows an easy read and lets us to understand what stories are on which page.

Magazine: Uncut

This contents page was one of three but i have decided to analyse this page. It is quite like the other one (above) but it is less aesthetically pleasing on the eye. The main heading contents page is again placed at the top, across the page with quite boring, but big writing in the font style serif. This defines what this page is allowing the reader to comprehend how to use it.  On the right hand side of the page, there is one main mid shot picture OF "Dave Davies" (as it says in capitals at the top of the picture) which, dominates the page and may have a great importance to the magazine as it main feature. The image taken also fits well within the page as the colours of his outfit and the background of the image all interlink and look great with the actual contents page. It holds the cover line to the story at the top corner of the picture as well as the page number allowing easy reference for the reader to find this page.

   The column on the left just contains the different stories and page numbers. Under each storyline, there is a brief sum up of what it is about. The different articles have been put into sections for example "Reviews" or "Regulars" overall summarising what the different pages are going to inform the audience. "Reviews" show the analysis of a different topic for example here the review of films and albums, compared to "Regulars" which display the constant stories in ever issue such as letters. This will also gain a sense of familiarity with the magazine and the reader as both these sections will be put in the magazine every issue. At the top of the column it informs us on the issue number "TAKE 126" and the month the issue is out "JANUARY 2012" stating more information on the actual magazine. Under "Regulars" the writing looks quite bunched together which I think will give off a negative effect and  will put the audience off from reading the chunk of text. The colour scheme of this contents page has been designed very cleverly as red, black and white go very nicely together with no clash in colour.

First Try at Indesign

Before for my preliminary task I used publisher to create my contents page and did not use Indesign. To make my double page spread I will use Indesign due to the creativity and easiness of using this software. Here I have created a quick double page spread which allowed me to use and try out the different tools gaining a sense of familiarity with this software.

Textual Analysis: Front covers

Front Covers analysis

DJ Magazine

                                                            

Published In- January 31, 1991

Published by - "Thrust publishing"

 "DJ"magazine is dedicated to Electronic dance music, with the magazine being directed as the main target audience to DJs hence the name, as it is specific to all of the latest music that DJ's both male and females should be playing. The masthead "DJ" is written in big, bold, sans-serif, red font which stands out as the name and identification of the magazine. Also mentioned underneath the masthead "LIVING AND BREATHING DANCE MUSIC" this specifies again what kind of music this magazine relates too. The design looks quite hectic due to the many colours been splashed together having a mismatched appearance. The close up image of a man in a mask dominates the colour scheme as generally being red, blue, yellow and white. The image relates to the main headline "SBTRKT, THE MASKED MAN SPEAKS" so readers straightaway know this is the main feature.On this front cover it also gives away a free CD (freebie) to advertise the magazine and also will attract the readers eye to buying this particular magazine. This is again advertised at the top of the page where it says "*FREE SANTOS MULTIMEDIA CD! MUSIC AND DATA GALORE*".  The font on the page has a graffiti style to it,which fits in nicely with the mix of colours. On the left side of the page there is a column with different cover lines which will show the most exciting and attracting features and articles inside this magazine. The cover lines are all grouped together and quite short also the writing is placed on a different coloured background. At the top of the page in the right hand corner there is a graphic advertising this magazine. In the top right hand corner there is a small graphic telling the audience that this is the "BEST OF BRITISH LAUNCH ISSUE". Lastly right at the bottom we can see the price of the magazine £3.95, which I think is fairly priced.

Uncut Magazine

Published in- May 1997

Published by- IPC Media

Uncut magazine is published every month which is based in London. It's main focus is on music but also includes films and T.V. The targeted audience for this magazine is from the range of 25 year olds to 45 year old men. The colour scheme here is mainly red and white maybe due to the colour of the top worn by the subject in the picture. At the top of the front  cover there is a banner advertising different music albums, and just below is the main Masthead "UNCUT" which is in a serif font and quite bold. The masthead also interlinks with the colour scheme as it is mainly white but with a red lining surrounding the letter. On the cover there is a graphic advertising the free CD that is given away with the magazine which will make any person more attracted to this magazine. This front cover is based around one main mid shot of a women, with the cover lines layed out around it. Cover lines then fall around the picture both the right hand side and left hand side.  The bigger font shows stories such as "The top 50 albums" which comes across as a main article to read, compared to the smaller writing that is written towards the bottom of the page. The font of the writing is quite normal and sophisticated giving it more of a classy look compared to most music magazine that come across a bit wild. Above some of the cover lines there is a little graphic with a title in for example "Artist of the year" and "plus".

This emphasis how much the magazine has inside, and makes the reader want to buy it. At the bottom of the front cover it tells us the magazine issue "January 2012" and the price £4.80 which seems like a fair price for the quality of the magazine.

Record Collector

Published by- Diamond publishing

Published in- March 1980

This magazine is the united kingdoms longest-running monthly magazine. It is based for the music industry for mainly ages from 20 to around 40 years old.  This front cover has quite a long masthead title "RECORD COLLECTOR" and the two words are layed out on different lines. It is written in a serif font and is quite bold capturing the audiences eye. Also it has a Christmas effect as the use of snowflakes have been used, with a graphic saying "Christmas issue" and underneath a little sentence saying "Serious About Christmas". At the top there is a banner with different story lines like "How R&B became Reggae". Then a big headline "LED ZEPPELIN" is displayed which clearly interlinks with the band on the front of the magazine. The picture covers the page horizontally with cover lines Inbetween 

Comparisons: Four Magazines

Here we have:


- The name of the magazine in the first column.
- The price and number of pages within the magazine.
- The sections of magazines and number of pages per sections. (In the top part of the table there is the number of sections and at the bottom of the table is the number of pages within each section)
- Samples of advertisement.
- Typical article (give example headings etc.)

Action Plan

Weeks                           Activity


5.12.11                          Write action plan- Done
                                      Compare magazines- Done
                                      Textual analysis (3 front covers, 2 contents, 2 DPS)- Done


12.12.11                        Textual analysis (3 front covers, 2 contents, 2 DPS)- Done
                              
Christmas Holidays


2.1.12                            Audience re-search (Poll, questionnaire, theory)- Done
                                   


9.1.12                            Internet re-search (Institutions, readership figures)- Done
                                      Plan photo shoot- Done
                                      Layout designs- Done


16.1.12                         Layout designs- Done
                                     Take photos- Done
                                     Masthead designs - Done
23.1.12                         Drafting/making pages- Done


30.1.12                        Drafting/making pages- Done


6.2.12                          Drafting/making pages- Done


20.2.12                       Audience feedback- Done


27.2.12                       Evaluation- Done


DEADLINE 2.3.12

Last comment from pleminary task

After reading the comments and feedback about my student magazine i will take into consideration:

- Overchecking my work.
- Changing the font sizes.
- Take a longer time to draft my designs.
- Make my pages clear, especially the contents page.

This will make my main coursework task much better :)

Evaluation :)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The key features of a student magazine front cover will be a prominent picture usually mid shot mainly because it immediately draws the students eyes to the magazine, also a catchy and bold title because it will either relate to the students or not and allow them to identify the magazine. Lastly the cover lines are important again because this will be the decision maker on wheather they purchase this magazine or not and the basic layout of where all of these components are placed. I have included all of these key ingredients and I think my title "Wild" relates to my target market audience of females from year 11 to year 13 excellently. Another basic quality to have when designing a magazine is to make sure the colours used are good against each other and contrast well, allowing easy reading for audiences. My magazine consists of all these key elements which I think are of a high quality and connects well with the students. On my front cover I have added a dog paw which interlinks with the title "Wild" to put my price in to inform the buyers how much it will cost. This makes my magazine more aesthetic for the teenagers to look at but also takes a way the dominance of the price.

A contents page is basically a page informing the audience on what the magazine is about, what is consists and will navigate you to all of these places. It is usually made up of a headline, cover lines, page references and occasionally contain pictures. Pictures can be very important in the contents page especially for teenagers as they will instantly look at them making them either want to read that article or not. I have added a letter from the editor, which is me and added a picture of the editor. I that was good to include so students can get a feel for what this magazine is about and why it has been produced. Throughout this whole process I always look at each comments posted on my blog to make sure i take in and improve on what watching audiences were commenting on whether it was positive or negative feedback.

Overall I feel like I have challenged forms and conventions of real media products because student magazines are usually quite serious and based around the subject school, compared to my magazine, firstly being called "Wild" and being more of a gossip magazine. Also I went for the target audience of just girls which excludes a big group in society.

Here we can see the differences of a usual student magazine or school magazine, compared to my student magazine.

                               

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine is mainly targeted at students from year 11 to year 13, and for females not males. I have made both the front cover and contents page quite stereotypical of girls around this age because it looks very gossipy and girl like, for example using the colours pink and having catchy titles. The language I used was very colloquial and quite young so that the audiences can relate themselves to the magazine. The main picture on my front cover shows a girl doing a wild pose, making it quite fun and laughable, also she is of the audiences age. This picture being the only picture on my front page as well as being the main focus on the page immediately attracts the students eye to my magazine. I did not put much text on the front cover purely because I think students will get bored reading lots of texts. My headline and coverlines are very short and too the point as well as being quite funny.
 For my contents page I have got a lot of text as I have mentioned all of the coverlines throughout the magazine, the page references and the letter from the editor. But I have also a lot of pictures of my contents page making the text to picture ratio only a little bit higher.

My magazine has definitely been targeted and represents the stereotypical life of females and gives students from year 11 to 13 a selection of what they will want to read and are interested in.

Here is a gossip magazine but not aimed at students but all of the public.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My magazine can be distributed in our school although a school magazine has already been published and handed out to many students, as well as one that is sent home to parents. My magazine differs from the school magazine that has been given out because it has a specific target group, and I think would sell really well to all of the targeted audience. A lot of schools do have a student magazine in order to inform students what is happening around school, news and events coming up. Most of these student magazine's are very serious and basic, especially the ones that are sent to parents as they are very informative. "Wild" my magazine lies on the edge a little because it is very different due to it being mainly evolved around gossip and celebrity news. But I have included advice columns and tips on how to cope with school work and how to get into university so this could open it up from not just the targeted audience but many more people.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

After handing out my questionnaire and asking many people of both genders and all ages to fill out the form I came to a decision of who my targeted audience would be. The audience of my magazine will be of students from year 11 to year 13 so from the age range of 15 to 18. It is a female dominated magazine as this was voted as the highest option in my research, and all of the components included within my magazine is very girl orientated. I have included some stories on how to help balance your studies and partying as well as many tips on how to keep up with work, which could be focused for boys. Also my magazine could be aimed at girls who are either younger or older then the targeted audience as some of the stories may interest them.


How did you attract/address your audience?

Many people buy magazines on the spur of the moment and their immediate attraction is to the front cover. The front cover should take the most time to make and be drafted a number of times to make sure when it is in competition with other magazine it stands out to the audience. For my front cover the main focus was a big mid shot photo of a girl doing a mad pose, which will grab most students eye and attract them to the magazine. Bright colours was one of the main elements that I considered when designing my both of my pages, as you need colours that are well contrasted together and will stand out. Another prominent key when designing the front cover is the language used, which I made quite informal, young and even laughable for example when I said "Bluff your way to uni!" Also on the contents page after reading comments posted and taking into consideration the audience's feedback I made my letter from editor very friendly, to make sure readers felt that they could relate to the chatty tone used instead of getting bored by it. I think my magazine would stand out from a lot of other student magazines due to the coverlines being quite funny, bright colours being used, good quality pictures and even the masthead "Wild".

What I Have Learnt About Technologies from The Process Of Constructing This Product?

View more presentations from katiealicecarter95.

Final Contents Page :)

Down below is my final contents page :)

     Using my layout designs that I drew out I made this, my contents page using Microsoft publisher. Firstly I made my background black as I went with the colour scheme of pink and black which I think is attractive and quite girly. I then inserted both of my titles placing "Wild" quite big in the right hand corner, keeping it the same as my front cover to again show the brand identity. The main heading "Contents" is in the right hand corner also being very big showing audiences immediately what this page is about. Then I made two text boxes in which I typed out the text for both the many different cover lines and page references and a letter from the editor, who is me. I then using the insert picture button, placed many pictures onto the publication that relate to the cover lines in my student magazine like the "Interview with the PE teachers" and "Rihanna's new style".   

  This design changed from my last draft after reading the comments posted, as I have removed the page number as it isn't very relevant. Also I brought back the style of the title "Wild" from the front cover and put it on this contents page so audiences start to get familiar with the brand identity. I also changed my letter to make it more informal using colloquial language so that it fits the magazine's name, adding my name to make it looked signed by me. My page references and cover lines on the second column did not match up directly in a straight line so I have now changed this also. To add to my contents page I inserted the dog paw shape like on my front cover at the top of the page.

How is this varied from my layout designs?

I went with the design layout number 2 for this contents page, and I have just really duplicated it and haven't at all changed it majorly. I have changed the title "Contents" from being at a slight angle in the right hand corner and I did add the title "Wild" on the other side as well as a few images, which did fill up the blank space on the top left hand corner of the page. The cover lines and page numbers are kept in the same places, as well as the images underneath that relate with the cover lines. I have a letter from me the editor across the bottom of the page as well as a picture of the editor. Lastly I did not put any pictures at the bottom due to the amount of insufficient space.

Draft of Contents Page

This is a draft of my contents page and is close to my finishing design.

First draft of my contents page

Here is my first draft and my working progress of the contents page. I used the Christmas title because it is close to Christmas and is quite pretty. I have gone for the colour scheme of pink and black because I think these contrast in colours work great together, although some people may find it a little hard to read, so I will have to re search into this more. I soon will add pictures to my publication to make it more exciting and aesthetic. At the bottom I have the page number so audiences know what page they are on, also in the text box I have got the many cover lines and page numbers so readers of this magazine can navigate themselves around it. To improve this draft I may double up the writing so that this one big text box does not fill up this whole page.

Titles for contents page

Again I have been on "Dafont" and chosen a selection of fonts for my contents page. The title is basic and is just "Contents" explaining what this page is. Down below is a choice of fonts, ranging from Christmas fonts to horror fonts. Please vote for your favourite :)

Final Front Cover :)

After a lot of thinking and designing this is my final front cover that I have made over the course of the week. After reading the comments on my blog and choosing my preference, I used one of my "dafont" titles which I then coloured in. Also I used a custom shape in the corner of a foot print which interlinks with the title wild, and used it for the cost of the magazine. My main coverline and banner is at the bottom of the page and summarises the main picture of my subject who I photographed. Lastly using the text tool I added the date and placed it under the corner of my mast head, then typed in three coverline also changing the font I used to include a range of fonts.



How it varied from the Layout Design?

I choose layout design number 1, where the focus is on the picture and the mast head. I had the cover lines, one main cover line and a graphic. I lastly added a banner to my design, and really that was the only thing that changed as well as where all these components where layed out. I had a banner and my main cover line at the bottom which was originally at the top.

Background colors and image

After a hard decision of what photograph will be used I choose a mid shot of just one girl. Using the pen tool I selected around the girls head and body, selected the part I wanted and pasted it onto an A4 page. Clicking onto edit and free transformation it allowed me to enlarge my image across the page. I then choose the writing that I would to like to have on my front cover and pasted it at the top left hand corner of the page.
Now i am stuck for which background colour to use, here is a selection, please vote.

This is a comparison of coloured writing or keeping the writing plain white, please vote for what you prefer :)

A few of my pictures

Down below I have put a couple of my pictures that I have taken and may use in both my contents page and my front cover. I have many pictures so I will have to limit the ones that will be used and edit them to make them look the best they possibly can. I went to a number of different locations in order to capture a variety of pictures and I also made my subjects of the picture pose in a number of positions to relate to my title, "Wild".

Layout Designs

                       

I have drawn out two designs of each my front cover and my contents page, which I have planed and drafted using pencil first then black pen.

If you could vote on what design you think is the best and most suitable for my magazine it would be appreciated, thank you :)

Here below is my front cover, which both include a main image, the mast head, a headline, cover lines, a graphic and finally a banner.

       

 Front Cover 1                                      Front cover 2

Here you can see my contents page, which include a letter from the editor, the page numbers and references to the cover lines, also including relatable images, the title and an image of the editor: 

               

                 Contents page 1                                                          Contents page 2

Exploring photoshop even more

Today I have found a picture of a famous actress and I have saved it and opened this image into photoshop. The main task was to select what part of the picture I wanted and play around with the many effects to make the picture more professional.

After selecting around the girl in my picture using the pen too I copied and pasted the image into a new file where I could enlarge the image across the page which I had change to make an a4 sized page. I also using the "T" tool imported text and changed the colour of it. My image was still only a little blurred but this is because my picture is from the Internet.

Title analysis

I have chosen for my name to be "WILD" because I think it will relate to for younger students then having quite a plain name. My magazine will give inside gossip, it will be very fun, and school related information will not be involved as much. I have re-searched many different fonts on a website called "Dafont" and have chosen six of my favourite. The following are my six designs:

Organise A Photo Shoot

In order to produce a number of professional, good looking images for my magazine I will have to take into consideration everything within the frame. I will have to plan about the following:

-Locations
-People
-Costumes
-Lighting
-Angles


For my front cover I am going to take many pictures of a mid shot of two girls. I will take the pictures around school at different locations like in the corridors or on the stairs, and they will both have there school uniforms on. I will test out the different angle from high to low and a eye level angle. The only shot I will take is a mid shot because this is what the brief has asked for. The lighting will be ambient as I will be close to windows and doors, which will allow the light through.

Photoshop

After trying out photoshop for the first time, I have discovered many different tools in which I can make my picture look more professional and can adjust the picture to how I would like it. I first uploaded this picture into photoshop and this was the first design:

Using the many different layers that I choose I could copy and paste them onto a new file to create my final image. Here I have designed a restaurant menu:

I used a tool called the magic wand which selected the crab based on its colouring and I could grow the selection to make sure all of the crab was highlighted. I then copy and pasted it onto a new file starting from scratch, adjusting the crab's legs and adding more colours to make it more realistic. Also copying the lemons from the other picture and pasting them making another layer to this picture. 

  Using the Paint bucket I changed the background  to pink which made everything except the images of both the crab and the lemons pink. Clicking on filter at the top of the page, allows us to choose a texture of design which we can adjust the size of. Here you can see I have changed the texture on the side of my design.

After using photoshop and testing out a picture I now know how to use photoshop more clearly and it will be very useful to me when editing my photographs.

Analysis of Questionnaire Results

Tally of my results

To gain a better response to my questionnaire I decided to print of a number of copies of my questionnaire and hand them out to the students within my school. Taking into consideration the posts on my blog and all of the hand written questionnaires I have come to the conclusion on what will be contained in my magazine and mainly the target audience.


After analysing my questionnaires it seems that a multiple number of students are interested in a school magazine and would like for it to be published monthly. The price that was opted frequently using my questionnaire was from £0.51-£1.00 and i agree that this is a fair range in price for a monthly magazine and my highest answer on my poll was £1.01-£1.50 so I have decided on a final price of £1.00. After handing out this magazine to all ages and both genders I have decided that this magazine will be made for mainly a female gender type and the age range will be from year 11 all the way through to year 13.

Included in the magazine will be:

• Celebrity Gossip
• Fashion
• Events
• Music and gigs
• Jokes
• Games
• Pictures
• Films and t.v
• Advice columns

 Lastly there was a variety of names which were all just one word but quite catchy. I will have to really think about and test out different names for the magazine because I think it is a very important factor when designing a magazine and will catch the students eye.

Textual Anaylsis

The Front Page

This front cover design is very colourful and bright immediately attracting the audiences eye and will definitely stand out from any other magazine. It has the price of the magazine to show possible buyers how much it will cost, contains many pictures making the magazine aesthetically pleasing. This magazine "Student ID" gives an idea of the possible audience where it says "New students!" maybe increasing the demand of buyers.The Masthead "Student ID" it written in bold and a serif font, also has a black box around the writing allowing us to recognize the Magazine and it contains cover lines showing what will be featured inside. At the bottom of the page text is printed which shows "All inside!" which may make the audience quickly want to get inside of the magazine.
  But i also do think that the colours clash a little bit and it makes it hard for the reader to read the writing, also this front cover look all a bit to much on a page because of the background design. On the cover it says "New Students!" which may turn out to be worse for the economical side of the magazine as it may make the magazine a niche product and only be aimed for new students instead of a range of students.


The contents page

The contents page

I think that this contents page is very interesting and gives a very clear idea of what is contained throughout the magazine. On the Left side of the page we have a column from the editor of the October magazine as well as a picture in the top left hand corner. This tells readers what is in the magazine and is very informal making it relatable for the target markets group. The heading on the contents page summarises up what this page is going to tell you about, which some students may want to read, or some may not want to spend time reading. There is a column going down the middle which briefly summarises all the different stories and gives reference to the page numbers. Lastly i think the way in which small images have been layed down the side of the column and right hand side of the page makes this page aesthetically pleasing. These images makes the page more interesting and breaks up all of the text. Next to each image it gives a page number and little quote that the picture describes.The only disadvantage on this page is that there is a lot of information on just this one page but then again that is what a contents page is used for.

From reviewing both pages i have found that the title on each the Front cover and the contents page is very important and i will need to take into consideration many different names which will work best. The colours used are very important as it will either attract the customers of the students or completely put them off buying it. Also when taking pictures i will need to make them look professional and use them in the most appropriate style throughout the magazine. The actual text written on the front page will entice the students to read the magazine, so i will need to put the most exciting stories etc. on the front cover as well as the best looking pictures. On the contents page i will need to be clear to readers what article are where, and specifically show what is on each page. Lastly on each page i will need the best layouts so that my magazine is very aesthetic.