Representation of Main Image (Contents Page)

The image I have used the main image on my contents page (which you can see in the versions of my front cover on my Blog) was used purposely for different reasons. Firstly, I wanted an image that was taken at a Live Concert. I have been to many concerts, and it was hard to pick one that was relatable to what I was aiming for. I aimed for an image that showed the audience of an event that really did take place and that this may draw them in. Secondly I wanted to stick to the theme of 'being cool' and being likeable. The image I have chosen was good for this because of the way he came across was relatable to this theme. I didn't originally plan to go for this type of image but I decided that it would make my front cover look more professional and appealing. I feel the feedback I am getting is extremely beneficial as it is making me realise exactly what I need to include and what would make my magazine more professional.

Representation Of Main Image (Front Cover)

My main image, (which you can see in the versions of the front cover that I have posted on my Blog) show the artist I have talked about in my main headline and sub-headline. When I heard that I had to pick a main image for my front cover, I immediately came up with a plan that this was the type of main image I wanted. I got someone I was good friends with to by music artist. I could picture how I wanted him to look and it took me a while to come up with the idea that I did. At first, I had my music artist standing up, with his chest out and playing the guitar. Yet, I felt he came across too differently to what I wanted. I wanted my music artist to come across 'cool, smooth and likeable'. The main image I had used makes me feel like I have achieved this. I experimented with my friend by getting him into different body positions and doing different stances. Whilst I was thinking about what I wanted, my friend sat down and played a tune on the guitar. This made me realise, that I needed this type of body position and facial expression. It was really lucky that he started to play a song from his guitar, because I probably wouldn't have used the image that I have. I think my music artist comes across very professional and looks quite 'cool'. His facial expression is very focused,a nd this also something I wanted to achieve.

Updated Version Of Front Cover 6/12/12

Here is the latest updated version of my front cover. I have made only one main change, but I think it makes the magazine look completely different. Firstly, I have made my front cover look a lot more realistic. I have reduced the amount of background colour on the double page spread. Before I did this, my front cover main image, looked extremely compressed and although it took up a fairly large amount of my front cover, it didn't look professional and it looked like I hadn't done much with it apart from edited it. Whilst making it look more realistic, I have had to stretch the image further width ways. The changes I have made are extremely beneficial because it makes my front cover more professional and realistic. I was happy with the other conventions, such as sub images, sub headlines etc. Yet I have always agreed that I had to change my main image. Now, it takes up a very large amount of my front cover. The frustrating thing with my front cover was that I didn't realise what was missing. The feedback I received was extremely beneficial, because it made me finally notice what I needed to do. I think the feedback has helped me massively.

Updated Version Of Double Page Spread 6/12/12

This is another updated version of my double page spread. I haven't made too many changes this time around, yet I have made extremely significant ones. Firstly, my image has been changed to a more realistic and relatable one. Prior to this updated version, I included an image of a woman who was holding a child (This has some relation to the context of the double page), yet after receiving more feedback from my classmates, I realised that an image of a live concert I was at, helps make the double page more effective. The research of magazines further helped me realise that I needed to add a caption to the image, which is a change I had made. Although it doesn't really stand out and isn't necessarily the focus point of the double page spread, it is still effective because it adds to the realism of the double page. Furthermore, I added page numbers to the double page. This again was to make the double page spread more reliable. The changes I have made to my double page spread are mainly relatable to realism and this is what I think my classmates were trying to tell me. I think although I added a good font type with good conventions,I needed to add more realistic items that would make it look more appealing to the audience. At first I didn't really want to change my double page spread, but the feedback I received made me realise that this is the best thing to happen as it is looks more appealing and realistic.

Updated Version Of Double Page Spread

Here is the final version of my Double Page Spread. After receiving feedback I had realised that I needed to make changes. I have added more text, and repositioned it. It now takes up more than one side of the page. I have cropped my image, making it look more realistic. Also, I have repositioned the main image to the lower left corner of the page. The feedback for this made me realise, that it didn't look right at the top of the page, especially because it was so stretched. The right of the page wasn't really an issue, so I didn't really want to do anything with it. I feel my double-page spread looks a lot more realistic, and it is a lot more effective. I really happy with my updated version because I think it looks better as whole. I haven't really changed a lot to the double-page, but the changes that I have made make me more satisfied, and I am happy with the feedback. Furthermore, I feel that I wouldn't have noticed this had I not got the feedback.

3rd Front Page Analysis

Here is the 3rd and final front page analysis I have completed. The magazine I analysed was 'Let's Talk'. Similarly to the other front pages, I have talked about whether the the editor has used typical conventions in the magazine. I have added my own opinion, talking about what i feel the advantages were of the magazine. Some of the advantages I have talked about are, colours and sub-images. I have talked about their effect and significance to the magazine. Furthermore, I have talked about the sub-headline as a disadvantage. I didn't like the sub-headline, due to it's colour and the font used. Overall, I have enjoyed analysing the magazine front covers. They have helped me with my own production, and certainly give me some ideas for my own.

Why did I use the images?

All the images I have used have been for a reason. Firstly, the image of the live performer has been used on my contents page. This is one of the two images I had used. This image helps my version look more realistic. Also, the image is linked to the genre of my magazine. The main reason I have used tis images, is because I felt it is important to use an image of a live performance, to show the reader the event to did take place, and that they could be their to experience it themselves. The image of the man wit his back bent and the woman sat down, were used for the front cover . I have used three sub-images on my front cover, including this one. The reason for using this images, was because I felt it would persuade the reader. The line was "We go behind to Teamironic's new album" and this image helps support that. The image of the woman holding the baby is the image I am most happy with. It helps me come up with a story. The story I came up with, about the woman becoming a full time mother, had all came from this image. I had no idea what to do for my double-page spread, but this image helped my imagination, and linked perfectly for what I wanted. The image of myself had not been used on my magazine. Although I had originally planned to use it, I didn't feel it would be realistic. It would have been for the editorial section, yet I never went with this idea, so it didn't have to be used. The image of the woman at the desk was used in the preliminary task. It was used for something related to stress, which is what appears to be the case in the image. This image also give me and idea for a made-up story. Overall, I am happy with the images I had used.

Final Version of Contents Page

Here is the final version of my contents page. As I said in the 1st version of the contents page, I have included the subscription part, with images and persuasive writing. Although I have been quite 'cheesy', I feel it is the best way to entertain the reader and get them to want to buy the magazine. Furthermore, I have used the same colours and stuck with three main primary colours. (Red, Green and Blue). Overall, I am most happy with this page as I feel it is the most realistic. The research has helped me with my contents page, and I have analysed many, which are on my Blog, to help me complete my on version. The image was quite hard to decide on. I did want an image of a band doing a Live performance. Especially because it sticks with the gene of my magazine. I was debating on using a different image, that I have used in my preliminary task, yet, I feel the image I have used is the most effective. The page numbers are also realistic and the 'NME' magazine I have analysed helped me with this. Instead of going up in, 1,2,3,4 etc, I went for a range of different numbers, such as; 13,18,25 etc. This, i have found out, is the most realistic and helps my magazine look more appealing. I definitely feel that the contents pages I had analysed were appealing, and give me ideas. I did more research at home and looked at the positioning of the images. I went for this kind of structure through research, because it was quite original. I am most happy with the colours I had used, because they were similar to my front cover. This added the realism to the whole of my magazine. The contents page, is a page that I think I am the most happy with, because it is the best version I have completed. Whilst making my contents page, Idid come across some problems. One of these, was deciding if I did ant to stick with the structure. Although I knew this was only a draft, I still took moments to think whether i could reposition the images and the list of pages I had made. I started testing the different structures, and my final contents page is the one I am most happy with. I wouldn't want to change my structure, as I am satisfied with its look. Adding my own front cover was highly significant to the contents page, because it was very effective. When analysing the 'NME' contents page, it showed a picture of a previous front cover they had made. I really found this appealing, as it attracted the reader. I added this, similarly, into my own contents page, and linked it to the 'subscription' part I had included. The subscription part was realistic because many magazines include this. Many contents pages have small part trying to attract the reader to subscribe monthly to the magazine.

1st Version of Contents Page

Here is the 1st version of my contents page. I am very happy with it a the moment. I have tried to stick with the same colours I have used in my front page. I am most happy with me customised log at the top right of the screen. After researching many magazines, I felt it looked very effective, and so decided it might prove effective to my own contents page. I am going to include subscriptions and an image of my front cover to make it more realistic. I ay do some more research into contents page that might give me more ideas about what to include, but so far I feel happy with my contents page.

3rd Double Page Analysis

Here is the final analysis of the three doulbe page spreads I have done. I enjoyed doing this analysis the most out of all the ones I have done. I really like the images the editor had used and I also think the colour was relative to the genre of the band. Throughout this analysis, I have talked about the reader, colours and relavance of the text. The main thing that I found out from this double-page spread was that it was one of the most unique. It is very unlikely to see more then four images on a doulbe page, yet this makes the magazine more individual.

Flat Plan for Contents Page

This is the flat plan for my contents page. I haven't yet completed my contents page, and this flat plan will hopefully help me complete it successfully. I like my layout of the contents page and so will use this for my own. The colours are quite difficult to get right as I want to make it look as professional as possible. I have researched into many contents pages, for example the 'NME' magazine, and I notice that many have darker colours, and so I think I might stick with this popular type of shade. I am also debating about whether I should use an editorial section. I feel that this might make less realistic, on the other hand it might make it look more effective, so I will have to make a wise decision when it comes to doing this.

Flat Plan for Double-Page Spread

This is the flat plan for my double-page spread. Similarly with the front cover, I didn't really give me 100% focus to the flat plan, and didn't follow it as much as I probably should have. I did use some of the conventions I had planned to use, yet in terms of the positioning I didn't really use this. I researched other double-page spreads (Now on my blog) and tried to link my flat plan to that.

Flat Plan for Front Cover

The flat plan for my front cover took longer then I had exepcted, as I didn't really know what I wanted the layour to look like. I kept moving the main image into different postions and I also wasn't sure about where to the masthead. In the end I came to decision that may not completely follow the flat plan shown in the image, as I began to change my mind again. I experimented some of the ideas using Adboe Photoshop, and thought that the final front cover I have done (Now on my Blog) looked the most realistic and effective. I added many things to my flat plan, such as; Masthead, Sub-images etc. I am happy with how I used the flat plan, and I feel it helped me when it came to the front cover.

NME Contents Page Analysis

This is my analysis of an 'NME' contents page. As done with previous contents pages, I have discussed both the pros and cons of the page. I found that the NME structure and layout was very consistent, as I have researched many NME magazines. This is a very good idea I think, because a weekly reader will still know where everything they is on the contents page. I think the layout was also the most effective thing about the contents page as it looked very professional and all the information could be read easily. The colours were very dark, which are colours related to an NME magazine. There was loads of information given to me, and I have mentioned that this might be a negative thing before on another analysis, because you don;t want to tell your reader everything that will be in the magazine, as it makes them less persuaded.

1st Contents Page Analysis

Here is the first contents page analysis I have completed. Similarly to the analysis' of the double-page features I have talked about the conventions used and some of the ideas that I could use in my own contents page. I have discussed my own personal views of the contents page, both positives and negatives. I have talked about both the main images and sub-image used.

Completed Version Of Front Cover

Here is the completed version of my front cover. I have added the image I said that I was going to add. Overall, I am happy with handing this product in as I feel it is a lot more improved then my previous version. The feedback I received is what I feel has helped me feel more comfortable with my work. The colour is a lot more realistic and the images help make it more appealing. I know that there will be some improvements, yet I am a lot happier and feel better with the final product. The background colour is a lot more appealing and still catches the audience's attention

2nd Double Page Spread Analysis

This is another double-page spread I have analysed. I have talked about the typical conventions and whether they have been put into the double-page spread. I talked about both the positives and negatives and I have also talked about whether I could use anything from the double-page in my own version. I have discussed the effect and significance of some of the conventions the editor has used. When analysing this double-page spread it did give me some personal ideas for my own. Some of the ways the information has been forwarded to the audience, is something I personally think is very effective.

Final Draft Of Double-Page Spread

Here is the final draft of my Double-Page Spread. I am very happy with it as I feel it has a sense of realism and that it looks like a double-page spread. I like the idea, that I have went for an interview. it is quite common to have an interview in a double-page spread. I also think it is quite effective that I have adapted my image into the double-page spread, which makes it even more realistic. I know that there are some improvements that could be made, and I feel the feedback I get will be beneficial.

2nd Version Of Double Page Spread

Here is the second version of my double-page spread. I am sticking with the idea of doing an interview. I am using realistic questions and answers and it is coming together very well in my opinion. The colours are a bit dark at the moment, I feel that I may change it. Yet, overall it is coming together quite well.

1st Version Of Double Page Spread

This is the very first version of my double page spread. I am very happy with it at the moment, and I feel it looks really professional. The colours at this moment are not definite but I might experiment with it in the next few weeks. For my doulbe-page spread, I am going for an 'interview'. The interview will be about a woman who is acting as an American singing sensation. Crazy right? Yet, it is very realistic and I am relating a made-up story related to it.

1st Double Page Spread Analysis

Moving on from the front cover of my magazine, here is an analysis of a double-page spread. I have talked about the conventions such as, colour, layout etc.

Updated Draft For Music Magazine Front Cover

After about 10292029 hours of editing and decision making, I have finally finished my draft for the front cover of my music magazine. I have completely changed it in my opinion from the last version I had posted. After I posted my last version, I didn't feel I had done a good job. It didn't look professional enough and didn;t stand out as much as I would have liked. However, I now feel it is more realistic and would stand out alongside other magazines. The sub-headlines have been added which I am happy about. I know that there are improvements that need to be made, yet I am happy with how my front cover looks. The sides of my magazine were orignally plain yellow, and although it is a bright colour, it looked very plain and simple. Now I have made a gradient colour onto it, and looks better in my opinion. I have inlcuded other elements, such as; Date and issue, advertisements for competitions, etc. Tell me what you like and don't like, thanks !!

The Magazine Rationale

The name of my magazine is “Epic Music”. Epic has connotations of meaning great and amazing and it is a strong term, especially in a magazine. The word “Epic” is also a very teenage linked term, and since there are not many current magazines with this name, it makes my magazine more memorable. The audience therefore, is mainly teenagers. In terms of genre, I have mainly went for “New Acoustic” and “Pop”. My reason is I feel in the market at this moment, there many rock magazines, and I wanted to make a magazine that has a gap in the market and that there needs to be more of this type of genre magazines. An image for my magazine is a music artist (not professional) who is playing an acoustic guitar. It appeals to my reader because it is realistic and is typical of what you would see a music artist doing. Another image I have is of my mother holding a young child (my mother acting as a music artist). This image is beneficial and appeals to the audience because for my sub-headline I have said something along the lines of “Paula’s reaction of being a full-time mother”. It also helps link my magazine elements together. The primary audience is certainly anyone who is a weekly buyer of my magazine and anyone who is a fan of the music artist on the front cover. The secondary audience are mothers buying the magazine for their son or daughter. This leads to the gender of the magazine. The gender of my magazine I would say is females, yet it still as elements that would appeal to a male. The age, as said before, is teenagers. Similarly to the images I have used, the male music artist on my front cover is presented professionally and formal due to his facial expressions. All of my images have similar stereotypes in where their positioning and facial expressions are quite serious looking. On my double-page spread I will have on of the images taking up one of the pages. The other side of the page is a questionnaire I will be carrying out. It will include questions and answers and hopefully prove out to be effective.

3rd Version Of Front Cover

Here is the 3rd version of my Music Magazine Front Cover. Prior to this version I hadn't included as much as I would have liked, however, with this version I feel everything is starting to come together. I still haven't changed the main headline colour but it will be getting changed later on. On the left of the magazine, there is just a yellow box. This is because I am debating about whether I should included sub-images or sub-headlines. I am more swayed towards sub-headlines, yet I really feel that the sub-images will make it more appealing. Any ideas would be helpful, thanks :)

2nd Version Of Front Cover

Here's the music magazine front cover I have made so far. Am I happy with it? I think the background colour is very effective and the yellow bar along the bottom help bring the magazine to life. However, I am not too happy with the colour of the Main Headline. I feel it is too dark and doesn't stand out. I can see myself adding a different colour to that. I need to add barcodes, the price and more conventions to the front cover, but overall, I am pleased with the way it is beginning to shape out.

1st Version Of Front Cover

Here is the very first version of my music magazine front cover! Yes, it isn't very attractive but, I have a lot more to add such as, the Main Headline and sub-headlines, etc... Yet so far, I think it is a good background with an appealing image.

Images For Music Magazine

So, these are the images I am likely to be using for my Music Magazine. Some adjustments may have to be used yet, I am feeling confident withimages I have selected. The image of myself is for the Editorial Section. The picture of one of my family and the baby, is an image I will use. This is because I want to make it sound realistic and say that outside her music life, she is doing well looking after her baby. The image of my friend playing the guitair, will be used for my front cover. This is the most important image in my opinion. The picture of my family member (looking distressed at the desk) is likely to be edited, but I want to use and make a realistic comment about how she is coping with depression (Or something along those lines) The image of the man playing at a Live Concert, is something I know will help me relate to the music magazine I am making. The picture of my family member and friend in a room leaning over the desk is the image I most happy with. I will make a line which goes along the lines of "Epic Music go undercover to "TeamiRonic's new album" Or at least something like that :) These images may be changed as my blog goes on but for the moment I am very happy with the images I have took.

Edited Version Of Main Image

This is my normal version and edited version of my main image. As you can see, I have completely removed the background in the normal version as I feel it isn't necessarily suitable for a music background. I am extremely pleased with this new version, and I feel whilst doing it, I am a lot more confident with using Adobe photoshop.

IPC Media Institution

Here is my IPC Media analysis. I have included facts and informaton about IPC Media and talked especially about NME.

2nd Front Page Analysis

Possible Titles For Music Magazine

Here are some the possible titles that I am thinking of using in my music magazine. The second one, (The one that looks cartoony) is my most preferred, but I'm still thinking. Any ideas on which one I should use, feel free to comment :D

1st Front Page Analysis

Here is my Billboard Magazine Analysis. This is the first magazine I have analysed. When analysing this magazine, I have learnt that not all magazines stick to the usual conventions. For example, this magazine didn't have any sub-images, which is fairly unusual. It was still good anaylsing :D

What I Have Learnt So Far...

I feel I have done a good job in making a front cover for the Bede College magazine. I have included many conventions, such as Masthead, Date...etc. What I am happy with the most, is the picture I have used. I feel it relates to the other conventions of the magazine and so helps with the overall look. I also believe it is useful when it comes to making my own music magazine cover. This is because, when making my music magazine I will need to use similar features. On the front cover are shapes that help the sub-headlines stand out. It includes the main information that I want my audience to read. Since this magazine is free, I didn’t need to include a barcode which is one of the conventions in any magazine. Furthermore, I didn’t need the price, hence the previous reason about the magazine being free. I have named my magazine “Bede Daily”. The simple reason is because I want to make a daily college newspaper, which can inform the students and teachers about what is happened the previous day and what is happening in the current day. The making of my college magazine has improved my Adobe Photoshop skills as well, which is useful for the music magazine I will make. Although I had used Adobe Photoshop many times, I still needed a lot of practice if I were to know what tools to use. When making something on Photoshop, I now feel more confident and feel I could use the tools. What I could have possibly done better was to use less intense colours. Although, I do want it to stand out, I feel some of the colours I put onto my magazine made the text slightly hard to read. Yet overall I am happy with the outcome. Yet I know that it goes well with my magazine front cover, and so I happy with the final production.

Summary Of What I'd Expect To See In A School Magazine

On a magazine cover, I’d expect to see the main image standing out from all the other conventions on the magazine. When wanting to pick up a magazine, I wouldn’t necessarily want to see the barcode; therefore if I did play attention to it, I would want it to the side of the magazine. As well as the main image, I would want the main headline to stand out. The main headline would need to relate to the genre of the magazine. For example, my own magazine is literally called “Bede Daily”, therefore when people pick it up they know instantly what the magazine is likely to contain. When looking at the magazine front cover, I would expect the sub-headline to relate to the main headline, or at least explain it in more detail. Around the magazine, I would also want to see. On the contents page, I would want to see the page numbers with information about what would go on to each page. I would also expect to see images related to what will be in the following pages. For example, if there was something about coursework in a magazine, I would maybe expect to see a student working hard. In a contents page, I wouldn’t just want to see a list of everything that was going to be on the page. I would want it to attract me. I would want the producer to play on the words. For example in my own contents page, I put “Get your head into the future!” This is because the Futureheads were coming to the college; I feel that this is more attracting to a reader then just putting “Futureheads” I would expect to see the page numbers clear and spaced out. Therefore when I want to see the page, it would be easy to find. Similarly to my own contents page, I would also want to see pictures related to the magazine. Having pictures makes a reader want to continue reading and it can help relate to the target audience.

Contents Page

Contents Page Summary

My own contents page for my college magazine For my contents page, I did all the things that I would want to see, if I were to pick a magazine up at random. I did just want a list of pages with no meaning. Therefore what I did was make the information was intriguing and attracting. I decided to go for a very fair purple colour for the background. There was no particular reason for this, but if I had to say, it would be because my front cover was blue, and I feel when turning the page the difference in contrast of colours would be effective. Overall, I am very happy with my contents page. I have made nine pages for my magazine. I didn’t want to make too many pages because I knew that if I did put too many on then it would be hard to put something in the magazine the week after. I had to criticize myself about my contents page, it would be that I could have put more images on. I always feel that the more images there are on the contents page, the better it looks and it is very attracting

College Magazine Front Cover

NME Magazine Analysis

What potential meanings do you think might be encoded in the image? Most of the time, the main image will cover the magazine, and this is does for a certain reason. As said when analysing, the producer and maker will want the reader to be drawn in by the image. Apart from the masthead, the image will be the next thing that the reader looks at. The main image is nearly always someone famous, again adding to the attraction of the public. It could also be said that the image will be set for the main audience. An example of this is ‘NME’. The majority of the time it is a teenager who will be posing, and is effective as it is someone that the target audience, ‘teenager’, can relate to. The headline will be related to the image as well. Taking this example to right again, it is clear that the headline is talking about the man in the magazine. The sub-headline is a quote from the man in the image, again adding to the effectiveness, as it wants the reader to keep reading. There are many other potential meanings in the magazine beside the image. The list of names placed in the lower end of the magazine are effective as it is a list of bands that again the target audience can relate to. Oasis, Muse and Kaiser Chiefs are all popular bands and this has been done deliberately by the producer. They are all the same colour as well (red background and white text) these two basic colours are effective because it grasps the reader’s attention and is very effective. A magazines layout and design will be the same weekly. Using ‘NME’ again as an example, the position of the masthead, the headlines, sub-headlines, etc… will be in the same or similar position each week. In terms of lighting, a magazine always needs to stand out. Sticking to a certain amount of brightness and using a limited amount of colours makes it the text clear, makes the image stand out, and as a cover it is appealing to the target audience. ‘NME’ in this particular magazine have been very clever, as they write ‘exclusive’ in above their main headline. The chances are the interview with Pete, has probably been published in a wide range of other magazines and newspapers. Yet, to make the reader think that this is the only source that has this interview with Pete, they are more likely to but it.