Main Task Flat Plans and Written Rationale

For my Front Cover, I have decided to use basic features found on most magazine covers. I have chosen to use a skyline to advertise either articles or an advertisement as it would intrigue readers into wanted to read the magazine. The Masthead will be below the Skyline and cover the whole of the width of the cover with the essential information below on the left - the essential information includes the issue number and magazine website. Below those, I will have my main image which will be of one of my friend's posing as Dannicka from the band Evarose. Across the image will be the main coverline and subheading. The coverline will be something short, but including enough information to intrigue people into wanting to read the article - the subheading would provide slightly more information to also intrigue the readers. Below the main image and coverline/subheading will be more Coverlines. Finally, I will have my barcode and date at the bottom right of the page - like most magazines.

At the very top of my contents page will be the masthead - the name of the magazine- as in most magazines, the companies use the masthead as the title of the contents page, instead of the word "Contents." Below the masthead taking 3/4 of the width of the page will be the main article image with other images on the right of it. Below the other images will be a letter from the editor - a feature i have noticed in several magazines - such as Kerrang!. Below the letter will be an advertisement for a magazine subscription - also found in many magazines. Finally, The main contents of the page will be below the main article image - it will include page numbers and titles of pages.

For my double page spread, the article will be an interview with Dannika from Evarose - my friend will pose in the photos as Dannika.  There will be a pull quote from the text as my article title which I have found very common in magazines such as Kerrang! - a magazine that has influenced me when choosing conventions. The pull quote will intrigue readers as pull quotes tend to draw readers in without giving away too much information about the article/interview. Below the Pull Quote will be a Strapline, giving a short description of what the article is about/who it includes. The Strapline is designed to, along with the strapline, draw readers in by giving them a little extra information, adding onto the article title. The Main Article will feature below the title and Strapline and will start with a Drop-caps - a feature found in most magazines. The Drop-caps indicates where the article starts, if unclear to the reader. The main article will be in the form of an interview. On the following page, the Main Image will cover most of the page - a photo of my friend posing as Dannika. The image indicates who the article is about - when flicking though a magazine, if there was no images, readers would most likely not know who each article was about. The image will be taken, if available, in a studio to made sure it is professional looking. Also, if needed, photoshop can be used to edit photos that may be slightly over/under exposed. Finally, below the main image will be other images of my friend in different areas/different poses. Below each image will be an anchor - the anchor tells readers what is going on in the photo - in magazines such as Kerrang! editors use anchors to add comical comments on the photos. 

Analysing Previous Student Work

Analysing Previous Student Work

Name of Magazine	Strengths	Weaknesses	Grade I  awarded  and reason
IMAGE	The design of the pull-quote is professional and unique. The house style colours are consistent – it stands out. The images and logo used are very professional and not pixelated. The photoshop/editing on the images is professional looking.  The density of the font is good. The contrasting colours on the contents page look professional.	The cover line colour clashes against the red lines in the background. The “Scan box” looks out of place – it would have looked better on the contents page. The font is almost “too standard” in the article. The main image on the cover has shadows that seem unnatural. Bad grammar has been used in the double page spread. The background colour on the contents page is too bold – texture could have been added. There is no anchor on the double page spread – readers wouldn’t know what the image is/who the image is of.	B
Sound Check	The photos used have been took at concerts and not taken from the internet. They have included “posters” which are common in music magazines. Band logos have been used.  Anchors have been used for the images.	The photos are too dark – although being good shots of the band members. The photos used are quite dark which clashes with the grey and black house style which makes the whole style seem bland. The text used in the contents page and double page spread is too unprofessional. For the background of the contents page and double page spread is just a block colour – texture could be added to make it look more appealing.  The page number is also incorrect for the contents page and the numbers in the contents page are random.	C
Strobe	The photographs used are good quality. Photoshop has been used effectively – putting images in front of the text.	The layout of the double page spread is pretty simplistic – the background colours are completely bold which makes it look quite un-professional and not very aesthetically pleasing. On the front cover, some of the text blends in with the colour behind it which makes it hard to read and almost hurts the eye when straining to read it. The white background could have a slight texture to it to make it look less flat and more professional. The use of photoshop on the front cover doesn’t look right – the blur tool used to create the smoke effect.	C

What have I learned from looking at last year’s student work?

I have learned that I need to pay close attention to photos that I take – making sure that they are not blurry/out of focus. Also, I have learned that attention to detail will increase how aesthetically pleasing. Using block colours as backgrounds make the magazine look quite unprofessional, so I will try to avoid doing that.

How will I apply this to my own work?

I will make sure that my photos look professional before creating my magazine – if possible, using the studio when taking the photos. I will make sure that to give my magazine more depth – aesthetically – I will not use block colours, instead non-block colours – e.g shading.

Coursework Stage 2 Planning

 

Proposal Form

 

Describe your idea for the brief: I have decided to create a rock magazine with both older and newer rock bands – I will create a front cover, contents page and double page spread. The target audience will be around 14-40 year olds. I will use typical conventions found in a magazine.

Genre/ sub genre: list similar texts which have inspired your thoughts The genre of the magazine will be both modern and classic rock – I have used the layout of Kerrang! and Rock Sound as inspiration for the presentation of the double page spread and contents page.

Target audience: gender/ age/ characteristics/ behaviour The target audience of my magazine will be teenagers and above – there will be no specific age limit to the magazine due to the wide variety of rock genre eras that I will cover. However,the main audience will most likely 13-40 year olds as theyare more likely to buy a magazine with more modern rock music along with the older stuff. Due to this older target audience, I will not need to use excessive amounts of bright colours; however I will use bright colours where necessary.

Major conventions On my front cover I will use a masthead, main image, main coverline, sub-headings, essential information – barcode, website, price – other images and possibly a skyline. I have chosen to use these as they commonly feature on a front cover of a magazine and are essential to ‘sell’ the product. For my double page spread I will use a dominant image along with smaller images in which I will add an anchor to them all. I will also use pull-quotes to draw the readers in, a strap line below the article title and drop caps in order to indicate where the article begins.

Conventions I have decided that I will use most basic conventions when creating my magazine. However, I do not want to use too many conventions to make my work look over the top.

Original images: I will use images that I have taken of my friends posing as band members – e.g Evarose. To get the best lighting I will either take the images outside using natural sunlight or in a studio if possible. Also, by taking the photos outside, I have a variety of places to use as the background in the shots – e.g landscape shots.

Potential difficulties/ Plan B: When creating my magazine I may experience problems when using the computers – e.g photoshop not working correctly. I will overcome this by backing up my work at home and working at home whenever possible – this depends on the work load that I may have at the time. Also, when arranging to take photos of my friends, they may not turn up leaving me with no photos for my magazine. I will overcome this by having a backup plan – such as taking photos at college when my friends are available.