2. Entry one
Beginning my research and planning stage for the G324 project, I have brainstormed an extensive list of possibilities
surrounding the 4 Briefs I was interested. I have since narrowed it down and finalised my decision on what I felt most drawn to
regarding the path of my year 13 blog. Brief 14 ‘The first four pages from an original regional magazine, together with two of
the following three options:
A Radio advertisement for the magazine.
Two Hyperlinked pages from the magazines website.
A Billboard advertisement for the magazine.’
I am still undecided on what two subsidiary task I will pick but will explore these later in the coming process of my own
research and planning period. Currently I am collecting the codes and conventions of regional print magazines, this is to
guide me in assuring a succession of my product. I will then begin to look at similar products, following both the codes and
conventions and my intended approach to my production. I am primarily considering dietary themes such as foods; more
specifically vegetarianism as it something that relates to me and I hold a firm interest towards. My passion in this topic would
contribute to my approach as I would dedicate a thorough devotion to the input of all contributing factors. Issues I might
encounter would revolve around the location of which I would find restaurants or food chains that hold a target audience of
people with vegetarian needs. Being in south/ east London I will be able to explore both areas whilst still conforming to the
regional setting that my magazine must conform to. Assisting my exploration into my production I have recently been looking
into the codes and conventions of a regional magazine, specific to the south/ east London area. As a result of this I started to
apply my analytic skills towards similar products regarding my own intentions of the project, my next task will however revolve
around the completion of this research and planning task and possible photographs that would be needed for my production.
3. Entry two
Regarding the developments in my production, I have completed more research and planning task that primarily revolve
around already existing products. In doing so I have gathered four examples of similar magazines that follow my initial
ideas as to how I will present my project. Thinking more abstractly I have been focusing on the magazine ‘Psychology
Today’. This was a result of their intriguing design layout as well as alternative presentation of both texts and images.
Distortion is used frequently and linking it back to my own intentions, I could potentially infer this towards my own
photography to mimic the misconception and ignorance that vegetarianism provokes when not understood completely.
Close ups was quite a common aspect, showing in detail the images focus and how the internal articles will approach
the story. Reverting back firmly to my own interests, I have researched magazines specifically for the purpose of
presenting a vegetarian diet. Masthead identities such as ‘Vegetarian Living’ solely focus, obviously, on the lifestyle of
vegetarians. What interests me most is the clean cut and sharp photography that varies from images of meals to the
people that are of significance to either the article or main features present in the magazine. I have secured my
knowledge of the codes and conventions on a regional magazine and as a result of this, I am now able to proceed
gathering alternative aspects of existing products that I could use to inspire my own manufacturing.
Next steps will be to find primary responses to audience expectations and focusing on who my target audience will
be and why. Amongst this I will begin to look at casting options which include who I will be featuring in my article
and quite possible who I will be photographing in the visual elements of my magazine. I have firmly set my ideals
on using people as subjects and not inanimate objects that link to my topic, however I am open to
experimentations of the sought.
4. Entry three
Recently I have began the creation of my magazine main cover that will be the establishing the opening of my product.
As a result of my research into colours and their connotations, I have decided on a combination of greens for the theme,
this was obvious option to me as throughout my research and planning that I have so far completed, the color green is
one of which that is expected to be seen when in relation to either vegetarianism/veganism or healthy eating. I firstly
used an existing picture of Google images to replicate the positioning of where I would like my subjects head to be,
however I found it productive to start experimenting with models now to see if I would consider gender to be a
contributing factor as originally I had planned for there to be a girl on the front page. As shown here, my development
led to three alternative outcomes and
although each are not completed yet, I
still have a vague idea of how I wish to
continue with my subject path and
which profile I want then to fit. In the
creation of this I didn't’t just focus on
visuals, I have also been attentive to
the name of my magazine.
After concluding an audience questionnaire, I had constructed for a total of 30 people, ranging from the ages 15- 35, I
took into account the feedback I had received and decided on the name ‘The Modern South’
My next step now is to consider the subtexts as I an unsure on what they should say, also complete my research on
similar articles as this would help affirm the type of article I will continue with in regards to my own manufacturing of a
Regional Magazine.
5. Entry four
Recently I have been finalising on the written side of my cover page of the magazine, most significantly the subtext. In
completing what I am actually writing, I have started to take a deeper look into what fonts or typography I would be
applying to each phrase and why. The bulk of the variety of fonts I have found appropriate for my text has been Sans Serif
as it is less serious and makes the topic I'm writing about seem less serious and daunting to read. Personally I feel this
would be good for my production as it is arguably a controversial topic as a result of vegetarian being niche in comparison
to meat eaters. With doing this is have additionally looked at the alternative fonts I could potentially apply to other pages
such as my main article and contents page, however this is not my main priority and I will come back to do more in depth
research and example collecting at a later date. As well as completing blog work of research and planning I have planned
and completed two further shoots, one female and one male. Although all shoots have been relatively successful, I have
come to the realisation that images of an actual person is not the direction I wish to peruse anymore regardless of my
original intents. I have been looking at the distortion of both meat related objects and vegetables to creatively present the
distorted and conflicted views on the topic I am covering. As a result I have experimented with a simple picture of a lettuce
and the slice effect I found a video on when looking at how I could disfigure successfully a picture. Beside is my outcome
and although it is successful, there is room for improvements but now I’m aware of roughly how to go about
it.
My Next step is to begin my main article plan and prepare for the written side of the page
6. Entry five
Since my last entry I have began to write my main article, it is here where I will be exploring the rise of vegetarianism and
veganism within my regional society whilst comparing it to more urban areas such as London. With a recent interview I
concluded for the purpose of my magazine, I virtually spoke to a vegan caterer called Niquitha Thompson who owned the
company ‘South London Vegan’, in the interview we conversed about why people were vegan, whether it is a trend or not
and why she feels veganism and vegetarianism is more prominent in some places compared to others. So far I have not
completed the article but am half way through. My aim is to include a variety of features that present an educated and
accurate cover on the rise of vegetarians specific in the south. The visuals of my main article has not been considered
however I am aware that it is something I need to consider soon for the makings of my magazine. So far, my work
regarding imagery for the all three features of The Modern South has been minimal as I found I can’t find appropriate
pictures to convey my intended message. Previous to my focus on imagery specifically entailing main articles; I have
conducted shoots all varying with contents however consistently revolving around a face. This is because after looking at
Psychology Today, a theme of portraits was noticeable
and I really liked the aesthetics when comparing it to other magazine that varied focus
on landscapes or objects. However I found that currently I wasn’t liking this for my cover,
this allowed me to explore with imagery regarding the article page
My next step for what I need to include regarding the main article is potentially another aspect of perspective that
could possibly be opposing or supporting to my article. As well as this I am speculating on the inclusion of statistics.
7. Entry six
In view of the starting of my main article contents, I have been looking for ways in particular to include more of a primary
source of which accounts to the regionality of my brief. As a way of doing this I traveled to Bexleyheath town center and
asked people on their views of vegetarianism in the style of a questionnaire. Most people abided to the questions of
which was a multi choice response and did not interact with me excessively however one particular person named Keith
Heartridge conversed with me about his passion for a meat free diet and the fact that he had ben vegetarian since the
age of 16, he is now aged 74. A particular quote I got from him and would be interested in using for my article was
‘There was nowhere I could eat out really. I mean, we had a Wimpy that I think is still there when I was a
teenager, but nothing like what we have today. I feel like I’m spoiled for choice now.’ However whilst Heartridge
was amazing at giving me verbal feedback, he was against having his picture taken. I respect this wholly however
recognise that it would help significantly for the inclusion of his picture for the visual aspect of page. However focusing
on this challenge that I am facing, I have already explored some intentions regard imagery (portraits) however I still can’t
be satisfied with the outcome. Because of my exploration into distortion, I also found myself experimenting with that for
the use of the main article and upon reflection I really like this as it shows creativity and it isn't a central focus as a result
of its placement. Alongside my main article work I have also been looking at the cover page again because I have
changed my intentions in terms of photography. Using the same method as the shard edits I did before, I used a
combination of meat and vegetables to get a different effect, this has however been used for the article page and as
result I need to focus on the cover again.
My next step will be to continue on looking for the right type if picture I will use for the cover page.
8. Entry seven
My focus currently has been on details of all three pages such as the font types and the placements of them. I have
extended my research and planning stage by looking at the different types of font available to me and picking the ones I
feel are most suitable. I began this process by collecting around 25 individual types of fonts including a variation of both
Sans Serif and Serif. This was to allow myself to explore an open group of fonts and not be limited to one particular
group. Initially I just picked those that aesthetically appealed to me and I thought it could be used for my magazine
however I didn’t put them down to any particular use (aligning them to certain pages), that was my next stage. I followed
up with this topic by picking my most favored three typography styles and analysed them individually according to their
look and how I could use them regarding the appropriate page they would suit; these being either the; cover page, the
contents page or the main article page. This focus on not only the research and planning side of my construction but
also of details regarding the magazine benefitted my blog as I was able to get up to date on with what I needed to do
and what was still needed to be completed. Recently I feel as if I have fallen behind with my blog posts and it was
helpful to find the time to focus solely on them. Such as last year, my time management isn't the best and the
repercussions is shown. Since my last work around the main article, I have not given it much attention so that is
something that I will venture a lot of time in in the upcoming weeks.
My next step is to work on the visuals of my article as I have completed the written aspect but however have
nothing to show for the aesthetics of it. Alongside this is I will begin to plan my contents page as I need to turn my
attention on to this now.
9. Entry eight
Such as the other pages I have back tracked to the codes and conventions of a contents page, reverting to my previous
stages of the research and planning I completed has helped me as it was able to inform my construction of the flat plan I
intended on making before the creation of my real one. After familiarising myself with the codes and conventions for the
second time I started looking at existing ones again I felt the ones I had previously explored didn’t really appeal to me
any more. As a result of this I planned my contents page to look a different way that demonstrated an equal proportion of
both visuals and written. My plan entails the page to be split down the center and for each factor to be on either side
equally. From my extra research I wasn’t able to find a stylistic approach similar to the type I wanted to go to however I
feel that if I was to slightly subvert from a part of the codes and conventions but comply to the majority, then it would
encourage the reader to like my production more. Since planning for my contents page I have also been looking at the
types of imagery I could use for the visual aspect of it. I have decided that I would base three out of the five images
displayed on what will be written and use the other two just to add variation and suggest that there is more pages that
have been said. Because of the planning stage regarding this particular page being quite lengthy I have set my next
step to be for the completion of planning and more.
My next step is to look at different types of images that I could use on a commercial level and on a regional level, I
have also began to focus on hat I will write in my contents page as that is a very important aspect of which
dictates the visual side of the page. After the written element is done and I know what stories I will be coving, I will
have a better idea on what to take pictures off.
10. Entry nine
I have decided on the alternating my chosen imagery for the cover page meaning that despite following an editorial
process such as combining the idea of meat and vegetables and fragmenting the two together, I have now reverted back
to the idea of using someone's head in a portrait setting whilst using text to additionally provide a reference to the nature
of my main articles topic. In placement of this, I have decided to plan another photoshoot to capture the appropriate style
of imagery and have looked at the type of words I will use for the use of accompanying the image. The words and
phases I have decided on revolve around the theme of vegetarian and also the ignorance that this dietary choice
coincides with. Along side this has been my main focus of using getting to grips with the newly introduced software
InDesign. So far I have been struggling to understand the concept of this software, nevertheless I am aware of its
advantages in terms of textual sources as InDesign has more advanced programming for this specific use. Because I
am not certain with the application of this software, my teacher is still assisting me with how to navigate myself around
and although it resembles similarities with Photoshop, I personally still feel comfortable with that of what I'm used to. I
am continuing with using this for now but as a result of my time manag-
ement I don’t know if I will be continuing as it is quite time consuming getting to know a
whole new software. As mentioned previously, I have been needing to focus on my blog
post however with a turn in my cover page intentions, I have had to alter my focus.
Inferring that my assisting focus will again be my blog.
Not only blog posts will be a central focus, but also looking into the ancillary choices.
11. Entry ten
Recently my sole focus has been on blog posts and devoting my spare time to the recognition of all the options available
to me for the ancillary tasks. These choices were
A Radio advertisement for the magazine.
Two Hyperlinked pages from the magazines website.
A Billboard advertisement for the magazine.’
Whilst evaluating my options I had to decide what two tasks would accompany my main production of a regional
magazine, for this I created a brainstorm of possibilities and ideas regarding each individual topic. So far, I am unsure on
what I will pick but I am leaning to favour both the radio advertisement for my magazine and also a billboard creation to
advertise my production. The reason being that each seemingly are simplistic and familiar to me however are
challenging enough as I haven't actually made one before. The option to create two hyperlinked pages from the
magazines website is equally as interesting as it would allow me to explore an alternative platform of media and also
cover themes and features that possibly I couldn’t put in my magazine. The only issue I would face with this is if I would
have enough time to do so on account of how long I have to do it. I have reached what I can only describe as a block
regarding the practical creation of my magazine however as I am coming up to my half term break, I hope to come back
with more ideas based on both my ancillary tasks and main production,
The next step I will take will be to gain clarification on my chosen ancillary tasks I will doing.
12. Entry eleven
I am currently in my half term break and have been considering what tasks I will be completing for my ancillary works, I
intend on creating both a Billboard advertisement of my regional magazine and a radio advertisement as I feel the
variation of media such as audio and visual will accompany my main production well. After evaluating the possible ideas
for each task, I looked at potential paths I would be able to take, instead of collective ideas, specifically for the mood
board, I separated my thought process into the different aspects that would be important to the final product; colour,
imagery, titles, fonts, etc.… As my main production is about veganism and vegetarianism, I wanted to include a
consistency of aesthetics and make it rate to that issue. Regarding the radio advert I thought it would be best to make it
seem like there was a conversation going on in the advert rather than one person explicitly informing the listener about
the product and forcing it on them. After finalising my choices for the ancillary task I have spent my time researching the
codes and conventions of each in extensive detail as I haven't previously covered this form of media before and it is new
to me. Along side my research into the expectations of it, I
looked at existing productions of both by using google to search for those
available to me. As radio adverts are audios and not visual, I wasn’t able to
create a mood board of existing however I did look at a few and created
responses on whether I thought they were successful or not.
My next step now that I have accomplished the basic research for both my billboard and radio advert, is to plan for
a script specifically for the audio of my advert.
13. Entry twelve
Commencing the process of creating my ancillary tasks I have created a script for the radio advert to help me visualise
the reality of my radio advert. As previously stated I intend on using two voices on my radio advert as I wanted it to mimic
a realistic conversation on account of the magazine itself being a regional lifestyle magazine catered for the
consummation of real people. I downloaded a template for my script and used that as a means of presentation, it helped
me to establish the secondary text of which was the auditory directions and acknowledgment of set as well as the primary
text; being the dialogue and final sales pitch. Along side starting the radio advert I have since began the Billboard too, so
far I have approached it simplistically as I will be transferring existing features of my magazine over to the actual
aesthetics of this particular ancillary, such as this will be the fonts and colour scheme most seen on the cover. The font
presented on the cover page was the font lemon milk and because it has become symbolic of the presentation of
my magazine, it made sense to further it to the assisting production and transfer
it to the visuals of another task that is relative to my work. Visually this particular
is ultimately very bold and as a result of this style being blocked-in, it is easy to alter the aesthetics of it regarding
colourisation. I personally like the contrast of the sharp edges in letters like them M and N, when compared to the linear
style such as the other letters. Turning my focus back onto the second ancillary task of the radio advertisement, I have
decided on who I would like to be talking. As I want two voices, I felt that they needed to contrast each other whilst
remaining harmonious, because of this, I looked at using one female voice and one male voice, this is so that two
demographics are covered opening up the audience.
My next step is to consider the character development of who I want to be part of the vocals of the advert and why
they would be suited for the role.
14. Entry thirteen
Since my last entry, and having completed the written element of my radio advert, I have recorded all of my audio by
using a voice recorder. I began with recording the beginning section of my radio as that involved a dialogue between two
people; being myself and Ben. This included a female voice and a male voice such following my intentions when
creating a plan for the filming of the radio advert. As the first section consisted of two voices I wanted to make sure that
the audio was recorded collectively so I didn't have to edit the individual voices together, I believe that if I followed this
route, the end result would be fragmented and jumpy meaning it would not equate to either my standards or the success
criteria. I later filmed the second recording as it was solely my voice and the purpose of it was rounding up the last of the
advert. I have transferred the recordings on to my computer however I am yet to begin the editorial stages of production.
Returning my focus to the imagery on the cover page, I am facing major difficulties with that as I am still unaware of the
type of photography I wish to go continue with. After exploring both routes of portraits and objectional imagery I have
yet to conclude which path I will finalise with however I am planning now to again divert back to imagery highlighting a
creative path rather than simplistic. A specific idea I am considering is to edit the texture of red meat such as steak into
the shape of a stop sign. In the background of this will be a simplistic image of grass and greenery to replicate the focus
of my main article. Along side my exploration into the front page, I have completed the contents page and am now just
finalising small features such as font sizes and adjusting the typography as well as distance from each other. I am really
happy with the equal balance of imagery to written elements and feel content with the finality of this particular page, this
will allow me to look more closely at the other two pages
My next step is to now billboard look at the creation of my billboard. Having already explored the codes and
conventions recently, I feel confident in the creation of it.
15. Entry fourteen
Extending my previous entry, I have completed my billboard in entirety however I am remaining open to changes such
as including a picture or feature of ‘this weeks issue’ of The Modern Souths front cover. Because I am now completely
familiar with Photoshop, the process of creating my billboard was considerably simplistic as I was using tools and skills I
have already used before. Reflecting on my production of the first ancillary task being the billboard, I thing that it is
successful on account of the varying font colours and aesthetics of both the caption and the magazines title on it. I
personally like the minimalistic approach made to the imagery of this production, although I can recognise that it doesn’t
exactly coincide with my main work, of which is quite chaotic with many different aspects. Because of this I am
considering to wait until the completion of the cover page so I can explore a varying route of imagery. Separate to this, I
have also began to edit my radio production together and so far I am quite happy with it despite that some areas need to
be re shoot because of the mistakes made in the dialogue. These mistakes are minuscule, and went unnoticed whilst
recording, but when scrutinising them, it is clear to hear faults and mistakes that need to be adjusted. Because of this I
have planned a second take of the beginning section of my radio advert. The programme I am using is Final Cut Pro and
despite having used this software in previous years, I still do not completely grasp full understandings of the way in
which I am to navigate myself around the site. My teacher has been assisting me occasionally whilst using this a way to
help me solidify a basic knowledge and I have been working on this in particular the last couple of weeks. As part of the
codes and conventions, back ground
noises and effects are a consistent aspect that is found in radio adverts, and as a result I
have been looking at what I could incorporate into my production and how.
My next step is to re shoot the areas that need improving in my radio advertisement.
16. Entry fifteen
The completion of my reshoot of the radio advert improved the quality of audio immensely, in that there is now no
mistakes in the script and also the fluidity of what is being said is much more cohesive. I did however notice that in my
recordings a slightly ‘tinny’ sound is prominent as I didn’t
have access to a muffler to eliminate this issue entirely. But by editing the
vocals slightly and overlaying it all with background noises, it slightly
masks this. Now I have placed all aspects of the vocals into my editing
Software being Final Cut Pro, I followed my works by turning my attention
To what kind of background noise was available to me. For this I used the
Programme ‘Freesound’ as it allowed me to download recordings that
Are relevant to my production and from my past experience with this
Site, it was easy to transfer my desired sound effect to the audio list in Final
Cut Pro. Currently speaking I have used two sound effect however I do
Not have a ‘jingle’ at the end of the advert and quite possibly, I will be
Having to incorporate this into my production. Along side my works with the ancillary task I have began to focus back on
my main production and most specifically the visual aspect of it. I have completed the first side of my double page
spread regarding the main article page however am yet to fill in the remaining page, as for the cover page, it is close to
completion and I feel more confident in my exploration of composition in terms of placement of text and images.
My next step is now to consider all my completed work and begin the evaluation questions, as I haven't yet
completed all aspects of my production, I have began to briefly plan however I can not yet answer them entirely.
17. Entry sixteen
My production is now completed and I have reshoot all aspects of visuals and finalised the aesthetics of the main cover.
This has resulted in a complete new direction of imagery as now in placement of all my previous ideas, I have a photo
shopped stop sign with the texture of meat highlighting the red area of the sign. In the background, to contrast the main
image, I have a simple image of green grass as it eludes to the idea of nature and therefore vegetarianism. I am pleased
with the outcome of the imagery and regarding that of the main article, it has also been finally completed. As I had more
text that what could fit on one page, I have decided use both pages for text to be on, this is what I had originally intended
, however I didn’t want the image of the main article to be cut out and so I digitally inserted another column that
overlapped onto the image. Having completed my G324 Production, I have also began to address at all four of my
evaluatory questions, these being;
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
