6. Comparing my two products?
• By comparing my two products, I can see a vast amount of
improvements but at the same time similarities. The are
common conventions such as the masthead, cover lines
and a consistent house style. The skills that I learnt from my
school magazine were transferred onto my actual
magazine. However there is significant factor that make my
overall magazine look better. This is because throughout my
production I became more confident, therefore this made
me experiment more which I thought made my magazine
so unique from others.
• Overall I think the biggest change was that I was able to
understand the importance of codes and conventions of a
real industry magazine.
7. Planning
• More preparation and planning was dedicated to my actual magazine. This was
because of the equipment I used, and the gigs I visited and the article I wrote.
Whereas on my preliminary task I took less time to prepare for my photographs. This
was because my school magazine was used as a outline/base for my actual music
magazine and was actually done to help to me complete my final product.
• A lot of my planning also went to writing the article, from my previous research I
learnt that language is a key role in targeting your audience. If you use difficult
language that isn't suited to your audience then you magazine will not be read.
Therefore I had to ensure the language was suitable for my demographic.
• Preparations went into doing a survey and gathering my target audiences’ opinion on
my magazine, I didn’t do this for my school magazine because I felt the target
audience had been effectively targeted through the name “6th form at TSS”. Whereas
on my music magazine I had to make sure that I was uses the right house style and
images to attract my audience.
• I discovered that by not isolating a specific gender for my target audience allowed me
to create a unique product. This is because I didn’t use sexist colours and cover
lines, therefore I left it up to “real music lovers” to see if they liked my magazine.
Having NME as my inspiration was good because my questionnaire results suggested
that this was a popular magazine read by both gender. By gathering results from
surveys this proved successful and allowed my magazine to be targeted at a wider
potential audience.
8. Skills
• Throughout my production work I became
more confident with using Photoshop,
therefore this made me experiment more
which I thought made my magazine so unique
from others.
• During the process of my school magazine I
wasn’t familiar with different effects which
made my overall preliminary task limited.
9. Colour themes
• Colour themes was vital role in attracting my
target audience. This is because if I have used
the correct colours it would look more
attractive enticing my target audience to
purchase my magazine. I put a lot more
thought into various house styles for my music
magazine, the house style of my front cover
was improved due to various opinions of my
target audience. This allowed me to follow the
theme throughout my entire magazine.
10. Photographs
• Previously I did some research into body language and realised the
important role posture plays in sending the correct connotations for you
magazine. I had to ensure that I picked a live gig photo that I took which
would be relevant to magazine. (I chose an image of Brian O’Reilly holding
a microphone). I pre planned going to the gig whereas during my
preliminary task they were not prepared and done pretty much on the
spot. This is seen prominently from my two product because I think the
image adds to the overall quality of you magazine.
• The media shot on both my magazine allows the reader to feel an intimate
connection with the people feature. This created a unique selling point.
• The photo that I have used for my music magazine are live images of
people playing gut airs this sends the connotation that the magazine may
be a indie magazine. This is because this is what you would expect a
indie/rock magazine to convey as opposed to a pop magazine. Also this
suggests that my magazine will consist of live content.
•
11. Composition and Layout
• The positioning of coverline and the image were vital because they
made the layout of my magazine more professional. I learnt how to
leave open space where needed in my magazine, I also learned that
by making it too cluttered make unproffesional. I tried to get a right
image to text ratio, especially on my cover as that is what attracts the
audience. Therefore it has to be readable.
• I didn’t include more than one image on my front cover because I
wanted the main image to be the focul point in my magazine. The
variety of cover lines adds an interesting, and mirrors the coventions
of typical magazines. This makes the overall vibe of my magazine look
more realistic.
• I think that by having bold and clear font is much more attractive
than fancier font, especially because my magazine is an indie/rock
genre. This makes my magazine looks sophisicated and people will
not be put off by the “showy” nature that fancy fonts have. In this
case i think simplicity in the key in making a realistic music magazine.
12. • I have included more cover lines on my music
magazine as opposed to my school magazine.
This shows how I have effectively taken up space
where needed. It suggests that I have improved
by organising my spacing and design of my front
cover.
• My music magazine follows the rule of thirds and
so does my school magazine . This shows how I
have transferred my skills from my preliminary
task onto my main task and how I am able to stick
to a design and follow it through.
13. Mis-en-scene
• The mis-en-scene of my school magazine cover shows a female
student playing a piano. The theme of knowledge here is addressed
as often the stereotype of people learning instruments such as the
piano are seen as more knowledgeable than people who learn to
play the guitar. This is because the guitar is learnt by the vast
majority in contrast to the piano. Also the theme of music is
addressed similar to the theme of my music magazine. However
both magazine covers portray a different genre of music. The school
base magazine tends to portray more of a contemporary vibe.
• The surroundings of the female of the piano is of school display
work, from this people can connote that it is a school working
environment. Whereas on my magazine all the focus is on the artist
and the singer which portrays the dominance of music in my
magazine.
