Time management - 23.10.15

This week, I started off by conducting research of my target audience, by using an online Facebook group, and recording some of my classmates. I used Sony Vegas Pro to edit the videos of my classmates together, before writing out a rationale to follow. My rationale aimed to clarify how this research helped me in the long run. Although I finished most of this in class, I ran out of time at the end so had to finish editing and rendering my video at home, but it didn't take long, and I found the task quite easy.
Next, I began organizing my photo-shoot by messaging my model to check availability, then deciding what I wanted her to wear, what props to use, and what make-up she would use. Making these decisions was quite difficult for me, and I found it a lot harder than previous tasks.

Organising costume, hair, props and make-up

I have asked my model to wear a red and black plaid shirt, with a grey t-shirt and black skinny jeans. I would like them to wear black Doc Martin boots, too, as all of these are typically associated with clothing worn by my target audience. I have asked her to wear a necklace I provided myself and a bracelet, but no earrings or rings.
With regards to props, I would like them to bring a guitar, electric or acoustic, and I am going to bring in my own CDs to surround the model.
My model already has short brown hair which is what I wanted, however she has highlights which are dyed blue, which I am likely to edit in photoshop to make red to fit the color scheme.
With regards to make-up, I would like for my model to wear red lipstick as the rest of her outfit would have a red theme, however other than that I would prefer little make-up to be worn by my model other than foundation.

Organizing my model

I have sent an Facebook message to my model to check if she is available to be photographed for my magazine, and make sure she is agreeing to do so. I have attached screenshots of my email to her and her response.

My message to confirm availability

The response from my model

Audience research and rationale

I have conducted research into what my target audience like and don't like within a magazine, including things such as price, content, colours and photos. Firstly I made a Facebook group, to ask my target audience some basic questions about what they think makes a good magazine.

This was a closed/private facebook group, and I invited a number of friends who are in the age range and specifics of my target audience so I can gather their opinions.

By doing this I aimed to discover directly  from my target audience what would encourage them to buy a magazine. Within today's society, young people are generally drawn to online media and are becoming more and more less likely to buy a physical copy of a magazine from a store. Because of this, I felt it was important to conduct this level of research into my direct audience as it is more important than ever to understand exactly what it is that would be enough to actually encourage the sale of my magazine.

From this research I learned that my audience would be more likely to buy my magazine if they believed the content was interesting enough to read, and if there was a cover that attracted their attention. I realized the importance of my front cover and the impact it has on my audiences decision to buy.

As well as this, I recorded some interviews with my target audience to find out what they felt made a good magazine.

I used a Canon DSLR camera to record these responses and asked three people who are in my target audience the same questions relating to my magazine. After the initial recordings, I used Sony Vegas Pro 13 to put the responses of my target audience into sections of a video to make analysis easier. 

I learned from this that the responses of my participants, although different, included certain common themes. Two out of three participants said that the image on the front cover is the thing most likely to cause them to buy a magazine. Participants agreed they'd like to see both a mix of stories and interviews within the magazine.

My final audience research took place using a survey I created with survey monkey. I asked five different questions and had people of my typical target audience respond.

Rationale

This feedback has helped me by showing me what young people actually find interesting in magazines, and it ensures that whilst making my own that I have a clear image in my head of what I should be designing as I know who I am designing it for. 

I gained confirmation for my ideas, including that I need a bold cover image and a good color scheme. A lot of people seemed to agree that the content of the magazine is the most important feature, however it is the price that is the second determiner of whether or not someone would buy it, meaning I should keep my price quite low. As quite a few people have said they enjoy seeing bright colors I may rethink the color scheme of my magazine, which is primarily grey, as I believe it would make it more appealing now I know what my target audience are looking for.

Time Management - 16.10.15

This week I had to complete my research on double page spread articles, making a post to document what I found and common patterns and themes within. We also received feedback on our preliminary tasks, which I responded to with regards to what I would like to improve on and change for my final magazine piece. This feedback proved to be quite helpful and I am now mindful of what not to do in my final piece. I am still coping well with the workload and have completed everything I need to in class.

Feedback on preliminary task

Preliminary Task Mark Sheet: Demi Anderson

General comments	Front Cover:  Well done – you appear to understand all of the conventions of front cover design. Your images are appropriate for the publication and target audience. You appear to understand the need for a variety of font size and style. Your sell lines are also appropriate for both your target audience and your publication. Contents Page: I absolutely love your contents page; It is really neat and tidy and would be easy for the audience to navigate. The organisation of your articles and page numbers is superb and your images and sell lines are perfectly appropriate for your target audience. Well Done!!!!
Areas for improvement	Front Cover:  Your font could maybe do with standing out a little more as the more vibrant the font the better for your readers, especially when you are dealing with such a young target audience. Contents Page: As I said absolutely love your contents page; - you maybe could have experimented with anther colour to add a bit of variety in colour.
Overall grade	B
How I will improve	I will improve by changing my font style and  color in my actual magazine so that it stands out more. To further improve, I may also change the color scheme so that it is also more vibrant and is likely to work better for a younger audience.

Institutional Research

Double Page Spread Article - First draft

This is the first draft of my article text for my double page spread. I plan to re-draft this and make final corrections before putting it in my magazine.

The legacy of Lennox

“I only started getting an education after I left mainstream education.”

School dropouts are labelled in our society as failures, but with millions of pre-orders on her debut album, Legacy, Lennox Lupin is anything but a failure.

Hayley Williams of Paramore is unarguably the most influential female pop-punk star of our time, and if you were to combine her voice with the tone of the music of Panic! At The Disco, you may just create a sound similar to that of upcoming star, Lennox Lupin. We’d watch out if we were you, Hayley! We sat with Lennox today, to find out how she has, in a matter of months, progressed from posting covers on YouTube and bringing in fewer views than a cat hanging from a ceiling lamp, to announcing her new album on her weekly radio show, with over five million followers.

It’s not an uncommon thing to dream about ditching school to record an album with your mates, but it is an uncommon thing for these dreams to become reality. One year ago to this day, Lennox Lupin was just a regular kid, blasting music through her headphones on what seemed to be a regular Monday morning, but it just so happened that on this particular day, she decided not to go to school. “It just wasn’t for me, y’know? All that academic crap, it’s not who I am.” Lennox told us, before explaining how she went home to record a video of herself singing a cover of Casual Affair by Panic! At The Disco. Brendon Urie, lead singer of P!ATD himself would later stumble across this cover, sharing it on twitter and sending it viral. “Yeah, that was a crazy f*cking day.” Lennox laughed (we did tell her to mind her language!). “Brendon sharing my cover was definitely a turning point, I got so much positive feedback, it was the happiest and most accepted I’d felt in years, it was pretty much in that moment that I realised I wasn’t gonna’ go back to school, it was wasting my time, time I could spend promoting myself and progressing as an artist.”

Lennox spent every day afterwards recording videos for YouTube, both of covers and songs she’d written herself. With the ability to play piano, guitar, bass and drums (and the triangle!), she had no problem recording her own stuff, pretty impressive for someone who couldn’t remember her name on national television. “Oh man, that was embarrassing. [laughs] It was an interview for the BBC, I was so intimidated, they asked me to introduce myself and I froze up, I knew my name started with L but anything past that was totally gone!” Don’t worry, Lennox, we’ve all been there... (I hope!)

After racking up over a billion views on her YouTube channel, LupinSings, Lennox was recognised by the BBC as having potential as an upcoming artist, and offered a weekly slot on Radio one, to feature her own music as well as showcase other artists she felt deserved the recognition. “Being on the radio is kinda surreal, man. It sorta doesn’t feel real, I mean... I can’t imagine people driving home from work or school on Tuesdays and hearing me going on at them, I know that I for one would hate that [laughs].” Lennox’s radio-show is aired live on BBC Radio 1 at 4pm every Tuesday. We’d recommend checking it out!

Lennox’s successes didn’t stop there, only last week, Lennox announced on her radio-show that, with the help of Fuelled by Ramen, she will be releasing a full length album next month, Legacy! “I’ve never worked so hard on anything in my life.” She told us, on making her album. “I never focused this much at school, it’s funny, I only started getting an education after I left mainstream education. Yeah, making my album has really helped me settle down and it’s given me something to be passionate about, I’m really excited for everyone to hear it, honestly, it’s pretty sweet.” We promise you, we’re excited to hear it ourselves, Lennox!

Spending the day with Lennox really gave us a look into the personality behind the star – a popular opinion among the pretentious older generations is that any young artists are in it for the cash, overcome with fame and fortune with no real care for anything that matters, but with Lennox, it couldn’t have been further from the truth. Every penny made by her album will be donated to charities to help LGBT youth, such as Stonewall and the Albert Kennedy Trust – “I was never in it for the money, I mean yeah I want to make a living off of this, but if someone else can make a living off of my work as well as myself, it seems senseless not to help ‘em out a bit, y’know?” We totally agree, Lennox! Miss Lupin is by far one of the most down-to-earth and generous stars we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, she’s taken the industry by storm and we expect as much from her in the future. “My future plans? Oh, you’ll have to wait and see, I’ve got quite a bit to reveal, maybe even a tour, who knows! I’m only just getting started.”

Lennox’s album, Legacy, is available to pre-order from her website now for £7.99. All proceeds will go to select charities. Lennox’s radio-show can be found on BBC Radio one on Tuesdays from 4pm.

Double Page Spread - Article research

I like the article title within this DPS as it uses a paraphrased pull quote and the color scheme is likely to bring attention to the article. The text within the article is quite simplistic, so likely to be understood by a wider audience. There is little text that isn't from the interview, and the way the interview is presented breaks up the main text to make it easier to follow.

I love the use of drop caps in this article, it looks really modern and I like the design work. I love that within the first paragraph, Lana Del Ray's name is not mentioned until quite far down, which brings up the suggestion that the audience must be already somewhat familiar with the artist. The colloquial, yet somewhat formal language used such as the contrast of the tone within "She's mourning someone or about to knife them" to that of "the camera accentuates the big deep pools of her eyes". 

I like this article a lot, especially the way the text wraps around the model. I love that the kicker is used to directly address the audience and draw them in. The color scheme runs throughout and is very effective. The smaller titles throughout the article help to break up the columns and guide the reader, and each of them have a common theme, starting with "thou shalt" which ties the article together. 

Time management - 09.10.15

This week we had to create flat-plans for our magazines, which I found quite interesting as I liked the design aspect of it. Other than this, we had to begin researching double-page spreads to familiarize ourselves with the language typically used by them in preparation for creating our own. I begun this in class and continued my research outside of class at home. So far I'm still coping well with the workload and do not need to do anything to catch up.

Flat plans

front cover

This is the flat-plan of the front cover of my music magazine.  I used photoshop to create a simple design, showing where I want certain things to go.

For my color scheme, I am probably going to use one of the ideas I found in my inspiration task, most likely the following:

I decided during my inspiration task that I liked the idea of having three different shades of grey for my magazine, alongside the contrasting tones of blue and orange. I would specifically like to stray away from strong gendered colors such as pink, which is why I think grey would be effective for my magazine. I thought, however, that on its own, grey would be unlikely to attract an audience and some may find it dull, which is why I opted to use the colors blue and orange alongside it. These colors are not typically found together, which means they cannot be related to a specific brand or product (for example green and white together may make people think of Starbucks, and blue and white may draw relation to Facebook).  I think the connotations my color scheme will create will be quite formal, as the navy blue and grey are likely to crate such an impression, however the orange will add a more youthful, bold feeling to the magazine, which will appeal to my younger target audience. I think I would like my masthead to be blue and grey, along with the majority of the page, but for some of the features to have flashes of orange (eg. within shadows, gradients, outlines, strokes etc.) including my cover lines. 

Keeping with this color scheme, I would want to use a medium-shot of my model with her wearing clothes of the color scheme, possibly a navy-blue shirt and orange eye-shadow, or ginger hair. I would have my model doing a 'chocolate box' pose, as I think an invitational pose, or a romantic/sexual pose would be inappropriate for my audience. I would want my model to hold some sort of prop hinting at why she is being featured in the magazine, possibly a guitar, or a CD, to bring in my readers through an aspect of curiosity. I would make sure, however, my model would be prioritized before the props. My image would be aligned to the left of the page, so that when the magazine is stacked on a shelf, there is room within the first third for my sell lines, which are likely to grab their attention. I would finally have my model looking directly at the camera, with emphasis on her eyes being level with the eyes of the reader to draw them in.

I would like the text on my front cover to stick with two or three specific font types. One of these font types is likely to be clear, and easy to read, such as Dillenia UPC, Times New Roman, or a Sans Serif type font. As well as this, I would like a more exciting font, possibly handwritten, such as Mistral, Colors of Autumn, or TrashHand. The formal, well-read font would be used for information to be read by readers, and the handwritten font would be used for titles or highlights, but never large paragraphs of text. A third font would be used for my masthead, and I would like to use something rough and hand-written, as well as solid. This could be fonts such as DK American Grunge, or Raw Street Wall. The actual content of the text on the front cover is likely to be quite short, as the readers may be turned off by a lot of text at this point. The main emphasis would be on the image. I would include a lot of teasers within the text, hinting at what is inside without actually telling the audience too much so that they will buy the magazine with the intent of reading it. I would have my main cover-line as an enigma code, linking to the main image. I would probably use language such as "Find out how..." or "Discover why..." within my cover-lines as this language draws in the audience and includes them within the article, further encouraging them to read on. The imperative nature of the verbs "find" and "discover" will also encourage this.

My layout aims to assist readership by being somewhat simplistic, it is not overloaded with information or images so therefore will not confuse the reader, the masthead being central to the top left corner will be consistent throughout every issue which means the reader is familiar with the style. The key focal point of my magazine will be my model and main cover-line. The barcode will be in the bottom right of my page, as it is typically out of the way and doesn't draw attention from other features. I have included two banners to better organize the layout of my page, which will probably include features found within the magazine such as posters or competitions. 

Contents page

For my contents page, I would maintain a similar color scheme to that of the front cover. This consistency is likely to ensure the reader feels comfortable and is guided throughout the magazine, instead of going from the simple color scheme of the front page to something more heavy, such as bright red and yellow. To further keep with this consistency, I am likely to use the same fonts, too.
I will use a secondary image of my model here as the main feature image, again with the same color scheme, make-up probe and costume, however in this photo I would like to use a different shot-type, most likely a long or full-body shot. I would use an out of context quote alongside this image with the page number beside it, with the intention of making the reader question what the article is about. Underneath this, I plan to have two or three images of highlighted features within my magazine, specifically ones featured in cover-lines previously. The images will be significantly smaller than the main feature image and may not even be of models, and will include captions, page numbers and headings aligned to the right of the page. My main contents are to the left hand side and so the text will be aligned to correspond with this. There will be no images here, however the titles beside each page number are likely to include puns, hooks, metaphors, teasers or alliteration to draw in the reader. Underneath these titles will be a very brief description of what can be found on that page, in order to guide the reader more stylistically. The bottom left of my contents page will feature a subscription offer, to encourage my readers to subscribe to upcoming issues. The offer of a subscription tends to make the magazine seem a lot more reputable for the readership.
Finally, I chose to include a foreword, written by the producer of the magazine to thank the audience for buying and give them a hint as to what they can expect from the magazine, this tends to make the readers feel more positively as they know who has produced what they are about to read and feel personally involved within that.

double-page spread

For my double-page spread, I would like to use a different color scheme, but one that still matches what is worn by my model. I would choose to still have grey aspects, as I want this color to run throughout my magazine from beginning to end, however instead of orange and blue, I would choose to use a more vibrant color, such as red, and some darker shades of grey such as black. These colors are typically associated with my target audience who are known for wearing red and black plaid shirts, so carry connotations familiar to the readers.
My model would be positioned with a full body shot on the left page, with a pull quote surrounding her. I would have her possibly sat on a chair in front of a white background, with red lighting to match the color scheme. Beside my model would be a pull quote, using the same font as the article title. This quote would be aligned to the left and spread between the two pages. The font used would probably be something easy to read, but more stylistic than a sans serif font. Another idea I had was to use a ransom-note like font for the heading, such as Something in the Way, Metal Block Tango, or New Facebook. The front used for my body text would be very different. I would like to use Dillenia UPC for this as I find the font clear to control and read, even with a very small font size. In the middle of the body-text layout shown in the picture above, I would include a close-up shot of my model, possibly showing only half of her face, though. This will help break up the text and make it easier to follow, and make it so there isn't too much text to turn the readers off like it would had it been in a block paragraph. I would also like to use a drop cap to help signify where my readers should begin to read, which again helps to guide the reader through the article. The leading text would serve the purpose of giving a brief overview, and showing the reader what to expect. It would possibly be a bold version of the font used for the body text..

Time management - 02.10.15

This week I managed to put together my college magazine for my preliminary task. I completed this magazine within my class on wednesday, then during class on friday I managed to write about what I'd done, what I liked about my magazine, and how I could have improved it. I begun to look at and read articles within the genre of my choice, particularly from Kerrang magazine, to get a feel for language used within the genre, which tends to be quite colloquial. I plan to finish a prezi on the articles I've looked at during my own time before Wednesday. 

Preliminary task

 For our preliminary task we had to create a magazine for our college, aimed at students aged 16-19.

For my front cover, I used a picture of myself in front of a blue background, as I wanted a blue color scheme for my magazine. I therefore made my text white and blue so there was a common theme. In my photo, however, my jacket is green, my shirt is grey and my hair is red, which clashes with the colors of the magazine and ruins the effect. In my actual magazine, I would use a color scheme that matched the colors of my model. I would, however, use a better camera, as parts of my photo are slightly pixelated and the lack of quality ruins the effect. The photo also lacks contrast and is a little too dark for the magazine.
I used three main cover lines on my front cover, keeping a common font style (Seravek) and colour throughout these cover lines. I like the font I used as it is clear and easy to read and I would like to use a similar font in my actual magazine. The leading of the line spaces is different however for each cover line, which makes an uneven effect. In my actual magazine, I would try to make sure the distance between each cover line is even, and that the line above does not overlap with the line below, like the bottom of the letter 'P' does in the word tips.

The E text overlaps the P text, which could be avoided by using all capitals for the above text as the letters in capital forms all begin at the same place, so overlap is avoided.

All of these cover lines are right aligned so they're easier to follow, as they are positioned at the right side of the page. By positioning them here, the photo is allowed at the left side of the page, which is the first thing the buyer would see. This means that they are not put off by a lot of writing.
The word "free" is highlighted as being bigger than most of the other text and is placed in a  secondary font style (American Typewriter) so that the reader is drawn to it. This is due to the fact that it is one of the things most likely to draw in an audience, as the typical target audience are more likely to be enticed by something if it is free.
I feel that my barcode is too large, and would like to make it smaller in my real magazine, as I think it draws too much attention from the rest of the magazine. I also think the shadowing below the panoramic image of my college at the bottom of the page is too heavy, and creates a shade of blue too dark to fit with the rest of the magazine.
For my contents page, I added adjustments to photos I'd taken around college (gradient map and levels) to create a blue coloring that made them look better together, and fitted with the color scheme of the magazine as the gradient map tinted the photos to make them blue. I made sure this was subtle, however, and didn't take any of the emphasis away from the more important parts. I divided up this page into smaller sections with blue lines, also, to make the navigation easier, however the lines are all different widths and sizes and although I'd like to use this in my music magazine, I would like to make sure the lines are all evenly sized.
I added lighting effects to my originally plain white background to make a white and grey gradient, as I thought it created more depth than the simple white fill did.

I didn't feel my contents page looked as effective with a white fill for the background as it did with a white/grey gradient as seen in the final design.

Very little on my contents page is evenly organized, and the eight blue boxes on the right hand side aren't equally spaced out which causes the magazine to look unprofessional. On top of this, none of the page numbers are central to the squares and some are different sizes and alignments, which makes the page look messy. In my actual magazine I would ensure that everything was spaced evenly with regards to tracking and leading.

The text underneath the page numbers is badly aligned and holds little fluidity.

The page number on my contents page is extremely large and I would like to make it smaller in my music magazine, and I would also like to include a foreword instead of simply having the features of the magazine. There is no date or issue number included and the original masthead has been changed from how it looked on the front cover (different font, colors etc.) which may throw off readers, so I would make sure to keep these things in mind in my music magazine.

Research into other student's work

I have been conducting research into the work of other students who have carried out the task to see what they did in comparison to what grade they achieved.

Whilst looking at a blog by Courtney Kerr, I noticed the navigation tab was easy to use and made finding things a lot easier and added nicely to the presentation of the blog. Courtney also used Prezi quite often, along with embedding youtube videos. She shows evidence of using Facebook to research her target audience, which is good as it shows she has carried out a lot of planning. The posts on her blog are regular and have enough detail in them, however there could be a little more. I really like the Photographic Techniques page, I think it has a lot of information and is set out nicely. The magazine produced by Courtney was amazing to look at and extremely visually pleasing, especially the front cover, which followed many stylistic choices that a real music magazine would, making it look real and believable for the genre. 

Natalie Howey's blog includes a range of different web apps, including Prezi, Animoto, Flickr, and google docs. There are also a lot of developmental progression posts which show how the student has advanced from the start of their programme. These posts include images and paragraphs of text explaining what they've done and why they've done these things, which I think is really well explained and clear to follow.