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Researching My Preliminary Task
I started researching for my school magazine by looking at previous magazines that students had made and real life examples. This helped because I could use the tools that worked for there magazines and incorporate that into mine. If I went straight into designing, it would have been hard because I wouldn't have known what to do. -
Designing and Photoshoot
It was a first making a magazine but constrcting a general layout in pages helped. I put all of my elements into pages then moved them around until I got the layout that I wanted. Then it was just a process of making the real thing. I had to do a photoshoot for the first time. I didn't really make a plan, I just took my models around school and we made it up as we went along. I got some good pictures but it would have helped to have a plan. -
Constructing
Then I had to construct the actual thing. I wasn't used to using pages yet so getting used to where all the tools were was a first. It didn't come out as I had originally intended but it was the first thing I had made so I wasn't expecting it to be amazing. -
Starting The Research and Planning
I was finally into the process of research and planning. I knew I had to make sure I had studied each detail of magazines to make sure my finally product was its best. The first task hepled with this. I had to analyse 4 front covers and pick out the major points about them. It gave me an idea of how I needed to format my own elements in my magazine and how to style them. -
History of Magazines
This task involved making a timeline of all the key dates involving the progression of music magazines. It was good to see where it all started and get a look at how music magazines have developed over time. It wasn't important in the designing of my magazine but we could get a background on the institutions and what worked back then. -
Institutional Research
These two tasks involved researching the institutions that actually publish all this magainzes and get a background on what they were like. This would help when I had to pick an institution to publish my magazine. It was interesting to see what other things these companies did and how this influenced what there music magazines were like. -
Rate Card Analysis
This task involved looking at what a Rate Card was and what they were used for. I had never heard of them before so it was interesting to see the difference they made to the promotion of your magazine. It's good to see all the necessary information in a small document. -
Audience Research
These few tasks were used to see how people responded to different magazines and what they bought themselves. The survey taught me how genre relates to style and made me think about what I needed to have mine as. The video told me what content people liked the most so I could get the best out of the content in my magazine. The final task saw people comment on what they liked about the covers I had posted which hepled get an idea on what people found nice to look at. -
Construction Diary 5
By this point I had made a lot of changes to my magazine's style. It was now looking better than it did initially. I had got all my main elements in place. All the text was in the correct style and colour. The use of alignment was good. It was simplistic but popped off the page. I had enchanced some elements like the white bars which I hadn't seen used before. -
Representation and Checklist
Firstly, the representation task taught what each piece in the magazine page meant and what it was for. This told me that each element I used in my magazine needed to have a purpose and couldn't be on there for no reason. The checklist helped because I had a place I could reference if I forgot what needed to be included in my magazine and hepled me get all my ideas in one place. -
Magazines In Shops and Flat Plan
The interview helped me see how the placement of your magazine in the shop is of vital importance to the purchasing of your magazine. Everything effects whether someone is going to buy it or not. Making a flat plan of a magazine that already existed helped me see how making a flat plan helps see how its going to be layed out. I know now, making one for my magazine will help me see how I want things to be formatted in a simple way. -
Creating A Concept
I now had to create a concept. From what I had researched I had a pretty good sense on what I wanted my magazine to be like. I had to look at Genre, Name, Pictures etc. I felt it was good to start writing ideas down because I find I get better ideas as I'm writing therefore my concept will be better. This would now be a good reference tool If I ever got stuck for ideas or forgot what my design was. -
Final Concept
I now had to create my final concept. I had to do this carefully because I didn't want to regret anything later. Things like my pictures I knew for sure what I wanted. I wanted them to be striking and have a range. But I struggled with things like fashion because I wasn't to sure what effects were caused by different clothes. That was something I needed to experiment with. -
Photoshoot 1
I went out on my first shoot with my model bearing in mind all the mistakes I had made before and making sure I didn't make them again. I made sure I got a variety of shots so I could experiment with editing later. It wasn't a great shoot because I discovered that I needed a white background. The scenery was too distracting. -
First Draft Of Double Page Article
This task involved me writing the first draft of my article. I'd never done anything like this before so it was a new experience. I knew I wanted to do a Q&A because I found that to be the most intersting thing to read. It was just a matter of finding the right questions and style. This was a bit of an experimentation. -
Logo Designs
This task involved me designing my logo. I knew this was a very important task so I made sure I got it right. I knew I wanted a minimalist font and colour scheme so I tried to experiment with that. The "Steelfish" font and blue style seemed to work the best because it suited my target audience. -
Rate Card and Flat Plan
It was now an oppurtunity to create my own rate card. I knew it had to fit in with my style of magazine so I made sure it belonged with it. The content needed to be useful so I left out anything that was irrelevant. The flat plan was important because it would show what type of maagzine I had and where I liked to place things. I made sure I had a lot of reviews and Q&As because those are the types of article I would like to read and suited my target audience. -
Second Draft Of Double Page Spread
I finished another draft and this one was a lot better. I made the content more exicitng to read and made the Q&A more fun. The article turned exactly as I wanted. I've learnt how to construct something for my target audience which involves making magazines fun to read. -
Magazine Page Mocks
I now had to make a rough design of how I wanted to format and align my magazine. I laid down all my elements and moved them around until I found something I had liked. I didn't know if it would actually look good with the real elements in place. This meant that I would change the format as i was making it, adjusting little things until I got what I wanted. This is a far better method in my opinion. -
Photoshoot Plan And Fashion
The photoshoot plan involved me setting out what I was going to do involving four different shoots. As I hadn't planned beforehand in the Preliminary Task. I knew this would be essential in getting the images I wanted the first time without having to re-do shoots. Extra shoots might be needed however. By now I had an idea on what fashion I wanted in my magazine. I wanted casual clothes because that reflected the mood of the article and the artist himself. -
Construction Diary 1 and Photoshoot 2
I posted my first construction diary and I notcied a lot of mistakes. The cover was lacking a lot taste. It was looking really dull and not exciting to look at. I needed to make some changes to make it better. This photoshoot was meant to be for filler shots. I wanted to capture a lively atmosphere. It would make for some dynamic images therefore making the issue more exciting. -
Photoshoot 4
I now had a photoshoot where there was a white background, dynamic shots and the use of casual clothes. All I needed to do now was insert the images. -
COMPLETE
I had finally completed my cover, double page and contents. They all fitted in with my target audience and were in the style that I wanted. I've llearnt a lot since the Preliminary Task about the processes in construction and the research involved. My final product reflects everything I have learnt over the course. Such as, formatting, pictures, colour, typography etc. I will use the knowledge in future projects.
