Planning - preliminary task audience questionnaire and results

Finished media products

Questonnaire answers and analysis

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to your final product? (contents page)

My preliminary task resulted in me creating the bog standard; unprofessional contents page for a magazine. I took a few aspects I liked from the magazine and changed a lot of aspects I didn’t in order to create my final contents page which I think achieves a more professional look. I only featured one image into my preliminary task and that photo was taken with a poor quality camera, for the final contents page I used a camera with high quality capturing. I cut the model out in the preliminary task with the polygon lasso tool; this was an unprofessional method as it left harsh edges that weren’t realistic. The model’s hair also faded into the background which I didn’t like, I noticed this and changed my contents composition so that all images didn’t need cutting out yet still looked professional. I did however like the experimentation with camera angles; I snapped the model in the preliminary task at a low angle: I also done this for the main image in my final contents page as I wanted a range of interesting photographs to keep my young audience interested. Another aspect I took further into my final product was the “regulars” section. I liked the bordering idea I applied in the preliminary task and advanced this in my content page for my final piece, I made the border a lot tighter so the text was structured and didn’t get lost within the boundary. I applied my colour palette too; this was to reinforce my brand identity. I noticed a couple of grammar and spelling mistakes in my preliminary task: “school internext” this typo could really affect the readerships views on my magazine’s professionalism and so I checked my final product numerous amounts of times to ensure there were no mistakes. I liked how I had a mini heading for each listed page then some further information on the heading, I processed this idea into my final piece and used a bolder font to apply contrast instead of applying colour as I didn’t want to overuse my colour scheme. I noticed that on my page directory I hadn’t listed what page number these features are on, this would have been costly in the magazine industry as the contents page isn’t doing its job. I used the font I used for my masthead for these numbers, along with the date of the issue to keep to my house style. The magazine improved drastically however I did think it was important to do the preliminary task as it acted as a guide where to go with my official product.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to your final product? (front cover)

My preliminary task is visibly a much weaker product in comparison to my finished magazine front cover. These two images work in contrast to each other to prove how my media skills have developed over the process. One of the most important elements in magazine design is the masthead, on my preliminary task I layer my standard – boring white font on top of a boring yellow, firstly these two colours do not work well together, the yellow is too light for the white and this doesn’t make the masthead standout. I used this yellow as part of my colour scheme on the preliminary task, I used this yellow for the majority of assets such as the cover lines, banner, pricing, date and boarder of price: I have over used the colour this results in not achieving any contrast, the colour palette is meant to stand features out from the background however it doesn’t. The masthead on my finished product is much stronger, the font I chose is extremely appropriate as it will attract my target audience. I also applied my colour scheme into the masthead in a more constructive way. In my finished product I attained 4 different colours in my palette whereas in my preliminary I only used 3 which is why I over used the emphasising colour too much ruining the effect. When glancing at my finished product I added my colours more effectively; instead of writing all text in the colours I only applied colour when I wanted a particular word or name to stand out which caught the audience’s eye more. The audience should read “new album” as it is in the main part of red surrounded by white, after they read “new album” they will automatically want to know what band is bringing out a new album an automatically be interested in my magazine, I applied my colour scheme to achieve contrast, contrast is a principle in design. I captured my model with a high quality camera in my finished product to achieve a professional look, in my preliminary task I captured the image with a phone meaning the image was of low quality, proving a less professional magazine. The model in the preliminary task was flicking through a book when I photographed him; this resulted in the camera capturing this motion and worsened the quality of the image. I made sure my model was as still as possible whilst maintaining a relaxed look on his face. However I did like the way the model in my preliminary task was looking in direct address towards the audience; I applied this technique in my finished product and believe it works well. Underneath the image in both magazines is a banner sealing off the bottom of the images. I didn’t include anything in my banner on the preliminary task however liked the composition that came with the banner; therefore I included it in my final product. I decided to include a feature article from my magazine on the banner to take advantage of the space, I also did it to show it is a segment which is different to a standard cover line article therefore I applied it in a different manner. I minimised the sizing of the pricing on the final product as in the first task the “50p” was too big and took attention away from cover lines and the image. It was also done in a font I have included in my house style. Lowering the size of the price gave a more professional appeal to my final product. Overall I think it is clear that my skills have improved over the process. I also think the making of the preliminary task was a key part to the success in my final product as I took forward the ideas I liked and substituted the ideas I didn’t and analysed why I didn’t like them and changed it in favour of that reason.

What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing your product?

Images are extremely important in representing your demographic in magazines: from the quality of the image, models code of dress, code of gesture and code of expression. I used a high quality camera to take all my images as I wanted professional looking images to dip into the middle class category. I took most of my used images outdoors as the backgrounds were more interesting to look at and there would have been too much white space on my front cover for my audience. I also took images in the studio, also at different angles as I wanted a large range of images to choose from for my final pieces. To place these images into the magazine I used Photoshop. I created the 3 media products on Adobe Photoshop CC 2014, this is an extremely diverse programme which I confident on, this helped the speed in which my work was completed in. Photoshop is a huge advantage to this process and despite already having a wide knowledge of the programme I believe I have learned even more on the programme after this project. I took advantage of the programme as much as possible: using levels and curve tools to bring out the best image in my photographs, I also took advantage of their layers asset and played around with composition until I got the best possible layout. My main text I used for writing I edited in Photoshop using the spacing settings, this font would now be iconic to my magazine as it is unique to my brand – no other brand uses it. I created my main body of text font using a font in Photoshop and adapted it myself, however for my masthead I found the font of dafont.com a website that lists fonts made by designers and they upload them to the site for users to use within regulations. If I were to publish my magazine I would have to pay the designer for the rights to this font, after getting in contact with the designer it would only cost £3.38 for the rights to this font and to publish it in my magazine, it would be worth it for the icon it brings to my magazine. It was my first time using I have had to complete my coursework online and Blogger was a great site for it. The site is nicely laid out and it was simple to add tags and find work on my blog to see what I was missing. This site was an advantage as I could search for the tag and see what work was incomplete appose searching for sheets of paper in a folder facing the risk of tearing pages when swapping them around or transporting my folder home which could get wet in the rain, it was much easier to just log in.

How did you attract/address your audience?

My front cover of my rock magazine is designed to attract my target audience, I have purposely designed everything to appeal to them, and this should result in them liking the aesthetics on the front cover enough to buy my magazine when it is placed on the shelves of a shop. I would keep my design features consistent to a house style every issue to gain iconic features that my audience will associate with my brand, this is important in case my audience only saw s glimpse of my magazine for example my masthead, the iconic don't would automatically be recognised and that is all they would need to see to know it was a Mosh magazine. The overall content inside the magazine is what the audience are primarily after: the latest news on rock bands will be articulated interestingly to give the fan base what they want; this means I will apply Uses & Gratifications Theory as I made my magazine eye catching in many ways to grab the audience's attention. My masthead sits conventionally at the top of the magazine: the font I chose would represent rock music and this would purely entice rock music fans, which is who I'm after to look at my magazine. The colour scheme is also introduced purely from the masthead, white, black, red and yellow are the only four colours visible on my masthead and the only four colours I feature in my colour scheme, this helps me keep to a house style and therefore gain professionalism. Underneath my masthead is the main image of a band member looking in direct address towards the audience - this eye contact draws in the audience as they would feel more include in the magazine an hopefully aspire to be part of it. Surrounding the image at various forms of cover lines which introduced featured content in the magazine – most noticeable would the "vote for your best rock single of the year" as it is in a unique form of a circle, I rotated it slightly to appear as if it has been stamped which is a cool effect which my audience would like. I highlighted the word "your" on this with a grungy backing to the word, not only does the grungy background appeal to them but the use of the word "your" asks the audience on a personal level, the editor and the reader should develop a relationship from this. One cover line reads "Queens of the Stone Age Exclusive!" the use of the words "exclusive!" Creates a sense that the audience are bettering the deal of purchasing the magazine, the exclamation mark flares some action into the magazine which is needed as there is a lot of energy in rock music. “Free guitar pick" is written inside a plectrum shape that I created in Photoshop, the "free" item would definitely appeal to the grab the audience’s attention as I have included the yellow from my colour palette as background for the black writing, when these two colours are combined together they work in contrast to each over to make the writing stand out, I didn't make this aspect too big as I didn't want my magazine to come across too cheap.