Double page spread research

This is a double page spread from Q magazine with Lady Gaga.  This page is keeping to the red colour scheme which Q has going on throughout the whole of the magazine. I am going to keep the same colour scheme throughout all of my pages of my magazine. This double page spread has one side which is a mid shot black and white photo and then on the other side is the article. I like the large 'L' which is the whole background on the right hand side, I am going do this on my double page spreads as I feel it gives off a stylish and professional look. 

This is another double page spread from Q magazine. Underneath Dolly Parton's name, there is a overview of what the interview is going to be like. This can grab the reader in and it is a convention of a double page spread article. I am going to put an overview/summary underneath either the title or the name of the celebrity. 

This is a double page spread from NME magazine. This double page spread is a bit different to the other 2 as the article goes over 2 pages instead of all the writing being on one side and the photo on the other side. My article will go over 2 pages instead of half and half. Double page spreads also have quotes dotted around the pages which has been taken out of the article. The photo is a full length shot and the writing goes round the silhouette of the model. 

In my double page spread, I am going to put a large letter behind the text which is the beginning of letter of the name of the artist. 

This double page spread is of Solange Knowles. I like how there is one main photo of her which is a long shot and then in the back ground there is 7 smaller images of her in black and white. I like the idea of using more that one image of the model on the double page spread. I am going to use more than one photo. 

This double page spread is from Billboard magazine and it is with Cher Lloyd.  The way that this article is laid out is questions and answers interview. I think I will do a question and answers as it seems more personal and has more of the celebrities input.

Contents page research!

This contents page is from Q magazine. I like how this contents page carries on with the colour scheme throughout. I also like on this page how the page numbers are on the photos. I am going to do this in my contents page. 

This is the contents page from Q magazine.  It is set out in a block form as the stories are all in one box and then pictures are separate to the writing. They have carried on with their red and white colour scheme which runs through all of their front covers. I am going to make sure that I keep the same colour scheme throughout the whole magazine. The biggest picture is Lana Del Rey who is on the front cover of this magazine. This shows that she is the main story of this issue of the magazine, also the photo shows a different side to Lana with blood on her face which makes the reader wonder why and want to read on. I am going to have a story behind each photo which can show different emotions to make it interesting for the reader. 

This is a simplistic contents page as it has a plain white background with all of the writing in black or blue. I am going to make my contents page simplistic and easy to read. This contents page has the top music charts on the left hand side which is different to other contents pages from other magazines. I won't do this with my contents page as I think it makes the page look too busy and it doesn't really fit in well with the theme. For some of the stories instead of using all words they have put photo's with page numbers, I like this as it gives off different looks so I will do this for my contents page. 

This is another contents page from Q magazine.  They have put a much larger photo on this page of a band which  shows that they are going to be a main feature in this article. I am going to do this with my contents page as it helps the reader locate which bits they want to read. This contents page is a bit different to others as it has a 'Review' section in the bottom right hand corner. This is a good way of grouping together different pages making it easier for the reader to find which bits to go to.

This contents page is from MOJO magazine and it is a lot different to the others that I have looked at as it only has one photograph on it and all of the features are on the left side. The features also haven't been grouped together like usual contents pages do. Also it doesn't say contents page anywhere on the page, just the name of the magazine which isn't a convention of a contents page. At the bottom of the page, there is a quote from the interview inside the magazine, I will do this on my contents page as it gives a teaser for the reader. There is 2 colours used on this page, black and yellow on a grey background which gives off a simplistic look.

Front Cover Research!

For the first section of my research, I chose 5 different front covers from magazines and evaluated each one of them thoroughly. As the magazine that I want to do is going to be similar taste in music as Q, I chose to do 3 front covers of Q and then 2 others which were quite similar in genre of music.

       This is a front cover from Q magazine with Take That as the main story/picture. Having Take That on the front cover is different to usual for Q as they are a manufactured, mainstream boy band where Q normally has more quirky, alternative bands/artists, although  they do have a large genre range that they cover through the magazine. However the stylist has dressed the men in black leather jackets which gives them a harder, edgier look which can appeal to a larger audience. As the whole band is on the front cover, they have been piled up on top of each other to fit in the whole page. If I do a band I may consider doing something like this as it gives off a happy, fun outlook. As they are all smiling and laughing, it shows that they are welcoming making it more likely for someone to read on. They have stuck to a tri-colour scheme, red, black and gold, I am going to do this for my magazine using different colours. The caption which says Green Day in gold shows that the magazine has different genres of music so it can relate to a larger audience. The sub title 'Back for good?' is a pun, I will use word techniques like this to show some light hearted humour which creates a informal magazine. They use serif and sans serif font to give a more traditional and profession look but still have a modern twist on it. I am going to use both serif and sans serif font. 

This is a front cover from Billboard magazine with Katy Perry on the front cover. This is a minimalistic page, showing the mature, classic look of a glossy magazine. The models head covers the majority of the name of the magazine showing that she is a big star and that the magazine is well established.  There is a tri-colour scheme which is blue, yellow and black.The blue is also brought through the model also as she is wearing blue eyeshadow. The model's medium close-up and a neutral face shows that it is a more mature article rather than fussy and no unwanted gossip. This magazine is very female orientated which is what I want mine to be like however I will make my magazine a bit more broad to reach a larger audience. There is both sans and serif font used in this front cover which is quite unusual.There is only 2 other stories shown on the front cover of this magazine showing that Katy Perry is going to be featured a lot throughout this. 

This is a front cover from MOJO magazine. MOJO is more alternative to what I want to do for my magazine however I still like the individuality it has and some of the conventions they do i will bring into my magazine. This front cover has oasis on the front which shows they have hugely famous music inside. Also the quote on the front shows that this magazine is so popular and well known that they are able to get any artists. This shows that they are well established. In my front cover I am going to put small personal things on like that to make it sound well established and not like a new magazine. This magazine also hits on true life gritty stories such as deaths, I want my magazine to be more positive and all about the music and celebrities rather than true stories of real life events. 

This front cover shows how many magazines change the look/style of the celebrity on the front cover so that it can relate to a much larger audience which Q seem to do a lot of in their magazine front covers. They have taking a highly mainstream pop star and giving her an edgier look and used words such as 'Rocks'. However the Q logo in the corner is on top of the picture of her showing that the magazine is the most important, not the celebrity. Q stick to the conventions of a music magazine front cover as it has a strong colour scheme running throughout it of red and white. I am going to make sure that I stick to a duo or tri-colour scheme. 

This is a very simplistic magazine front cover as it doesn't have much going on and not a lot of stories to fill the page, this can appeal to a younger audience as it wouldn't look too much for them to read and the colour scheme also relates to a younger age. I want my target audience to be teens to young adults so I will make sure that I use appropriate colours and use of space. This is my least favorite of the front cover as it doesnt look professional which I want mine to. I will make sure that I don't use lots of different colours against a black and white picture as it doesn't look like it belongs together. 

Fresh Start!

Out with the old

Now that the primarily task is finished, I am now moving on to a new project which is all about the music magazine. I have to make a front cover, contents page and a double page spread for this project. I will be researching the typical codes and conventions of music magazines and will take them into consideration when I am making my magazine. I am going to be documenting this whole project on this blog showing all of my research, planning and finished product. 

Lizzy xo

Evaluation!

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In my school magazine, I incorporated many codes and conventions for a typical school magazine. I researched a already existing school magazine front cover and contents page. Things that I took from the front cover of the magazine which were typical conventions were ...

• Title at the top of the page
• The models head is over the title
• One model
• Date at the top of the page

For the contents page the typical conventions of a contents page I did ...

• Larger page numbers with the stories written next to them
• Stories which were included in the magazine
• Photographs which help represent the school

Some things I change to suit my personal front cover and contents page such as for my front cover, I used photos in photo frames on the left hand side instead of the stories as I thought this gave off a more professional look and can bring in readers who prefer for visual things over a lot of writing. For the contents page I made it quite simplistic just like the one I used as a style model. On the front cover of the magazine that I researched, I didn't put a bar code on mine as it was unnecessary as it will not be going for sale.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When taking photos for my front cover, I had to keep in mind that I needed a medium close-up. For this I had to take the photo portrait way round so that it was in the right format. I also made sure when I was taking the photo that it was in focus by turning the front of the camera to make it the focus that I needed. I used natural light as the place where I took the photographs were well lit rooms and therefore there was no need for artificial lighting. I constructed my magazine in InDesign but edited the photo's in PhotoShop. I didn't really have to do much editing to my photo's, but for the front cover photo I cut around the model using the magnetic lasso tool. I then softened the edges of the photo's so they weren't harsh lines on my page. I made sure that I was on the correct layers at all time and deleted the layer which I didn't need.

Lizzy xo

Finished!

This is my front cover of my school magazine. I called my magazine 'Bay Bonus' as it relates to Whitley Bay. I put the main model on the right hand side with the other photo's from around the school on the left hand side. I only put three photos in the photo frames instead of four like on my plan as i thought it would look too busy if there was an extra photo in there when I wanted it to have a simplistic feel. The model is in school uniform and is smiling as I wanted to portray a happy school and it is inviting the reader in.

This is my contents page for my school magazine.I put a border of photographs around the page which represent the school. It shows some aspects of the school which Whitley Bay High School has to offer. I kept with the colour scheme of blue as it is the school colour and I wanted it to all relate together. I put 5 stories on my contents page as I thought it was the appropriate number of stories.








Lizzy xo

Planning!

Quick Sketch

To help me out when I come to putting my magazine together, I made a quick draft of how I roughly wanted my front cover and contents page to look. These sketches helped me decide how I am going to lay things out and give me a guide when I am putting all of my photographs and writing on. This is only a guide so when it comes to actually making I may decide to change things around but this just gives me a good idea of where things should be placed on my page.


This drawing is my plan for my front cover of the school magazine. As a typical convention of a school magazine is for the title to be all the way along the top of the page which I have taken into consideration. The main photo I want to be on the right hand side with the stories photos on the left hand side.

This is a quick draft of the layout I want for my contents page. I want it to be quite simplistic and stylish so I have decided I want photos in an upside down L shape which boarders the stories. I will maybe put some sort of recycling sign in the bottom right hand corner to show that the school is eco friendly.

 

These are just some idea that I had, I will take them into consideration when I am putting together my front cover and contents page but I may make changes if things don't look good/the way I am happy with.

 

Lizzy xo

Snap!

Photo's

After all my research was done, I went straight into taking photographs for my front cover and contents page. For the front cover, I knew that I wanted one model in school uniform.

This is the photo that I was the happiest with as it shows a confident student who is smartly dressed in uniform with a happy expression on her face. This gives out a positive image for the school and is inviting for the readers. I took a range of photo's from different angles with the same model but in the end decided to go with the one on the left as it looked the most natural and also had the best lighting out of all of them.

I then took a variety of different pictures for my contents page which best represented the school. 

This is a photo from the art block showcasing some excellent art work from the school.

I got a photo of 2 sixth form students who are helping each other showing off the hardworking students and enjoying sixth form.

This photo is showcasing the new bistro that has just opened, this shows that the school is spending money to make the school a better place to be and making it more enjoyable for the students.

This is just a photograph of the school main entrance. This just shows off what the school looks like.

I took a photo from the library with the new projector showing off the new facilities in the school 

This is another photograph that I took from the library showing off the range of books that the library can provide for the students.

This is the school logo that I got from the school jumpers. This represents the school.

These 2 girls are from creative writing group and they show off the happy studious people that we have in the school.



Lizzy xo