Magazine Survey

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Photoshop Skills Development 2 - The Simpsons Posters Task

Shown here is a poster which i made to advertise the release of The Simpsons Movie. We had to make the poster a4 and use images from the internet to create an original poster.

I used 3 images from the internet to create my poster. I first used an image of homer simpson (a main character) as the main image. I edited it by removing the background to make it transparent and making the opacity lower. To make my repeated background, i found an image of a doughnut and repeated it to make the background consistent. I duplicated the background several times and changing the levels to make it change colours and stand out visually. I also used the movie logo so people could recognise what the movie was, if they didn't know already.

The text i used at the bottom is supposed to appear like the movie logo, using the same stroke around the text and inner shadow.

Once printed out to actual size, there is some slight pixelation and white parts where the background was around the main image. The background however has the effect i wanted it to.

Photoshop Skills Development 1 - Jarvis Cocker Task

This is a mockup of a magazine using an image of Jarvis Crocker and editing it to make it appear professional and as if it could be an actual magazine.

Shown above is a gif i made showing the development of the magazine, showing the visual steps of the changes i made to the magazine.

First i seperated the background from the image and colourized it to match the colour of the outline of the main image. Next i recoloured the border to keep the image neat and the colour contained to the background, stopping it from overlapping the border. I then added a PSD file which included vibrance and artificial brightness. With the main image separated from the background i could place the masthead behind the image. Additionally i added a main sell line and another sell line. Finally i added a barcode in the bottom right corner.

Inspirational Texts - Music Videos

With the foundation magazine under construction, i needed to find inspiration to find content for the magazine. I found 3 music videos which helped me find out what genre of music i wanted to write about in the music.

1. Lana Del Rey - Ride

Lana Del Rey's most recent music video offers a theme of hope and imagery of Americana. I will use the imagery of Americana in my magazine shoot.








2. Fun. - Carry On

The cinematography of this music video has influenced the colours i will use while producing the magazine. The neutral colours mixed with bold brighter colours will work well with the contrast between articles.






3. Sleigh Bells - Comeback Kid

The DIY quality of the magazine is reflected in this video which looks home shot and edited, but still professional.

Main Task Proposal Table

AS Coursework Proposal Table

Type of Magazine (fashion, music, etc)	Music
Name of Magazine	Shade
Audience (male/female)	Female 15-25
Audience (attitudes and interests)	Free thinking Bloggers People who attend concerts regularly
Outlet (where it can be bought from?)	Supermarkets and newsagents
Necessary Information	Date (Jan 2013) Price (£2.50 / €3.00
Selling Point	A two piece band from Newcastle returning with their second album after a year break.
Theme (article)	An interview with both members about the album and their break and a live review of their comeback tour, starting in Newcastle.
Images Front Cover	Both of them against a wall, central to the cover.
Images Inside	Black and white photo shoot, three images -       One of each member -       One of them together

Deconstructions of Double Page Spreads

In preparation  for my main task which involves creating a double page spread, i analysed 3 different double page spreads from various music magazine.

DPS deconstruction from acrosswaxponds

Preliminary Task: College Magazine

 This is the two pages of work i did for the preliminary task which was to create a cover and contents page for a college magazine. This is to practise my skills before i do my professional magazine and can be used in an evalutation to show my improvement between the two magazines.



Preliminary Task Flat Plans

I have created these as a plan for my Preliminary task. These will act as a guide for how i will layout my magazine cover / contents page.

This is the magazine flat plan for the front cover which features a masthead, main image, a bar code and multiple sell lines.

 

This is the magazine flat plan for the content page which will have a list of contents, several images and an extract of the featured article (on the front cover.)



3 Magazine Contents Page Deconstructions (NME/Rock Sound/Kerrang!)

Masthead

The masthead is included in the contents page of NME magazine, in a similar size to the front cover. The font is big and bold, in caps locks which is memorable. The colour of the masthead is a bright red, with a white border around each letter. On the page it is at the top, starting near the far left of the page and stopping towards the middle. Next to it, there is text informing that they are reading THIS WEEK's issue. The text is in white to contrast with the logo and the font is similar to it. The black background helps the text stand out against the rest of the page.

Necessary Information

Underneath the masthead, there is the date of when the issue was published. However they don't have an issue number or a page number. The content page does not include a direct link to the magazine website but they have included a link to subscribe to the magazine.

Text

The page has a lot of text on it, including a band index and different types of genres of the articles. There is a small part of it to advertising their subscription and a part of the main the page is a major article inside the magazine. The purpose of having a band index is for fans of bands to quickly see if a band they like have been written about. Some people may want to search by the types of articles and then by the content. The main article has the main focus of the page and  the subscription serves the purpose of offering delivery of the magazine for a larger price. They use subheads to give more information the articles listed under the main headings. The band list is order alphabetically and the other index is organised by page numbers. The band index is on the far left, the other index is on the far right, with the main article in between. However the band index is smaller and makes room for the subscription box. They use numerical features to organise the other index.

Font

The fonts used are similar to the masthead; the main sell lines are in bold writing with capital letter and the subheads are in lower case fonts and not in a bold or italic text. The different font styles are used to separate the subject of the article and the small synopsis of the article and making the header eye catching. The text is mainly in black, with the numbers in red and headers in white. However the band index is reversed with the main text in red with black numbers. The subscription includes yellow and white text which looks effective on the black background. Bold is used extensively throughout the text while italics is not used at all.

Images

There are only few images on the cover; one to accompany the main article and one in the subscription box showing copies of magazines. The main article image is large and the pictures of the magazines are smaller, as they assigned to a smaller space. Neither image have a caption but are associated with their articles as they relate to them. The magazines do not have writing over them but the main article image does but the opacity of the text/background is lower that usual so some of the image can still be made out.

Composition

The main article is framed by the rest of the text on the page and the layout is simple, boxing the information into different parts of the page. None of the parts of the page overlay each other. Any pictures used clearly relate to their respected pieces of text.

Linguistic Features

The page does not use any rhetorical sentences and are usually in declarative sentences. Alliteration is not used either as well as internal rhyme/assonance. The linguistic features on the page are basic and there is nothing notable.

Colour

Four colours are used on the page for text (yellow, black, white and red) which are used appropriately against the backgrounds, which are either white or black. The images don't have a colour in common, the magazines are mostly red and yellow colours while the main article image is mainly white. The red magazines are eye catching and will draw the reader towards the subscription box successfully. The main article is also eye catching as it is in the centre of the page.

Masthead

The masthead is on the upper right which the readers eyes will still been drawn to but it also makes room for the image as it would have overlapped.

Nessassary Information

Underneath the masthead there is the issue number and the month/year of the publishing date. It has a caption for the photo who informs the reader who it is and a quote from one of the people in the main image.

Text

There is little tezt apart from a quote from one of the people in the main photograph. There is also a caption on the photo and a table of contents which has the page number, the subject of the article and a brief synopsis of it.

Font

There are three different fonts used; one for the masthead, one for the quotes and one for the table of contents.

Images

Only one image is used and is the main sell point on the page. It is also used a a background instead of a plain colour filling the space.

Composition

The composition is simple, with the date, issue number and masthead on the top right, a quote in the middle left of the photo, and the table of content in the bottom right corner.

Linguistic Features

No notable language or lingustic features have been used.

Colour

Most of the text is white but the numbers are red, as well as the banner for the title of the table of contents. The red colour matches the red of the boxing gloves in the background image.

Masthead

The masthead is not shown in the contents page.

Nessassary Information

The page has a letter from the editior, an unusual feature in a contents page. It also has a table of contents on the left, a subscription box below it and several images to its right.

Text

The main body of text is the table of contents which has the type of article, page number and few words about each one. The images also have an overlay of text which contains the same information.

Font

The fonts are relatively similar, mostly in capslock. However, the editiors letter is a smaller lower case font than the rest.

Images

There are several images used in this contents page. Next to the editiorial letter, there is a copy of the front cover of the magazine. Underneath there are 9 photos which are featured articles in the magazine. One is larger than the others which means it is a more important article and will attract readers to it. There are also 3 images of past issues next to the subscription boxes.

Composition

The content page title is on the top right, next to the editiorial letter which is on the top left. Underneath the title, there a quote from an article. The rest of the left side of the magazine is all pictures from articles and the left has a small table of content.

Linguistic Features

Most of the writing is in short sentences except the editiors letter.

Colour

The background in grey which makes the rest of the colours pop. The text is mostly black, but when its on a black background, it is yellow. The yellow text is mainly used for main titles, page numbers and the contents title. The subscription box is red to make the reader notice it.

3 Magazine Deconstructions

In preparation for my portfolio, i analysed 3 magazine covers  in depth.
   

    Magazine Anaylsis from acrosswaxponds

Magazine Cover: Key Features

I have created the image below to show a magazine and the main features of the cover.

Masthead: The title of the magazine, usually accompanied with a logo.
Main Image: A picture of the subject of the main article in the magazine.
Subhead: A quote or information about the main article.
Price: The amount of money the magazine is.
Date Line: The date the magazine was released. It can be a full date or just a month depending on how often the magazine is published.
Sell Lines: Smaller articles which capture attention and draw the audience in.
Main Sell Point: Builds the image of the magazine.

AS Media Studies Brief

Preliminary exercise: using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally you must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate your grasp of DTP.

Main task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine