Mood boards

Click the link to see a collection of my mood boards for my 90s grunge music magazine.
http://animoto.com/play/21IdLRzt6w2iSxnn99KeKQ

Fonts mood board

I have created a mood board for the type of text I would like for both my title and my tag line on my front cover as well as the text on my double page. At the moment I am thinking to have 'Old book' as a title on my front page and double page spread and 'From the woods' as a tagline font and the title font on my contents page.

Backgrounds mood board

I found some backgrounds and textures I would like to use on my music magazine for the texture over top of images, the boaders to images as well as backgrounds. I like the idea of putting a texture over an image to make it look more interesting and having a floral print behind some inages to make them stand out and look more interesting as well as continuing the grunge theme.

Styling mood board

After deciding on what genre I want for my magazine I then continued to make some mood boards to decide the type of styling I wanted for my model. I created a 90's grunge board as well as a hipster rock boards.

I liked  the 90's grunge look more so I created a hair and make up board as well . I will choose a variety of different clothes, hair and makeup styles to use in the photoshoot so I have a variety of photos to choose from when I begin adding in the photos for my music magazine.

Poses mood boards

I created some mood boards to see what poses I wanted to do. I created a mood board for womens poses and a mood board for mens poses.

I then decided that I would be able to show much more variety of camera angles and shots if I had a woman as my main model for my front cover and double page spread as I would b able to do lots of different backgrounds as well. So I then went on to create some more mood boards for some different poses for women to help me plan  what sort of pose and image I wanted where on my magazine, but also to ensure I get a wide range of shots so I have a choice what images I use when it comes down to putting the magazine together. I got these poses out of other fashion magazines so I could see what type of poses are commonly used.

Kerrang! double page spread analysis

So, there are are many things on this double page to look at.

There is a big title across both of the pages woth the band (fall out boy) name in it. This shows the reader who it is and it suggests that the band is very big and well known as the writer has put the bands name so big to attract the readers attention. The font is messy as and has both bold and thin font included, this shows it is a rock band. There is also a teared edge to the box the title is in also to show that it is a rock band being shown in the main image.

The colours of the title show that the magazine is Kerrang! as these colours of red, back and yellow have been continued through to the double page spread giving the magazine a complete feel and identifying as the work of Kerrang! The black and red are typical rock colours and the yellow draws your atention to certain parts of the spread (the band's name) as it is a bright colour. The text in the stand is black with the names of the band members in red which makes them stand out.

The text is in a translucent reb box which makes the main text stand out against the main picture. The text is in white on the red box so it stands out and is easy for the reader to read.

The main picture is of the band Fall out boy. They are all dressed in dark, ripped, shabby clothing  which again shows that they are a rock band. They are all looking at the reader trying to engage them in the spread. the background to the picture is textured but fairly plain so that it doesn't take away any attention from the rest of the picture and the text.

Kerrang! Contents page analysis

 

I now need to analyze a contents page. So for this task I chose to look at Kerrangs! contents page for this november issue.

Firstly there is one main images with around 3 other smaller images dotted around. Each of the images has a page number on it to draw in the reader attention to the image, and just generally give it information on there the article is in the magazine. The images inside are not related to the main image on the front cover.

There is also a not from the editor which includes an image generally talking about something that happened in the office and their views on the contents of the magazine. This speaks directly to the reader and draws them in wanting to read about all the exciting things the editor mentioned. This also has an image to accompany it to draw interest.

The colour scheme of black, yellow and white also transfers over to the contents page making the magazine seem complete and it makes the contents page recognisable as Kerrangs!

This page also has the issue number and cover date on the top of the page as well as the front as it is slightly small on the front page. By putting it on the contents page you can see it clearer.

The title for the contents page is displayed like a pug at the top of the page in large circle which keeps the broken, messy theme that the title shows. This keeps the theme of the magazine throughout the front page onto the contents page so the reader can recognise it is Kerrangs!

The actual contents is split down into different sections made clear with bold, boxed titles. The yellow stands out on the black background drawing the readers focus to the title. Then underneath are page numbers and what can be found on that page, with bod catchy titles and smaller text in a different font underneath explaining the title fully.

Kerrang! Magazine analysis

So… I am analysing ‘Kerrang!’ the rock music magazine. This is Novembers issue.

First of all it has a masthead. You can tell it is a rock magazine as the masthead font is broken and messy. The colour is also red which is a powerful strong colour which again connotes rock.The picture is in front of the title which makes the picture look more 3D. You can’t really read the masthead but somehow you can still know it is ‘Kerrang!’.

Kerrang! has no tagline, but it is a well known magazine so does it need one?

The central image is of the band ‘fall out boy.’ They are celebrities and are well known within the rock music genre and are relevant at the moment as they are making a big come back after a long break. Pete Wentz is, in the picture, pointing at the read and is almost saying ‘buy this magazine!’ As well as this they are all looking at the reader to get the reader involved in the magazine. You can tell the band are a rock band as they are wearing black and grey and have tattoos but are smiling unlike the usual grumpy rock band. The background on the image is white which makes the band stand out as a busy background doesn’t take the attention away from Fall out boy.

There is also a puff on the magazine. One of them is: ‘Win! Your birthday printed in the K! calendar!’ These puffs stand out as they are on a red or yellow background so catch the readers attention and promote the different elements in the magazine.

There are lots of different fonts used on the front page which makes it look quite busy and messy, but as this is a rock magazine it is expected.

There is a barcode, issue, price and date on the magazine. These are all located together on the front page in the bottom right corner. This location is out of the way and not intruding on the image.

The colours used on this magazine are: white, black, red and yellow. They are all relatively bright colours which draw attention to the magazine. The colours do vary throughout the different issues but the main colours do seem to be the ones featured on this issue. Changing the colours creates an interest as the reader is attracted as it is something different, but by keeping similar colours the reader immediately knows what magazine it is.

There are various coverline placed around the front cover. There are around 7 on Kerrang! These give the reader an idea of what else the magazine has to offer without the reader having to look inside on the contents page to find out.

There are also various secondary images to promote the the other features. These are linked to the the cover lines on the magazine.

Evaluation of Preliminary

What did you find difficult about producing your school magazine? What did you find easy?

I did a lot of planning and research for my school magazine to I was very prepared to take the photos and create the overall look for the magazine. I also already knew the basics of photoshop before so it made the creation process of my school magazine easier as I knew how to retouch people’s faces and create all the shapes I needed for the front cover and contents page. The one thing I did struggle with was trying not to make the magazine look to much like a fashion or music magazine as that is the style I prefer; however, I feel I have adhered to the school magazine theme well.

How would your task have been easier if you had researched into school magazines?

I did research into the school magazine genre (evidence of which can be found earlier on my blog.) I search existing school magazine front covers and did some analysis of some front covers as well as search the codes and conventions of school magazines.

What tactics did you use to attract your audience?

I used bright colours to attract my readers to the magazine then I also included an interesting splash and secondary leads that stood out on the background they were on. This meant that the readers could easily read the text and could see the interesting articles featured in the magazine.

What have you learnt about photoshop/other software used in the production of your preliminary task?

I already knew the basics of photoshop before I started creating the school magazine, but I have discovered new buttons on photoshop for different shapes and effects to change the images I have taken.

What lessons have you learnt here that will enable you to excel in the production of your main task-the music magazine?

I have learnt to always ask for feedback off my friends and teachers about my magazine as there might be some things that I miss when I look at it- like the fact it needed more colour to highlight some of the shapes and text.

My school magazine after feedback.

I got some feedback off my friends for my school magazine and Erin (http://www.erinsmediastudiesblog.blogspot.co.uk/) told me I should maybe include some more colour, so I did.

I changed the black text on the arrows to yellow as it fits in with the yellow on the girls ties and it also looks good with green. I also changes the 'issue' text to yellow to provide a bit more colour difference on the page.
On the cover page I also changed the 'issue' text so it matched in with the cover. I also put borders to the images to make them pop and look more interesting for the reader. I changed the spacing between some of the items so it was layout out a little better and the arrow  and the picture of the two girls didn't look so clustered. I also put a black border around the arrows that point to the pictures as they didn't stand out much once I put the border on the images.

Creating my school magazine

 This is how I created my magazine.

First of all after photoshopping both images of the girls I decided to use this image on the cover as they are smiling more on this one. I picked this background as it was easy to photoshop. When I put the photo on the right szed page it was too small so I added more bricks onto the top of the image, from the orignal unphotoshopped image.












 I then added the title I had created earlier and made it the right size to fit on the page. I thought that the green looked good against the brick background and that it was clear to read.

I then added the tree logo and the arrow motifs. I added in the arrow under the title to cover up the slight line that the two different backgrounds made instead of lower down as I had previously thought. I created the two curved arrows by using the tick shape as well as the arrow head shape. I chose to have the arrows different shades so they didn't look two similar, and the different shades of green make it look more interesting and eye catching.  The tree logo was added at the top instead of the bottom as I had originally planned as I decided I wanted just the 'idsall' at the top of the page, so there was room at the top of the page for the logo.

I then added some text in as the splash and secondary leads. I used green on the background as it stood out and black on the arrows as again it stood out the most whilst keeping in with my colour scheme. I chose a font that was interesting unlike boring times new Roman, but still legible, so nothing like comic sans. I chose to have the size of the text at 25 pt as I thought it wasn’t too big yet you could still read it with ease.

That was then my front cover done so I moved on to making the contents page.

After making the page the correct size I added the titles I had created earlier and made them the right size to fit the page. They are the same style as the title on the front page, but slightly different sizes and have different border thicknesses. I also added in the arrow from the front page but spun it 180% so it faced the other way. This was so I had more room above the arrow and less room beneath it.













Next I added in the logo of the tree and adjusted the size to fit under the arrow and I added the 'issue' text from the front page. I kept these the same as on the front page so the front page and content linked in well.











I added in the text for the stories on the contents page. I created some of these from things I have seen around school, for example the language focus, I got some ideas from similar sections of the Idsall voice (the actual school magazine,) and things I would imagine a school magazine to include. I chose a different font to the text on the front page (the splash and secondary leads,) as this is more for reading so I picked a slightly thinner font so it was more easy to read. I also picked a font that was more like paragraph text then a heading font.

I then finished off by adding in the images after I had photoshopped then. I added in another picture of the girls- the 'Grammar slammer winners!' but with different expressions and different angles to make the magazine more interesting and add a bit of variety. I also added in a picture of two girls on a white background to vary the background types and again make the contents page more interesting.

Creation process of my magazine

I started by drawing out what sort of thing I wanted to do for my final draft of my school magazine from what I didn't like or what didn't work well in my practise magazine.

 Next I went out and took some images to use on my magazine. These are some photos from the shoot.

 

I used most of these images in my magazine, I did edit them though.

My School magazine practice

I have mocked up what I may like my school magazine to look like.

 I have used copyright free photos to mock this up.
I feel that I need to:
-Use a logo for the school on the cover.
-Make the image fill more of the page.
-Make the text easier to read.
-Use better ideas for the secondary leads.

What I feel I have done well:
-The text looks good.
-The title is interesting.
- The white space is filled.
-The images are edited well.






This what the old image of the headteacher looked like before I edited it. I took off the background, cropped the image and generally cleared up some imperfections on the image.








This is what the old image of the students looked like. I took off the background and cleared up any little imperfections on the image.