In this blog you will find my research and planning of my magazine. You can also find the production of my magazine. Also the evaluation of my music magazine will follow after.
I hope that you find my blog interesting and enjoy reading.
The is a video above explaining the difference and what I have learnt through making my college magazine and my music magazine. Because if the bad quality I am going to write out everything that I said about it.
The types of technology that I have used for my college magazine was Photoshop and a Canon DLSR camera to the pictures. I have used the same technologies for my music magazine allowed me to create the bullet shot effect on my masthead for my music magazine and has allowed to have high quality imagoes for my magazine.
The use of technologies has allowed me to implement different and creative fonts like on my music magazine masthead. Whereas on the college magazine I have used standard Photoshop fonts which make the magazine not creative at all.
My cover lines form the college magazine are the same size which doesn't give an edge on creative and doesn't catch the readers eye. Whereas on my music magazine the cover lines have specific information popping out which shows which stories are the more important ones and which ones the magazine mainly focuses on.
Doing some research has shown me that natural light produces more vibrant and light filled images such as my model images used in my music magazine. The gesture of the model on the college magazine he had just a smiling face which shows little convenience whereas on my music magazines he has his arms closed to show his dominance and power.
I have included more information on my magazine such as banners and a freebie to help attract the audience to my magazine over other magazines. Whereas my college magazine doesn't include a lot of information to excite the audience.
During the creation of my magazine I have used all types of technologies to help produce my magazine. These technologies could be technologies that I physically use and ones that are computer based. I have used technologies which are completely new to me like ishowu where I have used technologies which I am familiar with like the DLSR camera.
Physical technologies:
Canon DLSR 1000D camera:
The DLSR camera was used to take high quality pictures for my music magazine. This was a key piece of equipment used for my magazine as I was able to take pictures of my models so I could complete my magazine. The camera is something which I am familiar with, however with the features such as auto focus help make my pictures look more professional for my magazine.
Apple Mac:
The Apple Mac was a completely new experience for me as I had never used one before. I found it tough to use the Mac at first as it is different compared to a Microsoft computer, for example the scrolling on the mouse is different on a Mac compared to a computer. Therefore, at the start of my Media course my teacher helped me improve my skills in using the Mac in order for me to make my music magazine. My skills have improved massively on programs such as Photoshop and InDesign, which have helped to build my magazine.
Computer based technologies:
Adobe Photoshop CS6:
I have used Photoshop to help produce my magazine. My skills on this Photoshop has improved massively which has involved using many different tools to produce my music magazine. These skills need improving at the start but I have slowly progressed and skills have improved drastically. Here is a video from ishowu showing my skills on Photoshop.
Abobe InDesign CS6:
This software was something that I had never used so it was a new experience in using it. I had to use tutorials and help form my teacher in order to get use to the tools in InDesign. The sofware is useful for producing contents pages, this is because you can't be creative with this software, unlike Photoshop where you can be. It is more of a professional software.
Blogger:
Blogger has been useful to me as I was capable to portray my research into different magazines, the planning of my magazine and the production of my magazine which has been shown to the public. Blogger was new to me but it wasn't complicated to use as it is a basic website, but I learn't how to links and HTML's. This is useful as I could link people to my podcast which was done on Voicethread and it also helps for my evaluation as I am using Prezi and Flickr for my evaluation questions. I am going to show a video below to show how I use blogger.
Flickr:
I used Flickr for another evaluation question so that people form the public are able to see my cover, contents page and my double page spread, this also allows people to comment on them as well. This website deals with high quality images that people can post.
Prezi:
Prezi is another publication website which produces presentations which the public can viewas it is a free website. I also used it for one of my evaluation questions. I have never used Prezi before so I had learn quickly to use the tools for my evaluation question. From using Prezi I now know that there are different ways to portray a presentation in a more appealing way rather that using Microsoft Powerpoint.
ishowu:
ishowu is a screen recording software exclusive to Macs. It allows the user to record what is on there screen whcih is useful to make tutorials and to show what you have done on your Mac similarly to the videos that I have created for this evaluation question and also for other evaluation questions.
The image above is a drawing of typical target audience member. I believe the character to be a stereotypical rap music fan.
The character that I have drawn is around the age of 18-21 years old. He would be a person who has just finished college and possibly wants to start working full time, or just starting university.
The clothes that he is wearing are stereotypical clothes that rappers wear. He is wearing a black leather jacket with a white t-shirt underneath, this is what rappers such as Eminem and Chris Brown wear. He is also wearing a snapback. Almost all rappers have been seen wearing a snapback and if they are not wearing snapbacks they are either wearing a bucket hat or nothing at all, and most of there haircuts are shaved heads. This is to give the hard man look that all rappers portray. He is also wearing skinny jeans which is the norm for everyone. Finally he is wearing trainers. Most people that are in my target audience all wear Nike or Addidas trainers, or if thyey wear shoes it is usually Timberland boots.
My stereotypical target audience member has also got tattoos around his neck which is also used to show the hard man look and to show individuallity form others.
Click on the image above to view my Flickr page and slideshow presenting the different reasons why I have chosen the specific distributer and publisher.
I have created a Photoshop document placing an image of one of my models located on the double page spread of my magazine, next to an image is a picture of Eminem on the front of a VIBE cover. This helps to create observable comparisons when the two images are next to each other, aiding in evaluation.
Gesture: Both the models have a similar pose by crossing there arms. The crossing of the arms creates a strong gesture which generates dominance and power, these are key features that a rapper aim for. They aim for these features because rappers sing about death and violence and if they don't portray this in their looks and gestures, their listeners won't believe their lyrics.
Costume: The clear differences in the costumes are that my model is wearing a black jumper, whereas Eminem is wearing a tank top. The reason behind my model wearing a black jumper is because black could represent death and violence, therefore portraying that he is a violent person this is due to most rappers being violent. However, by choosing to wear a tank top, Eminem is showing off his tattoos which could portray him in being tough and having a "bad-ass" look about him. Although he is still wearing black clothing which still emphasizes that he is still violent.
Shot Type: Both of the models have the same shot type, which is a Mid-Shot. I used this shot type because this type of shot allows it to focus on the models facial expression, but also on the gesture (arms folding), this is to give the tough man effect. Another reason I have chosen this shot is so that you can see the arms. The VIBE example has used the shot type for a similar reason as the model is also expressing a pose that is important with the design therefore with a close-up of the face to show the expression on the models face.
Expression: The two models are showing a serious facial expression. I decided to make my model choose such a facial expression because the serious expression is an expression all rap artists portray.This helps for when my target audience notice the magazine as they will see the model is being serious and associate this with the rap genre, therefore knowing the magazine will be based on rap music.
Lighting: Itook my images outside as natural lighting is bright and creates little glare. However, the images produced from VIBE would have most likely taken place in a studio meaning many artificial lights surrounding the studio, I believe the VIBE image looks better as the artificial lighting has created little shadow on the model where as the natural lighting used in my image comes from one angle therefore shadows appear on the models lower face which is unprofessional.
Hair: I believe that the model for the VIBE magazine (Eminem) has the better hair to represent my target audience. Most of my music magazines audience has shaved heads or shot hair on top, whereas my model has his hair brushed to the side which is more of a hair style which could be aimed to a Pop genre.
