Equipment List - Rhythm Magazine

Post Production Questionnaire

1) How would you rank the appearance of the front cover of this magazine
[1 = Excellent 4 = Poor]
1              2                3                  4
2) How would you rank the appearance of the contents page of this magazine
[1 = Excellent 4 = Poor]
1              2                3                  4
3) How would you rank the appearance of the double page spread of this magazine
[1 = Excellent 4 = Poor]
1              2                3                  4
4) Would you purchase this magazine?
Yes / No / Not interested in this music genre.
If yes, why? …………..
If no, why? …………
5) Do you think that the models are appropriate for this music genre?
Yes               No
Explain your answer…………………
6) Do you think that the chosen fonts are appropriate for this music genre?
Yes               No
Explain your answer…………………
7) Do you think that the colour scheme is appropriate for this music genre?
Yes               No
Explain your answer…………………
Do you think that the conent listed is appropriate for this music genre?
Yes               No
Explain your answer…………………
[About the front cover] “I like the colours. They’re bright and refreshing but still easy on the eye. The background is plain, yet affective, however a bit more information could of been added.”
[About the contents] “You can tell they’re from the same magazine, the colour scheme is similar and it works. I like how simple it is. The fonts used could be similar.”
[About the article] “The background could benefit from some colour, but then again standard articles tend to be plain black… I like the photos, and the font for the heading. They are the first things I look at.”

Contents Page Construction

After making the background solid black I added the titl and added some splatter effects, I did this using the paint brush tool on Photoshop. I then added my image that I cut around and gave it a stroke effect, then I added the word 'Rhythm' underneath the DJ to give it an effect that he is mixing the word 'Rhythm'.

I then added page numbers and what is on what page. This is essential information for the reader as they gain an insight into the music world. I mixed up the colours of fonts to blend in, and to make it more refreshing and not dull and bland.

Front Cover Construction

Firstly what I did for my front cover, was form a layout design, then leave space where text was going to go, also I decided on what image was going to be used. I took the original image, and cut round it with the lasso tool, then I copied it onto the front cover, resizing and moving it to fit perfectly. I then added effects (stroke) by right clicking layer, going on blending options and choosing stroke. This made a white border around my image, giving it an effect as if it was jumping out to the reader, and so it didn't look like it had been stuck on. I chose a solid black background, so when I chose the colour scheme of yellow and blue, the colours would compliment eachother. I stated the price and added a barcode also.

I then added text to the magazine, including a white banner at the top, which allowed me to add further information at the top of the page. The text I added was blue and yellow. I positioned the text to make it fit in, and made sure it was readable.

I then used the rectangular marquee tool, to design the blue and yellow diagonal rectangles in the middle. This created a bit more of a vibrant effect. Firstly I made this rectangles vertically, and then I right clicked the rectangles, and used the 'free transform' tool, to reshape them diagonally. This made the magazine more urban and unique, making the fonts stand out and made it visible from a far.



Shot List

I planned the shots below by drawing up an initial design of my college magazine and choosing what type of photos would look good and where in the layout they would go. Here are the shots I chose. I went about using these shots in my photoshoot.

The extreme close up of the young adults face in the double page spread, was actually taken 3 times. I varied the shots used, I first used a close up of his face, but this didn't work because of the lack of detail in facial expressions, so what I did was take an extreme close up of his face, to make sure I got all his facial expressions which is what I wanted.

The medium shot on the front cover showing the male listening to music took some time to get right because, at first it was a long shot, however the long shot image didn't blend in and fit into my front cover. What I did then was refresh the shot, make it a medium shot, so that one, it would fit into my magazine perfectly and two, all aspects of the picture were visible to viewers. Also it was hard to get the person in the image to portray all the right emotions. First I took a medium shot of him just listening to his music, but this didn't give off a good impression, it looked bland and there was no expression or passion in the image, so then I told him to sing to his music, like I wasn't even there. This made the image look much more professional and much better to me.

The long shot in my double page spread of the young male in a black suit was taken several times using different shots, such as a close up, a medium shot. Then I tried a long shot which was the right choice because I wanted all of him to be visible, from head to toe. Also I pictured him looking away from the camera which was better for this image because of where I put it, it gave the expression that he is looking at the text which is next to him, on the double page spread.

The close up of the DJ strutting his stuff was initially a medium close up, however I thought that the close up would be better for the contents page. It took a couple of tries to get the image to the standard I wanted it because I tried catching an image of him actually spinning decks, however the image came out pixellated because of the motion that the DJ was doing, so after this I made him just put his hands on the decks instead of spinning them.

Shots not used: Extreme long shot,

Shots used: Medium shot, extreme close up, long shot, close up.

Music Magazine Contents Page - Rhythm

This is my Rhythm Music Magazine contents page. I have stuck to my colour theme of blue and yellow. The picture I took was a medium close up, I think the picture goes well with the page, and the theme carries on in a similar fashion to the front cover. My contents page represents the house music genre, a feel good vibe within music and also stands out. I used an original image of my own, and also fonts. I used Photoshop to further enhance my skills and this contents page shows the improvement I have made from my preliminary task.

Music Magazine Front Cover - Rhythm

This front cover was designed on Adobe Photoshop CS3. After much consideration, I decided to change my front cover and the colour scheme. I decided in the end to use the scheme of blue and yellow instead of grey colours. These blended together to give the magazine front cover a dark, wintery look. The music genre for my magazine is soulful house music. Normally within the house music scene, there are summer and winter editions of magazines and CD albums and singles. I have purposely made this magazine to be mainly viewed during both the seasons. With the dark background representing cold dark winter nights, and the yellow and blue representing hot summer days, I think there is good contrast. With my dark background of the front cover I think it blends well, helping the blue and yellow stand out to make text visible. I also added the picture that i took myself into the front cover, and blended it into the background. I think the image i used was appropriate and was original as it linked with my music genre and also the colour scheme. My front cover is simple yet affective, I used the photoshop cs3 brush tool to add the splatter effects to give the front cover some character.

Music Magazine Double Page Spread - Rhythm

This is my double page spread for Rhythm magazine which I designed using Photoshop CS3. The double page spread includes an exclusive article, within the music scene. It involves another 2 original images, one is an extreme close up, which I then blended and faded into the black blackground, and the other picture is a medium shot. I stuck to my original colour scheme, and used similar fonts to my front cover which is important because it makes the magazine looks even, instead of using different designs, fonts and colours and making it look uneven.

Cast List - Rhythm Magazine

The cast I used were older people aged 20-21,  I used this cast because they are quite photogenic, they enjoy music and they blend into the music world. Also, they all had musical items which could be used to relate the images to music when incorporating them onto my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread. They were also very happy to help me out with my media coursework . The cast list are friends of my brothers, who are linked to the house music scene, one of them is a DJ/Record Producer, and he advised me also on what sort of wording to use which was helpful. They were easy to take images of, they were very co-operative and were understanding of what images I wanted and why.

Research Into My Competition - MixMag

These are my competitors within the house music magazine genre. This is a well established music magazine, however with my magazine in 'Rhythm' I hope to bring something else to the scene, something unique at a price where everyone will be interested. During the current economical climate, consumers are spending less on shopping items due to them having less disposable income. I hope to adapt to this climate by offering my magazine at a price of £1.20. I have chosen this price because it is reasonable, and is a lower price compared to MixMag's price of £4.20. I hope to offer as much news about the house genre and information just like MixMag, but for a much more lower price. Also, this magazine will hopefully be a big hit with teenagers as the price is reasonable, because they can spend £1.20 weekly to keep up to date with all the latest news.

Target Audience Research - Research & Planning

MixMag music magazine analysis - Research & Planning

'Our House' Music Magazine Analysis - Research & Planning

Conventions for a music magazine - Research & Planning

Font Colour Analysis Research & Planning

Graph 6 - Research & Planning

Graph 5 - Research & Planning

Graph 4 - Research & Planning

Graph 3 - Research & Planning

Graph 2 - Research & Planning

Graph 1 - Research & Planning

Survey - Research & Planning

Font Analysis Research & Planning

Example of Double Page Spread Article (MixMag Music Magazine)

Weekly Updates - Week 5

This week I started my research and planning for my music magazine. Now I had my information to design my magazine, I went about researching into different magazines and looking at the appearance and design, then I went about implementing these things into my research and planning.

Preliminary Task - Front Cover & Contents Page + Evaluation.

Overall I think my preliminary task is fairly basic, I could improve in the next task, by improving my Adobe Photoshop CS3 skills to make progress. These skills could prevent me from designing work that is pixellated in the future, so that all text and pictures are visible and are not blurry. During my next task I hope to further my skills of Photoshop from basic to advanced so that I can produce a better standard of work. I learnt the basics of Photoshop a few years ago, teaching myself to design website layouts etc and I hope to further these skills in my next task to create innovative and creative work.

Music Magazine Brainstorm

Weekly Updates - Week 4

This week I designed a brainstorm for my music magazine. I brainstormed my title ideas, font colour and size ideas for my magazine, and also my colour scheme and also the positioning of text and imagery.

Weekly Updates - Week 3

This week I went about designing my preliminary task, which was to design a school magazine, front cover and contents page. I did this on Adobe Photoshop CS3. I used my basic Photoshop skills to design it, and hopefully these skills can be a stepping stone which can help me design my main music magazine more efficiently.

Weekly Updates - Week 2

This week I started organising my production schedule, so that I knew when I was going to design what, so that I could keep in time and have enough time to design everything.

Weekly Updates - Week 1

This week, I gathered all my information for my magazine and designed a pre post questionnaire which I then asked my fellow classmates to fill out. I then went about gathering all the information necessary to go about designing my magazine. I found this week interesting as it was like the build up to constructing my music magazine.

Pre Post Questionnaire

Pre Questionnaire

1)    What gender are you? Tick your required box

Male	||
Female	||||||

2)    What genre of magazine are you most interested in? Put a tally in the box.

Music	||||
Sports	||
Fashion	|
Cartoon	||

3)    How much would you spend on average on a magazine?

50p – 75p	||
75p - £1.00	|||||
£1.00 – £1.20	||
£1.20 - £1.50	|||||||

4)    Where do you/would you buy your magazines from?

Newsagents	|||||
Local Retail Store	||
W-H Smiths	||
Don’t read a magazine	|

5)    Do you read a magazine?

Yes	|||||
No	|||

6)    If so, do you read it weekly or monthly?

Weekly	|||
Monthly	|

This is an updated blog, containing my given task for the year of AS Media Studies, the task was to use planning and research to do a preliminary task (school magazine), then use this knowledge to complete a second magazine (a music magazine) accompanied by a contents page and a double page spread, my work was done on Adobe Photoshop CS3

Production Schedule 2010/2011

Preliminary Task (September) - I hope to start and complete my preliminary task of making a school magazine within the September month.

Research & Planning (October)- I hope to do all my research and planning within the October month, inlcuding questionnaires and graphs etc.

Construction of Music Magazine (November)- I hope to start and finish my construction of my music magazine within the November month, that is the front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Evaluation of Coursework (December)- I hope to finish evaluating my music magazine in the december month, including post questionnaires that I will ask my peers etc.