Main Task Evaluation

For my main task of my media course I chose the assignment brief pathway of Print. I chose this over film as with my previous choice of Print I got a satisfactory grade for my work and with more practice and work I would be able to gain the same grade or higher with this second use of Print. 
We were asked to make a music magazine to a style of our choice, We needed to include; a front cover, content page and a double page spread. With these pages all text must be original and the images included must have been a minimum of 4 originally taken images. All pages must be of the same magazine and should included continuity and be to a standard in which it can be sold at a shop as a professionally produced magazine. This was what was asked from us to do with the print. This gave us freedom of what it was going to be about but with a closed selection of magazines. 
To begin with I planned to make 1 of 3 magazines I had designed at the beginning of the course. My 3 magazines were all a niche market magazine aiming at a selected genre of music (mainly consisting of Heavy rock or metal).

All 3 magazines aimed around this niche market but to different designs; Distortion: This magazine was totally focused on one genre and its sub-genres within it. Vibrations: This magazine was split into 2 sections. First interviews with people then the second element was reviews of that person’s instrument they use within the band. Pit: This magazine was aimed at one genre but of the gig’s them selves instead of the music. 

All 3 magazines were my original planning ideas and I soon researched magazines close to these ideas. The 6 magazines I chose to research were all in relation to the niche genre I planned to make a magazine about. These six magazines were; Kerrang, Metal Hammer, NME, Guitar World, Total Guitar and Q. Of these six magazines the one I research the most was Metal Hammer as it is very close to the magazine I planned to make, Being the same layout design and genre focus. I fount Front Covers, Content pages and double page spread of these magazines and looked at how they were laid out and how they had individual features. I made drafts around these magazines taking ideas and techniques from them and fused them to included them in my magazine E.g. Kerrang uses a single font throughout its magazine and uses similar colours throughout were as metal hammer uses minimal colour at all. I fused these ideas and used small colour continuity but it was throughout the magazine drafts.

The Research I had gathered highly influenced my draft production. I made 2 draft magazines just to experiment with the templates and design of how my main magazine will  be presented. My first draft followed a basic layout of a special edition of Kerrang. I chose to make this magazine a special edition as well so I could experiment with the simplistic design I want to incorporate into my main magazine. I used minimum text design with bold images that I edited to increase the contrast. This design was a lot like how I wanted my magazine to be but I wasn’t happy with the lack of text on the front cover and the contents page. I wanted a simplistic design but with an impact to the reader. As a result of the disappointment I began to make a second magazine totally opposite to the first draft I made. This time round I made the magazine as packed as possible not leaving any empty space. I like the lay

out design of the double page spread and the contents page for this magazine draft but the front cover was too overwhelming for my plans.

Draft magazines

With both drafts made and judged by myself I started to create final templates of how my magazine would be designed. I use the front cover design of the first draft being simplistic and bold as I like the basic design type using all focused on the images instead of text. But then I used the contents page and double page spread of the second draft to equalize the focus levels, making sure the magazine isn’t uneven with text and images.

Once I was comfortable with the templates I had created for my magazine I began construction. I chose to use most of my focused time on my front cover as it would be the first thing the person saw. Taking reference from the research I did earlier I fount most magazines used at most 2 to 3 images on the front page. I chose to have a single main image on my magazine to fully focused the reader on one article, I plan to include an additional masthead as well about the main article. This will eliminate the need for additional text and I can use it as one of my original images as I will be designing it. So I have met part of my assessment as I have already got 2 of my 4 images. My front cover will need to be changed in the future once I have my images taken.

As I could not change my front page until I had my images taken I began to make the base of my contents page, I sectioned out where I would be including text and where images would be. I planned to have around 4 original images on this page. One relating to the main article which has a big image on the front and 3 of different articles. I had 2 images previously taken that I used for the different article images. One was a close up of a friend of mine and the other was a picture from a gig I played in my old band. These images fit perfectly where I wanted them. I wasn’t going to get an image of what I wanted within the time I expected to be finished with photo taking so I had to use a photo from a friend who is a professional photographer, Although they were her images I helped her take them by setting up the lighting and sorting out the photo shoot so the photo’s did have my input.

My double page spread was going to be split into 2 different articles much like my draft but I had a change in ideas. Instead of following my original magazine idea of separating the double page spread into an interview and a review of an instrument like my magazine Vibrations I choose to do 2 separate interviews but both of the same article. So they are both different but connected by the people included in them. My double spread page was going to have a lot of text in it and I stuck to this plan by having made boxes for the text to be included in.

After I finally took my images I had to made some changes on all my pages. The front cover idea of having an extra masthead was taken away as the image I used was not fitting in the page with the masthead being so big and in the center. I had to reduce the size and move it to the side more. It is still a masthead but it is smaller and is not the main focus anymore. Also I had to change the placement of the article text to make sure it didn’t cover the image as much. This change did change how the magazine looks compared to the original template design but the features I included did not. For my contents page the only thing I needed to change was the text and the placement of the page numbers. This was due to the image I took being bigger then I expected. The contents page was changed by me added an additional text box and change the placement of the text around. Although my pages might not follow my templates exactly I think it was an improvement instead of a failure as it has added more to the magazine instead of taking anything away.

With all the main parts of my magazine done I begun to make a questionnaire to see the opinion of what my audience was. I choose to ask 10 people with 10 questions I have made to ask people about my magazine. These questions would results in comments such as; The appeal of the magazine, the realism of the price, its continuity and wither they believe it is to publishing standards. The results of my questionnaire should some negative outcomes but the majority positive. The results should 80% of people thought my magazine was appealing to them and most comments were that they like the music I chose to make it about. Its is a positive as i have picked a good market to go with and that it’s likely to sell as people like it. Also 100% of people said that this magazine was a Rock/Metal magazine, I have made a good judgment of how to represent my chosen genre of music.

A negative that came out of this magazine was that 60% said it wasn’t at publishing standards and most said the reason for this was that the images quality was to low. The problem with this is that I can not correct this unless I have a better quality camera and retook the images. This would result in a whole new editing stage which I did not have the time to do. I had let the magazine stay at the publishing standard as I thought personally it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

After making some slight changes to the magazine (Adding Bar code, Spelling mistakes ect.) I was finished with my magazine and was happy how it came out. When I compare my magazine to my preliminary task I can see improvement straight away. I am satisfied with my magazine and how it turned out compared to my preliminary task. I have increase my photo shop knowledge with tools and this is seem through the magazines, also I feel I have improved with the technical side of this work. In terms of realism I feel my work has increase, The main magazine looks more like a real magazine compared to my preliminary. The text work, the masthead, the images, all work better with the magazine this time. I feel this is partly due to the freedom of assessment. I worked in a group previously and this reduced how much I could do with the magazine. Overall I feel this magazine is a huge improvement from my previous work either by looking at the realism of the magazine or the technical side.

Main Task

Preliminary Task

Comparing my magazine to a real magazine you can see that the improvement has not been as big as it was from first step. Although my work has increase a lot it still isn’t to a professional standard, The image was what I feel let my work down the most. The quality of the images and how I incorporated them is not very highly skilled and reduced how real my magazine looks. I feel my magazine did on the other hand have a realistic feel with continuity and the masthead of the front cover. I feel the masthead I had made were of a professional standard and would be used in a real magazine.

Overall I find my magazine did meet some criteria of a real magazine and those it didn’t was only due to the things my audience picked up on, such as the quality of the images and the way they were added into the magazine. If I had more time I would have retaken my images and done another questionnaire to ask them if this new use of images was an improvement. Also I would have added more text to the main article on the double page spread as I feel it was lacking in length for a double  page. I would have also included more original images but I did have over the asking amount in the first place, If I had taken the extra images I would have used them instead of the current images on the contents page.

Final Product

Main Task Cover

Main Task Contents

Main Task Double page

Production Log 1st March: Development of Double Page and Contents Page.

Today i began to piece the contents page and the Double page page of my magazine. I have sped past the development as i have done some from home and in my spare time so at this stage i am already part way done in my pages.

My contents page i followed my template very close. No real changed to the design have been made apart from leaving some base in case i want to add some more pictures or detail. The text i have inserted was previously wrote by me and i just inserted the text in the write place. All image are mine but the mosh pit one which would be very difficult for me to get. I did intend to have one as i had a selection of images but all the images were not to standard.

I have changed the layout of this template alot as i didn’t want to follow typical designs. I went for a graffiti. I changed the placement of the images and separated the text boxs to make it look more like 2 separate articles instead of one. I tried to keep the images to a minimum and minimise the design so that the article had most of the focus.

I plan to add more detail and text to all the pages and will add some more characteristics to the magazine to make it flow more. I will post the updated pages along side these base pages so you can see the difference

Production Log 22nd February: Base Front cover, Contents and Double Page templates.

I have begun to change the main magazine following the guidelines. I have made a masthead and added the Title logo’s as well as putting in all article feature information and background.
I Have followed all the guidelines I have made from the template. I plan to make some changes as I go along, E.g. I think the main logo is to big so I will shrink that down and put more detail into it as it will be smaller.

After I done the basis of the front cover I began to work on a template image for the contents page and the Double page spread.

Double page spread

Contents Page

Production Log 15th Febraury: Begining of Construction of Main Magazine.

Today I began to construct my main magazine following basic guidelines of the Drafts I have made and mixed together them as a result of the feedback I got from the presentation I showed the class a few weeks back.

I began to make a template that I would work around. This template was very influenced by my Draft magazine I made called Kerrange. I plan to only have one main image on this page and just text about other articles mentioned in this magazine.

As you can see i have kept the basic magazine design but changed around how the magazine lay out will be. Instead of the featured articles only being alongside the Title it is now running across the whole page and the featured article information is now bigger and will stand out more. I got rid if the little Download circle and put a bar-code there to make the magazine be more realistic. I have stuck with the one main image idea but mine will be smaller and have more than one person, mine will be of around 4 to 5 people at a middle shoot or further away as I plan to have a base background.

Production Log 1st February: Magazine Drafts

Today I made 2 magazines to experiment with ideas that I planned to feature in my magazine.

The first magazine called “Kerrang” I tried to make it very similar to Metal hammer and Guitar world by having a in your face style about the pictures and text but also the calm and structured style that guitarworld uses. I plan to use the divided element in my real magazine but both articles will be related. This magazine is kind of how I want my final product but a bit less colourful.

The second magazine named “Vibrations” is a special feature of a band called Enter Shikari. I love the special editions that mainstream magazines release and I want to do one of my band. I will still feature other articles about other local bands but the man idea would be the main band. The simplicity of this magazine is also what I like. Minimalistic images and a lot of text is the idea for my magazine.

Production Log 18th January: Detailed Magazine Research (Contents Page)

Metal Hammer have an odd way of laying out their contents page. Most magazines wold only have one page for the contents page which would be the right page of a double page spread, but metal hammer use the left page as a way to advertise the main article. The typical style contents is still there, full of little images and some text to summaries the article and the page it is located but a huge image is used on the left page with no text at all just the page number and an image. This style is very creative and I plan to use this some way in my magazine. The main page is packed with information. The text and colour are following the style of the image on the left page. Black and Red seem to been the colour scheme in this magazine. These colour show a dark and heavy side of the magazine. In some respect the colour could be seen as a warning that this magazine is hardcore and should not be read. The warning red gives the magazine a certain feel that you really shouldn’t be reading this magazine at all. The feel of danger is in all images and text. The Gothic font and the bad appearance of the images back the danger method. All images have something bad in them, from smoking to a half-naked women. Looking at the techniques leaves the possibility that the main audience of this magazine would be rebellious males. This magazine is not to be dealt with, unless you dare to.

Guitar worlds contents page is a completely different style. Using most of the page space to highlight one image. Although that similarity that this magazine and metal hammer do have a main focus on one article GuitarWorld only uses one page. The other articles are pushed to the side and don’t even have a image. The magazine chooses to use simplicity to make the magazine feel less in-your-face and more of a chilled relaxed magazine. The feel of rebel is still there with the main image but that only is relevant to the article not the whole magazine. The colour scheme is basic and boring. Black and yellow makes the text stand out and easier to read but that is all the colour used. The difference with this magazine is that the text is a lot more in-depth. The other articles have a few lines telling us about the article and includes part for the article that continue on the article page. This page leaves the main article with nothing known about it and the smaller ones its more information. This is a method of making the main article more appealing but still talks about the other few.

Total Magazine uses a similar style layout to Guitar World. The use of only one image for the main article and the other articles being explain in text. But this magazine uses borders and frames around the main image to describe the other articles. This method makes the other articles stand out more but not taking away space for the main image. Also the articles mentioned are articles that are always in the magazine. These main articles are featured in the magazine every issue just the story is different. This continuous article design is a good way to keep the magazine issues a linked magazine instead of having a different layout each time.

Kerrang Have the same border technique but with images included. The text and colour scheme are basic and not that bold but the scheme is used throughout the whole book and the front cover. The magazine had grown an iconic colour scheme of yellow and black. This is how the magazine is kept in a continuous link. The magazine also includes mostly images of live gig’s of the band in the articles. There is no real main image only bigger images for more popular and bigger articles. The text is brief and cut down so the articles are read at the pages to find out what they are about instead of just reading the short bit. This magazine feels more greeting than magazines like Guitar World and Metal Hammer as the images are not as focused on the magazines appeal but more on the articles instead.

This contents page layout is very structural. The magazine makes sure the information is easy to read by keeping the design fixed and simple. No unnecessary images or in your face design features here. The page is simply here to tell you what page to go to. It does included one image about the main article but this doesn’t make the page over the top and the image keeps the focus on the articles instead of the page. Some advertisement is included on this page at the bottom which stands out more but that is expected as it is an advert. All articles are divided into certain categories; Reviews, News, Live and featured make the process quicker. This page is not a main page and won’t be looked at for long. I plan to take the category idea from this magazine but change it in a way that the page will be a main focus in the magazine instead of just a gateway to other page.

Production Log 14th january: Detailed Magazine Research (Front Covers)

This magazines use typical layouts on the front cover. The magazines are hugely focused on attracting a specific audience. My magazine will try to focus on a wider range instead of just one but it will revolve around just one and include others. . The magazine attitude is very in your face but only really focuses 3 main things. The main image, The title and the impression that magazine wants to give out.The choice of colour, font, image placement and the language it uses shows a very aggressive front to the magazine. Some people will turn their heads at this magazine but others will be interested and want to read more. This is the very powerful technique the magazine uses as the audience it wants to have are the people who would pick this magazine up . The audience will most likely be loyal to this magazine as it focuses on what the audience whats. This magazine has limited its audience but it gives a powerful impression to the niche audience it has chosen that it will keep them buying the magazine.

This magazine uses a very different style to Metal hammer. The layout of the magazine is clean and simple with a smaller impact with the audience. The Masthead is pushed back and at the top leaving all the focus on the main image. This technique is a result of the audience being able to recognized magazine without the main title. This magazine keeps in flow with its audience and feel the audience will stay loyal. The main image is the main feature of this front cover. Bold, big, medium close up of a single person and a guitar. This image may not be hugely impressive but it does give a strong focus and draws the eye dramatically. The font and background supports the main image as well boosting its impact. The colour and font of the image are relevant to the image by using the same colours within the image. The font in its own way reflects the image as well because the sub-heading is similar text. This magazine using a simple design but makes a huge impact because of how the magazine flows and works together with all the other factors within the magazine.

This Front cover is more focused and dynamic to a certain audience. The Main factor of this magazine is the main image and how it attracts its audiences. This magazine is clearly trying to get the attention of young men. All the main things that a stereotypical young man would want; Dark colours, Women, Guitars and bold in-your-face style. This magazine makes all its ends focused on young men. The bold writing style is how a young man would speak. It’s lively, dramatic and over the top. This makes the magazine look exciting and the audience will feel they need this magazine. The writing it uses makes the magazine sound like it is the ultimate magazine, “EVERYTHING FOR GUITARIST”. This first person style of writing makes the magazine look like it is talking to you and you need to buy it. “MORE THAN 1500 PRODUCTS!” “HUNDREDS OF PHOTOS!”. These over the top articles makes the buyer feel like they are missing out if they don’t buy it. This over the top style continues in the image. The image is 3 women wearing revealing clothing while straggling guitars. These women most likely have never played guitar in their lives but the image of them playing it the selected audience would picture this as the ideal woman. The dark colours give a very sexual feel to the magazine. The sex sells method is clearly used here.

The front cover of this magazine is mostly images and tries to cut down the amount of text used. The layout of this magazine is one main image followed by a line of images which is relevant to different articles within the magazine. The main image is a group image done in a photo shoot. It is a professional image which was down for this magazine alone. Most other magazines will have a main image that is the band live or a more simple image. But this magazine chooses to have a special image made for the magazine which is a unique style. The smaller images included are all live photos but have less focus within the covers flow. Also with this magazine is the lack of text on the front cover. The text is all similar to the master-head font so the attention of the text is weak. But this is what the magazine is trying to do. By minimizing the amount of text it doesn’t give away what the articles are so to find out the reader would have to pick up and look inside the magazine, using this method means they are likely to read a bit of the magazine and therefore buy it. I think i would like to use this method within my magazine because seeing as the magazine has run for longer then 3 years now it is an effective method. All this magazine gives away is the bands that are in it. This gives the people an idea if they want to buy this magazine as they can look at the bands and see if they like them or not.

This magazine uses a similar style layout to Guitar. The main image using all the focus and basic font style but having them all connected. Also a nice technique the magazine has used is the linking of the main image with the text. The main image is a dramatic image to use. It gives a huge impact as the image is a basic photo-shoot image of a woman but aside her are 2 panthers. This dramatic image will catch the eye of mostly every person, The iconic thing about this image is its strange style and how it seems like it hasn’t been edited but must have been. Although the image has nothing to the with the idea of music apart from the women is a singer. This opens up the amount of people who may buy this magazine as they will not realize that it is a music magazine until they pick it up and look inside. This method is very similar to the method used by Kerrang. Making the reader pick up and look inside the magazine to find out what it is about. The minimized text method is also used. This magazine uses many unique method of gaining audience attention and i find it works very well. The magazine has a mystery feel to it to make the audience buy it.

This magazine cover uses a bold style of layout. Each image has individual frames and borders around them. Although the main image is still the main focus of the magazine the smaller images gain more focus then they would normally. The frames are bright colours and mis-shaped to increase the attention the image has, This technique used makes the front cover more full and compacted instead of having big empty spaces. The Cover tries to cram in as-much of the magazine as it can on the front cover. This makes the possibility of the reader finding an article they like higher and makes it more likely to pick up the magazine. If the main image doesn’t grab the attention of the reader a focused image may. The use of small amount of text is also used here, although in this magazine the text that is included is very powerful. The cover has more than 3 sub-headings within it which all are related to a different story. The text is more of a summary of the article instead of an introduction. This method shows the reader what exactly they will be reading about instead of having to find out. Another interesting technique this magazine has used is that the sub-heading “Skins” is bigger then the masthead. This shows the magazine is trying to sell the magazine by its stories and not selling the name.

Production Log 4th January: Power Point for ideas

Today i had to make a presentation of my ideas and show them to the class. I plan to that the advise from the class of the best magazine and use this to choose on which idea to use. I have narrowed all my ideas down to 3 main magazines. This presentation was the same one i showed the class.

Magazine Ideas = PDF

Magazine Ideas = PPT

This is a power point to show in detail what exactly my magazine ideas are. :]

Production Log 14th December: Main Task Planning and Research

With the main task we are asked to make a music magazine. The magazine must have a;

• Main cover
• Contents page
• 2 page article spread
• Advertisement
• At least 4 original images
• All text original text

I have choose to research a number of music magazines to gather techniques and ideas for my music magazine. I have also chosen to do a music/music instrument magazine. These are the magazines i am going to be researching;

• Kerrang (Main Cover)
• Metal Hammer (Main Cover)
• NME (Double Spread)
• Guitar world (Main Cover)
• Total Guitar (Double Spread)
• Q (Main Cover)

These magazines will help me make a basis of how my magazine will look, the layout, the text style, the articles used, and how the magazines appeal to the audience. The main covers seem to ever be very busy and full or simple and effective. I plan to have a simple but effective main cover but the articles be full of live. The layout shows that no magazine has more than 2 or 3 images per page which is the reason why the magazines look professional and not just thrown together. I hope to pull this off by having a few images (2 or 3) but keep the background to a minimum to make sure the page doesn’t look messy. The articles used all seem interesting and knowledgeable. My articles will be written in a similar way but try to make the written make more of an impact then the images.

I had broken down 3 ideas that i would like to make my magazine into;

1. Distortion
   This magazine would be about All genres of metal and included reviews, interviews and previews of all up coming metal gigs. The main article i would included would be the new member (Me) of the band “The Blackout” and would included an interview of his journey to joining the band. I have taken some images already for this idea but i have not finalized to doing this idea. I would have a double page spread with 2 images on it ever side with an article that spreads across the two pages. the contents would have a few images of live gigs and the main cover would have an individual page of me with my bass guitar.
2. Vibrations
   This magazine would be a magazine focusing on artists and their music instruments. The main article i would included would be a review of Harvey Neary’s (Me) newest guitar. It would included a small interview as well talking about the instrument. I would also have a in-depth review sector of the instrument on one side of the double page spread. The content would have short sectors of other articles and other instruments and the main image would be a close up of me with ever a guitar or a mic.
3. Pit
   This magazine would focus on the hardest and heaviest music gigs and review albums. The main article would be about a new band around and them talking about their up coming tour across England. the double page would have a long interview with the band and have 3 images of the whole group. The contents would include other images of other bands that i have taken while at live gigs. and the main cover would be of the main band in a group image.