Double page spread

Contents

Front cover

Evaluation - question 7

Looking back at your pre-lim task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From my prelim task, I made multiple different changes to my final product that I think has massively improved my final piece. For example, in my prelim task, I didn't include a direct image on the magazine cover which is what people expected to see from the questionnaire I produced. Therefore, I decided to change the non direct image from my prelim to a direct image in my rock magazine so it meets the expectations of the audience. This change can be seen below. I also wanted to try out different design techniques that I didn't include in my prelim. One of these techniques were the gradient which I wanted to Include as it matched Classic Rocks magazine.

Final product - Direct image 

Prelim task - Non direct image 

Here is my contents page for my pre-lim task and main task. I thought that my main task was to dull and lacked creativity an therefore, I decided to add more pictures and information about my magazine on my main tasks contents page as it makes the page more interesting for the viewer.

My double page spread had to be changed multiple times as it didn't match the conventions of existing double page spreads. However, the image stayed the same as I thought it reflected double page spread conventions really well as a large majority of magazines have their image pushed to one side of the page and not central. I also believe its suitable for the rock genre. I also added in quotes from the main star as this is a common convention that other magazines love to use. I have also changed the layout of this page as previously, it looked more like a poster due to the lack of conventions. I added in a gradient to make the spread look more interesting and creative and also, can be considered as a convention of double page spreads as it is commonly seen throughout the magazine industry.

For my magazine, I wanted to focus on particular areas of my magazine. For example, the design and layout of my magazine. I wanted to focus on this specific area as I wanted my magazine to match conventions of a rock magazine and to make it look professional and recognisable as a rock magazine product. Down below is a comparison between my "AMPED" magazine and Classic Rocks magazine where I took my inspiration from. I also wanted to try out different design techniques that I didn't include in my prelim. One of these techniques were the gradient which I wanted to Include as it matched Classic Rocks magazine as seen down below. I wanted to use a gradient and change the look from my prelim as people said that they would want a grey colour on the cover of the magazine. Therefore, the gradient allowed me to blend in the grey with the black which made the background colour scheme look nice as a result.

Classic Rock magazine - Inspiration
for my product

Overall, I felt that my time management was okay. I felt that I managed to hit the deadlines well as I had planned and prepared myself beforehand and therefore, I could always complete the tasks provided to us on time. However, some tasks took longer than others and therefore, other shorter tasks would be pushed back and delayed which would make me rush the tasks a little an therefore, not as much effort would be put in as a result. This was definitely a weakness of making this product, however I felt that my strengths made me overcome my weaknesses as I work well independently, therefore I was able to easily complete these tasks as I was self motivated to achieve my targets and deadlines

Evaluation - question 6

What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I used a range of different technologies available on the computer. I used software like PhotoShop to create and design my media product.

Photoshop logo 

Photo shop helped increase the quality of my product as it allowed me to make my magazine fit other rock magazine conventions and therefore, can be clearly identified as a rock magazine. Photo shop also allowed me to put my own unique touch on my product by the large variety of tools that were available to use. This was great in making my product fit conventions but also breaking them at the same time. An example of a tool that I used is the shape create tool. This tool allowed me to create shapes that I could turn into puffs and also allowed me to put a border around the outside of my double page spread. This tool worked really well as it allowed me to fit conventions of a magazine as puffs are a common element of a magazine.

Puff created with the Photoshop shape tool

Black border around the edge, made with the shape tool from Photoshop 

Updated double page spread. 

I used photoshop to also improve my work as I was able to test out new designs whenever I wanted and that allowed me to find the right design for me and one that also fitted the conventions of a rock magazine. This also allowed me to copy other conventions from other magazines like Classic Rock. One way In which I used technologies like photoshop to improve my work was with my double page spread. I wanted to make my page fit conventions and so i used photoshop to add gradients, and layout the text so the page conforms to design conventions of magazines.

I also used another piece of technology I used to help create my media product, is Prezi. I used this technology to make creative looking power points that give a more exciting feel to my magazine product that gets the viewer immersed into the content of my blog. This is what i liked about prezi as it is interactive therefore, it will be more appealing to the audience than a blank bit of paper with writing on as they can become part of the content which is more than just looking at it.

However, one part of the magazine I am not completely satisfied with in the front cover. This is because I feel its a little untidy due to the positioning of the puffs and cover lines but photoshop will allow me to make changes in the future to the design of the cover. This is a great feature of photoshop as you can keep changing your product again and again until you are completely happy with what you have produced.

One area that of tech that I struggled to use was the shear amount of tools and commands that were available to use on photoshop. Although having a wide variety of tools was also a good thing, they were also quiet confusing to get a hang of a required some practise to get use to the tools photoshop had available for us to use.

I used photoshop to also improve my work as I was able to test out new designs whenever I wanted and that allowed me to find the right design for me and one that also fitted the conventions of a rock magazine. This also allowed me to copy other conventions from other magazines like Classic Rock

Evaluation - question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract and address my magazine audience, i made sure my masthead suited specific conventions about my chosen music genre. I done this by changing the masthead to the word "AMPED". This attracts my audience as they will know straight away what the magazine is about (music) as an amp is   a common piece of equipment used and associated with rock music and therefore, my magazine can be easily identified by rock fans, due to the name of the magazine. I have also made sure my magazine appeals to the male gender between the ages of 18 - 65 as i have included a more modern look for the artist with the black jacket and the shirt which will appeal to the younger people of this demographic as they are stereotypically more modernised than the older age group. However, to appeal to the younger age group, i have included rock legends that are reflective of the 20th century like Jimi Hendricks and Slash which are more relevant to the older age group and therefore, would appeal to them.

I have also used my main cover image to attract and combine with the masthead. The reason why my main cover image attracts my audience, is because it used conventional props (like guitars and costume) of the rock genre. This will attract music fans and rock fans as they can automatically assume its a music magazine due to the instruments used in the main cover. Also, the guitar that I used goes well with the masthead "AMPED" as both are used together, making it even more obvious about the genre of magazine, an therefore rock fans can easily establish the genre of music and potentially buy the magazine.

On my contents page, i have used multiple design aspects to attract and receive attention from my target audience. I have used multiple images positioned in different places around the contents page to make the page look fuller and more packed in content which, would appeal to rock fans/my audience as it would keep them immersed and entertained into the magazine. I have also used a similar colour scheme to the contents page as I have interpreted colours like red, grey  and black which were all featured in my front cover. I have used this design to follow conventions of other magazines as they stick consistently to the same colour scheme throughout the magazine. However, I have also interpreted new colours into my magazine like the mint green colour at the top right of the page. I have used this design feature to make the magazine feel more unique and to also give the viewer something different.

I have also missed out specific design elements and conventions within my magazine

My magazine also met specific conventions of other rock magazine like Classic Rock. This is also where I took some of my inspiration from in creating the contents page like the design layout of the pictures and also the overlapped writing across the images on the contents page.

For my double page spread, I decided first to not have a border around the outside of the page. However, later on I decided that the double page spread felt a bit empty and there wasn't much going on and it wasn't really interesting from a viewers perspective. This then lead to me changing the Double page spread by putting a black border all the way around the outside of the magazine which, gave the magazine a more polished and professional look in my opinion. It also made the page look less plain and neater which, would appeal to the viewer looking at the double page spread.

Before the border around the outsid

With the border around the outside

However, after this i still wasn't satisfied as i felt it didn't match conventions of a double page spread at all. Therefore, I started to research on what a typical double page spread for a music/rock magazine looked like. I got an idea of the design and layout of the magazine and started to layout the text and image to match specific conventions that would attract and appeal to the audience. I also added a gradient into my double page spread using Photoshop which allowed my to make my magazine look more interesting, therefore it would appeal to the viewers as they will find it aesthetically pleasing and therefore, will be entertained more by my magazine. I have also made the artists name part of the title as this will appeal to snakes fan base and attract a bigger audience. I have also added in quotes from the artist as this is a common convention of double page spreads and therefore, matches a typical rock magazine.

In have also created a prizi annotating the reasons why I added in the design features I have chosen and how I think it suits magazine and rock magazine conventions.
https://prezi.com/7bmocwnnq1vr/contents-page//

Evaluation - question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The gender of my target audience that my magazine would appeal to is both male and female. I think that the majority of my audience would be males as rock culture is mainly occupied by the male gender. This can be seen through the lack of female rock stars and the large amount of male rock stars and the male following that these rock stars have. Therefore, my magazine will appeal to the male gender more as it features a male star on the cover. However, it will also appeal to the female gender as well depending on their wants and needs and what music appeals to them.

The age of my audience that will find the magazine appealing is around the 18 - 65 range. This is because they will possibly have a better knowledge and interest on older rock bands and therefore, would find this style of magazine more interesting than the lower age ranges, as they will be interested in the modern rock era. I have found this out from a website called Edisons Research where they talk about the Classic rocks demographic Cliff and who it appeals to.

My magazine could appeal to people of British/american nationality and people of all ethnicity's as Britain and America have a diverse range of ethnicity's and cultures. This could be due to the fact that my publisher is well know throughout Britain, as TeamRock are one of the most consumed magazines in Britain as they have a circulation of around 56,714 magazines. This suggests that my magazine would appeal to the British audience as their are a large amount of rock fans who like to buy rock magazines. My magazine will also appeal to people of American ethnicity, as my magazine features a lot of well known American rock stars in my contents that have a huge fan base in America, like Jimi Hendricks and Slash. Therefore, this would appeal to Americans as it contains a lot of American rock culture which would appeal to them

The class that my magazine would appeal to is the stereotypical lower working class. This is because rock culture can be described as rough, due to the appearance of the rock stars, like tattoos and piercings. Therefore, this will appeal to the lower class as stereotypical representations of the lower working class tend to be in labor jobs, which are physically demanding jobs and they also are stereotypically covered in tattoos which suits the rock genre. However, there are multiple different genres of rock like country rock which could stereotypically appeal to the middle and higher class people as stereotypically, more rural areas stereotypically contain more upper class people so country rock could appeal to them.

Slash - Rock star