CLOSED BLOG NOTIFICTION

Center Name: NORBURY MANOR BEC 

Center Number: 14343
Candidate Name: AISHA GHAFFAR
Candidate Number: 8073 
Unit: G321

Front Cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Evaluation 7

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

Looking back at my preliminary task I feel that I have learnt and gained more of an understanding for the codes and conventions of an R&B music magazine.

Although the images used in both front covers are very different, it is clear to see that they both relate to the theme of each magazine. In the preliminary task (left) I used an image of a young school girl, smiling, happy to be there. With the use of the backpack this clearly shows the link to education which is the theme of the magazine. The cover of my music magazine (right) also relates to the theme of an R&B music magazine. The artist used on this cover goes with the codes and conventions of an R&B music magazine e.g. her facial expression is quite arrogant and somewhat intimidating and 'sassy'. The use of the angle of gaze from both covers adds appeal to the magazine for the readers. Generally both images fit with the type of magazine that they are, however you can tell that the image used on the preliminary task does not compare with the image used o the music magazine. The artist on the music magazine has been edited on Photoshop to improve any flaws, brightness and is much more high quality. The image on the cover of the preliminary task looks obviously unprofessional.

The difference in my construction of the contents page from the preliminary task to my music magazine is extremely vast. My preliminary task barely even links to the front cover, different fonts have been used and the layout is extremely unstructured. The preliminary task contents page looks very rushed whereas the contents page of the main task has obvious major improvements. The main task contents page is so much clearer than that of the preliminary task. You can see a direct link to the front cover and all of the little details really make a difference e.g. the alignment on all of the features, relevant images and just a well structured layout that has a professional feel to it which meets the codes and conventions of an R&B music magazine. 

Evaluation 6

Evaluation 5

Evaluation 4

Evaluation 3

http://www.mindomo.com/mindmap/689ddb068f904032885aa0479b4f86aa

Evaluation 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Throughout my front cover, contents page and double page spread there are certain representations on R&B. E.g. the costume of the artist on the front cover (fur coat) this is a significant R&B feature, the facial expressions of all models; quite arrogant and intense. Also the language used in the artist interview is not formal it is very much an interview of an artist with typical R&B language.

Evaluation 1

DPS Feedback

Tiffani Wilson:

This looks really professional and I like that you have 4 different shots of the same model, it is really interesting to look at.

Kiara Bempah:

I like the way the interview is set out, like the font and the colour it makes it simple to read and the whole double page spread looks like it is from a real magazine.

Sabrina Boukhalfa:

It looks really good, and professional. Maybe my only preference is just that you could of had the artist maybe wearing a different outfit from the cover, but the pictures you have are taken well.

Yasmin Dholakia:

I really like the 3 little pictures of the artist at the top, it looks really creative.

Contents Link to DPS

As you can see my contents page and DPS both link with one another and also link with the front cover. This use of the same fonts, the same effects, the same colour scheme and similar layouts.

Artist Interview

Double Page Spread Image Choices

These are the images that were selected to be on my double page spread. On the left are three images of my artist. Her arms are in the air so it looks as if she's dancing to the readers. As the images were taken in a medium shot, her outfit is showcased and looks stylish and looks something that an R&B artist would wear. She looks like she's having fun and this draws the readers in as they would want to know why she's so happy and dancing. Instead of having just one image of her dancing, I chose to have three as it tells a story and leaves readers wanting to know more. She's smiling which gives an indication that she is happy and enjoying life, this draws attention to her straight away. The image on the right is the main image featured on my double page spread. The medium long shot is shows the power in the face of the model. She's using direct gaze to engage with the target audience and she seems inviting. She seems feminine by wearing makeup and a dress and these are typical conventions of female R&B artists. Having four images all on the double page spread shows that the main interview is involving her and draws more attention to her. Readers will want to know who she is.

DPS Flatplan

This flatplan was heavily based around the codes and conventions of the DPS below as I really liked the layout and thought it was unique. Although mine is not exactly the same, I was able to replicate the parts of it that I enjoyed the most.

Content Page Image Choices

These are the images that were selected for my contents page. Cherise is looking straight towards the camera but her head is slightly turnt and tilted. The tilt of her head shows confidence and power. She looks dominating and superior. The other model Byronnie is kneeling on the floor and giving direct gaze. The image show her being laidback and casual. From the long shot, her outfit is shown and the style fits in with the genre.

Contents Page Colour Choices

The colours that I have used on my contents page are the same colours that I used on my front cover. The colour scheme for my music magazine is: pink, black, white and grey. The colours are plain to see in my contents page. Pink is the colour that appears the most and it's to make the features stan out so that readers are instantly drawn to the page as the colour is so bright. The background of my contents page fades from black to white. This gives the contents page a certain feel, and incorporates more of the colour black in the magazine. The name of the magazine is on the contents page and the black makes the title stand out. The pink colour is similar to the model's shade of lipstick that they are wearing. I wanted my colour scheme to link with something that my models had. Both models are wearing black which is another colour used on my contents page and front cover.

Contents Page Text/Features

These are the features that areincluded on my contents page. In the features section I have included wireless as the first article that would be read. This feature was featured on my front cover when I spoke about the acts that would be performing. I made sure they linked so that my target audience was aware of what would be appearing in the magazine. I have included artists such as: Drake, Rihanna, Kanye West, Chris Brown and P Diddy, these artists are from the genre that I am doing for my music magazine.

As my target audience are teenagers, I made sure to write about artists that teenagers listen to or are interested in. I split my features into three sections to show all the different elements of the magazine. Cherise is an artist on the contents page and I have included her interview in the features section so that readers know it's important and interesting. The latest news section shows all the interesting events that will happen, allowing readers to get a first look at any celebrity gossip. I made my subheadings pink and the description in black so that readers would see the description of the issue more clearer, my colour scheme is evident on my contents page as I have kept with the colours black, pink and white which I used on my front cover.

Shots/Mis-en-scene Contents Page Pictures

Aisha Ghaffar's Slidely by Slidely Slideshow

Before And After Feedback

Contents Page Flat Plan

To the left is my draft flat plan and to the right is my final flat plan for my contents page. Originally I wanted to have 3 pictures on my contents page but decided to go with two pictures overall as my feedback had suggested it. Tiffani: “I think it would just look better if you had 2 pictures to fill out the contents page instead of 3 all over the place”. Paige: “The picture on the top right that is rotated seems a bit odd, and could look really distorted”. Stephanie: “Maybe you should add more features, and just have one really good picture on the contents page”. I then decided to change the layout a bit and take out one of the pictures I had as it looked very messy. Doing this made the contents page much neater and just more effective as you can see.

Visual Moodboard

Visual Moodboard

Front Cover Feedback

Cover Features

Photograph Manipulation

Screen Shots

Here are a few screen shots of my current front cover and additions I have made today. I have a lot more to add, but this is where it stand as of now. I may in the future change fonts and colours.

Finding Fonts

To the right are the fonts I was thinking of using for my masthead on the front cover of my music magazine. The top one was the one I had chosen as my masthead. I chose this font over the others because it was the one that stood out the most to me and my audience. The reason for the text on the left is because of a change of masthead. Originally I chose 'Trance' to be my masthead to as, for me it relates to music and the effect it may have on you. Not knowing that trance is also a name for a genre f music that did not link to my R&B music magazine at all. As a fault of lack of research into my masthead, I had to come up with something else. After choosing a variety of different words to relate to my magazine, I came across 'Pulse'. Through some feedback, this was the name that appealed the most. Also, for me I felt that it was quick, easy and simple. 'Pulse' could even relate to having your finger on the pulse, I thought this masthead would give the magazine the right idea to the target audience. Although I changed the name, after testing the masthead with similar/different fonts, I decided to stick with the same font, as it gave the same effect that appealed to me in the first place.

Shot/Prop List

Shots/Mis-en-scene of Cover Artist

Aisha Ghaffar's Slidely by Slidely Slideshow

Test Shots

These pictures are test shots for the front cover of my music magazine. As you can tell these pictures are far from perfect, taking these made see exactly which lighting, camera positions etc are wrong for my cover. I can see I have a lot of improvements to make for my final cover shots. My model is wearing a fur jacket in all of these shots, this is something I knew I wanted to be included in the front cover as looking through other R&B magazine covers there is always something eye catching. This piece of costume gives the cover an added statement and is bold which ties in with most R&B magazine covers.

Draft/Final Flat Plan

Artist Profile

Research Of Genre

Focus Group

Reader Profile

Survey Results

Survey

This is a screenshot of the questionairre I produced and sent out, to gather information in order to conduct my music magazine. I ws able to create this survey usng a survey-making website. https://www.surveymonkey.com/

Q1: Have you ever purchased a music magazine?
I asked this question as I wanted to know how many people purchase music magazines.

Q2: What genre of music do you prefer?
I asked this question as I wanted to find out what genre of music was most popular.

Q3: How often would you buy a music magazine?
I asked this because I wated to know how often people where willing to purchase a music magazine.

Q4: What aspect of the front cover appeals to you most?
I asked this question as I wanted to find out what it is about a front cover that draws readers in, and what aspect would need the most effort put into it.

Q5: What do you think the appropriate amount of money to spend on a music magazine is?
I asked this to find out what kind of price range I should be looking at for my own music magazine.

Q6: What do you look for in a magazine?
I asked this question to know what would attract readers to my magazine the most.

Q7: What colours would attract you to a magazine cover?
I asked this to find out what stands out to readers and attracts them into purchasing.

Research Rationale

The target group that I’m researching is teenagers. I chose this group because I have access to them, as I am in a school with girls from the age of 11-18 and will be able to get a lot of information from a variety of ages, race etc. Through this I will have different points of view. The research methods I will be using is observational research an quantitative research. The observational research will be me talking to people and conducting a focus group using different magazine covers from different genres to find out their opinions, this will show how different magazine covers of my chosen genre are laid out. I could even find out if there is a gap in the market for a different type of genre. The quantitative research will include a questionnaire or survey to go further into the already made research from the focus group. The resources I will need to carry this research out are; a camera to record my finding from the focus group that I will conduct. The internet to allow me to send out surveys easily, also to get different magazine covers for the focus group to observe and give feedback on.

Market Research

Above is a mood board displaying a variety of R&B music magazine covers that I personally like and would like to incorporate ideas from into my own music magazine. Below that is a cover that I particularly like and would be the kind of direction I would like to go in for my music magazine.

Deconstruction of music magazines

These are my deconstructions of two music magazines from two different genres. In the pop magazine you can clearly see who the target audience is through the chose of artist, colours and articles included. The R&B magazine gives off a completely different impression; using darker colours and having the artist look very intimidating. This also portrays the kind of music in the magazine. I would like to go more down the R&B route with my music magazine but also keep it somewhat feminine. I can take bits and pieces from both of these types of magazine covers for inspiration.

Introduction to my brief

For the brief I will be producing a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a music magazine of my own creation. I feel I have had some practice doing this from my preliminary task; doing this made me understand the way magazines are structured a bit more allowing me now to know exactly what to do and how to do it.

I would like the make an R&B music magazine. I have a lot of my own knowledge surrounding this genre and feel confident in this chose as I feel I will also have a lot of enjoyment in making this magazine. Because of my chose in genre, my main inspiration for this task will be from magazines such as Vibe or NME as they focus mainly on R&B.