Feedback 26/3/09

A good prelim task and research Chloe - well done!
You now need to include a bit of audience research- linked to yoru magazine and target audience - create a questionnaire - put it on your blog (ask about 10 people +) and then also put the findings on here also.
Miss McNulty

Preliminary Task!

The preliminary task i chose was designing a cover for the college magazine. I took a photograph of a friend and cut her out of the background using 'InDesign'. I then added storylines in the 'Futura' font and placed them on the cover in a variety of sizes. For the heading of the magazine i downloaded a font from 'dafont.com' and included it on the cover. I will uses these ideas in my final magazine cover as i thought they was successful. I also thought that the use of colour on the college magazine cover was successful. I think that when i create my acoustic music magazine i will have to include more subheadings and a bigger range of sizes of fonts as my college magazine lacks in alot of stories. I have learnt how to use 'indesign' better and how to cut out the background from a person on a photograph. 

Preliminary Task!

The Acoustic magazine i have chosen to create has to include a contents page. I have researched some contents pages from different music and fashion magazines and found a couple which i liked which were 'Elle' and 'Q'. The layouts are simple getting straight to the point of what is actually inside the magazine creating a list separating them in different groups such as style, mode-beaut, etc. But as my magazine is a music magazine not a fashion/beauty magazine like 'Elle', I will have groups such as interviews with artists, the latest songs etc. I specifically liked the 'Q' magazine contents page. It is simple with a list of whats going on in the magazine, with big images which make it less dull catching the readers attention. The layout is simple and clear without too much going on.

For my magazine i would like to use a simular layout to the 'Q' magazines contents page because i would like to include a big image of an artist which will be the main focus in my magazine and a list of whats going on in my magazine separating them in different groups such as features, and reviews.

I researched some magazine covers to help me come up with some ideas for my acoustic magazine. I found the 'Elle' magazine cover to be quite interesting. The cover shows lots of conventions. The main image placed in the centre of the magazine cover is of rihanna a well-known singer who has been made to look straight into the camera purposely so that it looks like she is looking straight at the reader, catching their attention. Also there are different font sizes placed on the cover, the biggest fonts pointing out the most important things to read about in the magazine and the smaller fonts showing the least important points but to read them anyway. I like how two different colours are used making the cover less boring and more eye-catching.

I also found that the 'Vogue' magazine cover was interesting. This cover also shows many conventions of a magazine. It has the main image of 'Jennifer Aniston' lookling into the camera catching the readers attention which is common for a magazine cover to have, but the uncommon thing about this image is that is has a background, when usually the person is cut out and placed on the cover. This makes the magazine more unique and less boring. Different sized headings are used to point out which bits are most important to read and which are the least important. The bigger fonts being the most important and the smaller fonts being the least important.

I have decided that when i create my acoustic magazine, i would like to use the idea of bigger and smaller fonts, and for the main image i will make the person look straight into the camera to catch the readers attention. I will also use a few different colours on my page to make it less boring and more eye-catching.

Feedback 12/3/09

A good start Chloe!
Now include an analysis of a front cover, contents page and double page spread/article of a music magazine (scan or upload from Internet) - focusing on whether they follow the conventions of magazines or deviate away from them - also who their target audience is and how the magazine has been made to appeal to this audience.
Miss McNulty

Reader Profile

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Hobbies/Interests: Playing the guitar

Favourite Artists: James Morrison, Dashboard Confessional, Secondhand Serenade, etc.

Fashion: eg - simple pale coloured dresses. Skinny jeans. Vest tops.

Music Magazine

For my coursework i have chosen to create an Acoustic music magazine. The target audience for it will be ages 16-35. I will produce a questionnaire which i will give out to a few people to see what they expect to see inside my magazine. I am going to photograph a girl (Elisa) sat in some gardens, playing a guitar, with flowers surrounding her. I see this as a typical scene for the acoustic genre. The kind of audience will be individual audience because Acoustic singers are usually creative and individual being their own songwriters. My USP (unique selling point) for my magazine is that i am focusing on the younger generation of the acoustic singers. This will make my magazine stand out more from other similar magazines such as 'Q'.