Evaluation

Media coursework evaluation

View more presentations from Liam O’ Hanlon.

Final Pieces.

There's been alot of uploading problems but finally my final pieces have been edited and uploaded.

Evaluation.

Changes made to the magazine

My teacher suggested that he font colour and the use of capital letters were not particularly in keeping with the conventions of a music magazine. For this reason, the article underwent the changes which can be seen below.

Another change applied to my magazine was the alterations which I made to the main image on my front cover. As the picture was taken using a camera flash, the image itself initially came out quite bright and whilst I don't feel that this detracted from the actual image in any way, it was still not in keeping with the tone and style of a contemporary music magazine. Also, to keep the actual image within the same tone and style of the article itself which deals with 'Ladette's' it wouldn't be approprate to have a bright picture, reflective of airbushed pictures of female popstars. For this reason, I felt it neccessary to make the lighting of the picture slightly darker so that the picture itself had an edgier feel. To do this I made the contrast of the picture higher, as shown below.

Magazine

I decided to keep the colour blue and black throughout the contents and cover. I also cut out all 'blocking' in my magazine to try and make it look tidier. When taking the photos for my front cover, I attempted to get Rosie to look 'bored' which fits in with the quote that she is not bothered with what people think. I edited the photos to make an 'eerie' kind of look.

Photos for my contents.

For my contents I decided it would look more professional and interesting to have more photos but make them smaller. This way I can keep the layout of the contents. The photos I have at the moment need to be edited and I think that I would liek to have the photos in black and white. When editing them, I am going to make two versions. One with the photos in black and white and one with the photos in colour.

Contents Idea.

I like the idea of having this kind of layout for the bottom of my contents page, as this will link into the main artist on the front cover. However, I think these colours are irrelevant to the ones i plan on having throughout. Therefore I am going to do this again but in the colours that will be on my contents/front cover.

I edited one of my draft photos using paint.net, this gave me an idea to what colours I should use. After blocking out the background, i turned the picture black and white and added some colour. I think i may duplicate this photos many times and have them in different colours along the bottom of my contents page.

Draft Photos.

These photos helped me to get an idea of what background/location I would like to take my photos in. Rose will be on the front cover of the magazine. At first I wanted to take a photo from overhead to show the attitude of this particular artist. I would like to be able to keep the same genre throughout the magazine. I do not believe the photos on my draft magazine did this. When taking my final photos, I have realised unless keeping the background of the photo I may aswell have a plain background a it will make it easier to edit my photos. I am going to take my final photos this weekend.

Masthead re-invention and design process

The masthead of ‘Hard’ was only ever originally intended as a temporary idea in the event of ‘nothing better coming along’. And so, since the idea was to be implemented for a music magazine I decided that putting my iPod on shuffle and simply trying to derive a song title would be a fitting method. It would also be in keeping with the themes and tone of the magazine if the name was something which is reflective of new music and current artists and bands rather than a name which plays tribute to older bands.

The title of DARE (as in the Gorrilaz song) seemed appropriate not only in that it falls in line with the general requirement of a short/snappy name but also bared connotations of excitement and youthfulness in contrast to the connotations of HARD which were blaringly obvious upon reflection.

Below area number of different designs for this new masthead, with the colours being interchangable for all:

Changes made through software Pt. 1

The images above depict the three stages my image has gone through before coming to resemble (loosely) the image that I have envisioned for my final draft, as the image was intended to emulate the iconic image of the Clash's album 'London Calling'. For this to be concieved, organisation of actors, props and location were important. The image was required to be taken against a dark background in a place with little lighting and it was also important for the boots to be apparent as they are central in the actual image itself. The guitar, also, needed to  be held centrally and with the same attitude as in the original image, emboying the feeling of punk in the original. To create the feel of the original it was essential that I had the picture completely in Black and white and also that the background remained blurred (conciously keeping the main image within focus as part of the article theme). So for this I also had to cut the main image off from the background. This was done using the Paint.net eraser tool and then flipping the image vertically so that the stance depicted from Rachel mirrored the image on the front.

Creating my draft magazine.

The first step to creating my draft magzine was taking my photos. After taking my photos, I had more of a vibe for the magazine. I editted my photos in paint, changing the brightness and contrast. This is shown in the print screen above.
After editting the photos I made my masthead in word and added in onto my photo, via paint. I wrote my article in word and copy and pasted it to fit onto the two pages. My coverlines were written over the main image and the font colour changed in paint.

Changes to my magazine.

1) The main problem with my draft magazine is the way most cover lines are in text boxes which makes it look very unprofessional and untidy. So I am going to changed the layout of my magazine and not use that technique. I think the outcome of this will be a magazine which will look more like the magazines I have been reseraching.
2) The font on my magazine does not fit in with the genre. By reseaching other magazines, I ahve decided that my font should be the same throughout the magazine and I should aim to keep the font simple and bold.
3) The photo i used for the frony cover of magazine looked more like it would appear on a fashion magazine. In contrast to the photos used on the contents page and on the double page spread, it sends out a mixed message to the reader. I am going to change the photo on the front of the magazine, so that it fits in with the music magazine genre more.
4) I am going to include more photos in my contents page. As i have decided now that my magazine is monthly, I will also changed to from 'This week' to 'This month'

Influential Magazines.

After much research into different music magazines, I began to focus on the magazines which influenced me in the decisions made into my draft magazine.
The issue of Q magazine with Take That on the front reflects the kind of 'happy' and 'relaxed' view I was attempting to grasp on my cover. I like the colour scheme on this issue as it is simple but still looks 'tidy'. The other issue of Q magazine also has a very strict colour scheme. I think that the right colour scheme is important in a magazine as it is the first thing which attracts the reader's attention. If there are too many colours in a magazine it has tendency to make it look 'messy' and unprofessional. I also like how the main cover lines are situated and there isn't much blank space. All of the cover stars on this issue are wearing black, looking at this issue it has made me see that it is important to look at all the smaller details. The clothing colour ties in with the colour scheme. I also have been researching issues of NME magazine. The font on the magazine is very bold and simple. I think this simple and effective.

The evolution of my article picture concept

The original concept which I implemented for my article draft depicted Jessie with a pair of hedgeclippers. I wished for these to have red paint upon them and for Jessie to have paint on her to convey the idea of blood to reflect that she is metaphorically "killing off the competition". The idea however was hard to organise within the time constraints of organising the photograph within school time and the final idea turned out insufficient. This picture idea was both too hard to take and not a striking enough image for supporting half of my double page spread.

I understood, therefore, that it was neccessary for me to change the idea for the purpose of both making it easier to take and also to make it look more authentic towards my magazine. And so whilst drafting, my concepts on the morning of Friday the 14th, I concieved the idea of having my model, Jessie, lying on a bed of CD discs. However, it later occured to me that this was a result of subconciously recalling a single cover I had seen in the past, pictured below.



When I discussed this with my teacher she brought it to my attention that this shot was merely a remake of a famous shot from the film American beauty in the iconic shot of Mena Suvari lies upon a bed of petals with them covering parts of her body. And so, I decided that recreating an iconic pose would be a good route to go down, yet an album cover modern recreation would be much more inkeeping with a music magazine. When searching the term "iconic album covers" on google images, I was reminded of the classic cover for the Clash's "London Calling". Although the cover star may not be in the vein of punk rock and not reflective of what the Clash embody, the ideals of shaking up things and not obeying the rules are alive in both Jessie and Joe Strummer. Also due to the faded background and minimal props required this would not be a hard recreation. However, it was essential that there was an element that placed the picture within the vein of my article and this came through changing London Calling to Hollywood Calling, in keeping with the rags to riches ideas expressed in the article itself.

Research into a similar product: NME

 

Above are 4 covers from NME magazine (all taken from the last 2 years since NME has undergone graphical changes to it's covers). All four magazines are entirely different with artists from Pop, Indie, Dub-step and Brit pop all present. Yet, in light of the conflicting qualities of the different genres they are all united within the same magazine and that is the aim I'd like to emulate with my music magazine. The type of magazine that does not contain bias towards any types of music yet represents what's current and good about music. The magazine, whether it features artists like Libertines, or artists like Rihanna always maintains a level of currency and coolness through it's casual language and informality e.g. "About f***ing time!". Another thing I would like to borrow from this magazine is the way that the colour scheme is consistent throughout the whole cover and although alot of text is present it does not feel like the text is crowded or overbearing, nor does it take anything away from the main image.

Edits I intend to make before the final copy.

1) The Cover Image
The picture that I have used on the front cover is in no way reflective of the conception I have for he final draft. The prop, the costume, the setting and the lighting are all to be revised to build towards the final idea I had for the magazine in order to establish the quirky sensibility I require to achieve the image I envisioned for my final magazine copy. This is my top priority in regards to the final magazine.

2) The Contents Page
I like the concept that I had in regards to the contents page but I still feel that I did not convey what I really wanted from the contents page in my draft. This is partly do to restrictions in the software I used (e.g the fact that you cannot rotate a picture on Paint.net) and also partly to do with the fact that the pictures themselves were not up to the standard that I required for my final design.

3) The Colour Scheme
The colour scheme of the article is a very ambiguous colour scheme, and as a result there is no identity that would be associated with it (e.g the way that KERRANG uses black and white which are easilt identifyable with the genre of rock). For this reason I intend to discuss the idea of the colour scheme and what direction I should take with both my peers and my teacher and also research into similar products like NME, in order to reach a colour scheme which I feel is reflective of a magazine based on new acts.

4) The Article Picture
The article picture is not something that I put alot of thought into. The concept isn't anything I'd try and replicate for the final copy and so now that I have created a new picture idea, I will completely scrap the concept shown in that picture and stick with the new one. Also I am thinking about having the title of the article and short puff of writing accompanying it over the picture itself and having the quote somewhere on the writing page, changing the article.

Evidence of editing and design process using software

For my original draft copy of the magazine, it's fair to say that very few changes were actually made to the pictures used. One reason for this was that, under the knowledge that the pictures themselves were only intended for the purpose of conveying the layout of my final pictures, I didn't feel it was wholly essential. However, there are several changes which I entend to make to the pictures, through the use of photo editing software. In preparation for this, I added the software of Photoshop to my laptop, as it apparently had advantages over the softwar Paint.net which I had used for all of the preceeding work up until the final copy.

I intend to alter the lighting on the pictures used for my contents page and intend to use a photo edit which will enable me to de-colour all but the main cover star. This edit will hopefully be used on the picture accompanying the article. As of yet, I haven't quite decided what edits will be used upon the main front cover image if any, although I'd like to experiment with the features in order to get a quirky feel to the picture, in keeping with the theme behind the image.

The writing which can be seen upon the main image accompanying the article was added using paint and anoy other additional numbers or words which were placed over the pictures were also added using Paint.net.