LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE

LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

MASTHEAD

From the preliminary task masthead to the main task one, there is an evident improvement between the two. Whereas in the preliminary task, I used a very basic, simplistic font, (although, in all fairness, it was a sixth form magazine which was aimed to be rather informative, and so a far more formal font was more appropriate), this was due to my lack of Photoshop skills at the time to be able to edit the masthead to look more professional and intriguing. The preliminary task one consists of a very thin yellow outline of the text ‘SIXTH SENSE’ to make it stand out more from the page, and it is also one of the key colours I used in my colour scheme. The main task masthead, however, definitely illustrates how I began to experiment with the different tools on Photoshop, such as the drop-shadow effect, not to mention the way in which the font I chose prompts a very interesting and creative approach to it with the hand prints.Apart from the aesthetics of them, the mastheads are similar by the way in which they behold some interesting concepts. ‘SIXTH SENSE’ was chosen as a play on words due to the fact that it was aimed for sixth form students and the possibility of another power. I much preferred this masthead due to the fact that I aimed for my magazine to focus primarily on unseen or upcoming artists, and the term ‘underdog’ is used to describe someone who is capable of something, but isn’t fully in the limelight just yet; it is someone who subtly becomes very successful, which is definitely the rhetoric of this magazine.In comparison to my preliminary task, there is definitely a vast improvement overall, as I chose this font more specifically, and certainly more meaningfully because the font somewhat reflects the genre of the magazine being indie-rock, which is suggested by this expressive, almost shady piece.

CONTENTS PAGE

There are a number of similarities between the preliminary contents page and that of the main task. Primarily, the title of the contents page is relatively similar, as I have written ‘CONTENTS’ at the top of the page in a banner with a contrasting colour, which, significantly, are also colours which I had used in the front covers so as to demonstrate a sense of continuity. This definitely identifies this as the contents page, however, I developed if further with the masthead actually being in the title in my music magazine, as it referred to some research I had conducted. Moreover, both contents pages distinguish the difference between ‘regulars’ and ‘features’ although I believe that I also developed this further in my music magazine by including ‘news’ and ‘reviews’, as again, this was common in my research of music magazines. Moreover, each sub-heading i.e. ‘news’, ‘features’, ‘regulars’ and ‘reviews’ have all been highlighted in black with the WOB effect to make these stand out. I have clearly made sure that the page numbers are easily visible in both contents pages, however, I do believe that with the way in which I have aligned the contents on my music magazine, it makes it more neat, and more visually pleasing. The use of picture boosts is evident in both as well, however, I much prefer the page reference on my additional images in my music magazine, as I was really creative with the shape I used: a plectrum which I had created in InDesign. This reflects the entire genre of my magazine, too. Furthermore, whereas the preliminary one consists of a long shot of a student, I felt that the angle at which the image had been shot did not look right, especially when placed on the white background. However for my main task, I like the fact that I placed the images in borders to appear more neat. Furthermore, I also included an ‘editor’s comments’ with a signature for authenticity, alongside the subscription to the magazine, both of which are a professional-looking features.Overall, all my decisions to include certain features certainly indicate a development in ideas, to make my music magazine appear as professional as possible.

Clearly the layouts are very different, which was definitely fuelled by the amount of research I did when looking at other magazine contents pages. By looking at existing music magazines, I noticed that they tended to put sub-headings above the different categories so as to make it easier for the reader to navigate around the page, and given that it has been made into 2 columns, it makes it even easier to read. The other column is generally taken up by images, used as picture boosts so as to visualise what some of the pages refer to.

IMAGES

There is a huge contrast from the images I used in the preliminary to that of the images in the main task. This is mainly due to the way in which I edited the photographs and the equipment I used. For example, when looking at the preliminary front cover, the close up mid shot image looks slightly too washed out and almost too bright which has a slight under-saturated quality. This is due to the fact that I used a simple flash function on a 12 mega pixel camera. In comparison, when taking the photos for the main task, I had a white backdrop and a set of artificial lighting which produced a much more studio-produced finish. This gave me the opportunity to experiment with the amount of lighting that would be captured in the image, and I think I experimented with this well, because in the image I used for the front cover, it was definitely more professional-looking and sophisticated. The image also looks more natural, as I simply contrasted the colours on the model’s clothes on Photoshop which contrasts very well with the white background. This is similar to the images I used on my contents page. The images generally looked too over-saturated, therefore the colours were not very realistic, especially with the main long shot image. This was due to the limited skills I had on Photoshop. In stark contrast, the images I used for my main task appear more authentic, even though I only edited these images slightly. This was due to the fact that, given my genre, I wanted my images to have an authentic, almost retro feel, with the sepia effect for the main image, followed by the images below which were simply taken using a 5 mega pixel smartphone. The images of my magazine staff also look quite edgy with the black and white poster effect, again done on Photoshop, which have interesting contrasts, to further define my genre. Lastly, although I didn’t create a double page spread for the preliminary, the editing of the wide shot which I used in my DPS definitely consolidates how my photo-editing skills have developed from the preliminary, which gives me a sense of achievement as I have progressed greatly. It is also worth mentioning that when it came to taking my photographs for the main task, it was extremely helpful to have already planned out images with shot plans so as to be more time efficient, and get the most meaning out of my images.

FONTS/TYPOGRAPHY – FRONT COVER

In relation to typography, I feel that I have also improved in the sense of meaning and positioning of text. There are some similarities between the preliminary task and the main task, including the ‘EXCLUSIVE’ headline and the positioning of some of the texts. I used a similar font for this, however, I experimented more with the position of it on the main task to appear more effective, through the way in which it slants at a slight angle, and is much bigger, which goes across the long shot of the artist to attract more attention. The red, which connotes danger and passion also contrasts well with the white and black to further attract attention onto the page, unlike the preliminary task in which the colours simply did not contrast at all.

The masthead is also much more developed, although I did place it in the same place. I used a much more interesting font on Photoshop for the main task than the preliminary which definitely would attract more attention.

Similar to that of the preliminary task, I played around with using a mixture of different fonts so as to create different meanings, my favourite being: ‘Ways to REVISE, stay WISE and let success RISE’ but due to the colour of the background, the colours did not collaborate well with one another therefore they weren’t as effective as they could have been. Fortunately, I learnt from this flaw when planning for and constructing my main task product so as to emphasise the headlines more. One of the ways in which I used typography to its best effect was in ‘The White Stripes Reunion?’ I thought this made the headline even more fascinating and intriguing. The fonts overall appear more refined, and it is quite noticeable how I made sure that the most important headlines were capitalised, in bold or larger than the other headlines. For example, I made sure that the most popular or well-known artists were larger and in bold which would attract attention as readers would be able to familiarise themselves with these well-known artists whilst also finding out about a new, upcoming artist.

The colours, too, are much more refined and professional given my house style of red, white and black, which I successfully used throughout the rest of the magazine for consistency. This is a massive difference from the preliminary given that I had not even planned a consistent house style, therefore most of the colours were improvised. This shows in the fact that the colours I used were mainly primary colours which were not particularly fitting for an audience of sixth form students. Moreover, these colours and fonts really over-shadowed the image, which I was more cautious of avoiding in the main task, and overall, this has definitely worked.

The font ‘Ebrima’ was my key font as it was part of my house style, as I frequently used this throughout my magazine from the front cover, to the contents page, to the DPS which certainly adds continuity to my product, hence suggesting professionalism.

FONTS/TYPOGRAPHY – CONTENTS PAGE As mentioned, the font I wanted to use the most was ‘Ebrima’ which I

have used for most of the contents page, apart from the title. In terms of the title, I simply placed the masthead there, as it is the name of the publication besides the title ‘contents’ which was a convention I found in a number of music magazines. I chose to use this text because of how simplistic it was which makes it easy for the audience to read. When researching the typography in other magazines, I noticed that even magazines with a similar genre to my own generally used a standard font to make it accessible for everyone.

Again, the colours contrast well together as I still stuck with a white background, similar to that of the front cover, for the black and red text to contrast with. The use of black highlighting on the white subheadings further accentuate the features of the magazine that the readers would be interested in looking at. This was also a common convention of music magazines, especially of a similar genre to my magazine.

Furthermore, I really like the way in which I created the page references on the images I included; creating the plectrum shapes was an innovative idea of my own, to place the page numbers on. This was much more interesting and certainly reflects my music genre effectively.

Lastly, I also included the subscription feature which was briefly created as an advertisement, hence the repetitive ‘SUBSCRIPTION’ banner was purposefully created to draw attention. I accentuated the most importance information such as the price and how much readers could save.

Overall, I feel that the decisions I made about fonts definitely reflects the research I conducted over contents pages in particular, mimicking the general layout as well and visual presentation.

WHAT WOULD I IMPROVE IF I DID THE TASK AGAIN?The predominant improvement I would make relates to my time-keeping. Although, I did have a diary to work with, in order to keep track of where I was going and what I needed to work on through each session. That said, by the end of the construction process, I feel that I did not have enough time to create the contents page or DPS in as much quality as I would have preferred.Moreover, the subscription feature in the contents page really frustrated me as I can tell that the way I have designed it is not as appealing as other subscriptions in magazines. It also doesn’t follow a particular code and convention, but I have developed it slightly. To improve this, if I had more time, I would have looked more at a number of magazine constructions of their subscriptions because that’s what is lacking slight professionalism or believability.However, overall, I am very happy with the way in which all of my magazine elements have turned out as they generally look very professional and believable, having looked back at all the codes and conventions I have researched previously.