AS MEDIA EVALUATION

Jazz Kamara-Marsh

Q.5 How did you attract/address your audience?

When getting my feedback from my magazine the audience said that they liked the colour scheme and the font used as those colours are often associated with jazz music. Although there were some queries as to why the font colour on the cover page was different to the colour on the rest of the pages. The colours are different as I the colours I had used on my contents and DPS didn’t work well on the front cover as they didn’t stand out. However I received feedback saying that the choice of colours on front cover work well with the black and white photo. Feedback shows that the font is favoured and represents a professional publication. The lettering is arranged appropriately.

Continued… The use of both black

and white and colour photos works well as it shows a contrast in the magazine but still fits into the genre of jazz music. Feedback shows that the font is favoured and represents a professional publication. The lettering is arranged appropriately.

I’ve used direct address so that my model is looking directly at the audience as this creates a more intimate connection between the reader and magazine.

Continued…The artists were dressed in

similar attire to that in jazz magazines, this presented the genre well. For the female model I went for a vintage looking jumper and for the male model I went for a black shirt and trousers. I had used a saxophone in one of my studio shoots and at my location shoots I had used a piano and at the jazz concert (location) Ciyo was playing a guitar. Therefore I’ve used a range of instruments, which are used in the jazz music scene.

Q.7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I’ve learnt that layout is incredibly important in getting the magazine looking professional and to suit the genre of music you are trying to portray. I’ve improved a lot from the preliminary task. this is shown from the pictures of both of my magazines. I have adjusted the size of the barcode and made it smaller on the final magazine. I also included a website for the magazine which I had not included in college magazine. The overall layout of the final magazine is much better. The coverlines look more organised in the final magazine as the coverlines in the preliminary task are very minimal. This was my initial layout for my contents page but after receiving feedback I decided to make my contents page landscape. For my DPS I used my original layout as I thought it worked well. The colour scheme works better as there is less of a clash of colour. The photography is of much better quality as the camera used in the preliminary task was a compact camera but the camera used in the photo-shoots was a Nikon d7000 with 16 MMP. I had used a call sheet to plan my photo-shoots so that I was prepared. With the costumes I looked online at outfits jazz singers and musicians wore so then I had to find similar outfits to bring in for the models. I’ve also learnt that planning is key to getting everything right. For my preliminary task I had left a lot of white spaces however I had improved on this in my music magazine by working out how to layout in order for it not look too minimal. The blue on my preliminary task cover page was quite gaudy and too contrast so therefore it didn’t look as good as it could have if I had spent more time thinking about the colour scheme like I had for the full task.

Preliminary task Music magazine

Preliminary task self review

This is my self assessment of my preliminary task

Once I had finished my preliminary task I evaluated discussing what I thought worked well and what didn’t and gave myself 3 targets. What went well was the photography, the images were taken with a white background this made it easier when placing the photos onto Photoshop this also meant that it was easy to build up layers as the background was plain and there wasn’t anything going on in the background which meant that the main image was the centre of attention. I had used an image of a boy on my magazine to show that both girls and boys are interested fashion also this means it will reach out to a bigger variety of people. Another aspect that went well was Image manipulation, I learnt the basic steps on Photoshop which I then applied to my work. By pressing ‘Ctrl + T’ and then the shift key, this made the images bigger but it also kept them in proportion. The page layout, I had designed the cover page and contents page on a piece of A4 paper before I used Photoshop and InDesign to actually create it, this meant that I had a brief idea of what I wanted my final model of my cover page and contents page to look like. I didn’t completely follow the plan but it was similar and it kept me focused. The use of text on the cover page, I had used basic font and also more of a fancy font, the basic font was for the coverlines, the issue number and date, the pricing and also the masthead.

The masthead used both basic and fancy because I wanted to put emphasis on the word ‘chic’ and show the fashion basis by the type of the font. I only put 3 coverlines on the cover page so not to clutter up the page so the image is still visible. I had used rulers on Photoshop to make sure all of the coverlines were aligned with each other to make it look more professional. I had decided to put the masthead over the image because it was the first issue of the magazine which means it’s not well known and gives people an idea of what the magazine is about just from the name of the magazine. I chose to make the magazine free as it is the first issue, this was done so that it can build up a fan base and gives people a little taster about what the magazine will be like in future issues, I can also get an idea on what sort of people are willing to read so that I can think of a reasonable price to sell it at. The colours I had chosen for my colour scheme were black and blue. Each I thought of changing the colours. I chose two colours because they are neutral colours so that the magazine can appeal to both genders. The layout I used on InDesign to make my contents page was very simple. I had made 3 main textboxes; these had the names of the articles, the masthead and the word contents. On the contents page I added 3 images, as an insight into what those articles will be about. It also made the contents page nicer to look at. With the cover lines and the article names on the contents page, I had written the name of the article and then what’s going on in the article or what it’s about.

• The aspects I needed to improve and the targets, the improvements seem to tie in with the 3 key points for development as I can take the improvements into consideration so that I am able to strengthen my work. My first improvement would be to add more colours as I seem to keep the background minimal and stick to white. I’ve also decided that when I do my music magazine that I will have a colour background to make the magazine more appealing. Another improvement would be writing my information more in depth so as to provide the readers with more information, also not to just keep going on about one little detail but to broaden the topic. My final improvement is to add more general pictures (that can be aimed at everyone) onto my contents page to show more of a variety in the magazine. As well as that it would have made the magazine have more of a mixture of features e.g. sport so that both boys and girls would want to read it.

Summary of the feedback I received on my preliminary

The feedback I received from my preliminary task basically stated that the photography was well done and the two different fonts used in the masthead and that the title is a play on the acronym LSC. The layout of my contents page and the colour scheme was said to have fit in well with the whole concept of the magazine. An improvement would be to change the size of the text over main images face.

Music magazine feedback

Music Magazine This is the feedback I received from my final cover page, contents page and DPS. I will take all

of this feedback into consideration and add the finishing touches on the magazine before handing it in for the final time. Also from looking at it myself I can see where some things have gone wrong and need to be changed. For example I need to spell check and the correct the sizing of certain aspects on the front cover.

• I really like the colour scheme, the front and your use of photography for your front cover, it shows you have really thought about your genre, however you could of put a skyline to represent the genre of your magazine. I like the contents page also and the photography for it also, it could also be better if you done the contents page landscape, but it still looks good portrait. The DPS photography is really good and I like the pull out quote on the side, and the positioning of your journalistic piece is nice

• I really like your Front Cover I think everything works very well together. I think the images on your contents page need to be better arranged as it just looks a bit clustered. I really like your DPS however I just think you need to make your font a little bit bigger. Photography - I really like your photography. Layout - you've really thought about your layout and this is reflective throughout your whole magazine. Journalism - very good. I think that you've reflected the genre very well and you can see clearly what the genre is. Colour scheme - really like it

• Firstly I would like to say that I really like the image you have placed on the front cover but the colour scheme in your front cover is completely different to your content page, for example the colour of your master head is orange/yellow colour but the one in your contents page is blue. I really like the overall look of your magazine. I also like the lay out of all your images in your contents page and the quality of your pictures are amazing!

• Front cover: I like the fact that you used a black and white photo and how you kept the colours simple but using gold with white looks good. Content page: you have used enough images which is good as there is four. The layout is also quite good and I like the text of the font through your whole magazine. DPS: I like the fact that one page has a large image which is good. Overall I think you use enough images and have good location shots; I would pay £2.99 for this magazine. i also think your genre of your magazine is good and will attract majority of the audience who are into jazz.

• I love the way you've gone for something different and kept your picture black and white the colours you have used for your masthead really stand out. I think the barcode should have been smaller. The layout of the contents page is nice as you have kept it simple. The DPS is also good but I think you should have added more pictures and colour.

I took all of this onboard and made adjustments where necessary. This was done by adding a second page to my contents page and corrected the size of the barcode