Diary Entry No.1
For my preliminary task I had to create a magazine that featured news about Haydon School. First of all, I drew up a draft of my front cover and contents page. I named my magazine ‘Haydon Today’ because it seemed the most appropriate for a magazine about Haydon news. After I finished the drafts, I had a small photo shoot using people and items in school. After I got the pictures that I wanted, I made my magazine on Adobe Photoshop CS3. I had a few small problems because it had been a while since I had used Photoshop, I therefore had to look up some old tutorials in order to brush up. I think the magazine turned out to be a good quality; however there is a few small changes I probably would have made if I had a little bit more time. For example, I would have spent a bit more time on the contents page because the layout is in blocks which isnt the most appealing look.
Diary Entry No.2
After I completed my preliminary task, we were asked to do some similar product research. To do this we has to get three front covers, three contents pages and three double page spreads from various music magazines and then annotate each one of them and post it on our blog. I mainly chose the magazines Kerrang and NME because they are the type of magazine I hope to create and I wanted to know what types of things their magazine features. I used two magazines from the shared area and I scanned in another magazine that I thought looked similar to how I would like my magazine to look like. Overall I think this task helped me understand what music magazines had and needed to make them successful, it also gave me ideas on how I want my own magazine to look.
Diary Entry No.3
Once we finished we were set a task to research the key concepts of music magazines (MM). This involved researching the codes and conventions, the representation, the institution and the audience of MM. I researched all of these topics by going online and finding information on the subjects. I presented my Key concepts research in the form of a Prezi presentation, I thought this would add variety to my form of blogging and would be a bit more interesting if it was presented this way. I then embedded my Prezi onto my blog. I feel that by doing this research, I have learnt a significant amount about MM and I now have more of an idea on what makes a music magazine and what is essential for a good final product. It's given me a broader knowledge of the area of this particular media which has helped me understand the fundamental factors to creating a professional magazine.
Diary Entry No.4
This week, I did my photo shoot, I used three models and took a various pictures with a variety of angles and shots. As I did my photo shoot, we had a secondary camera to take pictures from a fixed point every second, this was so I could create a time lapse of the entire process to put on Blog. So I imported the pictures on Adobe Premier and set the pictures to change after a certain amount of frames, I then exported the video and embedded it on my blog. With the photos from the actual photo shoot, I made a contact sheet and uploaded them to blogger. For my photoshoot I used a three piece band with long hair as I think this is the most appropriate look for a Metal magazine.
In order to get a better idea on how my audience think and what they like in music magazines, I made a poll on my blog and got people from my key demographic to vote on the poll. This included questions regarding what they like to see on a double page spread, what they like to see on a front cover,what kind of things they would like to win
Diary Entry No.5
Over the half term I made a prezi on colour connotations, a mood board, a list of name ideas for my magazine and an audience profile. I made the colour connotations on prezi, by making this, I found out which colours best suit the genre that my magazine is focusing on. The mood board helped get across who and what my target audience are and it gives people an image of what I'm aiming for, I especially enjoyed making it. I also made a list of possible names, I was initially going to go with 'Pulse' but I decided that it seemed a bit too obvious for a music magazine. So I instead went with 'Overdrive', this is because Overdrive is another word for distortion and not many people say it instead of distortion. The name also fits well with the genre of music the magazine focuses on
Diary Entry No.6
This week I started to make some designs for my possible masthead. I used various different effects and texts to find the most suitable masthead that went with my magazine. I also decided which name I would use for my masthead which is 'Overdrive'. I chose this because overdrive is another word for distortion and distortion is used incredibly frequently in metal music. I've got a few different designs for my masthead however I haven't yet chosen which one I would like to use. After I have chosen the masthead desing I want, i then need to think of possible sell lines to use on my front cover.
Diary Entry No.7
This week I completed the list of ideas for my sell line and contents ideas. I inlcluded a variety of bands and news in my contnts in order to attract a wider audience and more readers. I included bands such as; Dream Theatre, Avenged Sevenfold, Parkway Drive and Lamb of God. I included these because they are well know heavy metal bands that many people will know, this will therefore catch more people's attention and make them want to buy it if they know who the bands are.
Diary Entry No.8
This week I started to work on my article draft. I initially had some trouble thinking of possible questions and answers for a band interview. But I did some research and read some past interviews from magazines similar to the one I hope to create, such as: 'Kerrang'. After reading a few different and contrasting interviews, I had an idea of what I could write about. This research also helped more understand what is expected in a Metal Music Magazine which will be useful when creating my magazine.
Diary Entry No.9
This week I begun to work on my first draft for my magazine. I started my front cover draft first as I already had an idea of what I wanted it to look like. I did the basic design and then I experimented with different masthead designs to see which one fitted my magazine's image better. I did most of my front cover, I only need to put sell lines and an image on it. However I'm not going to put my sell lines on my magazine until I put my image on it. But I dont believe my images are quite right for my front cover so I'm most likely going to do another photoshoot, possibly outside, so I can get an appropriate image.
Diary Entry No.10
As I still have yet to have a another photoshoot, I have started on my contents page rather than continue with my front cover. I havent yet put my images on the page yet but I have completed the Layout. So far on my contents page I have set out the layout of where everything will go, e.g. where the images will go and where the page numbers will go. I also started adding things at the top, things such as a red top boarder and the masthead.
Diary Entry No.11
I have uploaded my drafts to my blog and have gotten some feedback on them. While making my first drafts I realized that my article wasn't long enough, therefore, I have now started to edit my article draft in order to make it longer. I have also started writing my evaluation of my magazine. I'm also reflecting on my feedback and making changes to my drafts.
Diary Entry No.2
After I completed my preliminary task, we were asked to do some similar product research. To do this we has to get three front covers, three contents pages and three double page spreads from various music magazines and then annotate each one of them and post it on our blog. I mainly chose the magazines Kerrang and NME because they are the type of magazine I hope to create and I wanted to know what types of things their magazine features. I used two magazines from the shared area and I scanned in another magazine that I thought looked similar to how I would like my magazine to look like. Overall I think this task helped me understand what music magazines had and needed to make them successful, it also gave me ideas on how I want my own magazine to look.
Diary Entry No.3
Once we finished we were set a task to research the key concepts of music magazines (MM). This involved researching the codes and conventions, the representation, the institution and the audience of MM. I researched all of these topics by going online and finding information on the subjects. I presented my Key concepts research in the form of a Prezi presentation, I thought this would add variety to my form of blogging and would be a bit more interesting if it was presented this way. I then embedded my Prezi onto my blog. I feel that by doing this research, I have learnt a significant amount about MM and I now have more of an idea on what makes a music magazine and what is essential for a good final product. It's given me a broader knowledge of the area of this particular media which has helped me understand the fundamental factors to creating a professional magazine.
Diary Entry No.4
This week, I did my photo shoot, I used three models and took a various pictures with a variety of angles and shots. As I did my photo shoot, we had a secondary camera to take pictures from a fixed point every second, this was so I could create a time lapse of the entire process to put on Blog. So I imported the pictures on Adobe Premier and set the pictures to change after a certain amount of frames, I then exported the video and embedded it on my blog. With the photos from the actual photo shoot, I made a contact sheet and uploaded them to blogger. For my photoshoot I used a three piece band with long hair as I think this is the most appropriate look for a Metal magazine.
In order to get a better idea on how my audience think and what they like in music magazines, I made a poll on my blog and got people from my key demographic to vote on the poll. This included questions regarding what they like to see on a double page spread, what they like to see on a front cover,what kind of things they would like to win
Diary Entry No.5
Over the half term I made a prezi on colour connotations, a mood board, a list of name ideas for my magazine and an audience profile. I made the colour connotations on prezi, by making this, I found out which colours best suit the genre that my magazine is focusing on. The mood board helped get across who and what my target audience are and it gives people an image of what I'm aiming for, I especially enjoyed making it. I also made a list of possible names, I was initially going to go with 'Pulse' but I decided that it seemed a bit too obvious for a music magazine. So I instead went with 'Overdrive', this is because Overdrive is another word for distortion and not many people say it instead of distortion. The name also fits well with the genre of music the magazine focuses on
Diary Entry No.6
This week I started to make some designs for my possible masthead. I used various different effects and texts to find the most suitable masthead that went with my magazine. I also decided which name I would use for my masthead which is 'Overdrive'. I chose this because overdrive is another word for distortion and distortion is used incredibly frequently in metal music. I've got a few different designs for my masthead however I haven't yet chosen which one I would like to use. After I have chosen the masthead desing I want, i then need to think of possible sell lines to use on my front cover.
Diary Entry No.7
This week I completed the list of ideas for my sell line and contents ideas. I inlcluded a variety of bands and news in my contnts in order to attract a wider audience and more readers. I included bands such as; Dream Theatre, Avenged Sevenfold, Parkway Drive and Lamb of God. I included these because they are well know heavy metal bands that many people will know, this will therefore catch more people's attention and make them want to buy it if they know who the bands are.
Diary Entry No.8
This week I started to work on my article draft. I initially had some trouble thinking of possible questions and answers for a band interview. But I did some research and read some past interviews from magazines similar to the one I hope to create, such as: 'Kerrang'. After reading a few different and contrasting interviews, I had an idea of what I could write about. This research also helped more understand what is expected in a Metal Music Magazine which will be useful when creating my magazine.
Diary Entry No.9
This week I begun to work on my first draft for my magazine. I started my front cover draft first as I already had an idea of what I wanted it to look like. I did the basic design and then I experimented with different masthead designs to see which one fitted my magazine's image better. I did most of my front cover, I only need to put sell lines and an image on it. However I'm not going to put my sell lines on my magazine until I put my image on it. But I dont believe my images are quite right for my front cover so I'm most likely going to do another photoshoot, possibly outside, so I can get an appropriate image.
Diary Entry No.10
As I still have yet to have a another photoshoot, I have started on my contents page rather than continue with my front cover. I havent yet put my images on the page yet but I have completed the Layout. So far on my contents page I have set out the layout of where everything will go, e.g. where the images will go and where the page numbers will go. I also started adding things at the top, things such as a red top boarder and the masthead.
Diary Entry No.11
I have uploaded my drafts to my blog and have gotten some feedback on them. While making my first drafts I realized that my article wasn't long enough, therefore, I have now started to edit my article draft in order to make it longer. I have also started writing my evaluation of my magazine. I'm also reflecting on my feedback and making changes to my drafts.
