Amy Robertson

1. Amy Robertson Media music magazine evaluation.

2. Foundation portfolio evaluation. • Now that I have finally completed all of my three tasks, including my music magazine, contents page, and the double page spread, I can now evaluate on a whole, taking the following into consideration: Forms and conventions Representation institutions Audience Addressing the audience Technologies Overall outlook

3. Forms and conventions. • Before designing my music magazine, I studied other professional covers to become aware of what I actually want to put on, and how I wanted to present my front cover. Title: I spent a large amount of time researching various different fonts for the title. I felt it was important that the title stood out, and represented the audience I wished to attract. My title is in a fixed location, with a slight slant, I feel this gives it some edge to it. While the colour is bold, and fresh. The font is called ‘stencil std’ which looks rather military and for me looks modern. The title has been placed at the top left corner which follows the conventions of most magazines.Fonts: I used the same font on the whole of the page, but contrasted many different colours to make it more exciting and attract the reader. I also used different font sizes, to exaggerate certain bits of the magazine. For example: ‘’ Ellie Chrystals’’. Image:I deliberately used a very simple image of a friend. The image is supposed to portray a man who is one of the main features in the magazine going by the name of ‘Phil Smith.’ I have also deliberately Cropped Phil out of a picture, and pasted the image onto a black back ground, so that he stands out even more so. Before, cropping him out the background wasn’t the sort I wanted for this front cover. I find I have not followed typical media conventions within this choice. As typically in many magazines there are often a wacky group/band, whereas Phil portrays a thoughtful, gentle person: which very much so fits the indie genre. I feel the qwerkyness of the title and the image run through the whole of my music magazine. This guy I have taken this picture of, looks indie, which is one of the many people I wish to aim my music magazine to. (target market.) Hooks:I have used various hooks/teasers. to draw in the buyers attention. For example, the heading Ellie Chrystals’ informs the reader of what more they can get out of the magazine.

4. Forms and conventions. Contents page. • Again after studying various other music magazines, I found different ways to design my front cover. I rewrote the title of the magazine so the theme runs-on though-out. I specifically chose a bold title, and went onto the font website to find one suitable for what I wanted. This is called ‘ chocolate box’. I added extra images of ‘Ellie Crystals’ and James Deen’ to show emphasise of the main stamp of the magazine. A big bold statement, to represent the time, era. Headings of the cover stories featuring in my magazine draw my target market in, as they will want to read the stories and interviews of their favourite artists.

5. Forms and conventionsarticle. I decided to use a quick question and answer to begin with, to break into the article on Phil Smith. I used a bold title of his name, to make it qwerky- again carrying on the main theme. I also used a large font size to attract the reader. Font: the font I used, I feel is accessible to read and allows the page to not become to overwhelming and busy. The colours I have used are simply to conform to the already established colour scheme. I purposefully chose to add colour to the article, when I with-drew quotes of what Phil was supposed to of said to me in the interview.

6. Improvements The first magazine cover I created was not very commendable at all. I found Photoshop hard to get used to and there was barely anything which followed any media conventions. The second time I used Photoshop I was a little more accustomed to the way it worked and I tried a lot harder to make my magazine cover visually attractive Throughout the process of making the final magazine cover, article an contents page, I made several changes and improvements. Mostly text l improvements instead of visual improvements. This included things such as the font size, colour and design. Also, adjustments were made as to where and how I placed things on the page

7. Technology. • During the process of creating my magazine, I was introduced to computer programs such as Photoshop and Indesign. • Photoshop: • I had used Photoshop before the task but not in so much detail. I found Photoshop tricky at first and after a lot of practice I roughly got the hang of it. Tools such as the magnetic lasso, the brightness/contrast settings, and the cropping tools enabled me to achieve the look I wanted. Whilst writing the double spread article I was introduced to Indesign, a program which has readily set up structures and guidelines for articles. I found Indesign similar to Microsoft word, and therefore I was comfortable in using it.

8. Attracting the audience. • To attract my intended audience, I have thought about the following: Colours, taglines, column inch and other front page information, and of course pictures. Colour: The colours represent the new and fresh genre of indie,and the fresh age and sense of living people desire when listening to Indie. It is important to represent cool colours as this could be a reminiscent indication of indie posters, theme colours or it could resemble indie fashion through-out time. Front cover Judge a book by its cover. The front page is really important as it gives away the initial impression of what is inside. The column inch includes a variety of information that attracts lots of people for different reasons. Pictures Pictures area visual way of attracting an audience. With the right pictures presented in the right way, audiences are attracted to then take things further and read the article linked to the picture. Other audiences find it hard to visualise what a text is saying and a magazine is not supposed to be a difficult read. Pictures set the mood and develop peoples insight into what is being said. Tag lines People prefer to skim read an article or the magazines main features before diving into detailed reading. With the right phrasing and words, people can instantly like the article or what is to follow in the magazine without reading it.