Front Cover
Red in our culture signifies confidence, confidence of the artist
Red also signifies passion. Passion for music
‘Man’ in soul man, patriarchal, clashed with the woman on front cover
Silver brooch. Silver signifies in our culture royalty and status. High status celebrity
Scribbles in our culture signify childish drawing, laid back magazine
‘Naked’ in our culture is controversial and taboo, controversial magazine
Yellow in our culture signifies happiness but also light, the ‘lime light’
Glowing mast head, signifies celebrity
Eyelashes signify seductiveness and also the amount of makeup the subject is wearing signifies her celebrity status
Rosy cheeks in our culture signify shyness and modesty.
Contents
White in our culture signifies purity and simplicity
Black in our culture signifies mysteriousness
Polaroid pictures in our culture signify retro and old times
Instruments show that it is a music magazine
Lines in our culture signify order which clashes against the random fonts which signify chaos.
The flower signifies nature and is also childish.
Double page spread
Handwritten typeface shows a personal touch and therefore the audience feels more connected to the magazine.
Bathtub signifies feeling at home and relaxed, makes the artist look more down to earth
The subject is not looking at the camera, which signifies that she is shy and modest
One of the Polaroids has the subject looking up and is taken at a high angle which makes her look seductive
Crazy typeface signifies randomness and chaos
Name of journalist ideology that everyone included in the magazine is valued.
Friday, 8 May 2009
Technology/Lessons learnt
I used a Panasonic DMC FX55 camera with a Leica lens. I have learnt how to use specific things on the camera, for instance how to alter exposure and white balance which I didn’t know how to use before. By using these tools I have ensured that the photographs I took were of high quality and would be easy to use on Photoshop afterwards.
I already knew a little bit about how to use Adobe Photoshop, however over the course of this task I have learnt so much more about it. For instance I have learnt a lot about how to use the patch tool and colour variations. I used Blending Tools which were an easy way to make something look more interesting and nicer. I used burn tool quite a lot which proved very useful, especially when making the subject look like she has makeup on when she hasn’t. Burn tool is also very useful when you have taken a photo with too much exposure.
I learnt how to use Macromedia Fireworks, because I needed to make a glow around the mast head, and the blending tools on Photoshop were not making the effect I wanted. I don’t think Fireworks is as good and versatile as Photoshop is, however it proved useful and quite easy to use when you get into it.
Throughout the course of this task I have also learnt a lot about using blogs and the effectiveness of it. I have learnt about how to use HTML to put things onto a web log and also learnt how a blog can make things easier to handle.
Whilst writing my article, I have learnt how to use a video camera which helped me record my fake interview. I used a Panasonic Camcorder which was fairly easy to use but took time setting up. I learnt how to use a tripod to keep the camera still and I learnt how to upload videos onto YouTube.com. I also listened to many interviews on YouTube.com to learn techniques of how to conduct an interview and I read some articles from Paste Magazine and from Blues and Soul Magazine to think of suitable questions to ask my fake artist.
I already knew a little bit about how to use Adobe Photoshop, however over the course of this task I have learnt so much more about it. For instance I have learnt a lot about how to use the patch tool and colour variations. I used Blending Tools which were an easy way to make something look more interesting and nicer. I used burn tool quite a lot which proved very useful, especially when making the subject look like she has makeup on when she hasn’t. Burn tool is also very useful when you have taken a photo with too much exposure.
I learnt how to use Macromedia Fireworks, because I needed to make a glow around the mast head, and the blending tools on Photoshop were not making the effect I wanted. I don’t think Fireworks is as good and versatile as Photoshop is, however it proved useful and quite easy to use when you get into it.
Throughout the course of this task I have also learnt a lot about using blogs and the effectiveness of it. I have learnt about how to use HTML to put things onto a web log and also learnt how a blog can make things easier to handle.
Whilst writing my article, I have learnt how to use a video camera which helped me record my fake interview. I used a Panasonic Camcorder which was fairly easy to use but took time setting up. I learnt how to use a tripod to keep the camera still and I learnt how to upload videos onto YouTube.com. I also listened to many interviews on YouTube.com to learn techniques of how to conduct an interview and I read some articles from Paste Magazine and from Blues and Soul Magazine to think of suitable questions to ask my fake artist.
Audience/Focus Groups
I asked 5 members of my target audience to conduct a ‘focus group’ to find out how my magazine had come across to them. This is how it went…
“What are some things you like about the front cover?”• “The colours are warm which will reflect the contents of the magazine.”
• “The makeup looks good and the girl looks attractive which would make people want to buy the magazine.”
• “I like the font because it looks very retro and the line under the title is clever.”
• “The scribbles are cute and random.”
• “The photo looks professional.”
“What are some things you did not like about the front cover?”• “There are not enough cover lines.”
• “The girl looks like she is wearing too much makeup, not raw like soul music.”
“What are some things you liked about the contents page?”• “The polaroids look nice.”
• “There are a good amount of articles.”
• “The different fonts are fun looking.”
• “The whole page just looks quite professional looking.”
• “I like the colour theme going on.”
“What are some things you did not like about the contents page?”• “There are too many different fonts and it just looks too busy.”
• “There are too many articles”
• “There aren’t enough images.”
• “The contents page doesn’t go with the front cover and the double page spread.”
“What are some things you liked about the double page spread?”• “The colours are nice and the composition of the page is just generally good.”
• “The article is cute and the polaroids look good on the side.”
• “I think the photo is very unusual and effective. The article is pretty good too.”
• “I like the photo because it isn’t what you would normally see on a double page spread.”
“What are some things you did not like about the double page spread?”
• “The article could have been written better but the photos are not too bad.”
• “I think you should have used different colours to differentiate this artist from the rest of the magazine.”
• “The article could have been better.”
“What are some things you like about the front cover?”• “The colours are warm which will reflect the contents of the magazine.”
• “The makeup looks good and the girl looks attractive which would make people want to buy the magazine.”
• “I like the font because it looks very retro and the line under the title is clever.”
• “The scribbles are cute and random.”
• “The photo looks professional.”
“What are some things you did not like about the front cover?”• “There are not enough cover lines.”
• “The girl looks like she is wearing too much makeup, not raw like soul music.”
“What are some things you liked about the contents page?”• “The polaroids look nice.”
• “There are a good amount of articles.”
• “The different fonts are fun looking.”
• “The whole page just looks quite professional looking.”
• “I like the colour theme going on.”
“What are some things you did not like about the contents page?”• “There are too many different fonts and it just looks too busy.”
• “There are too many articles”
• “There aren’t enough images.”
• “The contents page doesn’t go with the front cover and the double page spread.”
“What are some things you liked about the double page spread?”• “The colours are nice and the composition of the page is just generally good.”
• “The article is cute and the polaroids look good on the side.”
• “I think the photo is very unusual and effective. The article is pretty good too.”
• “I like the photo because it isn’t what you would normally see on a double page spread.”
“What are some things you did not like about the double page spread?”
• “The article could have been written better but the photos are not too bad.”
• “I think you should have used different colours to differentiate this artist from the rest of the magazine.”
• “The article could have been better.”
Distribution
My magazine would be an established looking; slightly expensive magazine, as it is not a mainstream magazine but a niche magazine, there would not be that much demand for it. On one hand I would not like adverts in the magazine because I want it to be “all about the music,” but then I would have to charge even more for the magazine. If I wanted commercial funding, I would only accept advertising from music related companies. I would have my magazine sold in specialist music stores, in large super markets and in bookstores; not accessible to just anyone, but also not unobtainable. Also, it would be too expensive for the magazine to be sold at a lot of places while people who shop there wouldn’t normally buy the magazine anywhere. My magazine would also be available by subscription so that people can save money.
Representation
My magazine’s main aim was to break the stereotype that men are dominant in the world of soul music, and by naming the magazine Soul Man and putting a woman on the front cover, I am breaking the patriarchal connotations that the magazine name has. I think that my magazine represents young people in a positive way, as my contents page is dominated by young people, but my magazine is not completely youthful as it has an article about Nina Simone on the contents page. The ideology my magazine is trying to portray is that soul music is not about one type of person; it is about different types of people mixing together.
Conventions
Front cover
The mast head developed conventions, as it is on the top of the page like a typical mast head but it has an unusual typeface and is lit up which develops conventions. I have included only one cover line, to follow the example of Blues and Soul Magazine. This portrays the ideology that if a singer is on the front cover they are the most important thing in the magazine at that moment.
If I were to repeat the project I would have more cover lines because I believe that everyone should have the same amount of spotlight. I have created my own barcode and placed it in the bottom right corner of the page which is where it typically goes and therefore this is conforming to conventions. I have also conformed to conventions by using a medium close up image which is usually what would go on the front cover of a music magazine and the colours are warm because the type of music being portrayed is soul music, which is typically ‘warm.’
I have broken conventions by not including any inset images on the front cover because Blues and Soul Magazine did not have any and I didn’t want the inset images taking attention away from the main image. I have also broken conventions by not including any pugs, which I thought would make the page over crowded and unappealing to my target audience.
I have conformed to conventions by including a selling line and a date, to make the magazine look more professional and established however I have challenged conventions by placing the date at the bottom of the page instead of at the top, because I didn’t want too many things at the top of the page and not many on the bottom.
Selling line, use
Contents
I have broken conventions by not having a main image on the contents page. What I did instead was use a few inset images together and use them as the main image. Therefore I have developed conventions instead of just conforming. I have conformed to conventions by keeping the title in the style of the mast head to follow the house style of the magazine. I have broken conventions by having a lot of different typefaces instead of a steady typeface the whole way through. This is because the contents page, which is a way to see a representation of the whole magazine on one page, and I don’t want the contents page to look boring with only one typeface.
Double Page Spread
I have conformed to conventions by writing the article in columns and writing the article as a story with some quotes in, instead of a question-answer format. This is because I wanted my article to be professional and sophisticated instead of just simple questions and answers. I developed conventions by using a large image on my double page spread but it is an unusual picture that is sort of controversial. I have conformed to conventions by using inset images, the Polaroid photos which follow the house style, which are seen on the contents page. The captions have developed conventions by having a handwritten style of typeface which is not common.
The mast head developed conventions, as it is on the top of the page like a typical mast head but it has an unusual typeface and is lit up which develops conventions. I have included only one cover line, to follow the example of Blues and Soul Magazine. This portrays the ideology that if a singer is on the front cover they are the most important thing in the magazine at that moment.
If I were to repeat the project I would have more cover lines because I believe that everyone should have the same amount of spotlight. I have created my own barcode and placed it in the bottom right corner of the page which is where it typically goes and therefore this is conforming to conventions. I have also conformed to conventions by using a medium close up image which is usually what would go on the front cover of a music magazine and the colours are warm because the type of music being portrayed is soul music, which is typically ‘warm.’
I have broken conventions by not including any inset images on the front cover because Blues and Soul Magazine did not have any and I didn’t want the inset images taking attention away from the main image. I have also broken conventions by not including any pugs, which I thought would make the page over crowded and unappealing to my target audience.
I have conformed to conventions by including a selling line and a date, to make the magazine look more professional and established however I have challenged conventions by placing the date at the bottom of the page instead of at the top, because I didn’t want too many things at the top of the page and not many on the bottom.
Selling line, use
Contents
I have broken conventions by not having a main image on the contents page. What I did instead was use a few inset images together and use them as the main image. Therefore I have developed conventions instead of just conforming. I have conformed to conventions by keeping the title in the style of the mast head to follow the house style of the magazine. I have broken conventions by having a lot of different typefaces instead of a steady typeface the whole way through. This is because the contents page, which is a way to see a representation of the whole magazine on one page, and I don’t want the contents page to look boring with only one typeface.
Double Page Spread
I have conformed to conventions by writing the article in columns and writing the article as a story with some quotes in, instead of a question-answer format. This is because I wanted my article to be professional and sophisticated instead of just simple questions and answers. I developed conventions by using a large image on my double page spread but it is an unusual picture that is sort of controversial. I have conformed to conventions by using inset images, the Polaroid photos which follow the house style, which are seen on the contents page. The captions have developed conventions by having a handwritten style of typeface which is not common.
Monday, 4 May 2009
DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
I created the bathtub photo by scaling the original photo up so it fills the page up from top to bottom and then moved it so there was enough room for the article to fit in. I used magic wand tool to select all the parts that were not her or the bathroom (the floor, etc) and deleted, then cleaned up the rest using the erase tool.
I used the idea of how to make Polaroid style images from when I created the contents page. I created 3 Polaroids with photos of the artist “from stages of her life” and then tilted them by clicking on the outline and moving the cursor around the image.
I created the red background by using a really large but soft red brush tool and just lightly skimmed half of the page to give it some colour. It looks good because it matches the house style of the front cover which is dominated by red colour.
The content was very difficult for me because I am not very good with writing articles, so I filmed a “fake” interview with the “artist” to make it easier for me to write the article afterwards using the quotes she used. The video below:
http://www.youtube.com/v/U8-m1X-Ta78&hl=en&fs=1
I used the idea of how to make Polaroid style images from when I created the contents page. I created 3 Polaroids with photos of the artist “from stages of her life” and then tilted them by clicking on the outline and moving the cursor around the image.
I created the red background by using a really large but soft red brush tool and just lightly skimmed half of the page to give it some colour. It looks good because it matches the house style of the front cover which is dominated by red colour.
The content was very difficult for me because I am not very good with writing articles, so I filmed a “fake” interview with the “artist” to make it easier for me to write the article afterwards using the quotes she used. The video below:
http://www.youtube.com/v/U8-m1X-Ta78&hl=en&fs=1
Sunday, 3 May 2009
CONTENTS PAGE part2
To make the Polaroid photographs that I had used on the contents page and on the double page spread, firstly I imported the photo I wanted to use into Photoshop. Then I superimposed an image of a Polaroid card over the photo and magic wand tooled the black parts out. Then I used free transform and placed the Polaroid image to fit directly onto the photo. Then I used the bucket tool and chose a off white/ yellow colour to make the Polaroid look vintage, and coloured in the Polaroid. Then I imported the text from dafont.com and superimposed it onto the Polaroid to look handwritten and magic wand tooled away the white from the background. Then I used blending options to create a shadow (using drop shadow and by messing around with the levels to get a perfect shadow.)
CONTENTS PAGE part1
For the contents page I wanted a background with lines on so I used a photograph I had taken in the school canteen of a railed background. I copied the photo into Photoshop, free transformed it, and then rotated it 180 degrees. Then I scaled it up so that the subject was not in the frame, and I cut him out of the picture.
FRONT COVER continued
I chose the selling line because it would be a joke that only true fans of blues and soul would understand. This is because blues/soul/jazz music is all syncopated and out of sync, which is what is special about this sort of music. Then I chose "but never out of style!" because it would be clever and quite funny.
I chose the cover line to say "Kelsey Wright gets naked" because it is controversial, however in reality its about her new song "Naked" which is then said in the double page spread. There is also a photo of her in a bathtub in the double page spread, and whilst she is not naked in the photo, there are connotations of nakedness.
I did some drawings using the brush tool because on the contents page and on the double page spread, there are lots of handwritten looking typefaces especially on the Polaroid pictures, so I thought the drawings would look effective on the front cover, almost as if the editing staff were very "creative" and laid back and it would just look arty and casual.
I created the bar code on Photoshop, by dragging a lot of horizontal straight lines onto a rectangle shape and then typing in random letters and numbers on the keyboard, then rotating the text 90 degrees and placing the text perpendicular to the lines. I then merged all the layers when I was happy with the bar code and superimposed it onto my front cover.
I chose the cover line to say "Kelsey Wright gets naked" because it is controversial, however in reality its about her new song "Naked" which is then said in the double page spread. There is also a photo of her in a bathtub in the double page spread, and whilst she is not naked in the photo, there are connotations of nakedness.
I did some drawings using the brush tool because on the contents page and on the double page spread, there are lots of handwritten looking typefaces especially on the Polaroid pictures, so I thought the drawings would look effective on the front cover, almost as if the editing staff were very "creative" and laid back and it would just look arty and casual.
I created the bar code on Photoshop, by dragging a lot of horizontal straight lines onto a rectangle shape and then typing in random letters and numbers on the keyboard, then rotating the text 90 degrees and placing the text perpendicular to the lines. I then merged all the layers when I was happy with the bar code and superimposed it onto my front cover.
FRONT COVER 2
The other photograph i wanted to use for the front cover was this one:
I used the crop tool to make the image more of the subject’s face. This is because the original photo was too centered and therefore it would have been hard for me to fit coverlines in. The reason I cropped it like that is so that I still had the darkened side of her photo where the natural sunlight didn’t reach, which I think was effective because it looks mysterious and kind of “epic” as a famous artist on the front cover of a music magazine.
Then I used the patch tool to get rid of any imperfections (spots, etc) which wouldn’t be seen on a professional front cover photograph. I did not edit out the subjects natural freckles because it would take away from her natural beauty.
Then I used the burn tool around the eyes (on about 30 px) and then used a really large brush size to darken her face from the unlit side, to add to the shadow already present. I did not use burn tool on her cheek bones because I really like the paleness of her skin which looks almost angelic (because in our culture white signifies purity and cleanliness.)
Because I couldn’t choose which one I liked better I asked my class which they preferred and about 70% said they had preferred the first one, because of the makeup and also because it was a medium close up and looked more realistic as a front cover.
I used the crop tool to make the image more of the subject’s face. This is because the original photo was too centered and therefore it would have been hard for me to fit coverlines in. The reason I cropped it like that is so that I still had the darkened side of her photo where the natural sunlight didn’t reach, which I think was effective because it looks mysterious and kind of “epic” as a famous artist on the front cover of a music magazine.
Then I used the patch tool to get rid of any imperfections (spots, etc) which wouldn’t be seen on a professional front cover photograph. I did not edit out the subjects natural freckles because it would take away from her natural beauty.
Then I used the burn tool around the eyes (on about 30 px) and then used a really large brush size to darken her face from the unlit side, to add to the shadow already present. I did not use burn tool on her cheek bones because I really like the paleness of her skin which looks almost angelic (because in our culture white signifies purity and cleanliness.)
Because I couldn’t choose which one I liked better I asked my class which they preferred and about 70% said they had preferred the first one, because of the makeup and also because it was a medium close up and looked more realistic as a front cover.
FRONT COVER 1
I had two main choices for the possible front covers.
THE FIRST
Firstly I edited the brightness/contrast as shown to heighten the contrast and lower the brightness, to make the photo look richer in colour.
Then I used the burn tool from the tool selection, which is used to darken areas. I used this on the subject’s eyes and also on the cheek bones to make the subject appear as if she is wearing more makeup than she is in reality. This is to make her look more like a celebrity, which will later be anchored by the mast head which is lit up which also conveys the idea of stardom.
I then made the brush larger to 70 px and used the burn tool on the subjects hair. I had used too much exposure on my camera when taking these photographs, and hadn't noticed until it was too late for another photoshoot; so I had to use Photoshop to fix this problem. Burn tool returned her natural colour and even made it look richer.
A problem I had with this photo however was that I had to move it to the side so I could fit some cover lines in, however I didn’t have enough image on the right of the subject to do this. What I did was use another photo of just the subject’s arm, and superimposed it over the current one. Then I used the clone tool to even things out and smooth things over.
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