Gabrielle Walsh
Production Screen-grabs for my Media Product
FRONT COVER
For my media product, I used Adobe Photoshop to create and develop my music magazine front cover in which I started off using different fonts, sizes and colours for my magazine title so that it could stand out easily to the target audience. As you can see from the screen-grab above, I used a 120pt font size and for the font I decided to choose Franklin Gothic Heavy as I think this font would be perfect in relation to indie music by being large and bold. I also decided to add a stroke style to my font so that it wasn't just plain text. I used a dissolve blending mode for around the text to create an outline and did the thickness of the effect at 18px. I added a red box for my title because this would make the title stand out more as well as relating to my colour scheme. Additionally, I added a positioning statement at the top of the magazine with a black box behind it to create effect.
Shortly after starting up, I decided to change the font and size as I felt it wouldn't attract my target audience that well. I made the red box behind the title shorter and the actual title of my magazine bigger. I changed the font to Franklin Gothic Medium so that the title wasn't as chunky and taking up most of the top area of the cover. I also changed the font to the positioning statement as I felt the one I used previously was boring and dull. I changed it to Rockwell because I thought it was different and quirky. I also altered the look of the positioning statement by making all of it bold and putting "all" in italics so that the word could stood out to my target audience. I then created a large and detailed coverline with different styles, sizes and colours.
Throughout the next lessons, I changed my mind on a few things about my magazine front cover. I felt my positioning statement didn't stand out being at the top of the cover and instead I decided to put it underneath the title in a smaller font size in which this looked more professional. I then moved the black box which was originally used for the positioning statement down to the bottom of the cover and added a strip of bands and artists to create a professional and music magazine look. I used Rockwell for the font and put it in bold to create effect.
After a few lessons of adjusting, I finally developed and uploaded my cover image onto my product. I used of friend of mine who actually listens to indie music and wears clothes in which people would associate with indie so I thought she would be perfect for the shoot. I wanted to use a close-up for the front cover to create a sense of power and seriousness. I tried out many camera angles, poses and shots for the images and finally found the one which I thought would represent indie music. I used this pose on my friend by putting her hands on her head; this represents a cool, collective and laid-back look which is technically what indie music is about. As well as using direct address, it creates a sex appeal image as well as creating a serious tone. I cut out of the background around the image and then uploaded it onto the front cover. For my coverlines, I added more around the image using different sizes and colours but using the same font which is Rockwell. I also changed the colour of the positioning statement to black which contrasts with the red box to relate to my colour scheme as well as adding the main headline which represents the image. I decided to use a unique and uncommon name for my artist/model so that it can appeal to my target audience straight away. Finally, I added a subheading to go underneath the main headline which is a different font to the rest of the text, this was so it could stand out and represent the headline for my cover girl.
I then added on more coverline for my front cover which again varied in font size and colour to create effect. I darkened the colour of my headline to make it stand out against my image and I also made the little circles in between the artist/bands strip slightly bigger in order for it to stand out. I also lightened the colour of my main coverline to the exact same colour which I will be using for my colour scheme throughout the magazine.
After several lessons, I adjusted the main headline and embossed it with the effect tools.This creates a shadowy effect in which makes the title look a bit quirky and stream-lined. I also changed the font so it didn't clash with the Rockwell font which I used throughout all the coverlines. For the background of my cover, I used a gradient tool which went vertical ways so that the top would be dark and then it gradually changed colour to a musty red/maroon colour which again links to the colour scheme and makes the image stand out. I also added the barcode in which I then added on the date, price and website address of the magazine.
This is my final screengrab in which I took for my front cover. I added one more coverline to the image which is located just below the barcode. I also altered the boxes underneath a couple of coverlines so that it looked professional and suitable. Finally, I altered my main coverline so that all the text was correctly narrow, straight and in line with eachother so it didnt look wonky or out of proportion. This is now my completed front cover for my media prouduct.
(CONTENTS PAGE)
The second part of my media production is my contents page. This is progressed and developed on Quark Xpress. I firstly separated the page into 3 columns as this is where I can easily lay out my images and text. I then added a red box for the contents page title and I used Rockwell for the font as I think its a quirky font which relates to the front cover text as well. I then added more red boxes with the titles: features, regulars and reviews. This tells the audience the three sections in the magazine were articles, gig guides etc. will be found. I then added a social networking link to my magazine (Twitter) in which my target audience can follow updates and news on whats going on in the world of music. This was followed by a website address which again the audience can access for more music updates. Additionally, I added all my feature content under the feature column where I used the Rockwell font. I used a relatively small size font and put it in bold and changed the page number to red as this contrasted with my colour scheme. I did the same for my regular and reviews column. Then, I added my first image in which I took at a Coldplay concert at Manchester Arena back in June 2012. I was using Coldplay in one of my feature articles so I thought I would use this image to represent that article. I also added a little red box at the bottom left corner of the image with the page number on and a short quote to create a professional look and to make the audience want to turn to that page to find out more.
After the previous lesson, I added some more images to my contents page and moved them around so that it looked like a professional and suitable layout. I added more red boxes with page numbers and a subheading next to it to advertise whats on that page such as "64| The Killers" this gives the audience a quick shortcut to the article without having to look through the whole of the text on the contents page. I also added the title of the magazine and an issue number next to it as this follows the codes of conventions of a contents page and this occurs on the majority of music magazines in society today.
This is my final screengrab, unfortunately I didn't screengrab the whole of the contents page but the changes I made from the previous screengrab was that I made my Coldplay image bigger so that it would be the main image on the page. I then changed the layout of the pictures so that it all linked to and was in line with eachother followed by the red boxes showing the numbers and subheading. I then rearranged the 3 titles on the page so they all appear in one column so that my pictures could spread out to the bottom of the page. This is now my final screengrab of my contents page.
(DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD)
This is the third part of my media product which is the double page spread. This is also produced and developed on Quark Xpress. For this part of my media product, I had to interview a band or singer and take photos of them for my double page spread. I recorded the interview on a recorder and then typed up the interview and placed it into an article about the band that I interviewed (The Romleys). I then took several pictures of them performing but due to the photos being plain and boring in normal colour, I added a black and white effect to create a more professional look to the article and it also links to my colour scheme which is black, red and white as well as a light grey colour. I followed one of the codes and conventions for a double page spread by leaking the photo on to the second page. I then added a quote at the bottom left corner of the picture in which they said in their interview. This gives a first impression to the audience who have just seen the page and makes them want to read the article and find out more. I also added a subtitle at the top left hand corner of the page saying new band which will again attract the audience as this will be the first thing they will probably read. I then made the title of the article called The Romleys which I used in Franklin Gothic Heavy and then I did the stand first in Tohama. I then added a strum rating out of 5 which is what some music magazines do in order to attract their target audience. The reader will see this before they read the article and this will make them want to know why they are rated 4/5 stars. I then used a drop capital at the beginning of the article and did my articles in paragraphs. I finally did the page numbers at both ends of the double page spread along with the name of the article which is The Romleys. Over all, this is my final media product.
