evaluation

Evaluation Of My Music Magazine Danny Hodson


The magazine I made was of the rock jazz type, I used a number of programmes to make my magazine, I used photo shop to make my contents page and my front cover and I used Microsoft publisher to make my double page spread. I first analysed other music magazines to get an idea of the kind of things I need to do and use to make mine as professional as possible, i needed to get an idea about the different connotations and denotation used in different magazines. I analysed a number of front covers, contents page and a number of double page spreads. I used my Blog to do all this, every part I analysed I put on a past. The next step was the planning, I looked at target audience and all the programmes I would use for each part of my magazine. I then went on to designing layouts for my front cover. I used the Publisher programme to create the layouts using the box tool. I created the final layout to then use to make my front cover. I did the same for the contents page and the double page spread. The next thing I did was image taking, I got a friends band to do a number of shots from different angles, I did this because I needed four different images for my magazine. I did a medium shot, a low angel shot and a long shot. I did this to get different effects for each part of my magazine. The instruments in the magazine links the band with the magazine, this is a connotation. Denotation is then used because you see exactly what you expect in front of you. I then did a hand done layout for the layout of my front cover. I then went on to photo shop to edit my photo and create a new background on a new page. I then went on to create the masthead and sub-heading. I cut out the image using the magnetic lasso tool and then used to rubber tool to make the image smoother around the edge. I then put all the layers together to create the front cover.

I then did a final layout for the contents page a posted it on my blog, I used the layout which was done on publisher as a guide line for the contents page which was done on photo shop. I started off with the low angle shot image I took, it started off with the image being in colour, I then changed it to black and white. I then added another image to the contents page, I opened the image on a new document and once again used the magnetic lasso tool to cut it out, I then transferred this image and placed it onto the contents page, I then used a text box to create the masthead, this was stage two of the contents page. The third stage of the contents page was completed with the media text. I added the contents in white with the page number done in red, I used red for the page numbers to make it clear and to stand out, also red is used on the double page spread.

I then went onto the double page spread, put unlike the contents page and the front cover I created the double page spread on publisher. First of all I used publisher to create the layout to use as a guideline like I did for the front cover and the contents page. I used and image of the band to show who the members of the band are. It links the masthead and the image together. I started off with a blank background and changed it to black, I then added the masthead and the interview. I thought the layout and location of each part did not look as good as it could do so I changed the location of the interview from the left hand side of the page to the right hand side of the page. The next step was editing the image I used for the double page spread on photo shop. I once again used the magnetic lasso tool to cut out this image. I then saved and opened the image on publisher and placed it in the location I thought looked the best. Once I had finished I thought some of the aspects could have been improved. I started with the interview, the writing was not as clear as first thought so I changed the size, font and colour. I then changed the masthead and added a subheading. I used my blog to show my progress throughout the time I spend editing and creating the magazine.

The conventions of the magazine are located throughout the pages. The mastheads are the information headlines, the front covers mast head is giving information on the genre of the magazine. The contents page lets the reader know that it is the contents page and this is the page you need to look at for the information. The double page spread links the title with the topic of the page, the name of the band is the masthead and the image backs this up. Each image on each page is to link the magazine in with the band and the main story, also the headline and the image on the front cover and the headline shows what the magazines main story is about.

The images I used were important in my magazine, the instruments where important in the images, it shows that this is a music magazine and that the main article is based on this band, this is also certified by the name of the band put across the main image on the front cover. The double page spread is then made the most important part by the way EXCLUSIVE stands out to a maximum.

I believe the target audience I aimed this magazine on has worked as well as it could, I believe the images I used worked to a good standard and also the editing was done to a good standard. I used my blog to get and order and some kind of organisation, this was a good idea because it allows me to know where I was up to and what I still have to do.