I used Padlet to create and implement my textual analysis of music videos for this essay:
Wednesday, 14 June 2017
Music Video Analysis
The link below takes you to the first textual analysis evaluation I have wrote about. The song I choose to analyse was one of Post Malone's most recognized song, congratulations. I decided to analyse this song because this is the type of genre of music I want to carry out my research into and also for when I create my music video, I will have relevant and up-to-date research to use to aid the music videos development.
Thursday, 4 May 2017
Note To Moderator
Dear Moderator,
My brief for my AS Media coursework was to develop a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a new, original music magazine. I choose to follow the genre of electronic/DJ music due to its significant popularity within youths and modern music in general. Being a teenager myself I felt I was most knowledgeable and interested in this area of the music industry and therefore it was appropriate that I progressed with this for my magazine. I wanted to provide teenagers and young adults a vibrant, acidic and colourful alternative to competing music magazines such as Mix Mag due to their bland and traditional themes.
Please take note that this blog application can sometimes incur problems with working hyperlinks, therefore please copy and paste the links into your browser if they do not work. All my links are open and public for your viewing.
Yours Sincerely,
Elliot Duncan, Edgbarrow School
Candidate Number: 51111
Center Number: 4564
My brief for my AS Media coursework was to develop a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a new, original music magazine. I choose to follow the genre of electronic/DJ music due to its significant popularity within youths and modern music in general. Being a teenager myself I felt I was most knowledgeable and interested in this area of the music industry and therefore it was appropriate that I progressed with this for my magazine. I wanted to provide teenagers and young adults a vibrant, acidic and colourful alternative to competing music magazines such as Mix Mag due to their bland and traditional themes.
Please take note that this blog application can sometimes incur problems with working hyperlinks, therefore please copy and paste the links into your browser if they do not work. All my links are open and public for your viewing.
Yours Sincerely,
Elliot Duncan, Edgbarrow School
Candidate Number: 51111
Center Number: 4564
Music Magazine Evaluation
Music Magazine Evaluation - Rhythmag
This project consisted and required me to use my initiative to carry out primary and secondary research, plan, construct/develop and finally evaluate my findings and designs of my music magazine, named by myself as Rhythmag. In this evaluation below, I have displayed the usage of a variety of software and technologies associated with them in order to demonstrate and develop my understanding and skill set of around this area of media format.
*Note to moderator - If embedded links do not work as a hyperlink please copy and paste the links into your browser to be directly taken to the evaluation responses.
Thank you.
First of all, I used an online application called Piktochart in order to create and place my response to the first key question of my evaluation. In this I cover how my music magazine covers, challenges and develops on typical codes and conventions of this format of media product. Throughout the course of this task I began to recognize the use of these conventions in various media products. Use this link to access my reflection against question one here: https://magic.piktochart.com/output/21854018-question-1-magazine-evaluation
Furthermore, I have again used another online resource called Padlet. This allowed me create a small, condensed documents that appear side by side like a note board. I could insert my text for my evaluation into so that it appears professional and clear.The adjoining images to these two question are placed at the bottom of this blog section rather than in the presentation due to the application not having that capability at this current time. My evaluation against question two and three leads with my discussion on how my magazine displays particular social groups and which type of media institution could promote my media product. Please use the following link to access my response to question two and three of my evaluation here: https://padlet.com/elliot_duncan1/rzdhzd58vf4t
Additionally, I used another online resource called Prezi to create a presentation of my combined answer to question 4 and 5. Prezi uses animated transitions to transport a user from one aspect of a dynamic page to the next. In this question I explain who would be the typical audience for my magazine and how would I attract/address my audience. The link placed in here will take you directly to this presentation I have created to display my response. http://prezi.com/xqq98nctteyh/utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share
In progression of this, my answer to question 6 can be found using this next link. This is where I discussed and looked back on the technologies (hardware and software) I had used in order to prepare and develop my magazine. I cover the details of when each technology was used and why it was needed for this project. Please click on this link to be taken or alternatively copy and paste it into your browser if it is not working as a hyperlink. https://magic.piktochart.comoutput/22165515-question-6-magazine-evaluation
In my response to question 7 I compare, review and reflect on the progress I have made from the preliminary task to my final draft, in which I cover my understanding of planning, conventions and the overall aesthetic as well how and why I implemented certain techniques to create a certain theme. Please use this link to find my response I wrote using this online application called Visme.: https://my.visme.co/projects/76oyedvy-question-7-response-magazine-evaluation
Overall conclusion of the task
In conclusion, during the course of time I had to plan, develop and finalize my music magazine, Rhythmag, I feel as though my understanding of electronic music and the audiences surrounding the genre has been much more developed and enabled me to gain a deeper in-sight into the typical reader and views this kind of person may have. Furthermore, through my in-depth research and analytical skills I feel my understanding of how and why certain elements, text fonts, shapes and images are placed onto each page of a music magazine and what their key focus and effect is on a reader. I attempted to implement these ideas and techniques used in official magazine companies onto my own magazine in order to make it appear professional, appealing and fitting the genre of music chosen, electronic/DJ.
Final Drafts
This project consisted and required me to use my initiative to carry out primary and secondary research, plan, construct/develop and finally evaluate my findings and designs of my music magazine, named by myself as Rhythmag. In this evaluation below, I have displayed the usage of a variety of software and technologies associated with them in order to demonstrate and develop my understanding and skill set of around this area of media format.
*Note to moderator - If embedded links do not work as a hyperlink please copy and paste the links into your browser to be directly taken to the evaluation responses.
Thank you.
First of all, I used an online application called Piktochart in order to create and place my response to the first key question of my evaluation. In this I cover how my music magazine covers, challenges and develops on typical codes and conventions of this format of media product. Throughout the course of this task I began to recognize the use of these conventions in various media products. Use this link to access my reflection against question one here: https://magic.piktochart.com/output/21854018-question-1-magazine-evaluation
Furthermore, I have again used another online resource called Padlet. This allowed me create a small, condensed documents that appear side by side like a note board. I could insert my text for my evaluation into so that it appears professional and clear.The adjoining images to these two question are placed at the bottom of this blog section rather than in the presentation due to the application not having that capability at this current time. My evaluation against question two and three leads with my discussion on how my magazine displays particular social groups and which type of media institution could promote my media product. Please use the following link to access my response to question two and three of my evaluation here: https://padlet.com/elliot_duncan1/rzdhzd58vf4t
Additionally, I used another online resource called Prezi to create a presentation of my combined answer to question 4 and 5. Prezi uses animated transitions to transport a user from one aspect of a dynamic page to the next. In this question I explain who would be the typical audience for my magazine and how would I attract/address my audience. The link placed in here will take you directly to this presentation I have created to display my response. http://prezi.com/xqq98nctteyh/utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share
In progression of this, my answer to question 6 can be found using this next link. This is where I discussed and looked back on the technologies (hardware and software) I had used in order to prepare and develop my magazine. I cover the details of when each technology was used and why it was needed for this project. Please click on this link to be taken or alternatively copy and paste it into your browser if it is not working as a hyperlink. https://magic.piktochart.comoutput/22165515-question-6-magazine-evaluation
In my response to question 7 I compare, review and reflect on the progress I have made from the preliminary task to my final draft, in which I cover my understanding of planning, conventions and the overall aesthetic as well how and why I implemented certain techniques to create a certain theme. Please use this link to find my response I wrote using this online application called Visme.: https://my.visme.co/projects/76oyedvy-question-7-response-magazine-evaluation
Overall conclusion of the task
In conclusion, during the course of time I had to plan, develop and finalize my music magazine, Rhythmag, I feel as though my understanding of electronic music and the audiences surrounding the genre has been much more developed and enabled me to gain a deeper in-sight into the typical reader and views this kind of person may have. Furthermore, through my in-depth research and analytical skills I feel my understanding of how and why certain elements, text fonts, shapes and images are placed onto each page of a music magazine and what their key focus and effect is on a reader. I attempted to implement these ideas and techniques used in official magazine companies onto my own magazine in order to make it appear professional, appealing and fitting the genre of music chosen, electronic/DJ.
Final Drafts
Step by Step Development Of Magazine Pages
The following images show a collage of the step by step movements I took during the development of each page of my music magazine. These will be in a thumbnail size due to the large amount of screenshots I have taken during each pages development, however they will be enlarged so that the changes throughout are noticeable.
Front Cover
At the beginning of the front cover page development I placed a temporary picture of a real life artist so that I could begin implementing other elements. This photo was fairly similar to the photo I used in the final draft in terms of camera shot and therefore it made sense to start out with this, however you can see it is removed fairly early on in the process and I begin using my own photos.
Contents Page
For the contents page I encountered difficulties deciding on the layout, positioning and photo to choose for the background. As you can see in the step by step development below it took me various attempts on experimenting with the design before deciding with a background photo and then the positioning and colours of the text fonts.
Double Page Spread
Similarly to the previous collections of screenshots, I will be inserting the development of my double page spread below. During the development of this page I had issues with the colours scheme because it did not follow the theme of electronic music and my own colour scheme suitably. Despite this, I overcame this problem and finished my final draft which is available to see on other posts.
Front Cover
At the beginning of the front cover page development I placed a temporary picture of a real life artist so that I could begin implementing other elements. This photo was fairly similar to the photo I used in the final draft in terms of camera shot and therefore it made sense to start out with this, however you can see it is removed fairly early on in the process and I begin using my own photos.
Contents Page
For the contents page I encountered difficulties deciding on the layout, positioning and photo to choose for the background. As you can see in the step by step development below it took me various attempts on experimenting with the design before deciding with a background photo and then the positioning and colours of the text fonts.
Double Page Spread
Similarly to the previous collections of screenshots, I will be inserting the development of my double page spread below. During the development of this page I had issues with the colours scheme because it did not follow the theme of electronic music and my own colour scheme suitably. Despite this, I overcame this problem and finished my final draft which is available to see on other posts.
Layout Plan/Colour Scheme for front cover, contents & double page spread
In the images below shows the structure and layout that I will be using for each individual page of my music magazine. This plan has helped me discuss and select the best color schemes, positioning, text fonts and images that I will be using for the front cover, contents page and double page spread. This plan has helped improved my time management and productivity during the time slots because I already have my ideas set.
Front Cover Plan
For the front cover, I will be using a highly vibrant and colorful aesthetic that includes a range of various of bright colors such as lime green, blue, orange, this of which should attempt to fit in with the acidic themes we associate with electronic music. I will be using white and black writing in order to stand out within some background colors. For example the text will use a marine blue background, however the text will be in a bold, white font in order to be able to be read clearly (as black would be to similar to the dark blue) and to maintain consistency with the electronic music theme.
Contents Page Plan
Similarly, for the contents page I will need to ensure that I maintain the contrasting, acidic, vibrant colour scheme so that it presents a constant focus around the electronic music genre themes. In the plan placed above it shows that I am again using a full cover background image of my artist "J.A Snake", and I intent to place a filter that brings out the sharper colors of this photo. Equally, I will be using the same bold, white font over the top of this so that it is clear to be read against the background and ensures that I am consistent with my themes.
Double Page Spread Plan
The double page spread will consist of information and a brief interview with my artist, J.A Snake. Using the same colour theme that I had used on the text font for the text 'J.A Snake' on the front cover, I will be using this with the addition of the lime green and navy blue colors in order to maintain the theme and make sure my readers recognize the link between the front cover artist and this page. The writing will flow over both pages by using three columns of text in a row so that a reader can clearly read and follow the path of the text placed. This plan shows that I will be placing social media icons at the bottom to help promote my media product to my audience. Social media is becoming an ever increasingly bigger platform, therefore giving my magazine an online presence is critical. The plan below shows the placement of icons and elements that I will be using.
Front Cover Plan
For the front cover, I will be using a highly vibrant and colorful aesthetic that includes a range of various of bright colors such as lime green, blue, orange, this of which should attempt to fit in with the acidic themes we associate with electronic music. I will be using white and black writing in order to stand out within some background colors. For example the text will use a marine blue background, however the text will be in a bold, white font in order to be able to be read clearly (as black would be to similar to the dark blue) and to maintain consistency with the electronic music theme.
Contents Page Plan
Similarly, for the contents page I will need to ensure that I maintain the contrasting, acidic, vibrant colour scheme so that it presents a constant focus around the electronic music genre themes. In the plan placed above it shows that I am again using a full cover background image of my artist "J.A Snake", and I intent to place a filter that brings out the sharper colors of this photo. Equally, I will be using the same bold, white font over the top of this so that it is clear to be read against the background and ensures that I am consistent with my themes.
Double Page Spread Plan
The double page spread will consist of information and a brief interview with my artist, J.A Snake. Using the same colour theme that I had used on the text font for the text 'J.A Snake' on the front cover, I will be using this with the addition of the lime green and navy blue colors in order to maintain the theme and make sure my readers recognize the link between the front cover artist and this page. The writing will flow over both pages by using three columns of text in a row so that a reader can clearly read and follow the path of the text placed. This plan shows that I will be placing social media icons at the bottom to help promote my media product to my audience. Social media is becoming an ever increasingly bigger platform, therefore giving my magazine an online presence is critical. The plan below shows the placement of icons and elements that I will be using.
Monday, 24 April 2017
Official Final Drafts Music Magazine - Rhythmag
These pages below are the finalized versions of the front, contents and double page spread of my music magazine. Each of them consisted of various drafts and took a slow development process so that I used an designed the pages appropriately in relation to the genre of electronic music (theme of the magazine) and the styles that a younger audience, whom of which is my target market will find attractive and eye catching. In order to reach this point in their development I used various technologies and software including a Canon DSLR camera, Serif Photo Plus and Serif Page Plus so I could create the pages and manipulate the photos I had taken accordingly. Each of these pages development included various drafts in order to achieve the outcome that I felt was best appropriate and effective.
You may notice from comparing this to my previous draft of the front cover that I have changed the image that goes on the front cover. The feedback given to me on my drafts suggested that there was not enough mixture of shot types on all of my pages of the magazine. Therefore, I went back to the file that had all of my photos from the photo shoot I carried out and selected a this close up shot of my 'artist'. The use of the character looking straight into the camera has more effect than the artist looking off to the side (trying to show a stylish appearance). In relation to the genre of electronic music, many other magazines use a shot type like this for the front cover with an artist looking directly at the reader. I saw this as a more appealing technique for the front cover and therefore proceeded with the idea reach this outcome. Similarly, this final draft included some additional changes including the positioning of the text addressing content inside has now been placed at the top above the title rather than in the bottom middle, where it looked out of place. Similarly, I have shrunken the size of the secondary lead sub-heading (Diplo) because from reviewing feedback and logical sense this may have been mislead as the main lead due to the size of the text font.
Using my given feedback from peers and my ideas to further develop this page I noticed that the green text in previous pages was almost impossible to see due to the stark contrast of the lime green against the background. In order to solve this problem, but still maintain my colour scheme I placed an aqua blue shape behind these sub-headings listing the content, it now looks more stylish and much clearer to read. Furthermore, the text at the bottom listing content on "remixes and musician lifestyles" appeared to be in a very small text font, therefore in order to fill the space better and maintain consistency with my designs I stretched the text across the page and re-aligned the text in order to keep the aesthetic. Comparing this design to my previous drafts I believe that the layout and colour schemes are less harsh but still keeping within the themes that electronic music follows.
Double Page Spread:
Similar to the ideas I have stated above, feedback from peers suggested that there was too many colours on this page and it was not following the colour schemes properly that I had used on the front cover. Firstly, in this final draft I have reverted back to the colour used on the title of 'J.A Snake' to the same used on the front cover so a reader recognizes the link clearly. It also maintains consistency within my choice of colours and design and therefore shows it displays a more professional aesthetic. You may notice that I have inserted social media links icons at the bottom. Like many mainstream magazines, connecting to an audience through social media is one of the most effective modern ways to advertise an artists/magazine. Therefore I have used these icons to suggest to a reader to follow my magazine on social media sites in order to keep up to date and "fashionable", this of which may be an important factor to a young audience.
Tuesday, 18 April 2017
Draft - Music Magazine Evaluation
Music Magazine – Evaluation
In what ways does your
media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
Over the course of developing my music magazine, I took into
account, considered and elaborated on various codes and conventions used in the
media industry in terms of official and established magazine companies.
Firstly, I followed and maintained certain codes and conventions
in my music magazine where I felt that these must be maintained in order to be
appropriate, relevant and fitting with the themes surrounding the genre of my
magazine, this of which is electronic music which we associate the mixing of
music and ‘DJs’. The first code I followed was by using a short, memorable
title of the magazine. The title of my magazine was “Rhythmag”, a short, unique
name and therefore is memorable because it cannot be confused or mislead by
other brands. It is important that this convention was followed when I was developing
my magazine because it I believe that providing a name customers and the market
can recognize your magazine by instantly is a key aspect of the media product.
Similarly, another convention that was important that I kept was choosing a
colour scheme and themes that are reflective and represent the genre of my
magazine suitably. As my magazine’s genre was electronic music we often associate
strong contrasting, vibrant, acidic colours. Electronic/DJ artists such as
Martin Garrix, Diplo and Amici all use a range of bright and contrasting
colours on their album covers, adverts and merchandise, this of which
reinforces the themes that we relate to within this genre of music, therefore I
have reflected these in my music magazine. In order to comply with the
colourful themes associated with electronic music I used colours ranging from
lime green, white, aqua blue and orange. This colour scheme can be seen on each
page of my magazine shown below. It was important I kept and maintained this
convention throughout my magazine because one of the key aspects of any
magazine is to promote a certain lifestyle, ideology or theme about a topic,
therefore it is key that the colour scheme and themes surrounding electronic
music were followed correctly.
In contrast of this, there were some codes and conventions
that tried to develop on in order to make my music magazine have a sense of
originality and creative. One convention I developed on was using a one full
screen image to act as the background on all of the pages I made for my music
magazine. A large portion of official magazine companies tend to use 2-4 images
on the front cover to visually display some of the main articles inside,
however I wanted my front cover to focus and promote one artist individually as
they take up the background space for the front cover, contents page and double
page spread. The other articles are still shown and clearly displayed on the
pages as you can see below, however the composition of the photo I took for
this image gives me the space to develop on this simple convention.
Furthermore, another convention that I have developed on in
my music magazine was the use of various fonts used on each page. Most official
magazines do use a variety of text fonts on the front cover and contents pages
in order to appeal to a reader and promote certain articles, however the text
fonts these magazines tend to use are from the same or similar font families
and therefore they follow the same style. However, in order to fit in with the
vivid and highly vibrant themes that we associate with the genre of electronic
music, I used noticeably different text fonts mainly on the front page, contents
and double page spread in order to fit in with the idea of strongly contrasting
elements.
I think in general electronic music and ‘DJ-ing’ attempts to
challenge common concepts and themes we see in the media due to the acidic and
strongly opposing usage of colour and music sounds we see and hear. There are
many common codes and conventions that my music magazine contains, as would all
official magazines that are available to read such as the short, memorable
title or using a different text sizes for main and sub articles. Despite this,
I do not think my magazine on its own challenges these conventions, it is
rather the genre overall.
How does your media
product represent particular social groups?
During the course of researching, planning and developing my
music magazine I learnt and recognized techniques in how I could represent and
portray the social groups surrounding the genre of electronic music. The social
group and general lifestyle that I try to portray in my magazine is mainly down
to focusing on the stance, clothing and colour schemes that I have decided to
use for my artist that is featured on the pages shown below in order to present
the life of a DJ and people working in this group of society.
From the clothing that the artist is wearing we can see that
they are following youthful trends involving skinny jeans, trainers, denim
jackets and overall slim fitting clothes. This suggests to my readers that the
social groups of electronic and DJ music are very much popular and in-fashion,
therefore this may definitely help make this product appeal to a younger
audience, especially male and female teenagers between 13-21 years old.
Similarly, the use of the strongly contrasting, vibrant colours that are
generally associated with electronic music may also represent this social group
to be for a younger age group and one that is interested in mixing music.
Bright colour schemes are used in various teenagers and children’s day to day
products that they may use such as clothes, phones, bags and shoes. Due to
these reasons my music magazine helps represent the most common ideas we
associate with the stereotypical teenager social group interest including
electronic and/or pop music, mainstream clothing fashion and in-formal
language.
What kind of media
institution might distribute your media product and why?
A media institution is an organisation, typically a
conglomerate company that has owns and has access to various media enterprises
including publishers, television, magazines and films.
Media institutions that might distribute my music magazine
would be a company that has connections to not only the music industry but all
segments of the media industry as a whole to provide stronger coverage for a
magazine. An institution such as Bauer Media would be the most likely
organisation to distribute my music magazine because they are one of the
largest media groups in Europe that provide publishing services. Due to their
multi-national scale and owning roughly three hundred magazine titles this
gives them and my media product a platform for it to be created and distributed
on. It is important an institution like Bauer Media should distribute my music
magazine because they already have an established platform of connections and
sources to go too in order to assist the distribution of any media product
effectively within their target group.
Despite this, choosing to use the major three institutions
including Warner, Sony and Universal also does have its benefits for my
magazine over a more independent organisation. These three highly dominating
companies dominate large portions of the market, therefore it they were to
distribute my music magazine (Rhythmag) the chance of its success and recognition
would be much more significant. The most concerning competition for my magazine
would most likely be MixMag, these are the most recognized magazine within the
UK and US that focuses on electronic music, this of which could make it hard to
my magazine to gain readership. Despite this, my colour scheme is much
different to the rather simple, black colour scheme MixMag use and therefore it
may appeal better to some readers who are interested in electronic music.
Who would be the
audience for your product?
From analysing the results of my questionnaire and looking
back at the research I did into the music industry surrounding electronic and
DJ music/lifestyles I have concluded a definitive audience for my magazine.
The typical audience for my magazine would be teenagers and
young adults ranging between 13-21 years old who are interested in electronic
music, it is most likely that they also find house and DJ music appealing due
to the shared characteristics they have with the electronic music such as
digital drops and beats. The audience for this who most likely be dominated my
males, however there are many recognized female electronic artists therefore
the overall gender audience for my product is mixed.
Electronic music is perceived to be a fairly fashionable
genre of music to follow and listen to within youths, therefore the typical
dress attire of my audience for males would be trainers, skinny jeans and a
hoodie, these of which are all purchased from mainstream brands such as Top Man
and River Island. Regularly attending social events and being members of many
social media applications would be a common sight within this audience group
for my music magazine.
My audience would most likely be interested in the electronic
music that is produced by popular artists from this genre including Kygo,
Martin Garrix, Diplo and Avicci, whom of which have international recognition.
Therefore the contents of my electronic music magazine would be focused around
these type of artists in order to attract this type of audience stated.
What have you learnt
about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
To develop my product, Rhythmag, I used a variety of
technologies and software in order to assist the creation of all aspects of the
development process.
Firstly, I used a DSLR camera during the early stages before
I had created the music magazine in order to take photos of my artist whom of
which is seen in the screenshots below. Using my existing camera knowledge I
experimented with different shot types and compositions in order to display my
artist appropriately in relation to electronic music and so that I could add
text and icons around them when it came to producing the pages of the magazine.
I used a DSLR camera because of its high quality capabilities and the options
to change the lens in use in order to fit the shot type needed.
Furthermore, when it came to constructing the pages of my
music magazine, I used a combination of Serif Photo Plus and Serif Page Plus
X9. These are pieces of software which allow me to manipulate and edit photos
as well as develop pages like you can within Microsoft Publisher. I edited my
photos in Serif Photo Plus so that they have the appropriate aesthetic to fit
in with electronic music, therefore I used vibrant and acidic filters over the
images in order to represent this. Equally, I used Serif Page Plus X9 to create
the pages from the beginning all the way through to the end result. This
software gave me the tools to apply text and a large selection of fonts to
choose from, shape creation tools, masking tools to reshape existing elements,
paint brushes and the ability to insert all my photos taken in their edited
format from Serif Photo Plus. These circled tools on Serif Page Plus are the
five primary aspects of the software that I used and manipulated in order to
create the pages from my magazine.
Looking back at your
preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it
to the full product?
When I began on my preliminary task I felt much more
unprepared and lacking in knowledge into what elements, themes and contents
should be put onto each magazine page and why they should or should not be
there. Looking at my preliminary task of the magazine pages I made for my
school I can see I have used more basic and simple designs in terms of shapes
and text fonts such as Arial, equally I have also used a generic structure to
the position of elements on the front cover of my preliminary task which is not
appealing to a reader.
Since finishing this starter task, I under took a large
amount of research into the genre of electronic music and as well as house and
pop to gain inspiration for designs and structure, magazine including MixMag,
BillBoard and NME were the three main magazine I researched and took ideas
from. Furthermore, I also had the time scale to carry out my own research about
music magazines as well as analyse the front covers of various magazines in
order to get a better understanding of their purpose and effect they have on a
reader, I used this knowledge I had gained and reflected it back on my own
music magazines, Rhythmag.
Similarly, I feel as though my capability and skill set in
using Serif Photo Plus and Serif Page Plus have significantly developed whilst
creating my own magazine pages. Being able to create multiple drafts on each
page means that I can demonstrate my development of the pages (shown on my
blog) as well as give me the ability to look back at the previous draft and
discuss which elements could do with adjusting, removing or being added to the
pages. I have progressed my understanding of how to manipulate photos in order
to change their visual aesthetic meaning they fit in with the electronic genre
of my magazine more appropriately. Equally, I feel my usage and technical skill
set in these pieces of software developed as well because I created custom
shapes of pieces of text and icons through the use of the mask/morph tool which
allows me to edit the curve sizes of any element on the pages, this of which is
evident on my blog posts which display the front cover, contents and double
page spread of my music magazine.
In conclusion, during the course of time I had to plan, develop and finalize my music magazine, Rhythmag, I feel as though my understanding of electronic music and the audiences surrounding the genre has been much more developed and enabled me to gain a deeper in-sight into the typical reader and views this kind of person may have. Furthermore, through my in-depth research and analytical skills I feel my understanding of how and why certain elements, text fonts, shapes and images are placed onto each page of a music magazine and what their key focus and effect is on a reader. I attempted to implement these ideas used my official magazine companies onto my own magazine in order to make it appear professional, appealing and fitting the genre of music chosen, electronic/DJ.
These images placed below show the final versions of my front cover, contents and double page spread for my magazine, Rhythmag.

These images placed below show the final versions of my front cover, contents and double page spread for my magazine, Rhythmag.

Thursday, 30 March 2017
Second draft - Double Page Spread
This image shown below is the double page spread after further development and adjustments to elements, colours and text displayed. To maintain the electronic theme which has many vibrant, acidic colours I have used the contrasting colours of turquoise and pink and lime green.These of which aim to demonstrate consistency with the previous pages electronic associated colours and the text styles used. As you can see from this page below, I have added a text bar placed at the bottom and inserted my logo to the bottom right page in order to maintain consistency of brand presence and design.
Wednesday, 29 March 2017
Draft - Double Page Spread
This image displayed below is my first draft of the double page spread for my music magazine, Rhythmag. This section stretches across two pages, hence the landscape layout. In order to follow the vibrant and acidic colour themes we normally associate with electronic (EDM) music I have used some of the colors from the front and contents pages, these of which are the aqua blue, green lime and the hazy orange background. I have used an image to act as my background for this page because during my photo shoot I had planned to position my 'artist' to the side of the shot in order to create the structure of the page and the text like this.
Thursday, 23 March 2017
Second draft - Contents Page
The image below shows my further development of the contents page. As you can see I have attempted to maintain continuity between the lime green and various blue colours that I have implemented into the front cover. Similarly, I have replaced the background image from the blue themed one to this image of my artist against an orange/red brick wall. This was so that I could contribute to maintaining similar colour themes that are on the front cover
Tuesday, 21 March 2017
First draft - Contents Page
In this image I have placed below, it displays the first draft I have created of the contents page for my music magazine, Rythmag. This draft is not the complete result of the contents page, this is simply a design that is being used to develop on until I am at a position where I am happy with the outcome.
I am currently still developing on the elements and positioning of these on this page to fit accordingly with the electronic genre and space on the page in relation to where my artists is positioned. For the next draft of this, I will be planning to replace the background image to one of theme against an orange backdrop, this is so I can maintain a consistent colour scheme with the front cover.
I am currently still developing on the elements and positioning of these on this page to fit accordingly with the electronic genre and space on the page in relation to where my artists is positioned. For the next draft of this, I will be planning to replace the background image to one of theme against an orange backdrop, this is so I can maintain a consistent colour scheme with the front cover.
Thursday, 16 March 2017
Initial Draft for the Front Cover
This screenshot below displays my first draft of the front cover for my music magazine. I have tried to implement the elements I have placed in my plans. In this first draft, I have used the orange wall from the photo as the background, using the image to spread across the entire page. I placed a channel mixer on the photo to bring out the contrasting red and blue colors that are seen on the 'artists' located in the center of the page. Similarly, this made the orange more vibrant and acidic, this helps contribute to the genre my magazine is trying to fit in with, electronic music.
Plumtree
Great research here Elliot, now start to add your initial drafts for your own products so that you can show your early ideas and how they progress over the coming weeks.
Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Top Contents Page designs by BillBoard & MixMag
These images below show the contents page from the two most mainstream and major pop magazines, Bill Board and Mix Mag. I have analysed these contents pages to understand the layout, colour schemes, images and text fonts that are most commonly used to help with the design of my own music magazine contents page.
The first two are from Bill Board's contents page, they follow a consistent structure and design in almost every one of their versions. I like the bright colour scheme they use, however they use a large amount of text and lists, this of which may put off a reader from this page to read.
These next two images are the contents page of Mix Mag. Similar to Bill Board magazine they follow their own consistent design for this page. Rather than including large amounts of text they have chosen to insert a collage of photos, this of which may be more appealing to a reader rather than a long list of text.
Wednesday, 8 March 2017
Update On Magazine Construction
I am currently in the process of developing the magazine front cover. I have a photo shoot organised for the 11/03/2017 in which I will take photos for the front cover, contents page and double page spread. As I currently I do not have my photos, however I am using stock images of artists as a temporary background to work with. I am working on placing the title, logo, bar code and any contents I am listing on the front. Following parts of my plan I am using different fonts and colour schemes for the text to appear bold and attractive, this of which is used in various pop magazines such as BillBoard and MixMag.
Once I have taken my photos I willl begin working on the contents page and double page spread. Therefore I have given myself a fixed time slot until then to develop and finish my front cover.
Once I have taken my photos I willl begin working on the contents page and double page spread. Therefore I have given myself a fixed time slot until then to develop and finish my front cover.
Tuesday, 7 March 2017
Top 10 BillBoard Magazine Front Covers
In this post, I will be placing the top 10 front covers from BillBoard magazine. The selection process of these is through personal preference and from my analysis on the type of message, color schemes and layouts they decide to use in each cover and the image/photo of the artist.
Top 10 BillBoard Magazine front covers
Friday, 3 March 2017
Potential Logo & Title Designs
In this post is the potential logo and title designs I have developed using photo manipulation software ( Serif PhotoPlus X8). This gave me the appropriate tools to make professional, vibrant and unique logos.
Tuesday, 28 February 2017
Dolby
Eliot, some interesting and thorough research here. Now start to plan colour schemes, layouts images etc...
BillBoard Magazine Research
BillBoard Magazine Research
BillBoard magazine is a music magazine that primarily focuses
on the pop industry and all major, mainstream artists surrounding this genre,
such as Justin Bieber, Kygo and Katy Perry.
BillBoard is an American magazine, owned by Prometheus Global
Media. It publishes news, video, opinions, reviews, events and trending styles.
It is mainly known for its music charts, consisting of the Billboard Hot 100
and Billboard 200, these include the most popular singles and albums in various
genres. It also hosts events, has its own publishing firm and operates many TV
shows.
Billboard was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James
Hennegan as a publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegen's
interest in 1900 for a small $500.
During the 1900s, it began to cover entertainment industries such
as circuses and fairs. It also made a mail service for travelling entertainers.
Billboard began focusing on the music industry as the jukebox and radio became more
of a standard item. Many topics it covered were placed into different
magazines.
As recording and technology developed, the focus of BillBoard
was straight onto the diverse music industry. After Donaldson died in 1925,
Billboard was passed on to his children and Hennegan's children, until it was
sold to investors in 1985 for roughly 40 million dollars. The magazine had continued
to switch between hands to Affiliated Publications (in 1987, Nielsen in 1994
for 650 million dollars and it’s finally its current owner, Prometheus Global
Media since 2009 for approximately 11 billion dollars. As of 2017, it has been
shifting to more of a consumer focus online in the digital age.
Trouble: During 2004, a male and female employee were fired
simultaneously with the intent to damage their personal and business
reputations. The two employees filed a $29 million dollar lawsuit against them.
The case was sorted in court for an unreleased sum of money, this however is
expected to be a large sum.
These images below show BillBoard magazine through the years. From when they started as a simple publication to a music focused business.
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