Key Research and Planning Tasks

Key Planning Tasks

Deadline: Wednesday, 6^th January 2015

You must complete the following tasks and post them on your blog:

1. Create a mission statement for your music magazine.
2. Create a mood board or reader profile for your music magazine.
3. Create a rough draft of your music magazine front cover.
4. Create a rough draft of your music magazine contents page.
5. Create a rough draft of the layout for your music magazine double page spread. You do not need to write the article yet!

A grade examples of each task have been posted on the blog.

Deadlines for Completed Music Magazine Pages

Front Cover – Wednesday, 27^th January 2015

Contents Page – Wednesday, 17^th February 2015

Article – Wednesday, 9^th March 2015

Example of Article Planning

Example of Contents Page Planning

First draft of my contents page for my music magazine from AlysLeMoignan

Example of Music Cover Planning

Examples of a Mission Statement and Mood Board

Target audience mood boards and reader profiles from jonesjrah1973

Example of Reader Profile

Example of Questionnaire Results Analysis

Music magazine questionnaire from AlysLeMoignan

Market Research Questionnaire

AS Foundation Portfolio

Primary Research

 

1. Create a market research questionnaire for your music magazine. Use Microsoft Word to complete the task.
    
2. Use the example as a template for your own questionnaire.
    
   A hard copy of your questionnaire should be handed to JRJ by Wednesday, 18th November. JRJ will then create 10 copies of your questionnaire so that you can give them to your target audience.
    
    

Music Magazine Research Deadline

You should complete the following research into music magazines:

• Analyse 3 music magazine covers
• Analyse 3 contents pages
• Analyse 3 articles

Post the work on your blog!
Deadline: Wednesday 11th November 2015

Joe Pugh AS Media Blog 2014:

Joe Pugh AS Media Blog 2014:

Magazine Front Cover Analysis - Research from AlysLeMoignan

Example of School Magazine Evaluation

School Magazine Front Cover Analysis and Evaluation

The name of my magazine is 'BreakTime'. I chose this name because it fits in with school life and it is something people can read in their free time. 'BreakTime' can make people think of relaxation and a time to chill out. It is a catchy name that people can remember. The colour scheme of my masthead is yellow and black. The bright yellow attracts the reader and makes it stand out on a page. The stroke around the text is in black, it makes it bold and contrasts with the bright yellow. It originally didn't have a stroke around the text but I felt it looked lost on the page without it. I believe these two colours work well together. The masthead is big on the page, this makes it stand out and lets the reader know it is the name of the magazine.


For my main image I chose to take a picture of a girl named Emily. My main image dominates the cover, it is a medium shot of Emily with the background removed so it solely focusses on Emily. Emily's gaze is at the audience and she is smiling which indicates she is a friendly person, her smile is inviting. The main image fits in with my story of 'new head girl', even though Emily is wearing comfortable clothes it shows that she is relaxed in a school environment. My main image originally had a brick background but I felt it didn't fit in with my magazine, therefore I removed it using Photoshop, I believe it has improved the image because the brick work was detracting from Emily herself as the main image.

I decided to have three subsidiary images of equal size, I made them a lot smaller than my main image so as to not detract from the main story whilst fitting as much content as possible on the page to draw readers in with different articles. I have placed my subsidiary images at the bottom left corner of the page all together because it gives my page a grid structure and a busy feel. Furthermore the layout of the subsidiary images are overlapping and tilted which creates a balance against the formality of other aspects of the page.
The image on the left was meant to represent a swimathon, it was pictured outside a leisure centre. I don't feel I have captured this image as well as I could have, ideally an image of a swimming pool or a swimmer would have been more appropriate. Nevertheless the boy taken in the photograph stands proudly and                                               has the physique of a swimmer.



The next image regards exam results. The image was taken outside the main entrance of upper school which is where pupils collect their results. I believe I have captured this image well since the boys are showing relevant expression as they open their results.






The final subsidiary image is showing a glimpse of the choir's activity in the school. It was taken in the music room where choir is held, the piano and the music stands fit in with the environment. The music teacher is in between the two pupils pointing towards a sheet of music highlighting the practical nature of the work they're doing. The boy on the far left is shown to be singing which gives a clear indication of the story that it is representing. Also the boy on the right is smiling, which indicates how fun and enjoyable choir is.

I used six sell lines on my front cover, they give a clear indication about the contents of the magazine. They are straight to the point and informative. The way I have designed my sell lines draws comparisons to a school notepad to fit in with the nature of the magazine. I used red bullet points and black text so that it broke up the page, I introduced red to make the page more interesting and less plain. I didn't use any puns or alliteration because I felt it wasn't needed, I thought it would be a little unsophisticated on a front cover. I wanted to use a variety of different fonts to make it eye-catching, each section of the page uses different fonts so that it doesn't look boring. In addition to this, I made sure that the font size was clear and appropriate and legible for the reader. I wanted to find a balance, because too big would crowd the front cover and too little may look empty. Also I didn't draw away from the masthead, which is the main focus on the magazine cover.

I wanted the pug to visually reflect the information shown on it, and so I decided to make the pug look like a paint pallet. I chose two different fonts, the font I used for the word 'art' looks as if it has been created with a paint brush which links to the fact that it is about an art club. I chose yellow and black because yellow itself attracts attention and black stands out on top of it, a crucial aspect of a pug is that it has to stand out.

The layout of my front page is clear and well organised, it doesn't look messy, it is very presentable. I believe that my front page is suitable for my target audience which is school children. It addresses topical information about school life and this would appeal to the wide tastes of school pupils. My design of the front cover is recognisable as a school magazine if looked closer at, but from a first glance it could be mistaken for something else.
I am extremely happy with my final front cover design. I believe that it looks attractive and inviting which would appeal to people of a young age. The layout of my subsidiary images is effective and I like how the pictures overlap and are tilted at slight angles because it looks engaging. Also I am pleased with how my main image turned out once I had edited it on Photoshop, I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I believe it made the picture look more professional. I felt I made the size of the text appropriate for each section of the magazine.
To improve my magazine further I feel I could have used subsidiary images that better represented the content, for example I could have used a picture of a swimming pool that better highlighted a swimathon. I need to pay attention to detail more when I complete my school magazine, as I haven't put the price, the issue date or a barcode on the magazine. Also I could have improved my text colour scheme so that it stands out more. Another target for improvement would be to more effectively show it is a school magazine through design. I could have used a literary devise such as alliteration to make my sell lines more memorable. Overall I am pleased with my front cover but recognise there is always room for improvement.

Blogging Habits!

You should update your blog as often as possible!


This means that you should update your blog at least once per week!


 


A day without blogging is like a day without sunshine!

School Magazine Cover Deadline

The deadline for the completion of the school magazine front cover is:

Wednesday, 14th October 2015

School Magazine Front Cover Key Tasks

AS Preliminary Task

School Magazine Front Cover

The preliminary task is designed to help you learn the basics of page layout and design. You will not achieve a mark for the finished product, but if you do not complete the task, then fifteen marks will be deducted from the main task, the four pages of the music magazine.

You need to think about the following codes and conventions when you design your front page.

The Masthead

·        What is the name of the magazine?

·        What are the connotations of the masthead?

·        Is the colour scheme of the masthead appropriate?

·        Is the masthead a sufficient size?

Images

·        What is the main image on your cover? It should be a medium close-up (head and shoulders shot) of an appropriate model.

·        Is the main image an appropriate or conventional size?

·        Does the main image give a clear indication of the story that it is representing?

·        Is the composition of the main image clear on the page?

·        You should try to include at least one subsidiary image.

·        Is the subsidiary image an appropriate size?

·        Has the subsidiary image been placed in an appropriate position on the page?

·        Does the subsidiary image give a clear indication of the story that it is representing?

Language

·        You should use sell lines on the front cover in order to give the reader an idea of the stories that can be found in the magazine (Should be at least 3)

·        The sell lines should give a clear indication about the main stories within the magazine and should appeal to the target audience. The splash for the main story should be an appropriate size and positioned carefully on the page

·        The language should be informative and entertaining.

·        You should try and use literary devices in order to make your cover more interesting. E.g. puns, alliteration, etc.

·        Spelling and punctuation must be accurate.

·        You should use a range of appropriate fonts. (At least 2)

·        The font size should be clear and appropriate.

·        You should use a consistent and appropriate colour scheme that appeals to the target audience.

Layout and Design

·        The layout of the front page should be clear and well organised.

·        The front page should appeal to the reader.

·        The design of your front page should be recognisable as the front cover of a school magazine.

 Key Tasks to Complete During the Planning Stage

1.    Analyse the front cover of at least three different types of magazine. Try to identify the key codes and conventions of layout and design.

2.   Plan your ideas for your front cover. Think about the following: Masthead, Sell Lines, Strap Lines, Slogan, Main Image, Subsidiary Images, etc.

3.   Create a rough draft of your magazine front cover.

4.   Complete the planning documents to plan your photo shoots.

6.   Take your photographs. You will need to book the camera if you are using school equipment!

7.   Edit your photographs using Photoshop. You should spend a minimum of 1 hour using Photoshop.

8.   Create your cover using Adobe Indesign or another suitable Desk Top Publishing Programme. You will need to book your sessions in the media room. You should aim to spend a minimum of 3 hours using Adobe Indesign.

9.   Evaluate your front cover.

10.                You should update your blog at every stage of the production process. Remember to save jpegs that show every stage of the development of your pictures and cover.

AS Media Coursework

Print Production

Preliminary Exercise

Using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally, candidates must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of DTP.

Research and Planning

Before you start to create your front page, you will need to research the codes and conventions of magazine front covers. This will involve analysing how front covers are designed and how they communicate with the target audience. You will need to study the layout, masthead, images and text in order to understand how magazine front covers work.

You will also need to carry out some market research into the target audience for your magazine. This will involve creating a questionnaire in order to find out the views of the audience which will enable you to include content that will appeal to the people that are going to read the magazine.

Drafting will also be a very important aspect of the planning stage. You should always come up with a number of different ideas for the layout, images and text that you are going to use to design your magazine page. For example, you might come up with four or five different ideas for the masthead of your magazine, and then find out which is the most popular with the target audience by creating a questionnaire to find out their views.

Create the front page of a school/college magazine.

• This preliminary task will prepare you for your main task which is to produce the front cover, contents page and a double page spread of a music magazine.

Use the following elements to create a draft of the front page of a school magazine:

1. Masthead: Think of a name for the magazine.
2. Images: What picture(s) are you going to use?
3. Cover lines: What information are you going to include on the cover?
4. Captions: These are used to place the pictures into context.
5. Flashes
6. Codes and Conventions: Details you would expect to find on the front of a magazine
7. Layout and Design: The way the words and pictures are organised on the page.

·        You should aim to spend at least 2-3 hours using the computer during the construction of your front page.

·         Using the Object tool (rectangle, ellipse, polygon)

·         Using the Type tool

·         Using at least 3 Layers

·         Using Colour for background and text

·         Using appropriate fonts

·         Creating text effects using Stroke function.

·         Altering the size of text

·         Using the Rotate tool where possible

·         Taking appropriate images

·         Importing images from Adobe Bridge

·         Resizing Images

·         Cropping Images

·         Background Removal of images using Photoshop

·         Creating a Clipping Path for images

·         Using Feathering where appropriate

·         Using Corner Effects where possible

·         Using Drop Shadow where possible

·         Using Transparency where possible

·         Using Text Wrap where possible

The Deadline for the rough draft of your school magazine cover is Wednesday, 14th October 2015

School magazine covers from jonesjrah1973