Question 7:Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have

learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Skills DevelopmentThe main thing I learnt in the progression from my preliminary task to my music magazine project was how to better utilise software and improve my general knowledge and skills. For example, when doing my preliminary task I had no previous experience with Photoshop or InDesign and therefore got the chance to experiment with both pieces of software in order to develop a basic skill set. It also helped me realise for myself what looks more aesthetically pleasing on a magazine, and what doesn’t have a professional enough style. Specifically in my music magazine I realised that I was no longer afraid of blank space, as I had been previously when designing my college magazine.

Design LinksIt became clear to me that there are specific links between things such as the layout and design of a product and the genre, or perhaps the representation of an audience.

I noticed that generally publishes follow a certain set of codes and conventions in order to make a product more marketable. After realising this particular fact, I was able to concentrate more on said features and make my music magazine more professional.

The Importance of Research and Planning

One very important thing I learnt in the progression from my college magazine to my music magazine was the importance of research and planning. There is an obvious correlation between the amount of detail in preparing for a task and the quality it ultimately ends up. This is shown by the amount of blog posts I entered for my college magazine and the poor quality of it, compared to the vast amount more effort I put into the music magazine and the substantially higher quality it embodies.

ComparisonHere I will show a comparison between

my preliminary task and my full project in which I will detail elements that I feel have improved from the former to the

latter.

College Magazine Front Cover Music Magazine Front Cover

Too BusyFrom looking at this magazine alone it is clear to see that there is too much

going on. The background is very busy and rather than

ensuring that everything else on the page is as neutral as possible to counteract the

vibrancy, I have disregarded it completely and used clashing patterns and colours. This gives the

magazine and very unprofessional aesthetic and

is something I took into consideration when designing my music

magazine.

Too Busy

Although there is still quite a lot on this page, it feels

much less cluttered. I believe this is partially

because I have managed to stick to a particular

colour scheme, as well as the fact that I haven’t been afraid of blank space. I feel

that all the information I wanted to include on my

front cover has been covered, but thanks to the colours and the fact that

there is only one model as opposed to two, it looks more sophisticated and

professional.

Skills DevelopmentAnother element that I felt

was improved from my preliminary task to my full

project was the professionalism of

photography. This image was taken quite hastily at

college with no real control over the models’ clothes, hair, make up or general

appearance. I also decided to cut the model’s out using photoshop and stick them on a different background.

In hindsight I realise this was a bad idea as it’s very clear

that they weren’t photographed against the background, and could’ve

been edited in more delicately.

Skills DevelopmentBy experimenting with cutting people out and

altering the background during my preliminary task, I learnt that it would be easier

and would have a more professional appearance if I

took the photograph I wanted to use against an

appropriate background in the first place. This image looks far more realistic and

therefore sophisticated because I did my

photoshoot outdoors in the natural light and

environment.

Cover Lines

This cover line in particular looks tacky and childish.

There is too much variation: The word ’Starbucks’ is

written in all capital letters and has a different font size

to that of the main body text, and the word ‘hot’ is also capitalised but also has an inverted colour

palette with a white glow around the outside.

Looking back I realise this looks extremely

unprofessional and I don’t believe it would appeal to

college students.

There are very few cover lines on this magazine

which is an unconventional feature. Some magazines

deliberately keep their cover lines minimalistic,

however for the genre that this is, I just think it shows

laziness. Also, the language used is quite

simple and therefore not overly intriguing.

Cover Lines

On my full music magazine project, I decided to keep the cover lines much more simple. A recurring theme is followed amongst each

which makes the magazine look less cluttered and

more sophisticated. I think this style would appeal

more to my target audience of predominantly 16-19 year old females, as

opposed to college students in general.

I have deliberately added more cover lines onto this magazine so that it can’t

be viewed as lazy or uninformative. I used the typical media convention

of rule of thirds when designing this in order to

keep it all structured, organised and balanced.

Finally, the language used for these articles is deliberately more

ambiguous; people will be intrigued by the unknown and will

hopefully be more easily enticed into purchasing

the product.

Main Cover LineThe main cover line on this

magazine is an article about the ‘new student union

representatives, Flick and Leia’. It’s an article

specifically tailored for college students and is

therefore relatively relaxed and informal; nicknames are

used as opposed to full names. This is a typical

convention of magazines as it makes the articles feel

more personal to the reader, therefore subliminally

convincing them to read the magazine.

The aesthetics of this main cover line aren’t attractive enough to me. Although it is clear which article is the main feature, it’s still in the same font as the rest and

therefore isn’t bold enough.

Main Cover LineI have used an informal

term in this main cover line also; I’ve referenced Polly

Wilde by using her surname - effectively a nickname. I also used a

pun to catch the attention of readers; ‘born to be wild’ is a very well known phrase

and would therefore be likely to provoke a

response from a reader.I much prefer the appearance of this main cover line as it is bold,

edgy and stands out so much more than that of the college magazine. I learnt

that the main feature article must be eye-

catching and there are great lengths you can go to in order to achieve this

goal.

Fonts

The fonts displayed here are plain, which is a typical

convention on magazine front covers, however they

are too widely used in general. I learnt that a

commonly used font can make a magazine

automatically look less sophisticated and therefore wanted to change this for

my music magazine.

I don’t think there is enough variation in fonts on this page. Something

completely different might make the magazine more

attractive.

Fonts

Although the fonts used on this front cover are also

relatively simple, I do think they look more

professional. There is also more of a variation even

within the coverlines, making it interesting and breaking each section up

more.

I am pleased with the fonts I chose for the front cover in particular. There are a few that have been used, but I don’t think it looks

overcrowded or cluttered.

Composition

There isn’t much of a structure to this front cover

as the cover lines have been mainly placed on the left, but also stray over to the right and the bottom.

On a normal image the subjects would be more central to make it more aesthetically pleasing,

however I had to move the models towards the right in order to fit the cover lines

on. This looks slightly unprofessional and I would

have preferred the main focus to be central.

The masthead has been conventionally positioned as I knew that placing it at

the top is an important convention to conform to; magazines are generally

stacked so that this area is most visible, giving the reader a chance to see

and remember the masthead over everything

else.

Composition

Placing the main cover line at the bottom was an

effective idea that draws attention but ensures that the image isn’t obstructed

or distracted from.

I tried to structure my front cover in terms of the rule

of thirds. This was because people generally find information easier to

process if it’s set out neatly. I learnt from my mistakes of squashing

everything into my preliminary task that space is a luxury that should be

utilised effectively.

This photo is much more professionally composed with the model placed in

the centre which gave me much more choice with the rest of the design features.

I decided to place the cover lines evenly around her body as this is where I had most space without obscuring anything too

important.