EVALUATION 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Both images of the left are my front cover and contents page from my preliminary task, and the images on the right are my finished products from my main task of creating a music magazine.

It is difficult to compare my front cover and contents from my prelim to my final piece as they were based on different things. As one was about a school magazine and one a music they will obviously have very different sell lines and different visual things. However I have learnt to use different technologies, how to manage time and also how much actually goes into constructing a music magazine. I defiantly have learnt a lot from making this and I am much happier about my final piece.

Looking back at my preliminary front cover it is very plain and also does not look that professional in comparison to my final piece. It covers a lot of the hair and is not in a straight line but also it looks very bare in the bottom left hand corner. If I had a chance to edit the prelim then I would change a lot of things, I think know that I have had more opportunities to use technologies then I would be able to create a more professional looking school magazine.

When looking at my contents page it does look very boring and does not really look like a contents page. There is no images that stand out to me and also the main thing which I feel stupid for is there is no numbers to actually tell you where a bouts the article is in the magazine. It is very bright which I do not like and also is not the shape for a contents page as it is square. I was really pleased when I created my front cover and contents page as I thought it looked rather professional but putting my final piece against it it makes it look very unprofessional and looks like it has been made by a much younger person. I have learnt so much when making this magazine so hopefully this is shown by my final piece.

If I looked at my prelim task on a shelf I would not pick it up as it does not attract me at all the sell lines do not stand out and everything on the page feels as thought it is squashed. 

When I look at my prelim I realised that I did not spend as much time as what I would like and also I did not do a lot of research. When making my prelim I did not know any terminology or theories to make sure that my magazines had these or followed them to make it the best that it could be. The more research you did then the higher chance of producing a conventional and professional magazine. I would say that I am a organised person and I planned each post to make sure that I did not leave it to the last minute. I feel that overall, I have learnt a lot about research and time management when going from my prelim to my final task. When I carried out the research I made sure that I blogged about it so then I could easily look back and find out about each thing that I needed to. The detailed research has allowed me to make my final product the best that it can possibly be by putting in the effort and planning my time efficiently.

I thought that I did spend a lot of time perfecting my prelim, however now that I have looked back on it it doesn't look like I have compared to my final task. Hopefully my final piece looks as though I have spent much more time than my prelim as I have and I am pleased with the amount of time that I did spend. 

When I made my prelim I only had the opportunity to make a front cover and contents page so when it came to make the double page spread I didn't really know what I was looking for. I had to start researching what the typical conventions were for the main task. I did find this the most difficult to create as I had less experience however once I had made my first draft I felt as though it looked rather professional. I thought that it gave me a sense of achievement as I have never created this before like the other two pages so when I did I felt more pleased with this than my other two pages.  

I have to admit when I was looking at other people's music magazines I did think that mine in comparison didn't look at well produced but I changed this as you can see this in my drafts. As my prelim didn't have any drafts I though that I could of made some just to show how I created my magazine. 

I did use pixlr on both of the tasks and as you can tell one looks like it has had better production than the other, for my prelim task contents page I put it as a collage which tell you that I really didn't have a clue how to make it on pixlr. I have since had a lot of experience to help me assist on my pixlr skills.

I learnt that feedback is key and even though I did not get feedback for my prelim I decided to always get it for each draft so then I could change it to appeal to my target audience. When I asked people about my magazine it was good to get positive and negative feedback as then I could change it to what they think they would prefer to look at. If I did not have any feedback then I would not of created a magazine like this one as I would not know what other people would think about it. For a magazine that is going to be sold it was vital to get peoples opinions. 

I had to think a lot about responsibility as I had to look after my model as well as take the photos on quite expensive hardware. Also the macs at school I had to look after as I am so clumsy I was scared about breaking them. At school they have a system where if you wanted to take something out like a tripod then you would have to fill out a short form which was good as then I knew when to bring it back by.  

Overall I think that creating a prelim of my music magazine was really helpful as it gave me a rough guide onto what to put on it and how it appeals to people. It then gave me an idea about research, time management and audience feedback. I have learnt about new technologies and websites to create things on which I know that I will use again in the future. I am glad that I have looked at other music magazines as I will probably go out and buy one as I know understand how much hard work it is to create one. Although they do have a numerous amount of staff working on the magazine it is very difficult to gather audience feedback as they can not ask people what they like and dislike as they are trying to sell the magazine to these people. 

I am proud of my final products and I am so much happier about these than my prelim and hopefully you can see the amount of work that I have put into these.

EVALUATION 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

EVALUATION 5 - How did you attract / address your audience?

I used various techniques on my front cover to try and attract my audience, these were mostly things that are included in my audience pleasers post. Audience pleasers are as set of techniques that a magazine will use to persuade an audience to buy their magazine and to maintain that readership. They are things that people like that make them feel good, how people spend their free time, how something is presented to suit their audience and what the magazine thinks the audience wants. 

One of these is direct mode of address which is how the magazine speaks to the reader by the use of colloquial language which is language that is personal to you and also personal pronouns. As my magazine front cover is the first things that the reader will see I used language that would be interesting for the reader to see such as ritzy, collab and stars. All of these words instantly draw the reader in as they tell the reader that the things inside are going to read about and they will have to buy the magazine to see what the stars are, or what the ritzy scam is about and also who the collaboration is going to be with. There is not any personal pronouns which I do think I could add in as then it would make it more engaging however my sell lines would not work with personal pronouns in them. If I had put you're exclusive interview it would work  better however I would then run out of space on my front cover. 

Secondly I put a burst on the front cover which was a free download. Customers love the sense of being given to as they feel as though they are having the magazine for free as they are paying the price of the free item and getting the magazine free. When I interviewed one of my target audience I asked them what draws you in and she said the free download so I know that this defiantly works. If I wanted to put another free item or a competition on the page then I would probably put it on the bottom however I could use this in the next issue as then my readers will buy the magazine again. 

There is information on the page that also engages the audience. I have put tour dates and also the ritzy festival scam on the front cover as they will want to read about them, with this information it acts as news on music and people will want to find about the latest news on the music front. 

The next thing is the 'ritual pleasure of consuming of readers' this is when people subscribe to a magazine, I put this on my contents page as it is where people look for information also it is following the conventions of magazines. 

Another thing was belonging of self definition I didn't want forums on the website as this could be dangerous, but I did want my target audience to feel as though they could talk to other people that is interested in the same music. This is why I have put fan mail as a feature in the magazine this makes it easy to communicate and see what other people are listening to and also what they like and dislike in the current indie music charts. 

So now onto the visual things that attract my target audience. 

Firstly I attracted my readers through the use of a masthead, this is the largest piece of text on the cover, this is really important as the title is the first thing that a reader sees, if they are looking to buy the magazine they will look for the name which is on the top of the page. As it is called En(ore you can instantly relate it to a music magazine as encore is when a artist or band comes back on after they have finished a gig and perform another song. I did use a very different font as it was neither sans serif or serif it was font that looks like a stamp. This could connote its importance. 

The sell lines down the left and right hand side of the magazine also attract the audience. When I was thinking about what to put for my sell lines I knew that I had to include something that is interesting and then I know they will want to buy the magazine and read about this. By including relevant topics for my genre of music magazine will interest them more as they will want to find out about the upcoming indie stars etc. I decided to put the 'exclusive' in a block of white colour so it will stand out and therefore they will know that the sell line underneath is going to be the most important article in my magazine which is my double page spread. In addition I decided to use a burst which was 'free download of the xx' the xx is a massive indie band so that will interest my target audience also it shows the style of genre that my magazine is about as the xx would not be on a country or hip-hop magazine. The use of the burst encourages the reader to buy it and also could make them want to buy another issue. 

Next is the main image that I used these are on all three pages, on my front cover and double page spread it is breaking conventions as my model is not looking directly at the camera so could possibly not engage the reader. However I still believe that it attracts my audience as my model is of a young age and people of the similar age read the magazine. Also the location of the image is very intriguing as it is mysterious and people might like the image as it is very quirky and you can get fashion shoots with images like this that people have as posters. On my front cover I used an image that was a full body shot but my model was bent down so it shows that she is not superior and doesn't show off, on my contents page I have a head shot as that draws the reader in as she is looking directly at them and finally on my double page spread the image in off centre but looking at the article so works well as it makes the article look important.

My colour scheme also attracts my audience as it is simple and is easy to read. The purple, blue, black and white is good as it attracts both male and females. Also when looking at other music magazines they had four colours for example NME have black, red, white and always another colour that goes with the artist. When I use these colours throughout the magazine it shows that it is well designed and also is consistent which would attract the audience as they then know that the magazine is well produced so has some main stars in it. Also blue and purple connote cool and chilled people, I think that the colours are good in this case as it goes with the lifestyle of my target audience.

When you look at my double page spread the pull quote will engage the reader as it will make them want to read the rest of the article. As it is bigger than the rest of the text it makes it one of the first things that they will see, also the font is the same as the masthead of the title of the magazine so it must be important. 

Overall I believe that I have created an engaging magazine that attracts my target audience, as the ways that I have presented certain bits of text is eye-catching so they will want to buy it. 

Below is one of my target audience answering some questions on my magazine about the things that attract her.

So onto the uses and gratification theory.
People buy the magazine to escape real life dramas so it allows their tension to be free. It allows them to get their social integrative needs as they can read it with their family and read about the fan mail which allows them to socialise with other people who enjoy the same music. Another way that this magazine uses the uses and gratification theory is their affective needs as when reading the magazine it could allow their mood to be good as they are reading about something that they like. Lastly it shows their cognitive needs, as they can read about information and news about the indie genre.

EVALUATION 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

One thing that I did not put into my video about my audience was about the penumbra effect, the penumbra effect is when your magazine appeals to someone who is not your in your target audience. When I made my magazine I did have in mind that I wanted it to appeal to a wider audience this is one of the reasons in which I put meet the stars of 2013, this could be indie stars as well as other artists in different genres. Also some of the artists on my front cover have collaborated with people that are not indie, for example Florence and the machine collaborated with calvin harris who is a dj so some of my audience could be interested in this genre of music but decided to buy my magazine as it has one of the artists that he collaborated with. 

EVALUATION 3- What kind of media institution might distrbute your media product and why?

During the coursework I recently posted about the media institutions, I chose which one would fit best for my magazine, by what else it publishes and also the amount of people that read that particular magazine.

IPC media are a rather successful company who publish over 60 iconic media brands, it is a privately owned business however I decided that IPC MEDIA would be the best media institution for me as it already publishes NME which is the closest magazine to mine, also it is well known so people would recognise that my magazine is published by IPC. However recent research on IPC has made me change my  mind there is a problem with having IPC as my publisher would then make me have a competition between the sales of my magazine and NME as they have similar artists inside them.

If I didn't want the competition between my magazine and NME then I could have Bauer as my magazine publisher. Bauer is a very successful company, they are the largest european publisher so I know that if they published my magazine then I will have a mass audience. They sell one of the best selling magazines with over 700,000 copies a month and also produce may magazines worldwide to attract a wider audience. Although the magazines that they are currently selling are not my genre they have many different magazines genres so they do not just cater to one style of music. As we know Kerrang! is a rock magazine and Q is mainly based on chart music, they are two very different styles of music so I think that Bauer would benefit from having an Indie style music magazine.

After looking in more depth at the two media institutions I have now changed my mind. Beforehand I was going to have IPC but now I am going to have Bauer as there is a space for my magazine genre. I did look at two other media institutions which where oyster house media which was an independent publisher which was not as well established as I would hope. I also looked at BBC magazines but these did not publish music magazines so I thought that it would not be a good idea to go with this company.

So onto where my magazine will be sold. There are a lot of places that sell magazines from supermarkets to small corner shops. I would like my magazines to be sold in a well established store as then I will know that my target audience are more likely to buy from that place. Whsmith is a very well established store that sell a lot of magazines, people go into Whsmith to actually buy a magazine rather to look around. In comparison supermarkets have a wide variety of magazines however my target audience normally go to supermarkets for groceries rather than magazines. If my magazine was to sell well then businesses would happily stock my magazine, I believe that if you have your magazine in Whsmith then it is very popular. Either of these businesses would be ideal for my magazine as my target audience will shop at both of these stores. I do believe that the lower age of my target audience will buy from tesco and my higher age will go to Whsmith this is good as I will know that all ages of my target audience will have the opportunity to buy my magazine. 

EVALUATION 2- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Social groups from rhiannashley


Deconstruction of magazine

On this front cover the girls are shown in a provocative manner. This could be shown as a convention as many magazines show very sexual images on their front cover, I have not done this as my social group are young students who I do not believe should be seeing this image. I didn't want any of my pages to have any bad or negative connotations and therefore I wanted to stray away from taking any inappropriate images. I also think that these girls are very thin and I do not want my social groups to look at the image and look up to my model so much that they would be ill to want to look like them. This is why I have taken an image of a healthy average girl in normal clothes and therefore my social groups if they want to be like her will not have to put themselves through pain. Also the gold on the front cover could connote money and wealth I think this colour is not good to use as not everybody has good a good amount of money and think could make them feel as though they are not good enough to read the magazine. Some of my social groups will have jobs but this will only be a certain amount of my target audience. I will also only have the image of my model rather than have anyone else on it to attract other people, in my case if I had naked men on the front then girls will probably want to buy it but my social group will want to read it because of the music rather than the images. 

EVALUATION 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Comparison of first draft to final piece of double page spread

Here is my first draft  and my final piece of my double page spread. I have changed a lot about the image and article but still sticking to the same theme and feel about the overall page. I will say in this post what I have changed and why and also the things that I have kept the same.

Firstly my main image that I have on my double page spread has not changed, I decided to take it from the first draft of my contents page and use that. This was mainly because I felt that it had a personal touch and would work well with the article. The only thing about the image was that it is angled a certain way so it would have been weird if i put it to the left of the page as she would not be looking at the article. I also cropped the image so that you couldn't see the fencing in the background, when I looked at inspirational photos they looked rather professional without any fencing in the background. Also in my first draft I didn't have enough room for my article which was another reason for me to crop the image. I believe that making the image smaller makes it look more like a magazine, if I kept it the same size I thought that I would have to put a pull quote on the image to follow the conventions however the image had a difficult colouring to put something on which would then be easy to read. If I had the big image then it would be rather boring as nothing would be on it so it would take up space that could be used as writing space for the article. Once I had cropped it I enlarged it so then you see more of the model rather than the tree. When it came to edit the image I placed it on the white background before editing it so therefore it would edit all of the image rather than that one. I didn't want anything to extreme like my front cover so I went for a subtle look on pixlr. This made the final piece look old but not like my first draft which had think black smudges so was difficult to read.

Secondly I changed the mast head font and size, I didn't want it to be as thick so I changed it to 'aargh' which was the same font that I used for my contents page. I really wasn't sure about the title for the double page spread as I thought it could be cheesy however when I asked my target audience what they thought about it they really liked how I played on words and they said for me to keep it. When I write the title of the magazine I will always use a ( bracket as this is the logo for the magazine that is the reason for the bracket in the word encore. 
In addition I added a pug as I had the space to write one and I wanted my magazine to look as professional as it can be, as the image was cropped it allowed me to have more space for the writing hence why the pug. I just wanted to outline who the article is with, also the exclusive makes the reader feel as though they want to read on which is what I want them to do.  

Now on to the article's fonts, colours and actual text. I did write the article beforehand so I couldn't change it unless I wanted to add or subtract anything, that is why I subtracted some of the article as it was to bulky to fit in the columns. Instead of having three columns I have four which makes it easier to adjust and fit to size which makes it look professional and also easier to read. When looking at my first draft I thought that it looked rather messy and the columns were all over place which made the writing overlap I am glad that I have sorted this out as it does look like a double page spread that someone would want to read. 
I changed the colouring of the text as I said before that I was having a dark purple and a blue as the colours I thought that using green for the main text of the article was irrelevant, therefore I have changed this to blue as it goes with the colours I have used recently in my production of the front cover. I knew that I wanted two different colours for the interview as it would be easier to understand what was being asked and the artists response. This made me think about the colour green that I used in my first draft as it did go well with the image that I used as green goes with the nature of the picture and also what she is wearing. I didn't want to use the colour purple in this piece and that was done on my front cover and my contents page so if I used it again it could look very similar and also the colour purple was a risk to take anyway as it is a feminine colour and my male audience might not like that. I think that the colours that I have used do attract both male and female so the purple that I have used before does not matter in this case. 
By using the same font as the sell lines on the front cover shows the consistency of the magazine and also the house style as the font is very curved and not bold so it goes with the genre. I also used the same font for the pull quote, this font was used for the masthead on both my front cover and contents page which made it ideal for this purpose. As I have put it before the article it helps divide the interview up and not let it get jumbled like my first draft. I didn't really think about the pull quote on the first draft as I just plonked it in the middle of the page before writing the article, this was a very big mistake as the article then had to fit around the pull quote which when you look at it you can see it didn't work.
The only thing that I decided not to use was the + sign as it was irrelevant to this article and also I would have to find more space on the page to put it in. One of my target audience said that I could put facts about her as she saw this in NME however I didn't want it to be exactly the same and if I did put it on all of my three pages then people would think I would be putting it on all of them which was not what I was going to do .

Comparison of first draft to final piece of contents page

Here is my first draft and final draft of my contents page. I have really changed this as I was not so keen on my first draft. I would say that there are things that I have kept the same however when looking at this there is not really anything that I have kept the same. 

The main thing that I have changed is the main image, I decided that I could use the image from my first draft as the image on my double page spread this was because I found that this was not engaging and didn't direct anything to the reader. On my first draft I did edit the image and made it darker than the original photo this worked with the colour scheme however it looked rather dark and this didn't go with my soft indie look. I decided to use a head shot as it was more personal and also as I knew that I didn't want to carry on with the feel of my other contents page and that I wanted to add more images, it was easy to use as it could be place anywhere on the page and also any size. As I used the NME contents page as an inspiration I wanted to use more images, the only thing was that I didn't have access to other artists or band to take the photographs of to use for the contents page. This is the only reason why I had to use the google images of bands I did choose them to go with my main images, I didn't use hip hop bands or rappers as that would not go with the genre of my music. Each of the images that I have used go with each of the articles about them. The purple box with the subscription inside was also an image on google, I thought that the faded purple would be better and look more professional rather than me making my own by using the l and tilting it on its side. 

I did use the same font for the mast head as it was the same as the mast head on the front cover, I did overlap on the first draft as the masthead on the front cover but people said that it looked like snow which I did see. Therefore I did not use this effect again and just kept to one colour which was the sane as the final front cover of the purple, I thought that the blue I could use on my double page spread thats what I have used the purple on this. 
The font for the writing is 'aargh' which is a very thin font so it is clear to read and is affective for the small bits of information about each article. The other font I used is exactly the same as my front cover this makes the magazine consistent throughout as I haven't got different fonts and different sizes on each page. 

I decided to put the numbers on the images as it is eye catching and also they are easy to see so you can quickly go to the page. I know when I read a magazine I just flick to the article I want to read first so when the numbers are on the picture it is easy to do this. You don't have to read what the article is about as long as the image is there for you to see who it is about. With the things that are always going to be in every issue of the magazine I have put the numbers below this makes it look more appealing.

In addition I decided to scrap the whole idea of the top 10 indie tracks as it took up room and didn't really need to be on the contents page, Instead it can be on a whole page by its self. Although it does fill up some of the page it made less room for the other articles that you would find in the magazine. 

I kept the + sign as my target audience said that it could be a recurring thing throughout the magazine this allowed me to use it for the pages that are going to be in every issue. It does add more detail to the page and also makes it easier to see what else is going to be in that issue.

I changed the titles of new, features and reviews as I thought that not all of the articles would have a place to be put, for example the exclusive interview couldn't go underneath anything which is silly as that is the most important article that the readers have brought the magazine to specifically read about this. 
Each of the information which tells you about the article have been created to engage the reader to want to read more of the article. I didn't want to have things that are really formal that is why I have called florence flo and used dishes out rather than gives out information. 
With the extra information about how to subscribe to the magazine and the website it makes it look professional. Also I have added this to the final piece as it is conventional to music magazines, as I have used NME as inspiration they have this so I thought it would be good to do so as well.

Comparison of first draft and final front cover

Here is my first draft and my final front cover,  I am going to compare them to say what I have changed and why and how it has improved. Also the things that I have kept the same for specific reasons.

Firstly I have used the same image this is because when I asked my target audience which front cover image they like the best they chose this one. The only problem was I had already added the masthead which made it very difficult to start over again. Firstly I had to find the same effect for the edit and also the tools that I used to make it, for example airbrush. I did make the image bigger as I thought it makes the expression easier to see and also looks more effective, it engages the reader more as it is closer to them. The image has been edited differently from the first draft to my final piece and instead of a more of a sepia effect it was a black and white with a tad of colour to it. I thought that if I used a different colour then it would look more vintage which is the theme, also I didn't really like the orange colouring to the front cover therefore another reason for me to change the edit. When making the image larger I decided to use more of the pixlr tools as it was easier to see where abouts on the image I needed to improve. I then focused on editing the sharp edges of the image and also the skin which didn't really need improving. 

Secondly I changed the size of the masthead as when I asked my target audience what I needed to improve they said the size of the masthead. I did keep the colouring and the font the same as this is was I wanted. To make the mast head I wrote En(ore twice but in different colours then overlapped them to make it have a bit more definition and add some detail to the front cover.
In addition I changed the position of the date and price to the bottom right hand corner as my target audience agreed that it was the best place to put it, also I changed the font that it was written in as I wanted it to look a bit art deco this font made the £ look very quirky and I liked that it goes with the genre as well as my theme. On both of them however I did not add a barcode as I thought it could look cheap and I would prefer it to go on the back of my magazine. 

The next thing I changed was the sticker with the free download inside, it has gone from being an oval shape to a circular shape which is easier to place on the front cover. Also it allowed me to make the font inside bigger as there was more space to write inside, another point that my target audience stated was to make 'The xx' Larger or in bold so it would stand out. I therefore had to write it in a completely different font as there was not a bold option on pixlr, the only problem was that I had to find a bigger font that would still go with my theme. I did find one and to add more detail I decided to put a line underneath so it is even easier to read and see on a shelf. 

In addition I changed the box with the extra bits of detail that would be inside the magazine. I made it longer so that the text to be bigger, also it allowed me to add more text inside so therefore it would attract my audience as there is a wide variety of stars inside the magazine. Secondly, I made it less detailed as this could be put in my contents page instead of my front cover, this is why there is less writing about the stars and why they are inside the magazine. I didn't want to give too much information about the magazine on the front cover as it is revealing what is inside, it is like a blurb of a book. I decided to take the -'s out as it looked rather like a list which I didn't think celebrity names should be in. Also it makes it look more professional as all of the text is inline with each other. With the + on my first draft I thought that it looked rather like a doctors sign and I would prefer it to be thinner so I changed the font that it was in, I am now happy with it. 

I decided to make the exclusive easier to see and read therefore I placed a white background behind it, if my target audience went into a shop to buy it it gives more detail and also stands out. This allowed me to move my sell lines up the page as before I had to make sure it was readable however because of the dark trees it was impossible to read. 

Lastly I changed the font, colour and size to make it more like a conventional magazine. As I had not created my article before I had made my first draft I thought of a sell line, however when I wrote my article I thought that this would not really go and didn't engage the reader. Therefore I have changed it to a more engaging sell line which goes with my article. The only thing was when changing it I could not use the word collaboration as it was too long to write and would go across my models face which is defiantly not professional so I had to shorten it down. I kept two of the same sell lines as my first draft as I thought that they were the best ones to use, when showing my family however they spotted a rather big mistake that was a tad embarrassing. Instead of putting 'scam' I put 'scan' which I really needed to change. 
When creating my final piece I had more experience with using pixlr this allowed me to make the sell lines go to the side of the page without me tapping the space bar to make it level. This font is easier to do that rather than the first draft as it was wonky and also thicker. As I made the sell lines larger I had to make the writing fit around the image this is why I have changed whereabouts the text is. 
To add definition and to go with the other 'xx' download I decided to add the lines underneath again but in a different colour which was purple. When looking at the image though the two lines look different colours however they are not it is just the lightness of the background. I did use the colours of the blue as before as my target audience really liked this.

Questionnaire results for my final front cover, contents page and double page spread

Here are the written responses to my questions that I asked my target audience about my front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Front cover

What do you think of the layout of my magazine?

Natasha (15) - I really like the layout of the front cover it is clear which makes it easy to understand

Ben (29) - I like it as it looks professional

Chloe (18) - It is good and clear

Amy (16) - It looks really good and looks like a real magazine

Jaz (22) - I like it, I would want to buy this magazine

Is it easy to understand the sell lines?

Natasha (15) - yes the font is clear and also the writing makes it easy to understand

Ben (29) - I can see and read all of them so yes

Chloe (18) - I can understand them easily

Amy (16) - now I know what a sell line is, they are really clear

Jaz (22) - I can read them

What do you think about the image?

Natasha (15) - I really like the image as the colouring is different to normal magazines, it make me want to see what the article is about.

Ben (29) - I think the image is good

Chloe (18)- The image is clear and the edit is good

Amy (16) - I like that you can see what she is wearing as on some magazines you can't really see this

Jaz (22) - The image is really good 

What engages you as a reader?

Natasha (15) - The competition and the colours

Ben (29) - what is going to be in the magazine

Chloe (18) - The image and the price

Amy (16) - the competition

Jaz (22) -  The exclusive interview

Is there enough on the page?

Natasha (15) - I think there is 

Ben (29) - Yes

Chloe (18) - Yes

Amy (16) - I think so

Jaz (22) - Yes

What improvements could be made?

Natasha (15) - The size of the font

Ben (29) - Nothing

Chloe (18) - The M on the scam

Amy (16) - Nothing

Jaz (22) - Nothing

Contents page

What do you think of the layout of my contents page?

Natasha (15) - I love how you have got a lot of images on their 

Ben (29) - It is clear and the text is in line

Chloe (18) - I like it

Amy (16) - Its really good

Jaz (22) - I think the layout is good

Is it easy to understand the writing?

Natasha (15) - some is smaller then others but I can read it

Ben (29) - I can read the writing

Chloe (18) - The font makes it easier to understand

Amy (16) - It is easy 

Jaz (22) - I can read it with ease

What do you think about the image?

Natasha (15) - The image is good

Ben (29) - I like the image

Chloe (18) - it is clear

Amy (16) - I like that it is a head shot

Jaz (22) - It is engaging

What engages you as a reader?

Natasha (15) - The subscription

Ben (29) - The images

Chloe (18) - The different articles

Amy (16) - The image

Jaz (22) - the subscription 

Is there enough on the page?

Natasha (15) - I think there is

Ben (29) - if there was anything else then it would look crowded

Chloe (18) - yes

Amy (16) - defiantly 

Jaz (22) - You can't fit anything else on the page

What improvements could be made?

Natasha (15) - make the text all the same size

Ben (29) - nothing

Chloe (18) - the numbers

Amy (16) - Nothing

Jaz (22) - Nothing I like it how it is

Double page spread

What do you think of the layout of my double page spread?

Natasha (15) - I like it as it looks professional

Ben (29) - Its good

Chloe (18) - It is clear

Amy (16) - I think the layout is good

Jaz (22) - I like it

Is it easy to understand the article?

Natasha (15) - Yes 

Ben (29) - I like the article

Chloe (18) - Yes

Amy (16) - Yes

Jaz (22) - Yes

What do you think about the image?

Natasha (15) - It is good how she is looking at the article 

Ben (29) - I like the image

Chloe (18) - It is good but the edit is over the top of her

Amy (16) - I like it

Jaz (22) - Its good

What engages you as a reader?

Natasha (15) - The writing in the middle

Ben (29) - The image

Chloe (18) - The colours

Amy (16) - The heading

Jaz (22) - The writing

Is there enough on the page?

Natasha (15) - yes

Ben (29) - Yes

Chloe (18) - Yes

Amy (16) - I think there is

Jaz (22) - Yes

What improvements could be made?

Natasha (15) - Nothing

Ben (29) - Nothing that I can instantly see

Chloe (18) - The edit

Amy (16) - The place that it folds

Jaz (22) - Nothing

Final double page spread

Final contents page

Final front cover

Final draft of double page spread

Here is my final draft of my double page spread not much has change from my second draft as I quite liked it. I used the things that I liked and dislike and therefore changed these to make it the best it could be. 
I used exactly the same website to create this which is pixlr as it is the best to create this with and also it will be easier for me to carry on with the website that I know than rather use a different on which I will have to work on how to use it. 
I again used the white background from google images first and then added my image, although this time I decided to make the image a bit bigger so you can focus on her expressions more. This was easy to do as I just made the cropped version bigger so it would take up a bit more room on the page. However by doing this is made me loose some of the writing as I had to crop some out because there was less room on the page, this was only a couple of sentences however and it wasn't very important so it was fine that I cropped some out. 
I didn't look at any double page spreads for inspiration as I wanted to just make my own and not follow any of the specific styles that the magazines have. Yes I did use a pull quote and a mast head and an image on the double page spread which does follow the conventions of others, however I have not picked out a specific double page spread and followed what they have done and used some of their ideas. 
One of the things that I did change was the writing size in the final column as it overlapped the image which I did not want to happen. What I did to resolve this was to make the writing go in a smaller shaped column with less writing on each line, this made it look longer however it was the same amount of writing as before. This was one of the reasons that I did take some of the writing out as I thought it wouldn't fit. When I talk to my target audience I can see weather they would prefer me to add the text that I took out of my second draft.
I have read through my article and there are a lot of changes that I will have to make as there are some spelling mistakes and also missing letters, I will therefore go through it very slowly and check the words before rewriting.
Although this is another draft because I haven't changed much there is not a lot of things that I can write about. If you would like to see how I created it and the size etc you can look at my last post. This has in more detail about everything as it is the same as this one but just tweaking a couple of bits.  

Second draft of double page spread

Here is my second draft of my double page spread. It is much better than my last draft as I have taken on board what I liked and disliked about the other draft and what I should change and tried to adapt it to make this draft. Although it still needs some work I am pleased and will only tweak little bits rather than change a lot for my next draft.
Firstly I used the same white background which I got from google images as before as the size of the image was exactly what I wanted and it didn't need resizing, also it had no edit to it and no boarder around the image which makes it good for me as it was a plain canvas for me to begin. With my main image I said that I wanted to crop it to make it smaller however as I used pixlr I couldn't crop it on their as I had already placed the white background on it. Therefore I had to crop the image on my laptop to make it fit then I had to again add the image to size. It does work however when it would be folded some of the text will be folded so won't be seen to make this work I could make the image a bit bigger and then make the writing smaller to make it fold evenly. This is the difficult thing with using pixlr as it doesn't allow you to size the page to make sure that things are in half. I made the text bigger as there was a lot more space and tried to make it all the same size, the problem with this is that when you use different colours for the font you have to start a new text which goes back to the average size on pixlr which is bigger than what I have used. I have put the article in four columns rather than just three so it makes it look more professional and none of the text overlaps. There is more problem that is the end column there is one word which is 'back' that overlaps the image which I will have to change. 
For the edit of this double page I decided that I didn't want it to be to overdone like the last one, I kept it simple and only added a soft boarder which does add some definition to the article. 
I made the pull quote the same size as the columns this allows me to make the writing in the columns stay straight and not overlap the other text. I decided to put it before the interview section instead of just the middle of the page which is irrelevant. In my last draft I made the speech marks larger than the text so it makes it stand out whereas this time I kept it all the same this made it easier to position and if I did it the other way I would have to make the speech marks the same size which would of been another task. I did add some more detail as I thought that the pull quote would of been a bit plain so I added some lines above and below to separate it from the article. I did this by using the letter l in lower case and turning it on its side like what I did on the front cover. This just makes it look like it has been made with lots of effort and adds more detail to the piece. 
I decided to use the same colour as what I did on the front cover so then my magazine has some consistency, the blue colour also goes with the image as it is the same location as the front cover image. I then used black as it was simple to use and is clear to read, the last colour I decided to use was a dark green which goes with the nature of the image and pulls the image with the text nicely. 
In addition I took out one of the questions and answers as it was irrelevant and I would rather have bigger text so it is clearer than to have smaller text and be more cluttered with an extra question which didn't really need to be there.
I did add more detail to the double page spread as I placed a small snippet of text next to the masthead which shows an insight into the article, I did this because I had some extra space there and it needed something. I looked at some double page spread's and saw that this was done a lot like this double page spread.

First draft of double page spread

Here is my first draft of my double page spread there are a lot of things that I know I will have to change but I have just put together the article and image to see weather it would work, as you can tell by my final piece of work I will defiantly have to change the image and article as it does look messy. This is my first draft of my final piece of work that I have to do as I have already completed my front cover and contents page therefore I can add things from their to make it work with my other overall house style. To make that work I had to try and use the same things as before for example font, colours etc. I do think I will have to tweak these things to make it go with my other pages of the magazine. 
Firstly my main image that I wanted was the one that I first used for my contents page as I didn't use this image I thought that it would be ideal to use it here instead. I already made the backgrounds for my double page spread before I created the article so below is the one with the other image.

This was ok to use however I wanted Noel my model to come across quite innocent and with this image I thought that it could look very sly and over confident. Also the edit was very harsh and I wasn't so keen on the black background behind the white square. It would have been easier to see the writing of the article but I do prefer the one that I used for my draft. The image on my draft fits in well with my genre as it is very organic and also looks rather intriguing, I didn't want it to follow the male gaze theory as I thought that this genre didn't need that and it is mostly about the music rather than the way that someone is positioned in a photo. I did ask my target audience which image they thought would work well with the double page spread and they did say this one as it doesn't look sexually provocative also they said that it worked well with my genre. I did look at recent magazine double page spreads and none of them had anything like this so therefore I am not following the typical conventions of the music magazines, I did like the location of the images as it would work well with the article that I would produce and also it hasn't been done before. When I looked at music magazine not just indie ones it was mainly country music that used the outdoors location, because I didn't want this as my genre I will have to ask people weather they thought that it would look like this but hopefully the way that she is dressed could suggest otherwise. I decided to locate the image on the right hand side of the page as she would be looking at the text and this could make the image interesting as though I have taken it for that in particular reason. I did chose to use the conventional feature of the article on one side of the page and an image on the other so it is clear for the reader and also follows other magazines. I did look at having just the image very large and having the writing around it however it did look messy and the text was not clear at all which is the last thing I wanted for my magazine. I did edit the image firstly I got a plan white background from google images and then added the image that I wanted on the right hand side. Then afterwards using pixlr again I decided to edit the overall picture to make it look vintage which is what I went for on the front cover. I did decide to keep it to coloured rather than a full colour change as otherwise the magazine will look to samey which is not what I want. I put an ink overlay on the image and also a faded boarder, I like the faded border as it gives it an edge however I am not fond of the overlay as it looks like someone has been touching the page with dirty fingerprints. BeforeI added the article it did look ok which is good as now I can see weather it works or not which it doesn't. Also it is rather dark at the top left hand side of the image which makes it harder to find a good colour to go with the main image that would be seen, this makes the title of the article a little less noticeable. 

I will have to change this so I can see the masthead, as it is the most important thing on the page I think it needs to be seen clearly. 

My article is not very good and I am not pleased with it at all. The article its self  I am really pleased with but the overall look of it I am not as it does not look appealing. It is not in line and and some of the parts are not of the same size. To make this look a lot better I will change the pull quote and put it on the picture. ALso I could see if i could crop the image that I use to just of her so I could add more text in the article and therefore will look more engaging to the reader. The pull quote I decided to have as " i'm the most boring 19 year old you'll ever meet" as it makes the reader want to know why and where about in the article it says that, to make the reader go on through the article I will change the position of this question and leave it to one of the last ones as it will make them read to that point. The masthead I thought I would have it as a pun however it could look cheesy. As the singer is called Noel Coelho I thought I could have it Coelho rather than hello which I thought was cleaver I will ask my target audience whether they thing this is right for my magazine but NME make things like this as it makes the reader feel as though they are not just loading you with information and it is less informal which is what I want for my magazine. When I was writing my article I wanted the questions to be separate from the answers so therefore I made each of them a different colour, when it comes to making another draft I could use different colours to make it more exciting however I do like the green, it goes with the nature of the image and adds to the overall look of the article. I decided to use two fonts on this double page spread as then it will be less confusing to read and also looks rather appealing. They were the same fonts as the front cover so the house style is kept throughout the magazine and they go well with the size of the image as well. I do like this about this draft so therefore I will keep it the same in my next draft just perhaps change the size of the text. 

With the structure of the article I will have three columns or maybe more depending on wether I change the image size to fit more text in, the only things about that is that It would be hard to guess where about you fold the double page spread in the magazine as you don't want to cut of any of the writing so you have to think about the gutter and the bleed. This is will be hard for me to estimate using pixlr so what I will have to do is print out a draft and see wether I can fold it without losing any of the writing of the article. When I was writing my article I decided to change the sell line on the front cover as I have not put anything in about Noels musical addition instead I will talk about her collaboration as that is what will engage the reader more to find out who she is collaborating with. 

I will defiantly change the spacing on the double page spread but I will keep the font and image but just crop it instead this will allow me to write more of the article. Also I will have to see whether the sell line makes a different anywhere else so that the spacing and columns are tidy and therefore looks more professional.