My Preliminary Task

Research & Planning
2nd October 2009

• As part of my preliminary task I had to create a school magazine cover page and contents page in order to prepare me for the creation of a music magazine later on. 
• To get a rough idea of what was included in school magazines,  I looked at an existing school magazines cover and contents pages.
• The history of school magazines at my school , St. Michaels (below) was not very useful are giving me information on the codes and conventions of school magazines, so I decided to google some myself. 

• I had to analyse the cons of this magazine in order to know what needed to be done in order to make mine more successful. 

CONS

• The masthead was not big enough or obvious - I needed to insure mine was of a large bold font and recognizable.
• The boxes filled with writing made the page less like a front cover.
• It was unattractive
• There was no central image.
• No tag line. 

• I made note of the key codes and conventions of school magazines, some being the use of a bold title, incentives, cover lines, a central image, date and mentioning of institution. 
• I then began to design for the target audience, which was to be year 10 and above.
• I decided to invent my own college and design specifically for that college. 
• I  brainstormed appropriate names and coverlines to be included on the front cover.
• Some of the coverlines that were being considered were "What girls really think?", "What's in store for the future of the college", "Arsenal fans win a free ticket!", "When your questions were put to Mr Hall"
• Some of the names being considered for the magazine were "Shhhhh!" "Dynamic" "Buzz" "Mikes" "Phase" and "Live". 
• The name "Buzz" was decided and I decided the name of the college would be"Hive."
• I made a mock up of a school magazine front cover that I could use to guide me when designing my magazine on adobe photoshop.

6th October 2009

• I went around the school in a group with digital cameras and I took images of people and objects that I wanted to include in my magazine. 
• These images were of students from the school and sixth form in different mise en scene, ranging from the study room, music room and common room. 
• I took costume into consideration and took images of pupils in uniform and sixth form students not in uniform. Those in uniform were more likely to target the younger years.
• I took an image of a sweet looking year 7 in uniform playing the piano. The use of piano as prop made her seem angelic and talented.
• I took medium close-up images of a girl in her teens sitting on stairs looking quite casual in an eveyday top which was more associated with sixth form lifestyle. 
• I took shots of students studying which included props such as books, pens and pencils to connate the studying lifestyle in sixth form.

9th October 2009

• The images from the camera were tansferred onto the computer and I began to browse through the images to choose an approriate medium close up shot that I wanted for the main picture on my front cover.
• Using Adobe Photoshop I began to learn the basic skills and imported the background image and inserted text.

• I began to add cover lines and shapes. I edited the text and changed the fonts of coverlines to make it look more visually appealing. I added a coverline to anchor the main image.

• Later on, I spent some time planning a draft of my contents page on paper taking into consideration the images I had taken, so that it would be easier when I went to create it on adobe photoshop. This was done on A3 paper (scanned in in two different halves)

• I had some difficulty working with adobe workshop and got confused with the layers but this was soon overcome as I understood that labelling the layers made things much easier.

• On the cover page, I inserted a yellow circle shape and added 2 black lines to symbolise a beehive from "Buzz" college.
• I rotated a coverline to tilt to the left hand side and added star shapes altering text to fit inside the shape.
• I began to finish my cover page and began working on my contents page remembering to have continuity in the design.

19th October 2009

• I used this lesson to finish off my contents page.
• When desiging my contents page I wanted to include a montage of images so this required further browsing into the images I had taken to choose appropriate ones.
• I had to resize these images to go along the bottom of the page at equal sizes. I then overlapped the image with numbers relating to the article on the contents.
• I finished my cover page and contents page by the end of the lesson and printed both out.

20th October 2009

• I began to gather feedback for my cover page and contents page. I showed the printed copies of the cover page and contents page to members in my target audience and members outside my target audience to get a range of views.
• I created questionnaires for them to fill out which included questions such as "Would you want to read this magazine?", "Is the image used on the front cover appropriate?"
• Those between 16-17 stated that they liked the name of the magazine and how it referred to the symobol of a bee hive. They also said the cover lines were interested but could be more bolder and bigger. 
• A 17-year old said that more little images could be added on the cover page of what else was included in the magazine.
• A women 25+ said that I could do more with the picture as it was a good image. She suggested of putting something to show what the girl in the picture is looking up at.
• I analysed all the criticism and decided to consider it when creating my music magazine.

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


COVER PAGE

• A masthead which used sans-serif font is included on the front page and entitled “Buzz!” which enables the readers to identify the magazine.
• A caption which acts as an anchor to the image. However, from feedback, people have said that it does not anchor the image very well.
• A strapline which is specific to that magazine and it also informs the readers of what is included in the magazine.
• Coverlines which reveal snippets of what is included in the magazine.
• Incentives draw the readers in and encourages them to read the magazine to find out how they can win a prize.
• Central image is a typical magazine convention and instantly attracts the readers to what the main story is about.
• Quote this is found in magazines and lures readers on to what else was also said.
• A puff is used to advertise a school trip. 
• The sweet spot is used effectively as it allows students to consider their future prospects. 
• The excessive use of shapes is unconventional and challenges the ....
• The excseeive use of colours is quite unconventional
• The title is in different forms...
• Uses a logo....

CONTENTS PAGE

• Instutional details enable readers to get in touch with the institution or contribute their ideas if wanted.
• Editorial helps the person who produces the magazine to become personal with the readers. The mode of address is specifically apparent here.
• Montage of images with page numbers anchoring. This enable the readers to visually see what is on the page.
• continuity of design
• Images anchored with page numbers
• Alternating colours in catergpring of contents page....
• No editors image....

How does your media product represent particular social groups?


COVER PAGE

• The use of images ranges from male to female showing the gender groups that the magazine is targetted at. 
• The use of the coverline; “Careers Advice Inside” could be aimed at a studious social group who are interested in the different careers available.
• The cover line “Ski-Trip’09” could be aimed at an active social group who enjoy participating in sports.
• The incentive “Design An Incredible Outfit To Win Topshop” could be aimed at the creative social group who are into shopping, fashion and designing.
• The main front cover image of a caucasian girl could be aimed at caucasian social groups.
• Also the font on the front cover and contents page is sans-serif so this could connote informality, which could be aimed at social groups which are quite laid back and are out to just have fun.

CONTENTS PAGE

• The separation titles on the contents page ("features, fashion & fun"). Fashion seems to be aimed at the social group who care for their appearance and are interested in current trends.
• An image on the montage on the contents page is of a boy looking into a book. This could be aimed at the studious social group who are comitted to their work and their furture careers.
• The cover page and contents page contains white and black pupils which shows that the magazine represents different ethnic groups. 

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

• Hive College which is a educational institution would distribute my magazine.
• This is because it is created for the pupils of Hive College. 

Who would be the audience of your media product?

•  The product is aimed at 16-18year old, caucasian, middle class, male and female students that attend the college.
• Ethnicity: This is made known by the images. The front cover is of a caucasian girl and this is the first image readers will see. All the images are of caucasian people except one.
• Gender: This is made known also through image as there is images of a male and female. Also by the use of colours. There is blue used which is often seen as a masculine colour.
• Class: This is made known by the clothing worn by the people in the images. The clothing is what you would expect of an average middle class student.
• Age: The images are of people in between the ages "16-18" which reflect the age of the target readers.

How did you attract/address your audience?

• The audience for my magazine is the students that attend the college. The students would be from a working class area, so the students purchasing it would be from a working class family. This social group is addressed by the price that is in a puff on the cover page. (99p)
• I addressed my audience by using the college logo which is a yellow oval shape with two thick lines inside. This logo immediately shows the audience that this magazine is associated with "Hive College" 
• Also the medium close up shot on the cover page shows the girl looking up whilst sitting on the stairs into the puff "Careers Advice Inside". This is connoting that to get a good career you have to work your way up and gradually go in steps. This links in with the institution as the audience are at college in order to begin to go up them steps for their career. 
• On the contents page there is a speech bubble of a quote from one of the teachers in the college. This attracts students as they are eager to know what more was said from one of their teachers!

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

• From processing this magazine front cover and contents page I have learnt that initially you need to capture a good variety of pictures that can be used.

• I have had an insight into basic skills that can be used in Photoshop and what some of the tools mean. I have learnt how types of fonts, the positioning of text and colour can have an impact on the anchored image and Photoshop technology has taught me to alter this to suit its particular aim.

• Looking back at the preliminary task, I feel that the progression to the full product on adobe photoshop I have learnt that it is good to have a draft on paper to help stimulate ideas and guide you in the right path once your using the photoshop programme.