Before I did anything towards my magazine design, I analysed a kerrang magazine because I wanted to see how a punk rock magazine would be presented. I look at where and how the name of the magazine had been placed on the front Cover, I also did this to find out were any additional information should go i.e. band names. Doing this I got an idea of where things should go and how I could present my magazine. I did the same for my contents page and double page spread; again I wanted to get some inspiration for mine and come up with the best layout that followed my chosen style.
At first I tried to follow the basic layout of the kerrang magazine to get me started, then as I got further into the project I developed and added to my front cover. I noticed that the Kerrang magazine had a pattern on the masthead (KERRANG) and I wanted to do the same with mine. In filter gallery under the Texture dropdown menu I used the stained glass effect on my magazine name “SHR3DD3R” I did this so it followed the punk rock style, also I think with the red it makes the front page stand out. Also I use a recognisable convention which was placing the masthead behind the main picture, I did this because it makes the guitarist look important, and it makes it seem like it all about him. In the masthead I changed the E’s in Shredder the 3’s “SHR3DD3R” I did this because it a very punk thing to do, most punk bands have numbers in the band title i.e. Blink 182, +44, Sum 41.
On the Kerrang magazine and other magazines I looked at I looked they all had band names on either side of the cover to let you get a ruff idea of what would be on the inside of the magazine so I did the same with mine, but with mine I got a picture of a paper clip and put it with the three band name on the left to make it look like they had been paper clipped to the side of the magazine. I did this because I noticed that most punk magazines use pins and paper clips on the front cover to follow the punk style. Also on the right of my front cover I had “20 rock god legends” and I made this stand out with the “20” being yellow and the word “rock god legends” being white, doing this on top of the black background made the words stand out. I noticed that the kerrang magazine did this, to make the subject seem important.
Most of the magazines I looked at had something above the masthead i.e. Kerrang. I thought I would be best to do the same with mine because it makes it look more professional and I think completes the magazine.
To get the text on the front cover I downloaded rock/punk styled fonts from dafont.com and I used the fonts on the band names and the other text on the cover. I did this so it could follow the punk rock style of the kerrang magazine.
On all the magazines I looked at the background had something to do with the style, so I did this on mine. Like in the masthead of the kerrang magazine there was lines going though the letters, I liked the idea of doing that so did that sort of style with my background, but I tried to make it look like the lines were coming off the guitarist because I put a white glow around him.
I basically did the same with my contents page I tried to follow the punk rock style. My inspiration for my contents page was from many different magazines and other past students work. I tried to lay out my contents page in a punk rock way. In some magazines I looked at there was just one picture and maybe some other smaller pictures around it. I tried to follow this style but instead of have the picture in the same sort of area I put some by the editors note because I didn’t want to copy the style of the magazines I was looking at I wanted to change it and make it my own.
I followed the same styles I used on my front cover to show it’s from the same magazine and it that particular magazine that does this style. I got my fonts from dafont.com, but I also use effects on some of the text i.e. Tour/Festivals. I also use the same sort of colours as the front cover i.e reds, whites. This again to make the text stand out.
With the double page spread there is another recognisable convention were I have use colums, this is because all magazine do this and it makes it easier to read and you don’t seem to lose your place when reading it. Another convention I used was having a picture of someone on one side and writing on the other. When witting the interview I did it in a question answer format were I use red and white text so the reader could tell apart who is talking.
Again I downloaded the text from dafont.com and tried to follow the rock/punk style, and I also used the same style I use on my front cover and contents page. The band name is in red and white; I did this so the reader would know who the article was about. I used the punk rock witting on the left to show the element of the punk rock style, again using red and white text on top of the black background making I stand out.
Q2 – How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My magazine is ticketed to teenagers who like rock/punk music. I think my magazine clearly show that it about punk rock music, I know this because the modal on the front cover is striking a pose which you would only see being done by a musician from that particular style. He is also playing the guitar is a very powerful punk rock manner, from this anyone would know that the magazine is about punk rock subjects.
I focused on this style because seven out of ten people from my audience research said they pruferd the punk rock design so I continued working with this style. From the feedback I got, I found out many different things that helped me with creating my magazine, an example of this would be, a lot of punk related subjects have paperclips and pins on the designs i.e. skateboards and guitars.
On my front cover I had a picture of a guitarist posing in a very punk rock way. This is a very recognizable convention because most punk rock magazines do this i.e. kerrang. The model on the front page is looking at the guitar. This is also a very recognizable convention because most of the models on other magazines are looking away from the camera. The guitar is a prop which simberises rock music, this makes it clear to everyone that this magazine would be about rock music. This is also a convention that other magazines would use. The clothes the person on the front cover is wearing are very rock styled. This also makes the magazine look very punk rock.
Q3 – What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?
The media institution that might distribute my media production would be scuzz because they have everything except for a magazine I thi
nk this would be very beneficial and also it would make them more money. The reason why it would make more money is because people want to know what’s going on in the music world. Secondly other magazine do a whole variety of genres in there magazine but this is just about punk rock. Thirdly I would bring a bigger audience.Q4 – Who would be the audience for your media product?
My magazine is based on punk rock music, so the audience for my magazine would be teenagers who like punk rock style. All teenagers who listen to rock music will most probably like punk rock and most of the teenagers who start bands base their music on the punk rock style.
I targeted the teenage audience because all teenagers are lively and energetic and punk rock is a lively, energetic form of music. This is what the big magazines do i.e. kerrang, so I thought it was the best and most sensible thing to do.
My magazine talks about thing that teenagers would enjoy like tour and festivals, things that the older generation wouldn’t be interested in. This also is a convention that other magazines use.
Q5 – How did you attract/address your audience?
My magazine would attract people from my chosen audience because it had a punk rock feel to it. The background is very simple but it has the white lines on it, moving it way around the page. This I think is a very punk thing to do because I noticed that most punk magazines or even punk band album covers had this sort of style on them. On my front cover I had a paper clip which was made to look like it was holding band names together. This again is a very punk thing to do.
The type of language I used was Standard English but I also used words like “Yer”. I did this because it is part of the punk rock theme. I used Standard English because wanted to make it an easier read and understand, I noticed that some magazines do this to. The type of font I use was simple and easy to read and to make it more clear I changed the colour to red and white, red for the questions and white for the answers. This on the black background was very clear and it stood out. For the name of the band and any other additional information I downloaded fonts from dafont.com. I did this to make the page more punk rock.
On the front page there is a picture of a boy playing the guitar but, he is holding the guitar in a punk rock way anyone who would look at this would instantly know the magazine was about rock. The way the model is dressed is in the rock style i.e. the black t-shirt and jeans. He has rolled up the Sleeves of the t-shirt because this is showing he doesn’t care about what people think, this is what all punk rock musician sometimes do.
Q6 – What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt a lot about how to take a photo and what sort of lighting I should use. I have learnt about different angles and also the beast ways to position the lights to get a good shadow effect. On Photo shop I found out there was a range of tools I could use to help me with my creation of my magazine. The first thing I had to do was cut the photo out and place it on a different background. To do this I used the magnetic lasso tool this to me made I so much easier to cut out the person. I also learnt that you put things on different layers, this made things do much easier to arrange things on the page. One of the main problems I had was the photo was to bright so I had to make it darker, I did this using the burn tool. In the proses of making my final peace’s there were some tools I didn’t use because I didn’t have a full understanding of how to use them.
Q7 – Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full product?
I started the preliminary task with very little knowledge on how to work photo shop. Throughout the project I looked up how to work certain things and what tools were best to use. When doing the preliminary task I found out what my strengths were and if I didn’t know how to do something I found out. When taking my photos I was taken out in a group and we were shown the best angles to use and also how to use the lighting.
When I went on to do my main task I had a clear understanding of what I was going to do. From my audience research and my mock up I had a clear example of what I was going to do. Also when doing my mock ups knew what tools I was going to use. I also knew how I was going to take the pictures I was going to take. The genre of music I picked was punk rock and knew that was going to need guitars, drums, bass guitars.
In the proses of doing my main task I took on board everything i had found out about photo shop from my preliminary task and improved on my skills and put them to good use. I had more freedom when taking my pictures and i had more time to. I had to arrange the days I was going to take my photos. From what I had learnt about the lighting and angles to use when taking the photo I managed to get some good photos.
The props I use were mainly musical instruments i.e. guitar, drums. I got these instruments from music tech at college. Again I had to arrange the days of when I could use them.
