What was the task?

We had to do a mock up magazine cover for a professional magazine, the magazine I got given was NME (New Musical Express). We used Indesign to make these mock ups, I had never used it before so it was a struggle to use but once I was more comfortable with how to use it, I managed to get similar fonts, colours and the images as similar as I could.

The original copy:

My mock up:

Strengths:

• I have got all the text in the same places as it is on the original.
• I managed to find the exact photo used for the original.
• I put in small details such as underlining the text where it says ‘Introducing the new nme’ and ‘3 of 10 special edition covers.’
• I also got the colours of the writing as similar as I could to the professional one.

What I could improve on:

• I could of put the text closer together as on the original is closer.
• I could’ve tried finding a more similar font.
• The image of the main cover star on my mock up could be a bit bigger and at an angle.
• I also could’ve put the issue date at the top left of the page.

Before I started using indesign, I could’ve watched this video in order to help me know how to use it a bit more before doing my mock up so I know all the basics of how to use it.

To get the exact fonts that NME used on their magazine cover, I could’ve watched this YouTube tutorial on how to download fonts into Indesign.

What was the task?

Brief: A client has come to you with an image of themselves as a performer. Their style of music will belong to a particular genre. They want you to design a poster for an A4 page in a magazine, advertising and promoting their forthcoming tour.

My genre was Pop, so using Indesign, I created a tour poster that I thought was suitable for this genre, I used bright, eye catching colours as typically in this genre they wear or use bright colours. I chose blue and yellow as they come across as fun and lively. This poster wasn’t as challenging as doing a mock up of a professional magazine cover as I could chose how I wanted it to look and I knew how to use Indesign a bit better.

In this task in groups we had to take photos with different angles, meanings and aperture then select our favourite 9 and use hashtags to describe what type of shot it is and use adjectives to describe them.

I have learnt:

• How to change the aperture and shutter speed on a camera
• How to use depth of field effectively
• How to create more powerful images with the use of mise-en scene and different camera angles
• Also what angles would be best for certain shots and the names of different shots

This will help me when taking photos for my music magazine cover and to get the message of my image across to the potential consumer. I will also be able to make good use of mise-en scene with my images for my music magazine and how I want it to come across to the audience

For these photos, we had to use different types of shots and mise-en scene within our photos along with different apertures and shutter speeds.

The type of shots we needed to do were:

• Long shot
• Wide shot
• High shot
• Canted shot
• Close up
• Mid shot
• We also changed the depth of field during taking these photos and also used rule of thirds.

This taught me how to use a camera properly with the right techniques and how to differentiate between different shots and their names and how to use mise-en scene effectively in my work. I also know how aperture works to create depth of field. This will help me in photoshoots in the future and for our magazine cover as I will know how to use the camera properly, also how to use mise-en scene to create an effect of the genre of my music magazine.

The Pop genre is very bright and colourful. Because it is so colourful, it catches the eye of the consumer. Most pop artists wear bright or matching clothing which suggests that they are fun, their hair and makeup can also be bright and fun which portrays that they want to be remembered as the audience will remember a bright and colourful costume and hair and makeup. The body language used in images of pop artists are very lively, bubbly and positive which shows that they are friendly and easy going. Each Pop Star has a different style which makes them different to one another, this also makes the artists memorable for the consumers as they are easy to differentiate.

What did we have to do?

Once we had done some research on the mise-en scene of a Pop genre, we had to create a character that would fit in with this genre. The star wore sequin trousers, a matching sequin hat, a necklace and shirt and tie. Although this isn’t brightly coloured, it is flashy and also matching. The message we tried to get across with this image and how the star is posing is that it is meant to be fun and friendly. We met this target as people commented on the fact that the star looked lively and fun.

My contact sheet.

Next, we had to take images of our stars and how they are portrayed while being photographed. Our stars are wearing matching costumes which fits in with the pop genre, as well as flashy clothing. The images of the stars jumping make it look like they are enjoying themselves however, because they are poorly photographed and are blurry, this wouldn’t be ideal to use as a final image. Images 2921, 2922 and 2923 the stars are pointing and smiling at the camera, this suggests audience interaction and catching the eye of the consumer as it looks like they are looking directly at you wanting the audience to get involved which also connotes that they are favourable.

My favourite/final image.

Next, we had to choose our final image. This is my favourite as against the dark background, the stars stand out because of the matching sequin costumes they are wearing, it isn’t harsh it makes them look approachable. They way the stars are laughing shows that they are entertaining and having a good time. With the stars pointing at the camera, this suggests that they want the audience to be involved, it is almost like they are pointing at the consumer which might intrigue them.

The message we were trying to get across with these images are that Pop is a fun genre, if images of Pop Stars aren’t very eye catching the audience might not want to get involved as it wouldn’t look as interesting as it should. Costume is also very important when it comes to this genre, if it isn’t brightly coloured it wouldn’t fit in with the genre, we dressed the stars in matching sequin costumes to make it fit in as most Pop Star groups wear matching colours or costumes.

This is my textual analysis of an album poster, I chose Olly Murs. I have looked at the font, colours, image of the artist, what it says and what message he was trying to get across with this poster. This shows Olly as Pop Star, in my opinion, the whole feel of this poster is a vintage vibe with the black and white image and the artist wearing a suit. It has all the information on this poster for tour dates and where to buy tickets from with the links at the bottom of the poster.

Analysing this poster has shown me how I should be making my own media and what messages I need to get across to the consumer. It tells me that everything makes a difference from font to the image I use, I need to be able to get my message across to the audience right.