Throughout the course of making my magazine cover I have developed many transferable skills which include communication, time management and organisation. All these skills I will be able to use in my later life through a variety of roles and jobs.

Communication– in order to get feedback I have communicated with my classmates who I may not have usually spoken to but it has had an impact on my work as I have received more of an opinion. I have also communicated with my teacher through her comments on my work.

Time management–In order to meet deadlines it is important you know how to manage your time well. I have learnt how to  hand in my work on time ready for assessment and marking. With multiple blog posts to complete per week it is important I complete them without falling behind. Sometimes I felt as if I was continuously changing the design & layout of my pages. Spending a lot of time doing this resulted in me falling behind on other tasks which were going on. In order to make my production work amazing I made sure that the tasks which I was falling behind on, I completed in my independent time.

Organisation- it is very important to know what you are doing. Being organised is very beneficial when it comes to photo shoots and production work. Before you do any of these tasks it is vital that you know every piece of information regarding what you are doing. You need to organise every detail about hair, makeup, costumes, props, the location of the shoot, what time you are doing it at and  your model.

I have learned how to use many tools to help me create my magazine.

Above is a tool which I have used in Indesign which has helped me create pages of my magazine. The box on the left with the cross through it is a tool which allows me to create a box around an area and the place an image into a particular area. By selecting this tool and then adding an image it means that whatever image I am placing will not be stretched and will go to the specific size I would like.

These tools add a more professional look to the image that I applied them to and made them stand out more.  You can change the gradients of the image or text selected to give it a cool, pop look which was useful for me because of my genre.

Overall, I think these design techniques that I have been experimenting with and using have been very beneficial in the process of creating my magazine because they’re helping me to convey my narrative and genre

Throughout the start of the course we have learnt how to use a couple of editing apps; Photoshop & InDesign. The pair have really helped me to create a good piece of work for my front cover of my magazine. Within these apps there are a lot of things to learn so you can create a conventional piece as everything will work together in particular it has been very useful to edit images and compose a work piece. Below are a few of the tools which I have learnt how to do over the past couple of weeks.

These two tools above are the ‘Lasso’ and the ‘quick selection’ tool. They both have the same purpose, to cut/select an image but are two different options of how to do so. In my opinion the lasso tool is harder to use as you have to do it all yourself, but it particularly useful when cutting small details on an image. On the other hand, the quick selection tool allows you just to click around an object and easily cut it. Using these tools allowed me to cut out my model from the background she was on and create a new one to put behind her. By adding a different background it helped me portray the correct narrative for my genre.

(top left) This is another tool which was very useful on photoshop, it is called the spot healing brush. This allowed me to get rid of any marks on my model and create a star image whether it was spots, scratches or dirt marks. This created a smoother and more conventional look on my front cover and made a big difference to the overall look.

Mission Statement:

‘Rise’ is the next big pop magazine rising into the top ten of the genre. A fifteen page magazine starring your favourite pop artist of the decade and also the upcoming stars. With inclusive interviews from many pop artist getting an insider into the life of a pop star and also the top stories of the week; upcoming tour dates and the latest album and song releases. Rise gives youths oppurtunities to share their passion of the genre and express themselves within it.

Brand Values:

The aim of ‘Rise’ is to supply the demands of the genre to an audience, making sure that the most up to date stories, exclusive interviews are included from your favourite pop artists.

What have I learnt about camera:

• aperture
• distance; long shot. mid shot, close up
• angle; high, low
• shutter speed

Also including the features of mise-en-scene will be important for my shoot;

• costume
• lighting
• makeup
• hair
• props
• staging

Understanding these features of mise-en-scene and how to use the different techniques in the camera I will be able to portray the communicated meaning with my pop star. Having the right body language will also represent the right meaning for my star. Having all of these in mind the way in which I want my magazine to be presented and  my target audience will be achieved.

In lesson I learnt  about a theory which is Stuart Hall’s reception theory which suggests than an audience response can be presented through an artist, allowing the artist to understand and learn about their target audiences demographics and psychographics. On the other hand, Richard Dyer’s Paradox of the Star theory suggests that an artist can be both ordinary and extraordinary and also both absent and present in a way which they can connect and have the level of relatability with their fans and the extra way in which they connect and engage with them.

What do I need think about when I make my own magazine cover?

When making my own magazine cover I need to think about the different conventions that are associated with magazine covers. I have gained the knowledge necessary so I know what to do and furthermore how to do it.

Camera Features –I will need to ensure I capture when taking pictures for my cover include high angle, low angle, long shot, close up, mid shot etc. These will collectively create and bring about the meaning and purpose for my magazine. It is a key feature for the eye line when first looking at it.

Mise-En-Scene-All these features are important for my inclusion of my magazine cover.

• Costume
• Lighting
• Actors
• Props
• Hair and Makeup
• Setting

Target Audience-Before creating my magazine I will need to research into my target audience finding out their demographics and psychographics in order to make it appropriate for the audience.

AIDA- For my magazine cover, I need to make sure that it attracts the target audience, interests them, creates desire and gives them information on things like where to get their tickets from.

Layout– I need to ensure that when creating my magazine cover that I include all the conventions necessary, e.g. masthead, main cover line, pug, plug etc.

Colour Scheme-after research, I will need to ensure that the colours which I include on my cover will be conventional to my magazine cover.

Typography-After a detailed research I will need to  include fonts of the suitable genre. I will also adapt them with some features which I have learnt on Indesign. These include stroke, alignment and size of the text.