This is the first draft of my contents page.

CONTENTS PAGE PEER ASSESSMENT

 

What type of shots have been used to create a variety of shot distances and how has the camera been used to communicate meaning?  

Mid shots and close ups have been used to capture the model’s emotion as well as include props and costume. Mise En Scene has been used well with the low lighting over the eyes presenting the model as intimidating and somewhat angry. The model is looking directly at the camera with draws the attention of the viewer (AIDA)

What choice of Mise en Scene is appropriate for the star image and genre?

The low lighting over the eyes is appropriate for the genre. The use of the prop guitar helps reinforce the metal genre. The model’s confident body language makes him look intimidating. The costume features a t-shirt from a band in the genre- authentic.

  How far is the font used readable and reflects the genre?

The fonts used for the cover line titles are eye-catching, and attract the reader. The text for the cover line descriptions is appropriately sized and contrasts to the background so it’s easy to read. The text is all justified which makes it look professional and symmetrical. The big text is appropriately sized and suits the genre.

What technical conventions of a Contents page are present and used effectively?  

Page numbers, cover lines, editors hello section, Images, graphic illustration (apothis)

How has InDesign been used to layout the page to convey a brand?

The colours are similar to the front page, the typeface is the same. The graphology and shapes is different and is appropriate for the contents page conventional layout.

 How well have the text and visuals been integrated together?

They all fit the colour scheme and genre.

Where has Photoshop been used to manipulate the photos to enhance the star image or genre? 

He has been cut from the background as a PNG so he can be inserted onto the contents page. The image has been cropped to a mid-shot. Eyes have been brightened.

 How is the language used appropriate for the genre and target audience?

Colloquial, easy to understand. However should’ve used more exclamatives, rhetorical interrogatives and superlatives in the headings to get the attention of the reader.

Very conventional, Very clear, Strong level 4/5

 

Targets

• Needs exclamations
• Needs rhetorical questions
• Needs another inset
• Needs actual text
• Needs page numbers

Before creating my contents page for my own magazine, I had a look at some other examples from real magazines. I looked at examples from Kerrang! magazine and Metal Hammer magazine. I analysed the placement of cover lines and the use of page numbers and index. When creating my potential layouts, I followed these conventions and used AIDA to ensure that it grabbed the reader’s attention. I also had to think about the information that I will include so that it’s interesting for the reader and it attracts them to read on.

These are my layout sketches for the contents page

t

I decided to go with the second layout as it seems the most streamline and fits well with the front cover. It has all the relevant information and is easy to read.

This is my first draft of my magazine cover and self assessment. In my review I had too look at the design and placement of the masthead, the framing and mise en scene of the cover star, colours, layout, and to make sure it follows all of the conventions of a metal magazine.

After assessing my magazine cover, I’ve picked out some areas that I need to work on for my second draft of the magazine and set some targets.

These are the photos that I took for my magazine front page. I brought in Charlie Spicer to be my model as he likes the genre and owns clothes which follow the conventions. He was dressed in a few different outfits for the shoot. The first was a branded black tee with black cuffed dickies. The brand of the shirt is often worn by people who listen to metal. The second was the same but with a Varials jersey. Varials is a hardcore band and you often find bands supporting other bands by wearing their merch in photos. I encoded him playing the guitar so that the audience can decode that he’s an established musician. The last was a white knocked loose tee, another hardcore band, a supreme cap, and some black shorts which revealed a tattoo on his shin. For him to look extraordinary he wore jewellery, I had him wear a dagger ear-ring and a gold watch. He also wore his Reading wristband which is a music festival in the UK, this makes him seem more ordinary and relatable as he goes to see shows just like everyone else.

When taking the photos of my cover star, I tried to use different angles and frames such as close ups and mid shots, and high and low angles. For the cover photo I wanted to have a mid shot which had his face and his guitar in clear view as this is conventional for my genre. I kept the lighting mainly on one side of the room as I wanted the shadows on his face and the folds in his clothing.

When creating a magazine, I need to be aware of the competition in my genre and what I can do to stand out with my own unique selling point.

For my magazine to have a USP (unique selling point), I will also create some branding for an accompanying radio station. This will help with beating the competition as it is a great way for my target audience to connect and socially interact with the brand. My magazine will have the preferred reading of the fans and it will match and contribute to their personal identity.

The masthead is a very important step in creating a successful magazine cover. It must standout to the audience and also fit the genre. When creating these, I played around with font, letter width, letter height and colours. All of this had to be kept with in the conventions of the genre, to do this I looked at other mastheads within the genre and found that they all use bold text and was all in capital letters. I also used AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action) to help me figure out the branding of the magazine. To grab attention, I use bold lettering. To strike interest, I will use cover lines that make the audience curious. To create desire, I will create an interesting cover star that has an envious lifestyle but stays relatable. Finally, all of this put together properly will make the audience take action and buy the magazine.

When creating a star’s image it is important to make them relatable and ordinary yet also extraordinary and nothing like you and me. This is called the paradox of the star. The repertoire of elements uses conventions to establish the genre that the star is in, this can include aspects of Mise-on-scene such as costume, hair and make-up.

In this first slide the artist is shown to be a celebrity and have a desirable lifestyle where as the second slide shows the artist to be like everyone else and quite normal.

Bryan Garris is represented in articles to be talented and successful vocalist and front man who’s found lots of success in the genre. This is shown in articles such as: ‘THE 10 GREATEST HARDCORE FRONTPEOPLE RIGHT NOW’ and ‘KNOCKED LOOSE TO HEADLINE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF OUTBREAK FEST’.

He is also portrayed to be more like a regular guy through certain articles but mainly through his twitter feed. One article talks about him having to leave a tour due to a family emergency which shows his vulnerable side. He has fun with his twitter followers where he isn’t very serious and jokes around with them but he does also address important issues like racism.

Denotations

• Tattoos
• Tiny Hat
• Chain
• Piercings
• Dickies
• Vans
• Flannel Shirts
• Band Merch

Connotations

• Organic
• Honest
• Edgy
• Crisp
• Familiar

I will follow these for my own star image as it follows the conventions of the genre and it will be recognisable for the consumer.

This is a mood board of my chosen genre for me to reference when creating my music magazine. It includes denotations, such as: tour posters, album art, magazine layouts, band photos and logos. The connotations of the images are edgy, angry, dramatic and arrogant. This will help inspire me for the branding of my music magazine. It will ensure I use all the same conventions and it has everything the audience is expecting of the magazine.

Colour Pallet

It is important to find out the demographic and psychographic of the people who will be reading my magazine so I can figure out my target audience. The target audience needs to be able to socially interact with and identify with the brand and the content. I need to understand what is entertaining for the audience and what information they care about so that I can strategically plan out the topics of the articles I write and also the advertisements I add in. I will have to use all the right colours, symbols, fonts and techniques to encode the right message for the target audience to decode. If they react positively then it’s a preferred reading and tells me as a graphic designer that I’ve done well.

For researching the different audiences for the different genres, we used the website YOUGOV.com. Sadly it didn’t have any artists in my sub-genre on the site so I went with the closest thing.

Artists and their Fan Base

Dating Profile

Using my knowledge of my choses genre, I created a dating profile for a typical Hardcore Metal fan. I included bands that he listens to, things he does to pass the time and things like his job and general day-to-day life.