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?  

A mid shot is used in order to capture both the position of the model as well as the chosen costume to convey its relation to the indie genre. This demonstrates an understanding of positioning and lighting which results in an image that is conventional to the indie pop genre with use of a midshot also allowing the conventional body language for this genre to be shown.

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

The outfit worn by the star is plain yet is appropriate for the indie pop genre with the green tone of the knitted green crop top going well with the model’s skin tone. The jewellry used also compliments the genre, as well as the model’s warm facial expression.

  How far is the font used readable and reflects the genre

The bold, sans serif font is clearly legible with the exception of the words “up to” which appear to have text between them and generates an aspect of volume representative of the music found within the genre.  However it lacks variety as the same font is used both for headlines and body text which leads to a lack of variety in graphic design.

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

The lexis used within the headlines is conventional to the genre with references to well-known pop indie artists and word choices such as “thrifting” and “rumours.” All conventions of a contents page have been made use of with the bright ombre background contrasting nicely with the blue tones of the headlines and the heading of the page.

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

Care has been taken not to add too much text to the page in order to prevent it from being overbearing. The different page numbers being in outlined circles makes the product easier to navigate for the audience.

 How well have the text and visuals been integrated together?

The colour palette of the images and text parallel nicely with light and bright tones that go together well without being distracting, however the page number “11” overlaps the model, perhaps preventing the reader from fully focusing on her.

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

Photoshop has been used well to make the area around the model brighter, aiding her to stand out. However the cutting out of the model in a couple areas such as the bottom left side of the lime-green crop top are a little rough, giving a slightly unprofessional feel to

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

The language used is appropriate for the genre and the target audience will be able to identify it with. The word “indie” is used as a premodifying adjective multiple times showing the content is relatable to the target audience (indie pop fans).

Clearly, strong, good, satisfactory, conventional, well good sense 

B grade

5 Targerts-

• I will cut out the model properly so no areas are rough
• Page number 11 overlaps the model, so I will fix that
• Use different fonts
• Choose a more exciting outfit for my model
• Include more technical conventions

Having a contents page is essential to any magazine because it is an insight about the kind of content that is included inside. It is also an index to direct the reader on the page numbers of some of the content that is advertised through the coverlines on the front of the magazine. To be able to create a contents page that will adhere to my target audience I researched some contents pages and looked for any designs that stood out to me. I found a few favourites which I attached on the slide above, but an absolute personal favourite of mine is the third one along the bottom. I like this one in particular because I think the way the page numbers and headlines are displayed is very simplistic and sophisticated. However, I also absolutely love the contents page directly above it because the I think the combination of the fonts and the colour palette is unique and I like how it is designed to show the pictures down the right side of the page.

5 catchy headlines:

• Exclusive insight into Eli B’s life
• Essential guide into making the perfect indie jewellery
• Shocking secrets revealed by Lana Del Rey
• Top ten tips from fashion stylers when it comes to thrifting your indie clothes
• Are Arctic Monkeys making a comeback by realising a song from their new album?

Focusing forward, this task has benefitted me because I now know the kind of design I am going to be using for my own contents page. Completing this task and thinking about the types of headlines that will stand out to my demographic has also reminded me of the importance of AIDA (Attraction, Interest, Desire and Action). In particular, I will need to create a contents page that will attract my target audience but also include headlines that will interest them.

In order to be successful in the media world, and attract your target audience you have to be conventional. This includes providing a service for social interaction that is there to entertain, give information and help create personal identity. Another aspect that you should consider when advertising is AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action). This is demonstrated above where the main cover star is large and takes up the majority of my poster to attract attention to the audience.

Focusing forward, assessing my own work will help me in the future because I am now able to critique myself and learn from these mistakes in order to create the most successful product I can.

The following contact sheets show all of the photos I took at the photoshoot in the white room. In order to make sure my model was perfect to be the star image of my front cover I had to consider her outfit, which includes a lime green crop top, blue baggy mom jeans, silver layered necklace and big silver hoops.

This shoot helped to reinforce mise-en-scene, I did this through the use of:

• Lighting- To create the best lighting I used two flash lights and positioned them perfectly so that they could help focus on my model. I took photos from a variety of different angles, including mid shots, longshots and close-ups.
• Body Language- For positioning, I encouraged my model to change certain things like change the way her head was tilted or where about her hand was positioned. This ended up being effective because my favourite photos are the ones where she isn’t stood there just smiling at the camera. Body language is very important because it tells us a lot about someone’s character and their general mood, which is why a lot of her body language was natural and smiling. This conveys connotations of light-heartedness and happiness which is significant for the indie-pop genre.
• Outfit- At first, I wasn’t 100% sure that the clothes I selected for my model would be suitable for my indie-pop genre, however when everything was put together, including the makeup and jewellery, I found it was the perfect fit.
• Hair and Makeup- My model has black hair, which we curled in order to create the sense of passion and fun-loving, this exemplifies a feeling of warmth which helps to attract my target audience. The makeup I did on my model was a purple and silver eyeshadow look with a little bit of eyeliner, bold eyelashes and highlighter on her cheekbones. This makeup look helps to wrap everything together and I feel makes her stand out and look more powerful.
• Colour Scheme- After doing a lot of research on the indie-pop genre, I discovered that there is not a particular colour palette for it. However, I did notice that a lot of Indie pop stars wore pastel or bright coloured clothes. The main colours I incorporated into the photoshoot were lime green and azure blue, which I feel suit my model very much and also make a statement.

When choosing the perfect image to brand my front cover I think I will either choose one of these two pictures because I feel as though these images are the most captivating and will draw in the attention of my target audience. However, the bottom image is probably my favourite because it looks natural and sophisticated, yet demonstrates the sense of youth-fullness and fun.

This task has helped me in creating my music magazine because I feel like I have got to know the camara and lighting equipment quite well. It has also reinforced the importance of using mise-en-scene to create an image with meaning towards my genre.

One of the main conventions of my magazine cover, besides my main cover star, is the masthead. This is one of the most important features on the front cover of a magazine as is it is the first thing that the reader will see when they look at the magazine, if the masthead is plain and simple, i will not be attracting very many customers and certainly the right psychographic.  Mastheads are significant because they help to convey the style and express to the audience the genre of the magazine.

Using indesign and dafont I created 8 fonts which I felt matched my indie pop vibe and would be suitable to use on the front cover of my magazine. Out of all 8 I decided this font here was my favourite, because it is bold yet sophisticated. Personally, I really like the graphics and the way there is a slice through each letter helps it to stand out, yet it is not too dramatic and won’t take away too much attention from my main cover star. I feel like it will grab the attention of my demogrpahic and implies the conventions of the type of magazine I am advertising.

Focusing forward, this task will help me in order to make a successful music magazine because it has allowed me to plan how I want my front cover to look. It has made me explore other options and work with indesign to chose the exact colour, width, length and boldness I find suitable.

To prepare for my photoshoot I need to be very organized, and prepare everything I am going dress my model in. If I do not think about these sorts of things now, and don’t write them down, my photoshoot will not run smoothly and I will be very disappointed with the results.

When creating this agenda I made sure to include some aspects of Mise-en-scene, and considered the types of poses I will have my model do. This task will help me in the future because I am now organised and things should run smoothly.

 In order to create a music magazine that suits my genre and stands out to me, I looked for inspiration and made a slide of the magazines that I found the most captivating. These covers stood out to me in particular, because I found the graphics appealed to me, especially the ones where photo manipulation was demonstrated to make the cover feel like it’s something it’s not. These front covers also appealed to me due to their unique colour palette of pastels, which is the colour scheme of my own genre- indie pop.

When creating any type of magazine cover it is important to use design conventions that will attract your target audience. One way media producers try to attract a larger audience is by including famous celebrities or influencers that may inspire new readers to buy it and eventually become a long term subscriber. For example, this can be seen through the ‘Cosmopolitan’ front cover I included on my slide, where the producers have used a famous YouTuber Emma Chamberlain as their cover model to appeal to a younger audience. One graphic design convention I like in particular is the ‘billboard; cover, where the masthead is written downwards. This stands out to me because it doesn’t look like the other magazines where the masthead is typically written across the top, it adds character and I feel as though if I was to use this technique on my own front cover it would appeal to my target audience. Another front cover which has me captivated is the ‘Bazar’ one, where the front cover model is surrendered by pink feathers. This draws attention to her face and in particular her glamorous makeup. This technique would be perfect if I was looking to advertise a certain makeup product.

Focusing forward, this task has taught me the significance of using certain fonts, coverlines, layout, cover model and colour palette. I now am aware of photo manipulation which I am going to being using in my own front cover because the combining of the elements is unique and will convince viewers.

In order to understand the market for my magazine I need to know who my competitors are. So I researched the background of some magazines similar to what I will be creating and made a piktochart. To succeed in creating a music magazine I need to analyze the type of things my target audience will be entertained by and discover my own preferred reading, so I can have my audience view my text exactly the way I want them to. This task has also taught me the importance of needing to include ‘AIDA’ in my advertising, which includes making sure I consider Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.

In order, for any music magazine to become a success it is important to understand the star image. In media, the first thing your customers will analyse is the front image of your model, from this they will convey a certain connotation which will help them decide if they are interested in your product. To give me a better understanding on this I researched how a particular star from my Indie-pop genre is represented in the media.

How do the media view Lana Del Rey?

Lana Del Rey is adored by many indie-pop fans on social media globally, however she can also be seen as a very controversial character due to her blatant honesty and problematic tendencies.  The fact Lana is so honest means she is iconic and an inspiration to people in the indie community.  Her friendly problematicness can be seen through the tweet I displayed on the first slide. Despite Lana only being 21, she portrays a vintage aesthetic, that is also represented on the same slide where you can see her record and vinyl’s for sale exclusively on her website. This relates to the indie-pop vibe she represents because viynl’s and  records are one of the main source’s that my genre is played one.

Reflection:

To help me come up with ideas for what I would like to dress my model in, I researched what type of clothes, hairstyles and makeup famous indie-pop stars wear. It is very important for my model to look extraordinary and not just like an ordinary pop star because then she will stand out from the crowd and attract our target audience.

Focusing forward, this task has taught me the significance of researching the backgrounds of other famous indie-pop stars and using mise-en-scene to convey the desired message to the audience. It will help me to make my music magazine because now I have a good understanding of the type of fashion I will need to get for my model to wear. I am now aware of the kind of poses I will get my model to do, in order to portray my indie-pop these to my audience.

In order to create a successful music magazine for my specific audience I have to be able to understand them and know the reasons why they are willing to invest their time and money into it. A pair of theorists who considered this idea were Blumler & Katz, they called this theory uses and gratification and suggested that there were four reasons people actively seek out and consume media.

USES AND GRATIFICATION:

• Information
• Personal Identity
• Social Interaction
• Entertainment

To help me discover what kinds of media I need to produce in order to entertain my demographics I did some research on the statics for some famous indie-pop stars. I used a website called ‘YouGov’, to help me find accurate statistics about Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish and Lorde’s audience.

I then created a dating profile in order to discover the type of demographic and psychographic I am trying to attract. The statics I found were useful in creating my dating profile because they helped me decode the characteristics of my person.

To conclude, I found this task very informative because I now know the significance of researching the personal interests of the target audience for my genre. Focusing forward, this will help me in order to be a good producer, because I will be able to identity the preferred reading subjects of my audience and include it to achieve loyal and happy customers.