Introduction

After my first two drafts and all my reflection work on each I finally tweaked each page to start to finish it up a bit. At this stage I am at a point where I feel like my drafts are coming together nicely and trying to change too much may overload and ruin it.

Here is my draft 3 of the complete magazine:

What’s New?

Front Page

• I changed my cover lines, and information in the pug to a sans serif font that was way clearer to read and a lot more simple. I thought that the font used in the pug was just being a little too decorative.
• I also selected my front cover image and used photoshop to make my subject black and white as there was too much color on the page, however I did leave some things colorful such as the models burnt orange t-shirt, his jewelry, Rasta bracelet and his hat. I did this so that attention would still be drawn to the cover star and so the model isn’t completely washed out.
• I also played around a bit more with the masthead as I made it a bit bigger and elongated for a bit more attention. I also took the word ‘IYA’ and place it slightly bellow ‘MYSTIC’.

Contents Page

• I changed the information under the the headlines to white just to go with the color theme more.
• I also added white textboxes around the text. I feel like this really tidied up the presentation a bit but I am still not completely sure.

Double Page Spread

• I added my article and headline to my double page spread.
• The article ended up taking up far to much room so I tried to shorten my article as much as I could give more space on the page.
• I also had the play around with the spacing of the title to fit it on.
• Lastly I placed my insets a bit further in the middle although I don’t think I am that keen on them being there.

Here is a screencastify of my teacher giving feedbacks and advice on my work:

What’s Next?

Front Page

• I think I still need to adjust sizes of my image and text to make sure that the most important features are the first and most obvious things to catch the reader’s eye.
• I also need to change the ‘Limited Edition’ to the same font as the rest of the cover line text.
• I also need to put the price on the magazine.
• I think I need to make the models shirt black and white just so the pug and main cover line can stand out more.

Contents Page

• The background on my contents page is a bit choppy so I think I need to redo it.
• I also feel as if I need move the pot plant lower so its not being covered by the headlines and text.
• I need to change some of my page numbers so that there are more pages in the magazine.
• I think I might have to change the layout a bit if I cut of part of my image at the bottom because there will probably be too much empty space at the top.
• I also didn’t add any Rasta color to the pot of the plant to I need to do that also to make my magazine contents page look a little more obvious.

Double Page Spread

• I think my article looks too boring to read. It needs to be shorted even more and I also want to increase the size of quotes of important information and make some pieces of text bold just in order to draw more attention to that.
• The insets I feel are placed badly and so I want to either try change the shape of the images or change the layout.
• For the headline of this article I feel may not be large enough and it may be too bunched up together.
• I also need to add page numbers and references to who wrote the article or who is the model in the photo.
• I think I need to add a stand first on my page also just to create a bit more variety.

Reflection

After looking at what I have changed overall for my draft 3’s I have noticed that I have been finding it harder to think about what I need to change or not. However this is a very good thing because I have gotten to the point where I am pretty happy with all my pages (especially my font page), so now I have to be very picky if I want my magazine to be as good as I can make it.

Introduction

There was a lot of things that I wasn’t keen on in the magazine such as my image that was surrounded by text and my drop capital. I found that the second page was very boring and there was nothing on it so I needed to distribute things out better or add something.

Finally here is my second draft of my double page spread:

What’s New?

• I got rid of my font for the drop capital and add a more simple serif font that made it easier to read and made to page come together a lot better.
• I then changed my white text box to a black text box as I preferred the white on black writing and yet again it just helped to converge everything on the page.
• I then made the text box thinner so I could allow space for some extra photos I look of the model.
• All the insets used I firstly edited them on Photoshop with the adjustments as well as adding a red and yellow background to two of the images so when all the images were placed on the page in InDesign side by side, they would represent the Rasta flag almost.
• I also added a pull quote to the second page to fill up some of the empty space.

What’s Next?

• I need to add my article onto my spread as this will  determine how much space I will need on my page.
• I will also have to change the name of my headline because I don’t think it is effective enough to draw attention as well as my article isn’t exactly focused on ‘the new era of music’ more on a new rising star.
• I am also still not 100% on my font. It’s clearer to read and more simple yes, but I feel like sans serif font just makes more since with a reggae magazine.

Reflection

I think this pages look so much better than it did before and everything comes together so much nicer. I think now looking at this I am in a much more pleased mindset and feel like all that’s really left to do is add my article in and new title and see how it looks from there. It’s really just one of those things where after adding my article it could make me realize there are things I have to change and I don’t know for sure how much space it will take up either.

Introduction

For my second draft of my cover page I went for a whole different look than my last as I thought my last cover page just looked to similar to my front cover draft and there was too much color which made it look a little too much especially because a content page has lots of information you want the page to be more simple.

Here is my second draft of my contents page:

What’s New?

• I used a different image that was taken from my most recent shoot.
• I took this image to photoshop to tint and play with the models skin tone to attempt to try and create a lighting affect where the pastel green background reflects on her as if she is actually in that room and the back ground isn’t fake.
• I then cute out the model and the table and plant pot and placed it in InDesign.
• The table was too long on the original photo so the pot plant was cut off the contents page. To fix this I cut out the image and made the table shorter then lined it up against the models arm where one of the legs are. This was the most of the pot plant I could get on the page in the end.
• I then made the pastel background and tried to use some gradients to create a more realist looking ‘wall’.
• I changed the font color to match with the pastel yellowish, greenish theme.

What’s Next?

• I feel like the information under the headlines should be white to match the white text.
• I also feel like there needs to be more structure on the page but not like filled in boxes but maybe and out line around the information might neaten it up a bit.
• I feel like there does need to be something on the page with reggae colors to make it a little more obvious but not too much I might try get the pot of the plant and add some raster color or experiment a little.

Reflection

I think that comparing my new draft to my old one I think I might be going a step in the right direction. It may not be as obvious it was a reggae magazine as it did before but it looks I think a lot more toned down and simple but effective. I was pretty happy about most things on this page but trying to take a step back just to notice that there are some things that do bug me and I do notice now that I might be confusing people with what genre of music this is for as maybe I have tried to stick to this color them too much but I think in a way its different and new.

Introduction

For my second draft of my front page I reflected on my last draft on things I didn’t like about my magazine such as a certain font I was using and the sizing of my text.

What’s New?

• I adjusted the masthead size including the first letter to be slightly bigger than the rest of the words.
• I slightly increased the main cover line.
• I changed most of my text to a more clearer font and used impact and the other was just too hard to read.
• I changed the ‘Marely brothers’ and ’40’ to Alba Matter font to make it stand out.
• The caption below the main cover lines font has been changed to match the changed writing in the pug just to stand out a little more against the dramatic font used above.
• I also added a green border around the top and righthand of the magazine.

What’s Next?

I feel like there is too much going on in the page now that have have changed things about. I think I might have to decide on eliminating one of my fonts but make sure is looks clear no matter what size font. There is also too much color I think on my page so I think that I will either get rid of so many font colors or make my cover star black and white. For now I think the best thing to do is to not over crowd my page and keep it simple but effective.

Reflection

I think analyzing my second draft was an extremely helping thing for me to do right now. I can tell my draft 2 was starting to head in the wrong direction and it has made me realize I have been trying to add to many things onto my page to make it look better when less is more and now I can try balance out my cover page and try bring attention to the things that are most important to get the buyer to want to buy it.

After doing lots of planning and work to work up towards our double page spread I finally made my very first draft. Here is my draft of my double page spread:

3 Things I like about my double page spread

• I think the photo I chose too use was really good as it has a good use of MES and fits nicely with the double page spread.
• I think the text I used for the headline draws attention well.
• I think my text box for the columns of text work well as it is transparent so you can still see the photo but can also still read the writing.

5 things I need to improve on

• I don’t think the image that is used amongst the text is write as you can see the image cuts off part of the models hand so you can see a box shape.
• I think I need to change one of the decorative fonts as I have used two different fonts and it makes the page look overcrowded.
• The headline is far too small and needs to be bigger.
• The drop capital font I am still not sure about and the positing of the drop cap doesn’t look right and looks as if it may need some adjusting.
• Although I don’t want to cover my star up the second page looks to empty so I think I need to include some things on that page such as a stand fourth maybe and more.

Reflection

Overall I am not entirely pleased with my double page spread although this was very rushed and was the first draft so there is time for improvement. I think seeing what needs to be improved has given me some clear targets to work on in order to improve my magazine but of course there is still a lot more improvement that could be made and of course I still have to add my own article in as I have not managed to finish it and I have only used placeholder text.

Introduction

For my second shoot I decided to go for two different looks for my model, one was a lot more natural and cultural as the head wrap resonates with what Jamaican women use for their braids. I feel like the first look may be best suited for my content page as my second shoot was a lot more of a statement and much more grand which will really capture readers attention on my double page spread.

My Favorite Photo

I think that the costume of the brown toned dress and necklaces symbolizes that this artist is down to earth and does not put herself higher than anyone else she is showing a sign of stability and support and security and well as her letting herself go. I think including the green and yellow eyeshadow goes really nicely with the color scheme as well as the over done red blush that brings in that third Rasta color. I am really pleased with including the plant pot prop and the flowers in the models braids, unfortunately I was hoping to put more flowers in her hair. But I think the colors of the plants are really bursting with bright colors. The green leaves and burnt orange flowers blending in with the color scheme of the model really nicely. However I think the pinkish flowers kind of stand out the most and all though it doesn’t really resonate with Rasta colors or anything I think it helps to just show that femininity of the artist as it helps separates her from all the huge artists that are men such as Bob Marely, Peter Tosh, UB40 etc…

Reflection

I think this shoot went well but there were a lot of things I wish had gone better such as having more time to do each look  and the fact I was unable to do the second shoot in the studio so the lighting wasn’t great and gave us less time to get my model model ready but all though the look wasn’t completely finished for the second shoot and the lighting wasn’t as good as the studio I still am really happy with my shoot and I think for the future I will make sure to get the shoot that is most important done first so I can spend more time on it and get it out of the way.

Introduction

For our second photoshoot we brainstormed what MES we would be including as well as who we would be using for our model and booking the studio out for a certain time. This was the agenda I made for our second shoot:

Reflection

I think this was very helpful task for me to get me to start picturing how I want to dress my model and well as what cool props I could use and positions my model could potentially pose like. I think looking for videos to give me inspiration of how I could use props and what props could work well with my genre.

Introduction

In order to plan our own article for our music magazine we selected a professional article that was based on a similar theme to what we wanted to write about and analyzed it to give us a thorough idea of the type of content we would include in our own work. I decided to base my article on a rising artist so I chose to analyze an article about a new band.

Here is the article I analyzed called ‘The Next Frontier’ from a Billboard Magazine:

In this article I managed to pull out key information on:

• Who this article was about – Steve Angello, Martin Garrix and Scooter Braun
• What this article was about – A new big hit band which you can gather from the quote ‘But Braun, as part of an ambitious foray into the dance-music business, is now also managing Angello and Garrix — and together, the three represent nothing less than a redefinition of success in EDM, emphasizing original music and brand-name, pop-style superstardom’
• Why this article was written – To give recognition to this new band which can be backed up from the quote ‘I get instant respect because of who [Angello and Garrix] are. One is a legend and the other is one of the fastest-rising stars in the genre.’
• How this band came to be – One of the guys who works for Scooter Braun, (Mike George) met Martin when he was DJing at a party. Scooter then saw the boy’s potential and in turn became his manager and they hit it off from there.

Structure of  the new band article

You can get a hint from the headline of the article ‘THE NEXT FRONTIER’, that this article is to do with a new emerging band. There is a drop capital at the start of the article which draws readers eyes towards the text which urges them to read. The stand first ‘Music’s endless dance party is only getting bigger as the genre now dominates major festivals, tops the Hot 100 and accrues hard-to reach millennials (and millions in dollars) for the 30 innovative performers, producers and executives on Billboard’s second annual list’ briefly summarizes the article without giving to much context so the reader feels inclined to read about more. The article also includes credits and some graphic features. The magazine is simple and not overcrowded but very colorful and includes a central image across the double page spread of the band  to make it visual and clear of who this article is speaking about.

Presence of journalist

The article is written from the journalists point of view; it is not the band speaking. The journalist however does include quotes that the band members say but it is the journalists’ take on the band. It is written in third person to demonstrate an outsider’s point of view on the band which makes the information much more credible. The fact the journalist is saying all these remarkable things about the band makes readers believe and actually feel interested to check the band out. If the band was saying all these amazing things about themselves it may not be as genuine as they may choose to just boast about themselves to gain people’s attention but as the information is from an outsider’s perspective then it is more of a reliable and believable article.

Language and aim

‘Next’ pops out two readers as it makes them curious to find out what is next? Or rather who is the next best thing? ‘Bigger’ Indicates that whatever this article is talking about is better than something, as people associate bigger with a better version. ‘Fresh music’ Implies that this music is something that has never been heard before which grabs the reader’s full attention and most importantly their curiosity.

The register seems a little informal as we see in the quote ‘But Braun, as part of an ambitious foray into the dance-music business, is now also managing Angello and Garrix — and together, the three represent nothing less than a redefinition of success in EDM’ all though there are uses well spoken vocabulary, there are a lot of pauses within the text that make the text more casual and spontaneous. It reminds you of how a radio broadcaster would speak to keep the audience engaged and hyped which I think resonates with the genre of electronic dance music as it’s fun and boosts people’s spirit.

The quote, “was becoming so big I really couldn’t ignore it,” highlights that a manager who has worked with some top artists and is usually a picky guy, was even impressed with this band which makes the reader feel convinced that these artists are the new best thing and will want to listen to their music or learn more.

Conclusion

In conclusion the journalist represents this band as the new best thing around. The writer brings passion into his article as if the writer themselves are huge fans too which creates this ideology that everyone loves them so the reader feels inclined to hope on board and love them too or at least find out what they’re like. The journalist also communicates that they are not only ‘the new best thing’, but they are unique and different as their ‘fresh music’ is one of a kind, like nothing anyone has ever heard before and not to mention the unusual band members of different ages, backgrounds and so on – Garrix is the 19 year old who brings raw new talent, Angello is 32 who has already got a legendary reputation in the industry and lastly Braun (33 years old) who has worked with hugely famous artists and also has a huge reputation ties all three of them together with his managing skills and talent. 

Reflection

Throughout this process I have learnt a lot of new things that I feel would be useful to include into my article such as a stand first and headline to give the reader context on what the article is about and hopefully if I include the right words that pop out to a reader I can get the reader to be intrigued and hooked on my article. I learned that most articles include 5 what’s and a how to ensure the reader isn’t becoming lost in what they are reading and to be as informative as possible so the words really reach the audience.