Permission from artist

We messaged the artist on Instagram as we were aware of copyright issues and the problems and consequences surrounding it without permission from the artist.

Chosen Adverts 

(Click on the pictures to open bigger)

1. I chose my first advert for my contents page to be a “Vans” advert.  I chose this type of shoe brand advert down to the fact that Indie Musicians and people who like indie music like to where a cool style of shoe and vans have a lot of indie/vintage design of shoes that would appeal to my target audience I feel. In looking into a lot of Indie music magazines I found that there always tend to be promoting some sort of brand either for shoes or certain clothing which they feel their audience who read the magazines would enjoy to look at. That is why I thought choosing the vans advert would fit perfect. When creating my perfect audience profile I added the brand vans into it as I found it was a common interest to shop their within my audience profile.
2.  I chose to use the Chanel advert for my final page, I did some research and found that it fits well with my audience demographic showing that it is quite popular with people who enjoy listening to Indie music. The colours are quite plain and simple and fits well with the indie colour scheme with not to many bright colours popping out at you. I think this will appeal to my audience as it is quite a world wide popular brand.

Complete Magazine Draft 3 

 

Teachers Feedback of my third draft for my music magazine 

So what’s changed?

Front cover

• I decided to add a drop shadow behind my main cover star to make her stand out and not to get lost behind the writing
• I added a drop shadow over the words “Izzy Millis” and put black letters behind the white ones to make sure it was bold enough as in most magazines the brand of the magazine and who they are staring are always the first things you notice
• I added the small little details such as the date and price on the magazine as well as changing the cover line font enabling it to draw in my target audience when they are reading it

 

Contents page 

• The page needed splitting up more and much more contents on in, I looked through several magazines and found that they use quite a lot of lines just to break the page up so I have added more lines in between each section to make it look more professional
• I flipped the image around allowing me to have more space down the right and felt like I could do more with the page and fill it up
• I changed the colouring of the writing as I found it was to much of a colour scheme going on so I stuck with the colour black and picked up a blue accent colour to use as the cover lines on my contents page

 

Double page spread 

• Starting with the pictures down the left hand side I thought just looking at it they blended to well with the page so I decided to add a thicker black border around them all and change the pictures around so they weren’t all the same
• I also added “Indie Blank” socials and where you could find them as in a lot of magazines they tend to add their social media platforms to find out more information
• Looking at my double page spread all the writing flowed in together a bit to well so I thought about adding lines to break the page up a bit, doing this I then decided that I needed a pull quote to intrigue the reader to read more of my article so I made that much bigger

 

Feedback from video 

After listening to my feedback from the video I think I have done well, their are quite a few little improvements that I will be adding in such as:

Front page – Changing colour of cover lines and font

Contents page – Changing the colour of the lines, adding more dots and putting some sort of effect on the words “Contents”

Double page spread – Doing something to not make the end of the shoe so obvious that it is cut off, adding something else down the left hand side, breaking up the page more.

 

Second draft of my music magazine

Second draft of front page 

What’s new?

From my first draft of doing my front page I have now changed the color of the word “Indie” to go with my color scheme throughout my magazine. I thought my front page was looking a little bare so I have added lines between my cover lines just to brake the page up a little more so it doesn’t look empty. I have edited the words “Izzy Millis” to make them look bigger and stand out more.

What’s next ?

In my second draft I would like to add more specific key details that I have missed out, My next draft I want to add a drop shadow behind Izzy to make her stand out and not get lost behind all the words around her. I will also add the date of the magazine and how much it costs as that is a key feature in every magazine that I am missing out on. The last thing I want to add is to do some editing to the words “Izzy Millis” so it doesn’t look so plain.

Second draft of contents page

What’s new?

After doing my first contents page I realized I hated it so I wanted to switch everything around, I have now completely changed the layout of my first draft as the writing around Izzy didn’t work, I have also used the model from my location shoot on my new contents page as for me I just think it works better. I decided to spread everything out much more  so it didn’t look so cramped all together.

What’s next?

When I do my third draft of my contents page I want to switch it up again, I want to incorporate more lines and different shapes to split the page up more, I need to add more content onto it as at the moment nobody will buy a magazine with only 6 articles. I also want to change the style of the wording and make it more bold and vary the different size of the text underneath the main subheadings.

Second draft of double page spread

What’s new?

In my second draft of doing my double page spread I felt that it was missing something, I decided to add more picture’s onto it so it wasn’t just all writing, I added 3 pictures in little boxes down the side of my magazine to show other pictures from our shoot. I decided to change my main headline to match with my article more and I feel it was the right decision as it it more eye catching.

What’s next?

In my third draft, I want to incorporate more lines and little details. I want to add magazine details regarding where to find more information and venues. I want to add more drop caps and make the pull quote much bigger and a different font to make it stand out more just like other magazines do.

Reflection  

Overall I feel this was a strong second draft compared to my first one, I have added more little details that big magazine brands incorporate in theirs. I have varied the different pages but made sure they all flow into one. For my third draft I am planning on adding more colour and shapes just to brake the pages up more.

 

My first draft article for my double page spread:

 

Due to a recent close death in Lana D’s family she has decided to take a necessary break from her music career for the foreseeable. Being the top best singer in indie pop and after just dropping her new album this will come as a shock to her fans but she is hopeful they will understand and realize what is best for her. After the death of Lana D’s sister she has been battling with her mental health, although her mental health has always been a problem for her she has noticed it has deteriorated quite drastically over the last year and more so when her sister died, fans are concerned for the health of Lana D after only being 3 years sober from a drug adduction they are worried she may turn back to her old ways. Despite all of this Lana D has confirmed that she is still hopeful to go on her world tour in 2023 performing her new album to thousands of fans across the world whilst performing  a tribute to her sister and making headlines all around, tickets are available through this magazine with the links and all the info you need at the bottom of this page for her future venues and dates.

 

 Lana D made a recent statement to her fans on her social media platform stating “ At this time in my life I feel it is best to take a break and focus on what really matters to me which is my family, see you soon, love Lana”. Lana has previously said how fame can have such an impact on your mental health, which is where most of her mental health problems have stemmed from which can  make you not take any notice of what is happening around you and only focus on pleasing everyone else. After 10 years in the spotlight of indie pop this will be her first proper break she has had in all that time. Making it into the first 5 in the top charts when she was just 20 she got consumed by the media constantly and was always so busy that she never got any down time to spend with her loved ones. Lanas recent loss of her sister has made her realize that not everything is about constantly pleasing other people and making sure that they are happy but it is also about focusing on things that really matter to you, Lana said she would like to focus more on her family and building better friendships with her friends around her and just enjoying life from a fresh start.

 

Draft of the double page spread

Reflection:

What I like –

1.  I like the color scheme I used, picking up all the different accent colors on the page and incorporating them into specific little bits that make the page come together. I like how I haven’t used an overwhelming amount of different colors and just stuck to two or three main ones.
2.  I like the fonts I have been using throughout my magazine and they fitted in perfectly on my double page spread, keeping the fonts simple and only sticking to three maximum makes the page look clean and easy to look at with the bold fonts chosen
3.  I like the positioning of my model, I think the position I put my model makes her center of attention and fits well with where I have placed everything else on my page

What I need to do –

1.  I need to slightly re-adjust my headline as at the moment it is looking slightly squished together and not big enough
2.  I also need to put something in the blank space next to my model because at the minute it is looking a bit empty and want to feel the page
3.  I want to add more pugs or cool little shapes to make it look my eye catching and appealing
4.  I want to choose a background color that’ll run through my magazine and not clash with all my other colors
5.  At the moment I think it all looks a bit put together and I’m wanting to tidy it up a bit more

Second shoot contact sheet

Favourite pictures from the shoot:

These are my final short listed images which I will chose between, I like how these two turned out the most out of all of them and I think either of these will work well on my double page spread. These pictures were also the most in focused images and the best lighting so this is why I will chose between these two.

Reflection of shoot:

Overall I think my second shoot went really well. When going into my shoot I had everything planned regarding the positioning and different angels I wanted and what I thought would look good on my double page spread and knowing that I had planned my shoot I think is what made the shoot go well. Unlike my first shoot in this shoot all the cameras that we were using were working fine and all connected to the specific lighting that I wanted. In this shoot we didn’t have as long as the last one and only had 15 minutes in the studio to get as many pictures as we could that is why I got my model ready in the lesson before and we made sure all the cameras were working so as soon as we got in their we started taking pictures.

Production meeting agenda for 2nd photo shoot

Reflection:

Doing this meeting agenda for my second photo shoot allows me and my model to feel prepared for our shoot tomorrow and know exactly how we want things to go regarding clothes, hair and makeup. At the bottom of my meeting agenda is a link to a video of people posing with an umbrella which I want to incorporate into my funky photo shoot and this has given me inspiration into what I would like my final photos to look like.

First draft of 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?  

A long shot is used to fully capture MES of the stars costume and expression which helps to convey the characteristics of the genre across to the audience

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

The outfit worn by the star helps to convey the key characteristics of the indie genre with the soft pink complimenting the light blue tone of the jeans and the white pattern adding character as well as complementing the black and white of the shoes creating a calming and peaceful aura surrounding the genre. The model is positioned in such a way that the sole of the shoe is highlighted (- it is here that I would add a page number which tells the reader what page they can find the star on.)

  How far is the font used readable and reflects the genre

The simple, sans serif font is clearly legible (the ‘Contents’ is very slightly wonky) and helps to further convey the characteristics of the genre as it is almost childish and very playful, which contrasts with the font used for the article lines as this is quite professional and civilised.

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

The page excellently displays the image of the star, as well as a pug in the top right hand corner (Maybe make this a blue colour similar to the colour of the jeans?) , and is split into clear sections, which makes it easier for the reader to absorb the information.

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

The layout of the page leaves an appropriate amount of space for headlines and body text and the space available has been maximised to create an aesthetically appealing display for the reader. The article lines are laid out neatly into sections and further separated by lines (Maybe make these black to compliment the shoes and the colour of the ‘regular features’ heading or a similar blue to the jeans?) which also helps to distinguish the star and the ‘contents’ heading.

 How well have the text and visuals been integrated together?

The colour palette of the images and text parallel nicely with contrasting tones ensuring one does not overpower the other.

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

Photoshop has been used to manipulate the model by firstly separating the model from the background (needs to be refined slightly) and secondly, to highlight the key tones of the image (maybe try brightening the image slightly to bring out the pink?) .

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

 

Introduction 

In order to prepare for our own article in our music magazines we looked at professional articles on particular magazines we thought were interesting and that we liked the layout of and analyzed the text and particular language they used.

Here is the magazine I analyzed called “Q maverick” an autobiography written by James Lavelle

 

Structure of article and how it is written:

This is a biography speaking about the past 13 years of his life and the struggles that he has had mentally and financially. You can tell that it is a biography by the way it is set out and the way he has written it.

The biography is written in the first person telling us about his life. The impact of him speaking in the first person makes the reader feel much more connected to the writer and feel a bigger impact to what he is saying because he makes you feel like it is just a one on one conversation.

 The tone of the writing that he wrote his biography in seems to be a casual read, he uses casual everyday language as well as swear words which can create an informal relationship feel which can make people feel more relaxed and not so formal.

There is a clear introduction at the start of the article giving us a brief overview of what this is going to be about and information that will draw the audience in to read on.

Quotes 

• Who?

“James Lavelle was the boy wonder who, as the founder of the Mo’ Wax label, launched DJ Shadow and invented trip-hop.”

“boy wonder” makes the audience member wonder how such a young boy could invent another type of music “invented trip-hop” and dropping the name Dj Shadow

• What?

“I’ve put myself through quite extreme situations, both financially and emotionally. But then I got used to that very young.”

“extreme situations” explains that alongside his fame he had his own personal struggles mentally and financially and many people might not of known that, he wants to make it clear that fame doesn’t solve all your problems but can in fact make them worse

• When?

“The last 13 years have been fucking tough financially,”

“fucking” emphasizing how tough the last years have been on his life with his financial struggles and later goes on to speaking about how much debt he is in.

• How?

“Everest of cocaine”

“Everest” hyperbole, an example contrasting the tallest mountain regrading how much cocaine he uses

 

Reflection:

Doing this task has allowed me to understand the key conventions of a magazine and what I must include when putting mine together. I learnt about different headline styles and techniques and quotations can be used to gain interest. When researching I have also learnt how using different language techniques can make an article more exciting to read and will be using everything I learnt and putting it into my magazine.