In this shoot, I have taken photos from different angles and distances to collate a good set of images to put into my magazine. I have also selected a small range of locations so I can use multiple of the images in my magazine.
This is the photo in which I most prefer and I would like to use this as my main image in my double page spread as it includes a wide space to insert a large title and some coverlines in addition. My model’s pose is wide and his stance connotes superiority and dominance which can complement how I represent him in my feature article.
I also like these two photos and I can add these in to other pages of my magazine to advertise the double page spread.
The Beat, Adam Lambert, Don’t Look Back, (June 20 2015)
Who – Adam Lambert.
What – His position in the music industry.
Where – A variety of bands, genres and tours through his career.
Why – Lambert was searching for where he felt comfortable due to feeling lost in the industry – ‘Lambert, 33, is still trying to find himself and his comfort zone in the music industry’.
How – Through an interview between Lambert and the journalist
The double page spread article featured in this magazine is structured as an interview. This can be recognized through the use of quotation throughout the article, for example the first line on page 32 quotes, “It’s hard for me to be happy with things,”. The layout on page 31 features Adam Lambert as the main cover star which signifies to the audience that the article will be based on him. In addition to the main cover star, this page also consists of the title, subheading, standfirst and insets/captions. These typical conventions have been implemented by the producer, considering the uses and gratification theory and AIDA, in order to attract the right audience. It can also be used as a marketing strategy due to the popularity of Lambert so some readers are likely to take a copy. All of these conventions are used for the reader to gain an insight into the article. However the standfirst gives a more detailed understanding of the article before the audience reads it.
This article is written in the 3rd person showing the perspectives of both the journalist and Adam Lambert but heavily biassed towards Lambert as he is the primary focus in the article, neglecting the journalist and leaving their presence at a low level. Having all the attention focussed on Lambert created a bigger impact on him and the audience will be more likely to want to know his story compared to if the journalist had a bigger share in the article. There is a clear introduction and conclusion in the article as the conclusion retrogressed back to the introduction which refreshes the reader’s memory.
In order to make the article more intriguing, the writer uses specific language which relates back to the pop genre such as “exclusive”. The use of explicit language is also used to create connotations of recklessness, this can be seen through the use of the phrase “He’s about to kick some ass”. This introduces a sense of action as if it is a movie which creates desire within the audience. The article leaves the reader with no specific answer to the story, almost creating a cliffhanger effect which will leave the reader on the edge of their seat and wanting to read more.
This is the PMA for my second photoshoot. Planning is crucial for a photoshoot and it benefits the photographer as they can communicate with the model in advance. It also helps to plan conventions of Mise en Scene such as:
Costume
Makeup
Props
Camera angle and distance
With these things in mind and having a way of letting the model know how to dress will allow me to have a successful photoshoot
“From producing music, to introducing a new aspect to streetwear for the music industry” – My journey to producing extraordinary clothing
A new music artist has entered the industry and already taken over with his insight to clothing. How has he influenced the indie/alternative music listeners?
During the point of the Covid-19 outbreak, once known as a rookie but now an influencer, WOSC, had entered the music industry producing indie/alternative style music. Starting off with a small audience, mainly people who lived in the same area, WOSC had the incredible idea of starting a business, with little to no experience, with intention to re-style the listeners of the indie/alternative genre. You may be thinking, how has he managed to do that? Well our crew at ‘Safe and Sound’ managed to get in contact with WOSC and interview him concerning his personal experience in the past couple years.
Our team started off with questioning WOSC how had he gained a larger audience before starting his clothing line, in which he replied, “Its rather hard to explain… All I did was start releasing music on Spotify, which had soon became popular due to my few songs reaching TikTok, a popular social media platform. After that, it was all ‘magic’.” After also asking who inspired him to produce music of the indie/alternative genre, he listed a few names including: Rex Orange County, Mac Demarco and Eyedress – all leading producers in the genre. It had appeared WOSC had started his clothing line due to a “lack of fashion sense within the listeners of indie/alt music, evidence from seeing people during my performances,” which may seem a bit arrogant and opinionated, however his main target was not to make them change how they dress, but to “allow them to create desire to dress well, their selves“. After starting a website advertising baggy clothes which he designed, his audience instantly became attracted due to the appearance and cheap prices. Our team had asked how WOSC interpreted the popularity of his online shop, and he responded with “I was expecting that to happen as soon as I created that website, the clothing items are so well designed that even people older than my usual audience could wear them and look stylish. Actually, I would describe my clothing brand as explosive.” Our last question queried whether or not he had any other advice to influence his audience, he answered “be original”.
WOSC plans to collaborate with well known clothing retailers such as ASOS and Dorothy Perkins in order for his clothing brand to be spread globally with an attempt to influence more people throughout other countries. More albums are to be released within the near future and WOSC may appear in some UK festivals like Reading and even in Weekender, hosted in Jersey, Channel Islands.
Despite starting his career with a small audience, WOSC has still created a successful name for himself and continues to seek to influence the entire audience of indie/alternative listeners and help them redesign their fashion sense.
Final Draft
“From producing music, to introducing a new aspect to streetwear for the music industry” – My journey to producing extraordinary clothing.
A new music artist has entered the industry and already taken over with his insight to clothing. How has he influenced the indie/alternative music fans?
At the height of the Covid-19 outbreak, once known as a rookie but now an influencer, WOSC, had entered the music industry producing indie/alternative style music. Starting off with a small audience, mainly people who lived in the same area, WOSC had the incredible idea of starting a business, with little to no experience, with intention to re-style the fans of the indie/alternative genre. You may be thinking, how has he managed to do that? Well our crew at ‘Safe and Sound’ managed to get in contact with WOSC and interview him concerning his personal experience in the past couple years.
So our first question to WOSC was focused on how he had gained a larger audience before starting his clothing line, “It’s rather hard to explain… All I did was start releasing music on Spotify, which had soon became popular due to my few songs reaching TikTok, a popular social media platform. After that, it was all ‘magic'”. He continued by describing to us who had inspired him to produce music of the indie/alternative genre and he listed a few names including: Rex Orange County, Mac Demarco and Eyedress – all leading producers in the genre.
It had appeared WOSC had started his clothing line due to a, “lack of fashion sense within the listeners of indie/alt music, evidence from seeing people during my performances,” which may seem a bit arrogant and opinionated, however his main target was not to make them change how they dress, but to “allow them to create desire to dress well, themselves“.
After starting a website advertising baggy clothes which he designed, his audience instantly became attracted due to the appearance and cheap prices. So, how did WOSC explain the popularity of his online shop, “I was expecting that to happen as soon as I created that website, the clothing items are so well designed that even people older than my usual audience could wear them and look stylish. Actually, I would describe my clothing brand as explosive.” Our final query was whether or not he had any other advice to influence his audience, he answered simply, “be original”.
WOSC plans to collaborate with well known clothing retailers such as ASOS and River Island in order for his clothing brand to be spread globally with an attempt to influence more people throughout the world. More albums are to be released within the near future and WOSC may appear in some UK festivals like Reading and even in Weekender, hosted in Jersey, Channel Islands.
Despite starting his career with a small audience, WOSC has still created a successful name for himself and continues to seek to influence the entire audience of indie/alternative listeners and help them redesign their fashion sense.
In a contents page, I would ideally like the audience to identify changes or similar conventions to the front cover. In addition, I would like to use the contents page as a deeper interpretation to what hides within the magazine. After using my front cover to intrigue the audience into opening the magazine, I can use the contents page to further assist the audience to indulge in the magazine. In order for this to take affect, I would need to use conventions similar to the front cover which allow the audience to connect with it and consider AIDA. To create interest and attraction, I will have to include conventions such as; page numbers, headlines with some images to correspond with them and coverlines while not swamping the audience with information. Having a lack of information whilst keeping the audience interested will create attraction and desire to read throughout the magazine. I will have to comprise my contents page with creative headlines and images so that the audience will be entertained and like what they are looking at.
Using the information from my research, I can incorporate it into my work in order to create an effective contents page to go with my front cover.
What type of shots have been used to create a variety of shot distances and how has the camera been used to communicate meaning?
Good variety of shots but not original images so needs to replace with own images. Mostly mid shots so we see the intensity of the artist’s performing and only one long shot which shows the artist performing in a live concert. The main image shows him looking away which represents an ambivalence or arrogance – is this the representation wanted? If so, then great.
What choice of Mise-En-Scene is appropriate for the star image and genre?
Contemporary high street fashion in the terms of a checked over sized jacket and loose, unkempt hair represents the artist as an indie artist? Is this what they wanted, if so, then the representation is good. He does appear aloof and arrogant though also the long shot of the concert shot shows how that artist is ‘absent’ but someone the reader might want to see perform live.
How far is the font used readable and reflects the genre?
Clean san serif font for the coverlines although the serif font for the copy is readable it does seem a little old fashioned and full of strike so jars with the less complicated coverlines.
What technical conventions of a Contents page are present and used effectively?
Page numbers and insets are apparent although not always with captions to explain who is in the photos. The Editors personal address is there and signed off which works well . Some of the coverlines are more fashion based – again if this is what he wants then great.
How has Indesign been used to layout the page to convey a brand?
Yes…the graphics and the layout is modern, clean and yet conveys an energy for a young and energetic audience. More coherency with font sizes and alignment though so that it doesn’t jar in places i.e. suddenly a larger coverline than the others?
How well have the text and visuals been integrated together?
Using the graphic lines for the text to sit on works well and the main coverlines centered in boxes works well.
Where has photoshop been used to manipulate the photos to enhance the star image or genre?
I feel the main photo is a little too dull compared to the other insets so perhaps revisit in photoshop to clean up and give some vibrancy too – or tone down the other insets instead?
How is the language used appropriate for the genre and target audience?
Some catchy headlines and coverlines and it does address a younger audience although sudoku is a bit older targeted?
For my first draft, in my opinion, I have created an adequate magazine cover and I am pleased with what I have made and I can always better the results in the future. My draft is successful in conveying the indie/alternative aesthetic and I think that my target audience with the right personal identity would be attracted to it, as the audience can feel connected with a greater community leading to social reaction, and without revealing too much information about the magazine with an understanding of AIDA.
Click on image to see PDF
In response to the creation of my initial draft, I have created a self assessment sheet where I examine the key aspects of the magazine cover and whether they are sufficient.
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5 targets to improve this draft:
Add a barcode
Add the price
Re-organize the layout to make it more clean
Add more coverlines and insights to the magazine to attract audience more
Make the title and text stand out more to make them more eye-caching
These are the contact sheets from my photoshoot for my magazine. I aimed to get as many poses and positions, from the model, as I could considering proxemics and mise-en-scene in order to collect a wide variety of photos which could be applicable for my front cover, the contents page and the double page spread all together. I also tested different camera settings and the lighting to see which would give the best results. One thing I didn’t realize was that the model wasn’t in front of the white background for most of the photos which can alter the lighting and reduce the quality of the overall image.
I have chosen these three images which I like best and suits the aesthetic of the genre the most. They are all mid shots displaying the whole outfit allowing the photo to be cropped if needed and the bottom two show the models to be recognized by the audience. The model is also looking at the camera creating connotations and the photos leave open space which will allow me to add text when creating the magazine cover.
Having an imposing and eye-catching title for your magazine is incredibly necessary for making the magazine pop out and have an ideal selling point and brand, like logos for companies. I have been tasked to create multiple ideas for mastheads, using different conventions, in order to add into my magazine so I have attempted to make a vary of masthead designs. Designing different mastheads allows me to experiment with different fonts and see which ones best connote the indie/alternative genre.
I have chosen, considering AIDA, to include the bottom design for my masthead in my music magazine. This is because it is the most bold and it takes up a large amount of space, which pops out and brings attention from the audience. The overall design is simple however it is effective as it includes overlapping which saves space.
Although I may have a reasonable understanding of what graphic conventions my magazine will need. I still need more knowledge on what colour pallet to use, how to design and layout my text and what types of fonts I need to use in order to convey the indie/alternative genre. Therefore, I need to indulge in more research by collating various magazine covers which catch my eye and also sufficiently convey their own mood and genre successfully.
Using my new collection of magazine covers which are mainly for indie/alternative listeners. I can now identify that they aren’t very detailed and quite simple. They don’t include much text and focus on the main cover star more, simultaneously using a bold sans-serif font for the masthead and the title for the main cover star, often with a minimalist colour pallet. Uncommonly, handwriting may be used in some magazine covers, these can vary in style but mainly to represent the personality of the music artist as the main cover star.
Using the information I have found from researching other magazines, I can now test different layouts and implement them in to my own magazine and create a more successful first draft.
