Research & Planning

AS Media Studies – Chris Phillipou 6N

3 Fonts Analysis

Survey

Font Colour Analysis

FONTThis is a font that has 4 different shades of blue (blue for title) and also some yellow (other text), i will be using these colours for my magazine. The blue and yellow represents the type of music it is. The type of music that is associated with the winter, cold mornings, frost, and chilling nights. It contrasts as well because the blue and yellow also represent the bitterness of the winter, the blue frosty skies with the sun shining, but still cold.

FONTThese colours contrast as well because the blue and yellow also represent the bitterness of the winter, the blue frosty skies with the sun shining, but still cold. The blue and yellow gradients that I will use in my magazine will blend well in the title, the text and in the contents and double page spread. The yellow and blue work well and are highly visible within the magazine.

House Music Magazine Review

Target Audience ResearchMy target audience for my magazine would be primarily for males aged from 18+, however females can also enjoy the music my magazine is promoting. My magazine can be bought by anyone who is interested in the house music scene, for example both males and females attend house music events. However my magazine would be mainly aimed at males 18+. I asked round a few people aged between 15-30 if they would be interested in buying my magazine, the main answer was yes, I asked both males and females. I also asked a host of my brothers friends who are aged around 20-24 years old of both sex’s and they both said they would be interested in buying my magazine just because of the title, because ‘Beat Invaderz’ implies that the music has a vast range of beats, sounds etc. It also implies that this music is of the house music scene straight away. I would not promote my magazine to people younger than 18 because my magazine promotes raves and parties abroad and in the U.K that involve alcohol, and I feel it wouldn’t set a good example.

Construction

Front CoverAfter much consideration, I decided to change my contents page and the colour scheme. I decided in the end to use the scheme of blue and yellow, blended together to give the magazine front cover a dark, wintery look. The music genre for my magazine is ‘House’ music. Normally within the house music scene, there are summer and winter editions of magazines and CD albums and singles. I have purposely made this magazine to be mainly viewed during the winter. With my dark background of the front cover I think it blends well, helping the blue and yellow stand out to make text visible. I also added the picture that i took myself into the front cover, and blended it into the background.

Contents PageFor the contents page of my magazine, i once again stuck to my theme of yellow and blue. I included all information that is inside the magazine, and also used the gradient tools on photoshop cs4 to fade the title and the line underneath. I also used the blending options tool in photoshop cs4 to blend and fade the photo into the background, so that the text was still visible to people reading. I think the image i used was appropriate however i maybe could of blended it in a different way, or maybe changed the layout and put the image in a different position without overlaying the text.

Double Page SpreadFor my double page spread, i used different colours and sizes of fonts (yellow and blue) size 155 and 300. To give the page some contrast, i used the gradient tool once again on Photoshop Cs4 to blend the colours together to give the text more effect. I also used another photo that i took myself to blend into the dark background. The font stands out and is readable. All images are relevant to the magazine, and are blended to fit into the background to give the magazine a modern design.

Evaluation

Evaluation – Step By Step (Front Cover)

After deciding on having a black background, i added the title and the main headings on the magazine, for the headings in blue, I used the ‘stroke’ option in Photoshop CS4 to put a white outline around the blue text to make the text highly visible. For the title I used the ‘glow’ tool to make the title (main title) glow to give the magazine a funky effect. Above the advert i also included the advert of the new drink I created called ‘Outburst’ which is a new energy drink sponsored by the 2010 Olympics.

Front cover evaluation

After completing the title and some effects, I added all the main text e.g. Page numbers, what is where, how much the magazine is etc. I then added the picture in the middle and blended it using the gradient tool on Photoshop CS4. After this, I added the ‘splatter’ design using the paintbrush tool to give the magazine an urban underground look. I then added all the final effects to finish off my magazine front cover.

Evaluation – Step By Step (Double Page Spread)

For my double page spread i chose my dark background first (black). Then I made these 2 borders to act as two separate pages. I blended in the two colours (blue and yellow) with the white to give the borders a shiny, clear visible effect.

Double Page Spread EvaluationBefore adding my picture to my double page spread, i added all the essential text and information and also some sub-titles. I used the font colours to good effect to use multiple colours yet at the same time keeping the colour theme even.

Double Page Spread Evaluation

I then added my two photo’s to the double page spread to round it off and give the double page spread some character and some life.

Evaluation – What was successful?In my opinion I think my colour scheme and fonts selected and the size of the fonts was successful. I think it gave the magazine a diverse unique look. It also gave it a new refreshed look. This took long consideration as I was thinking of using different colours, however I tested come colours and backgrounds and I decided that yellow and blue on a black background was the one for me.

I also thought the information I provided was successful for any house music lover out there, it covers where they will performing and when, and who will be performing. This magazine will be a must buy for consistent house music lovers who regularly visit clubs.

Evaluation – What problems did I encounter? How did I fix them?

I encountered a few problems during the making of my magazine. Because I used Photoshop CS4, the making of the magazine was far more complex. It involved creating new layers for every single thing I added so that I could edit them if anything was wrong. However the main problem I faced was judging the size and width of my magazine cover, to get it into a magazine shape instead of a square-shape. I overcame this problem by trimming my magazine to make it more taller and less wider. This made it look more like a magazine and less like a CD cover.

Evaluation – Audience FeedbackThe audience feedback was good, I was told that my magazine stood out and was lively looking. I was also told my magazine looked wintery. However there was some criticism involving my pictures, maybe I could of made the pictures stand out more by putting them slightly in front of the text as if the pictures were jumping out. I also could of used different pictures that involved the person in a music studio for example utilising the studio equipment to get good effective pictures.

Conclusion

Overall I think my magazine front cover looks good considering I taught myself the basics of Photoshop CS4, I have used simple yet affective techniques to gain maximum outcome. I have worked hard to design a front cover, contents page and a double page spread within a time limit and I think I used my time effectively. However, I think there is room for improvement, there is always room for improvement to enhance the magazine and make it better, by maybe adding more information and also editing pictures more or even using different pictures. Also I could of changed my contents page layout, to use different fonts and font sizes, and also leave enough room for a photo, instead of having to adjust everything to fit it in.