My Blog

Hello, my names Mia, I am seventeen years old and I am currently studying AS Media at Hyde Clarendon Sixth form.This is my AS media blog in which I have posted my process and development of how I created my music magazine,  'Euphoria' which I enjoyed making. I hope you enjoy going through my blog.

My Final Magazine

These are the images of my final front cover, contents page and double page spread for my music magazine.

Front cover

Contents page

Double page spread

Evaluation Question Seven

Looking back at my preliminary task, what do I feel I have learnt in the progress from it to the full product?



This voice thread explains some of the progress that I have made from my preliminary task (my college magazine) throughout to my final music magazine.
Since creating my college magazine I learnt how to apply the following features onto my music magazine on photoshop:

• Create a text box
• Insert a text box
• Open an image onto the page
• To insert shapes and change their colour
• To free transform shapes, texts and images
• Change texts fonts and sizes and colour
• Insert and delete layers
• Use the spot healing tool
• To change font size

 During the process of making my music magazine I learnt how to:

• Add a drop shadowed effect to text
• Use the magic wand tool remove the background of my shots
• Put text in front of pictures
• Send pictures to the background
• Change opacity of text and images
• Insert fonts from Dafont.com onto photoshop
• Add adjustments to my images e.g. curves, brightness/contrast and levels
• Use the eye feature to hide layers.
• Use the lasso tool to remove backgrounds of images
• Zoom in and out
• Use the eraser tool to remove unwanted sections
• Crop images
• Rotate images
• Remove red eye
• Use paint brush tool to add colour to an image
• Change a selected area of the image to black and white using lasso
• Use the blur,smudge and sharpen tool
• Use the quick selection tool to select a section of an image

All of the features that I learnt throughout the process of making my collage and music magazine helped me to create my final design effectively. Overall I enjoyed the process of making both my college and my music magazine.

Evaluation Question Six

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
These are the following websites, apps and softwares in which I have used on my AS media course in order to help the process of making my college magazine:

The mail app allowed me to send my blog work from my phone onto the mac in college by simply emailing my work.

I used Indesign to place texts in columns on a draft magazine at the start of the year. This helped my understanding of what looks effective on the composition of a music magazine when there is a large amount of text (where to place it).

Outlook ( like the mail app), allowed me to send my work from my mac in college to my computer at home so that I could access my media work at home.

This website allowed me to create an animated collage of my music magazines drawn drafts of my front cover, contents page and double page spread. I also learnt how to change the speed of how fast the images change by using the effects.

Microsoft work allowed me to create various documents regarding my magazine such as all of my production documents.

Prezi allowed me to create presentations which showed my research I used in order to create my magazine. For example I used Prezi to upload one of my evaluation questions. I found the website easy to use and thought that it made professional looking presentations.

I also used Microsoft Powerpoint to upload some of my research regarding my music magazine, for example my target audience presentation. I think that powerpoint is a simple way of displaying information.

Slide share allowed me to embed my power point presentations onto my blog. It is an alternate way to address my audience with an online presentation.

This is what I used to create questionnaires to obtain audience feedback.

This SLR camera allowed me to take high quality images for my music magazine. It ensured my images to have better pixelated detail on my images and made them look professional.

This software allowed me to upload my images that I had taken on my SLR camera onto the mac.This was an advantage because I could easily access my high quality images using this website allowing me to create my music magazine efficiently.

I used YouTube to embed videos for example I uploaded one of the videos to show what I intended my model to do on my front cover for my music magazine.

Dafont.com is a website that allowed me to download various fonts to use for the text included in my magazine. There is a large variety of different fonts to use. It included specific fonts used on famous products such as, coca cola. I think that this website helped to make my text look unique since it had such a large range of fonts to choose from.

Flickr let me discuss my magazine and the possible institutions that would distribute my product. I found flickr very easy to use as I simply added comments and them embedded it onto my blog. 

This is the software that I used in order to create my music magazine. It allowed me to edit my images and alter them and place my included features in any composition. it also allowed me re size and define my images.I found it difficult to use Photoshop due to the many features and tools displayed however this software helped me to make my magazine successfully.

I used the weather app when carrying out my weather viability blog post. It allowed me to check the forecast in the area in which I had decided to take my shots of my models for my music magazine.

When i wasn't in college and I wanted to work on my media work at home I could access my blog and use a variety of apps on my phone which allowed me to continue the process of my blog at home.

Blogger is the website that I used to upload all of my work from September from my preliminary task right through to my final magazine. This website is easy to use and an effective way of showing my process of my music magazine.

Voice thread allowed me to analyse images with a voice recording.  I  could scroll from one image to another whilst commenting on their features.

I used the Pic Collage app to upload various photos onto my blog in a collage.

I used the notes app to write down pieced of information that I was going to put on my blog posts. So I copied and pasted the notes off this app straight onto one of my blog posts. This app helped me with my organisation as It allowed me to create new pages for different notes that I wanted to put onto my blog.

I used the camera app on my phone to upload pictures of my magazine drawn drafts and to upload the photos that I used for my college magazine.

I used the FX video app in order to merge various videos together so that they all merged into one video, this was effective when I asked my target audience questions regarding my music magazine.

Social networks

The gif that I created below shows the social networks I used to receive my audience feedback. I used, Facebook, I-Message, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to ask my target audience questions regarding my music magazine so that I could gain quick feedback in order to improve my magazine efficiently. 

Evaluation Question Five

How did you attract/address your audience?

This Prezi explains how I attracted and addressed my target audience.

Evaluation Question Four

Who would be the audience for your media product? Why?

My example:

                                                               

Gender: Male 

Age: 17

Name: Mathew Probert

Occupation: College student

His favourite:

Film: Step up

Show: American horror story

Book: Hunger games

Music artist: Tiesto

Song: Adajio for strings (Blasterjaxx remix)

Genre: Dance

Social media: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

Shop: JD

Mathew enjoys hanging out with his friends as he is very social. His favorite things to do are buying trainers and listening to music. He also enjoys reading mix mag as he is interested in the dance genre and he aspires to be a DJ in the future so he keeps up to date with the latest information and gossip about nearby jobs for a career. His up most favorite feature in a magazine is exclusive interviews with DJ artists because they motivate him to further his talent and he can pick up tips from the professionals, who he looks up to as his role models. His ultimate role model is the artist, 'Tiesto' because he feels that his music creates an amazing atmosphere wherever you listen to his tracks. Everyone thinks that Mathew is great fun and is dedicated to creating mixes in his spare time and that he loves any music with a beat drop.People like Mathew would buy my magazine because not only does it give them exclusive information on their favorite genre but it includes tips and gossip from the professionals. Their favorite artists will be featured in my magazine which would convince them to buy it. Also a viral world of mouth could be created about my magazine as they could find it online to allow them to post comments about the magazine and receive information about future issues coming out.

Evaluation Question Three

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?



I have commented on the media institution which might distribute my music magazine and why on flickr.

Evaluation Question Two

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

This is a split screen created in Photoshop of my double page spread image and an image I think is quite similar to my own design. I think that this image of Eminem is similar to my shot, because it is a mid shot where we only see half of the body and the models face which is effective as the models facial expression is usually what draws in the audiences attention. Both of the models are wearing plain clothing with no patterns, this also attracts the audience as it relates to the fashion of teenagers in society. The way that the model appears on a magazine is the main selling point because it inspires teenagers. The image that I have used shows the model in action (playing music) whereas the other image is just of the model sitting down both of these action relates to the artists being laid back by just playing their music and sitting down. The lighting of the images add a glow and makes them look effective, this also shows a sense of them being shining stars for example they have a famous glow maybe off a spotlight. The angle that both of the images have been taken are at eye level. This directly addresses the audience therefor it draws them in. This also suggests that there is a sense of an equality between the audience and the artist, suggesting that anyone could be like they are (a famous music artist) and that they are regular just like everyone else. The dark background colour is also suited to the target audience because most of the younger generation likes dark colours in comparison to light colours such as pink. Both of the images have been placed on the left hand side of the page representing that the models may not always be center stage. 

Evaluation Question One

In what ways does your magazine use, develop or challenge firms and conventions of real media products?


This presentation represents the information of how I, used, developed and challenged my music magazine in comparison to other firms magazines.

Millennial generation and smart society

For an extra piece of information regarding my target audience, I will be targeting the millennial generation (also known as generation Y). This generation ranges from the early 1980's to the early 2000's. I will be mostly aiming my magazine at people born in the mid late 1990's an these people are digital natives who have grown up always knowing the internet and the latest technology. Nearly 78 million millennials were born between 1980 and 2000. Millennials are having an impact on business, churches, the workplace, politics and other organisations. Because of their impact they are to influential to ignore.

My weekly plan fifteen

This week intend to upload my evaluation onto my blog.

Double page spread progress

I noticed later on when looking at my double page spread that I needed to lower down my image on the left page because the mast head was unclear for the audience to read as it was covering the words, 'He's back' to much. So I lowered the image so that it could be seen. And then my double page spread was complete. And i added photo credit onto the image of the artists in a white font.

I finished off the artists record cover by adding text onto it in a bold black font because I think this looked professional.

A anchorage was added to the top of the right hand side of the page and I added another image of a model to represent the artists record cover. I free transformed the image so that it was diagonal and fit in the space effectively and I placed a caption below the image. Then I Inserted a small page number on the bottom of the right hand side of the page in a green font so it could be clearly seen by the audience.

I then added the second column of text in the same font. I also added another lime green larger, bolder quote and continued to apply a dark green colour to the questions being asked to the artist. The text is in small paragraphs so that the reader will want to read the article and it won't look to overpowering for them to read.

I then added my first column of text, the start of the text has a large letter 'W'', I did this because I noticed that a lot of music magazines do this and I think that it makes the reader want to read on. The texts font is in, 'Lao MN' in the size 14pt and the font is serif, because serif fonts are mostly used for large chunks of text as the style is much easier to read for the audience. For one quote I made the text bigger and bolder and applied a lime green colour because, it makes the readers attention directly look at that quote and then makes them want to read the rest of the text. The question that is being asked to the artist it is a dark green font to show that it is a different character speaking and makes the audience aware of this, I also think it looks effective on the page.

Thirdly I added my mast head entitled, 'He's back by dope demand' which is the lyrics from a dance music record by King Bee which I admire and I thought that it fit in well with the fact that the artist in my magazine has come back into making music. The font is in a bold white font which stands out in comparison to the dark background.

I then found an image of disco lights, I then dragged it onto the document and decreased the images opacity so that it blended in successfully with the black background and I didn't want it to look to bold so that the text I was adding would stand out and be clear for the audience to read.

I began creating my double page spread by opening a black landscape page. I then added my chosen picture of my model to the left hand side of the page because when I looked at many varieties of music magazine double page spreads most of them had the image placed on the left hand side. 

Contents page progress

I then added a page number.

I decided to remove the social media tags because I think they didn't look effective.

Lastly I added a colum of text onto the white rectangle I used the font onyx again because I wanted all of the text to look similar. I added smaller text underneath each heading to give the audience a brief insight as to what each heading is about.

I then added a shape and placed it above the bolder white rectangle and added some text over it. The word, 'features' is bold and black, which in comparison to the white shape looks impressive. Then I placed the magazines issue date at the bottom of the right hand side of the page over the white rectangle in the font onyx.

I added the mast head, over the image of the model because I thought that it would be a good idea to use the models eye as the letter 'o' in the word 'contents'. I used a bold white font because this looked the most effective rather than using a dark colour that wouldnt stand out due to the dark background. I then got three social media logos from google images and added the internet names next to the images so that the audience know that they can follow or like the magazine online. I also added another caption under the picture at the bottom, this time the text was slightly bigger than the other caption because I thought this looked effective and makes the other caption look like a subheading. I also added another white rectangle however I didnt decrease its opacity as much as I did with the other rectangle because I wanted this one to look brighter because this is where my text is going to be placed and I want the text to look bold and clear to read.

Then I added a second image to the bottom left hand side of the page and added a purple toned rectangle behind the image and decreased it's opacity. I inserted a caption below the image in a white font entitled, 'onyx', which i think looked the most professional.

I inserted an image of a model and also changed the brightness of the image so it looked darker. I used the free transform tool to reposition the image so that it was slightly diagonal on the page.

Firstly I opened an A4 purple page onto the document and added an image of  hands at a party from google images. and used the curves option to image so that it looked darker and misty which is the effect that I was intending to create.

More front cover progress

Finally I added an image of a barcode on the bottom left hand side of the page and then above it I added a text box and  included the price, website and date of the magazine. I put the writing in a bold black font in capital letters to make it stand out.

I added a menu strip in a yellow font and added a drop shadow to it so that it would be clearer for the audience to read. I then added another header to the right hand side of the page in the same font as the other headers. lastly I added a small image of a pair of Bose headphones because they looked effective on the page and fit in well with the header opposite the image.

Front cover progress

I then added a image of a white record and placed text over it, I thought that this looked professional. I also added two other pieces of text and added a drop shadow effect onto all of the text. I think that the name of the artist, 'Riven Kova' on the right hand side of the page looks effective and contrasts well with the dark background because the text is white, it stands out to the audience.

I then started to add text to the right hand side of the cover. I went on the dafont.com site and found a text entitled, 'Bebas Neue'. I used this for the font of the yellow bolder writing. I also found another font off dafont.com for the white text entitled, 'Code Bold'. I then added a drop shadow effect to all of the text. I then used the curves effect and changed the appearance of the colours of the page, I thought that by changing the cubes it gave the cover a bolder and more interesting appeal to an audience. I also applied an effect to the models eyes on the features article photo, to make the image more interesting.

I then added a small graphic feature on the left hand side and inserted the text,'free downloads' I added a drop shadow effect on the text to make it easier to read. I then added the feature article photo onto the cover.

I then increased the images vibrance and created the mast head, 'Euphoria'.  I then added the effects such as, Bevel & Emboss, stroke, inner shadow, and drop shadow to the mast head order to make it stand out in comparison to the background image.

I placed an image on my clear background by saving the image off google images and importing it by dragging it onto the photoshop document and lowered its opacity.