Making Magazine

I have finished my final draft of my magazine despite the fact I had a few problems along the way. I had a big problem when the practice front cover I had made got deleted some how so I had to redo it and it wasnt as good as the one I had made originally but I didnt have enough time to make it any better. I have also done the front cover however I struggled to choose a colour scheme and worked hard trying to get it right. There are still a few issues which I will need to work on before the final deadline such as the main image because I had a few problems and a lack of time with the pictures, so I might need to work on them.
I didnt have so many problems with the rest of the magazine and as with the front cover the main issue is the images I used because I dont think they really fit the genre of magazine I'm making which is obviously a big problem but I will wait and see what my teacher says. Another thing was that when I printed out on of my double page spreads the writing was quite hard to read and I probably need to change that as well but thats easy enough to do.
The next thing I must do is all the evaluation work for the magazine, explaining why I did all the things I did and the impact that what I did will have on my audience. Then once I get my work back from the teacher I must make the changes that she suggests and change anything that I would like to change.

Making Magazine

These last few weeks I have been making my practise front cover and contents page and my actual magazine. I struggled at first to make my practise front cover because I didn't understand photoshop, however I am beginning to understand it now and I have finished my practise front cover and contents page (which I did on Publisher).
I have also done a lot towards the real magazine I am making, I have done one of the double page spreads which is a review of different songs including one from my made up band and I've started the second double page spread which is an interview with my made up band. I have done the contents page as well, however I have not yet started my front cover and I need to get the image of my made up band sorted, so there is still a lot to do and the finished magazine needs to be in, in just over a week. Below are my Practice Front Cover and Contents Page;

Practice Front Cover














Practice Contents Page

Photoshop

This week I had to learn how to use photoshop so it will be easier for me when I have to make my actual front cover. Photoshop is very hard to use and as I have never used it before I struggled to get used to using it and finding all the tools, it is quite complicated and you need a lot of patience for it which I really do not have!
The next task was to design a practice front cover and contents page, the front cover had to be done on photoshop and the contents page could be done on either photoshop or publisher. I have done my contents page on publisher, but I have not done much of my front cover yet because I was unable to take a picture with a still camera, so that is my task this weekend. I have also got to do some research in to articles to help me decide what mine will be like and I have got to design my magazine by drawing it to help me consider how I want the layout of my magazine to look.

Contents Page analysis

This is my contents page analysis and images of the contents pages I analysed:

Magazine front cover

This magazine front cover is the one which was top when I asked people to select which magazine front cover they preferred, therefore I should try to make my magazine front cover similar to this one.

Questionnaire

I haven't posted in a while because of half term but there I have done a lot of work. During half term, I analysed four magazine articles from different types of magazines so I could see a wide variety of articles aimed at different age groups, therefore I can see what I need to do for my magazine. I also got my front cover analysis back so I now know what I need to do to improve it, this is something I've got to do.
I've also got to do my analysis for two contents pages and two adverts from music magazines, this is something I must do soon so I do not fall behind with my work because there is enough work due in already, without me making it harder for myself by keep forgetting to do this and ending up with a lot of work to do at the end. I want my work to be the best it can be so I must try not to fall behind with deadlines.
This week I have been doing a questionnaire and I have been asking different people from different age groups for their opinion. The majority of people who I asked were within my target audience so I can find out what they like to see in a music magazine, but I also asked a few people who are older and a few people who are younger so I could compare them and see how I should do different things when I do my magazine. I have also analysed my findings and put them in to graphs so that I know the different things I should make sure I do when I make my magazine, so that it will appeal to my target audience.
That is what my finished questionnaire looked like.

Article Analysis

This week I have been working on analysing four magazine articles from different magazines So far I have analysed two; one from the pop magazine Top of the Pops, with an interview with Avril Lavigne and the other from RnB magazine Vibe, this was a feature on Alice Smith. I have still got two left to do, one which is RnB and the other which is a different type of magazine so I will probably end up doing a rock magazine so I have a wide variety of different types of magazines.
It is half term tomorrow and I have a lot of work to do, I have to analyse the other two articles and then I have to analysis two contrasting contents pages and two contrasting adverts, from within a music magazine so I can see how different they are and what type I need to do for my magazine. The two contents pages and adverts must be different and one of them must be an RnB magazine like I am making because, it will make it easier for me to see what I need to do when I make mine. Below is the article analysis which I did.

Front Cover Analysis

I have done a lot of work since my last entry. I have analysed four different front covers of music magazines, i did two that are not RnB; Smash Hits which is a pop magazine and Rolling Stone which is a rock magazine. I then did two magazines which are RnB; Vibe and XXL, however both of these are hip-hop magazines more than RnB which is why I believe there is a gap in the market for an RnB magazine. The next thing I must do is to analyse four magazine articles from different types of magazines, so I can see a wide variety and see what I should be doing for my music magazine.
This coursework is a lot of work and I know that I am going to have to use my time wisely to get my work done and I am going to have to work very hard to try and do my work to a high standard. I am a perfectionist which makes it very hard for me to do work which I believe is the best I can do, I always think i can do better, even if I not sure how to. Below is my front cover analysis.

RnB magazine!

I was introduced to my coursework and understood what I have got to do. I have already done a bit of planning for my magazine; I have decided that my magazine is going to be an R'n'B magazine and I have planned other things, such as the target audience which is going to be 16-18 year olds, however My teacher says I need to go in to more detail on my target audience and I been considering it but I still have not decided on the demographic yet and there is so much more I have to consider which is quite scary at the moment.
There is still so much to do and the final deadline of Feb 11th (the day after my birthday) is going to come really quickly, so I better get started!