Update Post

Since recieving feedback from Mr Ford and Ms Sizer on my first draft I have progressed a lot, during this time I have

• Made a media playlist.
• Created an audience feedback questionnaire and got answers.
• Done peer audience feedback from comments on my blog including positives/negatives.
• Done 1st Draft teacher feedback and stated what i will be changing and what went well.
• Created updated drafts on the improvements i received from teachers and what i think.
• Created a second updated draft with further tweaks and improvements/changes.

From now i will be:

• Getting new and improved photos of my models in various amounts of different settings and different shots to find perfect photos for my magazine.
• Improve my drafts to create my final pieces, most tweaks will be making sure everything is in line perfectly.
• Look at more magazine inspirations for my final piece to find out an overall look i could use.
• Completely finishing my final piece.

2nd Updated Draft (Further Feedback)

These are further improvements for a second updated draft. I decided to do a second to use a range of different ideas and see how they work. For example on the contents page i have made it look more professional by ending the page level with a plain black line, i believe it also looks more simplstic and conventional. Along with this i have also took away the sub paragraph on my double page spread and included it at the beginning of my article, I'm unsure wether this looks better, however it does make my article look longer which is what was intended. Also i need to add paragraphs into my article.

Updated Drafts

Updated Draft: Cover

In my front cover I have made a few tweaks and adjustments to make my page more professional and conventional. I have made the font for 'The Everything' bigger, this was a suggested improvement and I believe it looks more professional and eye catching. Along with this I have also adjusted positioning of my barcode and issue texts; I have put them all together which is commonly seen on most covers, this adds to the conventional look. For my text box on the left I have adjusted the cover lines, I have done this to give more of an inside to the magazine, this will attract more people into buying as there is more to tempt them.

Updated Draft: Contents

The updated contents page draft hasn't changed much, it was only really a case of correcting spelling errors and false information under the regulars heading. Along with this I have added web addresses at the top of the magazine, this is common on a lot of professional magazine contents pages so I thought it would be beneficial to use it and keep the magazine conventional. In addition I have also made the word 'contents' bigger, and tweaked the text box underneath, including the magazine name. I am happy with the overall look of my draft contents page and aim to keep this for my final version, with tweaks in the images used and texts.

Updated Draft: Double Page Spread

I feel i have made a lot of improvements in my double page spread, all from my feedback from peers and mainly my teacher's. I have made my article longer including more interesting information in their which still suits the language register. Along with this i have used a bigger drop letter, this gives more of a magazine feel. The overall look of the page is still conventional and simplistic which is my overall aim. I have adjusted columns so they are the same width and cut down to one pull quote which gains a lot of attention. In addition i have also added a different picture, i used a portrait photo that i had perviously taken of my models, this is because i feel it fits better with the page and the layout i want to portray compared to the landscape image. However i like the overall look of my previous image so i will aim to get that similar shot but in a portrait frame. I have also added other little elements to improve the overall look of the pages, for example a bold line under my article, this looks minimalistic and takes up space so it doesn't look too plain. Furthermore i have added a twitter and website address for the band; this is something which is common in real published magazines so i believed it would be a good idea to use.

1st Draft Teacher Feedback

These are four photos showing all of my teacher feedback, I received a Level 4- but when looked at into more depth overall it was a level 3. I am extremely pleased with this because it was a rushed draft and I have a lot of feedback in order to make adjustments in order to get into the top grade boundary. To improve I need to make little changes, a main problem was spelling errors and punctuation, and this made the magazine lack professionalism. All of my improvements needed and feedback can be seen on the four photos I have included with this post.

Peer Audience Feedback

COVER

For my cover I have received a lot of positive feedback, which I will take into account when designing my final piece. Firstly I have been praised a lot for my successful use of colour palette. The blue/back/white ‘draw attention’ immediately and the boldness of the masthead has the same effect as well which is something I should definitely take into account when designing my final piece. On the other hand there are aspects that I can improve on my cover. For example I should ‘consider moving the text body’ and also make the image fit better so it is a higher resolution. Doing this would insure the magazine has a more professional, sharp look which is important.

CONTENTS

My contents page was what I was most happy with in my draft; I put the most detail into the layout in this page to make a conventional complete look. I received a lot of positive feedback about the ‘style and layout’ of the page, looking ‘very professional’ and a lot of text. However I was advised to use a web address to make the magazine appear more authentic, this is good feedback because a lot of magazine use this feature to attract a bigger online following as well. Along with this I was advised to change information in the text, some of it was false information, which isn’t useful.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

I feel there is room for a lot of improvement on my double page spread so I was intrigued to see the improvements I was suggested along with the positives. A positive of the pages where that the image looks good with the blue/white/black colour palette again and it ‘creates continuity’ along with this the bold lines I have used under the title ‘The Everything’ is good because it grabs the readers attention well. Some negatives in my double page spread where that the article and text was crammed in because of the sizing of my picture, this has made me think that I need to use a portrait image so it fits better and allows more room for text to look professional. Along with this I have left a lot of free space on the magazine that could be filled with useful information, however I want to keep the page looking minimalistic.

Overall I am happy with my feedback I have received for both positives and improvements which is important for me to take into account.

Audience Feedback

Audience Feedback by

This is the questionnaire I used for my audience feedback. I created the questionnaire so that I could get a better insight into what people thought of my draft cover, contents and double page spread. This would also allow me to see what aspects I could improve in order to gain higher marks.  The questionnaire was filled out by 20 students, male/female ages ranging from 15/20.

For question one on my cover I found that 100% said yes. This can show me that my colours and images work well together along with the fonts. For question two I also received 100% yet again this can show that the overall look is good.  Along with this 90% of my students believed the image suited the genre well, this can show that my cover has been a success, and also that my image is appealing.

For my contents page questions overall the response was very positive. My first three questions received 100% yes. This can show that my contents page is conventional, the images suit my genre and also that it is easy to understand. A recommendation I received was to change a regular to a feature. This is because on of my regulars was something that wouldn’t usually feature in every magazine issue.

My double page spread seems to be where most of the improvement in order to gain high marks is needed. Firstly 15/20 students said it draws there attention, I want my cover to be able to draw more attention from readers so improvements will be made in order to achieve this. However 20/20 said the colour scheme and pull quotes work well and should be used in my final piece, which is pleasing. This can show me that my colour palette I have used works well with my magazine, and also the use of pull quotes is affective in the article. A main improvement which came up 16 times was in fact making the image fit the double page spread better because it was stretched. This is something I struggled on because the picture was landscape. Now I know this I will spend more time getting a portrait picture to get a better fit, which will create a more professional look.

Overall main aspects that I should take into consideration when designing my contents page are:

Cover:

• Colour scheme
• Fonts
• Image sizing

Contents:

•  Wording
• Colour scheme
• Professionalism

Double Page Spread:

• Image sizing
• Professional look
• Amount of text
• Correct text box sizing

  

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Media Playlist

This is a playlist for the sort of music my magazine will feature. There are well known bands like Oasis and Artic Monkeys to smaller bands like The Drums. All the music is Indie/Alternative which is my specified genre for my final magazine. This should give the examiner a better idea of the overall base of my magazine.

Final Draft Double Page Spread

This is my final draft for my double page spread. I like the colour scheme I have used because the black and white allow the blue to stand out drastically which adds focus to pull quotes well. I have also underlined the title of the pages in black, this makes the title seem more professional which is what I intended. The overall lay out is quite conventional, it is usual for a magazine to use an image with text by the side of it, however my image hasn’t fitted how I intended which was a shame. I like the use of my subheading because it introduces the article well which is what is often seen in magazines.

I really like the image I have used the black and white is affective because it keeps the overall look simplistic, for my main cover I might think about having colour, but low contrast/brightness to keep it simplistic/neat. I will try to get this kind of shot in a portrait view, this will allow me to fill the whole half side of the page more accurately.

I like the use of pull quotes because they break the text up and make the read of the article more interesting, for example a huge pile of text can be quite hard and boring to read. Along with this the colour palette has worked well for pull quotes, this is because it has allowed them to significantly stand out in the article well.

I used Helvetica font, this font is sharp and easy to read, however I will probably test different fonts for my final piece to find a specific one that suits my magazine precisely. I made my title bold so people can instantly see the name of the band clearly and have a better understanding of what it is about, the sub heading adds to this as well.

For my final piece I will make a lot of improvements, for example I will definitely put a lot more focus into the sizing of my image and the amount of text I use, during this draft I didn’t put full effort into getting the right sized image to fit the page perfect, therefore the page can be seen to look pretty unprofessional, I would like my photo to cover half to page fully, if not 2/3 but still leaving enough space for a decent amount of text for my article. Furthermore I will make sure all of the article text boxes used are level and the same width, this will allow for the professional look to be enhanced.

Final Draft Contents

This is my final draft for my contents page. I am please with the overall look because it is simplistic and conventional. It also uses a neutral colour scheme consisting of black grey and white, which adds to the minimal look. In addition the colour palette used allows the photos to stand out more, which draws attention.

I like the overall layout of my draft contents, this is because it looks smart and professional, and this is something I could take into account when doing my final pages. I felt putting the information on the left of the page was a good idea because in general people read from left to right. I chose to put the most important features of the magazine at the top because that’s what will most likely want to be seen first, and the regulars will be something that appears in most issues.

For the title ‘contents’ I used courier in bold for the font, I chose not to have ‘contents’ in very big writing because people will be able to tell it is a contents page anyway, however it is still eye catching because it is the biggest font on the page. The style of the font looks very formal which is what I wanted. For the main texts I chose to use Helvetica because it is a sharp easy to read font. Therefore it will be simple for the audience to read comfortably.

I decided to use subheadings for each of the three photos I used; this is so the audience can instantly interoperate the photo. I underlined each sub title as well, I believe this drew more attention to them and also made the overall look neater. Along with this for each photo I used a circle and page number, it tit this so it is clear what page the audience will be looking for, and it also fit in with the neutral colour scheme very well.

For my official piece I will spend more time on writing articles to make it suit the genre of the text more, for example ‘the new ride’ text information is irrelevant to the magazine and what people will want to read. Along with this I will put more focus into the lining of my photos, some photos aren’t 100% in line, which can give it an unprofessional, and slightly tacky look. In addition I will try to fill the whole page, for example I could include twitter ads and email links etc. I think I will keep the overall layout and scheme but just make vast improvements in making it look professional, while still keeping the simplistic look.