Feedback

I have posted my final Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread on the social networking site Instagram to get some feedback. I posted the pictures separately and asked for some feedback on them. I have done this because the people on my Instagram are the kinds of people who would read this type of magazine, therefore I thought feedback from them would be the best. They are of the right age and this feedback would be very beneficial. I will now wait for some feedback from people on Instagram.

Font Cover on Instagram

Contents Page on Instagram

 

Double Page Spread on Instagram

Text Choices

For my magazine I  have decided to use the font 'Lucida Sans' for most or all of my general text for my magazine pages. I chose this font because it is clear and not completely simple it has some nice shape to the letters. This font is also the kind of font which may be used in an indie music magazine.

I then chose a font from 'dafont.com' for my masthead for the logo of my magazine which I also used throughout my magazine. This font was called 'Moiser Techno'.  I chose this as the logo for my magazine because I felt it was very simple, yet bold and it stands out a lot. When this was chosen as my final font, I doubled it, putting a white version slightly smaller on top to make it a white font with a black out line.

Another font I used was 'Script MT Bold' for the date and price underneath the logo for my magazine of the front cover. I chose this font because it looked professional and it was clear.

One other font I used called 'Progress' I used for the writing of the artist on the front cover of my magazine. I chose this font because it was very big and bold. It stands out as being strong and independent therefore I thought it was only suitable. When editing this font, I made it the burgundy colour which I have been using throughout my magazine.

 

 

Article for Double Page Spread

MY RISE TO FAME

 

Romy Stone reveals all top secret information about how she rose to fame in just under six months on YouTube

 

Romy Stone, singer-songwriter from London, at just 17 rose to fame due to a phenomenal reaction from viewers on social networking site YouTube. After uploading her first cover of "Yellow" by Coldplay back in September, her views and subscriptions shot up by thousands by the day. Only weeks after this, when she had over 12 million subscribers Universal Music Group, a well known record label, contacted Romy and offered her the opportunity to sign to them. It didn't take long for her to make the desicion and since then, Romy has been working on her first album which she is hoping to be a massive hit.
Having Romy Stone in the building today, we took advantage and through a few buzzing questions at her which we and surely readers are dying to know. Here's what was said when we finally pinned her down!

Hey Romy, nice to have you in the building today! First question to be fired is, how is the new album coming on? 

Hi Emily, it's a pleasure to be here! Well, it's nearly complete really just a little more editing to be done and it will be ready to release! It's really exciting to have my first album nearly done! 

That's really great! We can't wait to hear it! What is the album based around? Does it have any hidden messages or stories? 

I can't wait to hear it all finished either! Messages and stories? Yeah there are a few, some of the songs basically describe how I was feeling at certain times like ups and downs in my life, stories in there of past experiences which have impacted my life a lot. It's an album letting my fans know my inner most thoughts and feelings over these past few months, although there are a few songs of which I wrote a while ago, a few of my personal favourites.

Well, I'll be sure to listen to it! So, what has this record deal done to your life? What changes have been made? Any positives or negatives? 

Thanks, it means a lot! Well the record deal has changed an awful lot in my life! I get recognised in lots of different places, asked for autographs, photos, being asked to go on talk shows and magazine interviews! It hasn't really got any negatives! I'm just busy all the time now, and I really love it! It has been the best opportunity for me! I wouldn't be here without my fans! Thanks to them I got recognised and it has hopefully changed my life forever!

We're all so happy for you here at BMA! How did you feel when Universal Music Group contacted you because of your YouTube videos? 

Thank you! First of all I was completely utterly shocked! I couldn't believe they were interested in my! It was a dream come true and if it wasn't for my fans, I don't think they would have even noticed me! The amount of views and subscriptions I got on YouTube was overwhelming and I felt so incredibly lucky! The moment they offered me a contract I burst into tears but I could not ever turn the offer down, it was one hundered percent a yes! 

We're thrilled for you! A new genuine star is what this industry needs! And we can garruntee we will be playing your album when it comes out! It's been an honour having you here today! Thank you! 

Thank you! It's been a pleasure for me too! Hope to see you soon! 

Gig Photos

On my contents page I decided I wanted to put pictures of other bands who would feature in my magazine. But because I had tot take the pictures myself otherwise it wouldn't count I decided I would use the pictures of which I took when I was at a Jake Bugg gig on Friday 21st February 2014 and Two Door Cinema gig on Friday 13th December 2013. These pictures were taken from the view I had whilst at the gigs. I thought this would be a good touch to my magazine because the pictures were really taken by me and it gave me extra to put on my contents page, other images making it more interesting. Below are the pictures I chose from all of the pictures from the gigs.

I chose this picture from the Jake Bugg gig because its very clear and you can tell its Jake Bugg because of the logo in the back which is also very clear. The lighting in this image is good and the quality of the picture is good considering it was taken from an iPhone.

I chose this picture from the Two Door Cinema Club gig because it is also clear for the view I had at the O2. This photo shows the scale of the gig really well and how many people were there. The light in this image is also good, you can see the lights from the stage really well.

Today's Progress of Front Cover

Today I edited my front cover because I decided with some feedback that I didn't like the all black and white cover. I decided that I wanted to add some colour onto my front cover. First of all I made a decision on what colour to add to my page. I decided on a burgundy red colour because i feel it fits well with black and white. Next, I changed my font for the word 'ROMY' because the previous font was difficult to work with. I made the font large and made that the red colour. I then made the bar along the bottom the same colour so that they it stood out in this colour but also because having one thing in red would look silly. After, I tinted the back ground with the same red colour so that everything looked as though it fitted together and the red didn't stick out too much. Lastly, I made all my boxes on the page which have writing in them more opaque. This made the boxes look a lighter grey so therefore I have a red, white, black and grey colour scheme. Because of these colours my magazine is staying with these colours on my other pages.

Progress of Today

Today I have worked on my contents page a bit. First of all I added in three pictures in the middle row of my contents page. These pictures are to do with what is inside the magazine, Romy Stone's interview, Jake Bugg tour review and Two Door Cinema Club tour highlights. I made these pictures quite big and dominant on the page so that they were obviously important articles. For the short piece of writing underneath eh pictures i made the information white, and the page number red so that they contrasted and the information was obvious. Next I finished off the contact box at the bottom left hand side of the page. by making sure of the links were correct and also making sure i had a logo for each site.

After, I started on my Band List for my contents page. This convention i found in NME magazine. It is simply a list of bands with a page number where you will find information of that specific band. I decided to use this convention because I am following the main conventions of NME magazine. To create this Band List, I made a tile for the list and made it very big and bold. I then separately made a list of all of the bands of which i was going to put on the final list. I then put them all in alphabetical order so that the list would be easier to read and would make sense. Next I gave eacher band a page number which the reader would then know what page to find a specific band on.

 

 

Lastly I created the contents list on the left hand side collumn. I made a heading for the contents which I made sure was the same size as the band list heading. I then in the bigger box made subheadings of 'Features' and 'Regulars'. These are also conventions of NME magazine which i found interesting and I wanted to use them. I then added in the features content and made the information white and the page number red like i did with the band list to make it all blend in together. Next, I added in the regulars information using the same colour technique as the features information.

 

Today's Progress of Contents Page

Today I have been working on my contents page. I started out with just a blank page today and have been slowly building it up relating back to my hand drawn design I made a while back. Firstly I chose a colour of the background of the page, I chose a medium grey colour because I felt it was neutral. I do like this colour but it may change throughout the making of my contents page. I then added some boxes at the bottom of the page as I thought it would be easier to start building my page from bottom to top as the bottom of the page is less complicated. I made the left hand box slightly longer than half way across the page and about an inch high. I made the box next to that the size of the rest of the space and the same height with just a tiny gap between both boxes. The boxes are a slightly darker grey colour in contrast to the background, and yet again this colour may change as I think grey is very bland but it could be effective and I will consider the colours later on. I next copied and pasted from the internet a the Facebook logo, the Twitter logo and the Instagram logo. I then made them a lot smaller and put the inside of the bigger box. From this idea I made accounts on Email, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for BMA magazine so that my links are true and give a little extra to my magazine. After creating these accounts I pasted the links for each one next to the correct icon. I used the same font as I have thoughout my magazine so far and I put the writing in white so it contrasted against the box colour. For the smaller box, using the same font and colour I wrote about subscribing to BMA magazine as I found this in NME magazine when analysing it. I wrote about how much it would cost for a year and when the special deal ends. I will write more in this box another day because I think what I have written is very simple and not to eye catching. Below is a print screen of my work as I left it today in InDesign for my contents page.

Social Networking

Whilst in the production of my magazine, I came across social networking. It seemed to be very popular on the magazines of which I previously looked at and seeing as more recently promotion is done though the social networking websites. Because of this I decided to take my magazine a step further and create the pages of which I will be putting in my magazine so that you can really access these pages.

The first thing I had to do when creating all of these different sites and pages for my magazine I had to create an email address especially for my magazine so that wherever I sign up I can always refer back to this email and all of my social networking accounts and information can be accessed here. I will also be placing my email on my music magazine with all of my other social networking information because I feel it is a close way of connecting with the target audience for any problems, ideas or queries. Below shows my email account for BMA magazine.

 

 

The next thing I did was set up a Facebook page. I did this by going onto my own page and creating a page from there. I had to add in a little information on the page and also a picture of which I chose the BMA logo as I thought that would be the most sensible. From this Facebook page I can invite or suggest to people who use Facebook to look at my page and even read my magazine or give me feedback for my magazine. Below shows my Facebook page for BMA magazine.

 



 

After this I decided to also make a Twitter account. I made this account because lately twitter has become more popular in the social networking world than Facebook at the moment and more and more people are joining it every day. I personally use Twitter for finding out about bands therefore I only thought it appropriate to put BMA on Twitter too. Below shows my Twitter page for BMA magazine.

 



Next I made an account on Instagram for BMA magazine because this is the most up to date picture sharing social networking site of the present day. I think this is a good promotional site because not only can you have followers like the other sites you can visually show things which may appear in the next issue or ask for opinions on designs. Below shows my Instagram page for BMA magazine.

 

Today's Progress of Double Page Spread

Today I have been working on my double page spread in InDesign. I have added the quote on the main image from what the text will say. I used the same text as I have used basically everywhere else in my magazine. I placed this text in the bottom right hand corner of the left had side page so that the image is still seen yet the writing is also seen. In the bottom left hand corner of the left hand page i decided to add a little information about the picture so that the reader knows where, when and who the picture is of and taken by. I also put this in the same font and the rest of my magazine. At the bottom of both pages in the margine I decided to put my magazine name and the date of my magazine to remind the reader what magazine they're reading. I used the actual lodo of my magazine, I just resized it and I used the same date which I also used on the front cover. On the right hand side page I added in the title for my article also in the same font. I gave it a shadow to make it stand out more compared to the other large writing on the page. I next added the subtitle for my article which is only a sentence and I also put that in bold but a lot smaller writing. Al the writing on my page is in black because I feel it looks best and fits in well with theme and colours. Lastly I added two tirangles at the sides of my pages in the margines which have the page numbers in white. I like this idead I had because it looks indie for my magazine and I think it looks good. Below is my progress of today.

 

 

 

Today

Today I have decided to work on my double page spread as I feel this is a priority right now. I have placed my picture into InDesign on a double page spread layout, I now will plan and start to write the text for my double page spread so that it will be easy to place it in after. I plan to have it in three columns which I can easily use by using a setting on InDesign. I will also be adding some bolder larger texts within the article so that they look more important, these will be things such as quotes from my artist. I have also been developing a title for the article which will be in large writing about the article.

As I have been developing my double page spread I have noticed some conventions of which I put in my plan of my double page spread of which I have come across in the production and feel I will have to change. One thing I have changed is the background picture. This originally was going to be on the left hand page, but because of the composition of the final picture of which I chose for the double page spread the model is on the right hand side and the wall stretches over the second page on the left hand side. Therefore I will put the main image onto the right hand side and the article on the left hand side.

Lastly, today I am attempting to start the article and am also deciding what words, phases and quotes I am going to have dotted around on my double page spread.

Photoshoot evaluation

I feel that the photoshoot of which I took was very successful. I managed to take a good solid amount of pictures and they were all of a decent quality. I really enjoyed taking these pictures as I do photography at school for AS level as well as media therefore I was putting wo subjects together. I found that what I had learnt in photography tied in with the shoot for media, such as good angles, lighting and camera settings. I also feel that my photoshoot was successful because of my model. I think that I picked a good model for my shoot as she is pretty and has a slightly indie style already. She also worked well with the camera being very photogenic. If I were able to do my photoshoot again I wouldn't change too  much only the places and backgrounds for my pictures. For example i would have liked a plain white background but that is hard to find so I settled with the black and white striped wallpaper, the brick wall and the fence. Another thing I would change about my photoshoot if I did it again would be my models hair. I feel like I previously said that my model was perfect yet I didn't get her hair as I wanted it due to her hair type. I wanted to have my models hair like Lorde's hair as I tried to base the shoot around her but due to her type of hair, thick and very long, it wouldn't go the same therefore I settled with lightly curled hair. This was alright still as it was my interpretation so it didn't matter.

Location Shots

Below are pictures of where I took my photoshoot.

My first location was my models bedroom wall. Her wallpaper is black and white thick stripes which I thought would look good a quirky as a backdrop for my photos. I think this gave a good effect in my pictures because my pictures were put in black and white too white made everything blend together and give an indie look on my pictures which is what I wanted. Also the stripes gave me a good idea of composition when I took my photographs as I tried to line her up with the wallpaper.

My next location for my images was a wall outside of my models house. It was a plain brick wall with some natural twigs and branches around it which gave it that urban, indie look for my magazine. I think that this was a good idea for my pictures to be takn here because it gave the pictures a sort of wreckless feel which is a theme I want to run along side of indie in my magazine. If I could have changed this location I would have kept the background the same just would have liked the wall to be a little longer to give me more room to take pictures as because of the size of the wall it meant I could not take pictures too far away otherwise I would get some of my surroundings in the image too.



My last location for my photoshoot was a plain fence also by my models house. The fence was very plain but this meant that the focus was on my model for these pictures. The colour of the fence was also very simple, a dirty nude colour which meant the clothing for my model stuck out and looked bright. I liked the shots of which I took infront of the fence because they were simple yet very effective for the model herself.

 

My Photoshoot

Here are a sample of the photo-shoot I took. This is only a print screen of a few of the pictures I took. Overall I took around 200 pictures and selected the best ones.

I took my pictures of my Canon 1100D Digital SLR. I found this a really good camera to use as it gave a really clear picture. It was also really easy to handle because it is light and not too big as well.

Progress

At this point in my blog I thought that I could show my progress of my magazine. I have lately finishd my front cover of my magazine. Here it is in photoshop.

 

 

I have started on my double page spread. I have come across difficulties when starting my double page spread in InDesign as I find it tricky to use.

 

 

 

 

 

This is my start to my double page spread which I am working on right now.

 

 



 

Photo Shoot

For my music magazine pictures I will do a photo shoot of a model who will be my music artist. I will take numerous pictures so that I have plenty of shots to choose from when putting together my pages for my indie music magazine. My photo shoot will take place at the weekend. I have decided to take the pictures for the shoot at my models house as she has a great back drop of black and white striped wall paper of which will look good as backgrounds in my photos, also it will be easier with costume changes to do it there for her. I will also use some natural backgrounds such as brick walls and fences to give it an urban indie look.

I have decided on outfits of which I would like my model to wear for different sections of the shoot. Below I created a look book of the outfits I will ask her to wear. I did previously ask my model about the kinds of clothes she has so I had an idea of what I could use in my shoot.

OUTFIT 1

 

OUTFIT 2

 

OUTFIT 3

 

OUTFIT 4

 

 

OUTFIT 5