Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Once I had taken my preliminary task into consideration i feel that i have progressed throughout the process of creating both magazines, regarding this i believe that there is clear diversity between the two magazines.
FRONT COVERS
FRONT COVERS
There is a clear contrast between my school magazine front cover and my music magazine front cover. My school magazine does not follow the correct conventions of a magazine which my music magazine front cover does. The first clear and major difference is the use of space, the front cover of my school magazine has very little cover lines, sell lines etc. This is very unprofessional and would not draw the reader in to buy the magazine, however my music magazine front cover is much more exciting and i have used more space available by using sell lines, cover lines, bar code, masthead and quotes, this enables my magazine to look more professional and attracts readers.
It is clear what genre my music magazine is and who the target audience is however my school magazine is not. It is clear that my magazine is a alternative rock magazine by the use of dark colours, including rock bands names and using vocabulary such as 'Band' 'Solo Career' and 'Festival'. Another key difference is the use of editing, equipment and backgrounds, although it is clear the school magazine is a Halloween issue it is very misleading and the reader would not be able to tell that it was a school magazine. A magazine front cover should use a plain background such as a white backdrop so the magazine looks professional and the focus is on the cover lines and model. The school magazine does not follow this and therefore the magazine looks unprofessional and it is hard to read the cover lines.
The masthead of a magazine is also very important, UNPLUGGED's masthead is very clear, easy to read and bigger than the rest of the text on the cover so that it is easy to understand what the masthead of the magazine is, it would also draw the reader in. This does not apply to my school magazine, all the text is the same size which does not attract the reader and does not make the magazine visually exciting.
While creating my musing magazine front cover i did an in depth research of the conventions of a magazine and i looked for examples such as Kerrang! and Rocksound, this allowed me to
CONTENTS PAGES
As well as a front cover i also made two contents pages, there is a massive difference between the two and i believe that I have made a huge improvement by learning about the different conventions, doing research and learning how to use photoshop in a more professional manner. My school magazine contents page only follows minimal conventions such as page numbers, two mastheads and 50% pictures 50% text. It looks very unprofessional and unappealing to an audience. The font and colours used are very boring and the space between the text and images make the contents page look unfinished. The sell line is also very boring in a plain green circle which is not exciting or eye catching. The skill used to create the contents page was very poor and there is a clear improvement of the two. However my music magazine contents page is much more professional and follows conventions of a magazine such as 50% pictures and 50% text, social media links, website links, editors comments, page numbers, sections, two mastheads and the date and issue number. My contents page also has the same colour scheme as my front cover which shows that it is consistent and makes the magazine as a whole look professional. The two separate columns, one for text and one for pictures makes the contents page very easy to read but it is also exciting to look at.
TIME MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING
I believe that i planned my music magazine thoroughly as i was always coming up with new ideas and changing parts of my magazine, i thought deeply into what genre i wanted to do and how i would represent women throughout the magazine. I also took into consideration not only what i liked about the magazine but what other people thought about it too. I also kept my audience in mind while creating the magazine because i want to grab their attention in the easiest way possible. however this is not the same for my school magazine, i quickly decided who my target audience was going to be and i decided what the magazine would look like without really considering what my audience would like, i created a magazine that i thought looked good.
