7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Masthead

When looking back at my preliminary task there are many changes that I made in order to develop the appeal of my final product. Firstly l put more thought into the font I used, although there are differences in the genre of magazine I still had to re think my approach to choosing a font. When creating the ‘LodgePark Life’ preliminary task I used a font from an online website, this allowed me to have more range however I did not stick to the connotations of a typical school magazine. When creating my actual product I made sure to research the connotations in much greater detail, I used a dark broken font in order to connote to the target audience preference, as well as this it connotes to the psychographic and demographic model which states that the like to go against the ‘mainstream’ interests, therefore typically will be more likely to prefer a broken font in comparison to a colour bubble font. As well as this I looked at magazines that are currently on the market such as KERRANG! And NME, although they have very different styles both show aspects connoting to my target audience. The masthead is the key feature in creating an initial recognition to our magazine, by placing the name behind the main image it shows that we are more interested in promoting our stories to catch the reader’s eye as opposed to making our brand name bold and stand. Next I decided to make my mast head cover the width of the front cover, this meant that it made I clear to the reader as well as balancing the magazine out when looking at it. By centrally composing it as the top of the magazine it I have put it in the typical place therefore the reader do not have to make any effort to find it, this therefore makes it more enjoyable to read and look at due to instant recognition of the layout.

Main Image The main images on my front covers are in direct contrast to each other in many ways. First of all I used a very different camera shot, on my preliminary task I used a slightly high angle shot allowing me to include more into the shot, the work is shown surrounding her giving the impression of a learning environment that the school would want to portray. This also connoted to on my sub-lines, one of my stories I ‘exam result success’ this shows the student working hard up to their exams and how the school has pushed them achieve success therefore it is an appropriate image. On the other hand I used a medium shot on the front cover of my actual product, this allowed me to portray the facial expression of the person much more clearly as well as including a strong stance all adding towards the elevation of woman as more dominant. By having a much clearer facial expression it allowed me to connote the genre much more clearly, it shows the emotion behind the story I will be including in my double page spread well as portraying the stereotypical attitude of people in this genre of music. As well as this I changed the lighting that used. In my actual product I used artificial key lighting in order to create richer colours and put more emphasis on the person. This allowed me to show the importance of her over most of the other features on the magazine showing she will be the main focus in my main article, as well as this the lighting gives it a more professional finish, by focussing sole on the person itself I am able direct the readers eye to certain feature such as her facial expression as opposed to any colour in the background. Also I cropped out the background, this further emphasises her importance and makes the magazine seem realistic as whole. In my preliminary however I use natural lighting, this meant that the image was less focused on the girl and emphasises other areas, although this could be beneficial to a magazine of this genre the lighting is not at the right angle to portray the central part of the image as most important therefore it did not work well. Also I left the background in, I included the lap top and books to add to the effect of a learning environment however in doing that I was unable to block out the image of a table and bottle in the background of the image therefore reducing its authenticity. I took all of the knowledge I gained about lighting, arrangement and camera angles from my preliminary task and applied it to my actuals production therefore greatly improving and developing ideas I already had.

Contents Page You can clearly see from the screenshots of my two contents pages that the same basic style applies to both. For my preliminary task I decided to add in a heading to split up the information, however the only indication the reader gets to differentiate between the heading and the other writing is a slightly bolder text in a different colour. This makes it obvious enough for the reader to be able to distinguish however does not add anything to the overall design of the page. As well as this I included some pictures. These link up the main features that I have included on my cover as well as providing information clearly on how to access more information about the current event at school (Twitter) . As well as this I attempted to incorporate some of the school colours into my house style to make it more appropriate, by including the same shade of blue throughout it gives it a clear identity and links in the school logo that is on the front cover showing its significance.I further developed the overall style of my contents page when making my actual products. Firstly I made the heading to each category more visible, I added a colour behind it as well as increasing the size of the font and changing the colour of this also. This makes it easier for the reader to clearly see which category they are looking at and find a specific article that has interested them, potentially from the sub lines on the front cover. As well as this I made the page numbers more clear, this allows them to be identified quickly and easily when again searching for a specific article. Next I added a page number onto the main image, this makes it easier for the reader to identify the main article for the double page spread, I also added in a rhetorical question. This will peak the curiosity of my target audience, by putting it on a dark background with bright righting it makes it stand out against the picture and therefore be more noticeable. Next I developed the house style, I included more colours that I initially presented on the front cover creating a link between the two pages, I made sure to develop it further by changing the colours of the block backgrounds, some of the writing has a block colour background in order to make it stand out in comparison, this splits up the writing making it easier to read and more approachable to the reader. As well as this I added in an editor’s note for both my preliminary and the actual production, I found that it worked well in gain the audiences interest due to them being able to have a more personal relationship with the editor, it allows them to gain more of an insight into their place within the production of the magazine. It also adds in a bit of information about what will be included in the next issue, this will attract the attention of previous readers as well as create more of an attraction to new reader by potentially ensuring they remember to buy the following months addition. Although I kept the editor’s note for both I did develop it further for my actual contents page, I added in a signature from the editor, this furthers the connection of the audience and the reader by adding a slightly more personal touch, This allows them to feel closer to the magazine its self and therefore reduces the chance of having a onetime buyer.