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Who am I now working for? allteksolutions.co.uk

This is an alternative link to my other blog that I am using at my current work place, of which I am blogging my daily activities, ideas, research and arguments. 

I am a young apprentice who is learning from the professionals. We are Alltek Solutions Ltd, and we are partners with HP and Microsoft; we can offer you the best available help. Phone us on our direct line 01952 463727 and we can offer you the best solution to your problem.

We offer businesses throughout Shropshire and the West Midlands a range of IT Services. We cover a broad range of traditional IT Management tasks from Desktop Support, Asset Management, Network Installations and Infrastructure Design through to Information Security, Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery.

Our strategic consultancy looks at your business operation as a whole and advises on ways technology can be utlisied to best achieve your business objectives in the context of your commercial environment. We use formally proven tools and techniques to analyse your business needs, current capabilities, and identify, in information system terms, what you need to do to close the gap. This is a service independent of major software vendors. We will recommend what we see as the best course of action for your business.

We are mindful that many of the traditional IT disciplines are becoming irrelevant to small business. Many of the services and systems required are available on-line for little or no cost reducing your business IT infrastructure, and consequent support overhead, to the physical computers you use and whatever you need to connect to the internet. Where these options are appropriate we will recommend them. If you are contemplating buying Microsoft Small Business Server talk to us first about the alternative approaches.

CONTACT US NOW AND WE'LL SORT IT OUT FOR YOU STRAIGHT AWAY!

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Changing paths...

Over the last 6 months since completing my AS Media Blog my pathway has changed quite dramatically; I have now left Idsall Sixth Form (I left on the 10th of May 2013) and I have now managed to secure an apprenticeship with a very successful IT Support & Servicing company (in my local area) called Alltek Solutions Ltd. 

Considering that there is still activity on this webpage is unbelievable, and I really did not think that the response that I have had would get to this amount, and considering the fortuitousness of this particular event I will be posting and updating such related items onto this blog. 

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

QUESTION 6 - what have you learnt from the technologies of the process of constructing this product?

Note: At the beginning of this video I actually say that it is question 4, I can assure you it is not this is Question 6, I was actually looking back and reflecting on my answer to question 4, and said it by mistake, and I could not edit it out without it looking really bad.

QUESTION 5 - how did you attract/address your audience?

QUESTION 4 - who would be the audience for your media product?

 

 

QUESTION 3 - what kind of media institution would distrubute your media product and why?

QUESTION 2 - how does your media product represent particular social groups?

QUESTION 1 ESSAY STYLE - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product ‘Zeppelin’ develops various different conventions of Classical Rock magazines, although I wanted mine to feature conventional styles so it appealed to a wider audience; my magazine focuses on the ‘Rock Scene’ and I have kept to this theme mainly throughout my pictures; in almost every single rock magazine the pictures featuring are usually darker tones, the model is usually wearing darker clothes and jewellery to compliment the face that is usually brighter and bolder, and also female cover artists usually have a bright feature around them, for example Hayley Williams (the lead singer out of the band Paramore) has bright orange hair, which draws the audiences attention to the magazine front cover; I have kept to this connotation because my models hair is bright red/orange, drawing the audiences attention to her face and hair. Also, my front cover follows the conventions of a real magazine by focusing on one main image, and having the main story along the stomach of the cover model also I have placed a bar code, a price tag and the prices in various different countries

I have interpreted the rock conventions in the context of colour, such as sticking to one colour throughout and focusing on various ways of interpreting that colour through shades and tones. For example, my magazine focuses on the colour purple; however I also feature blacks and whites. This is a convention that many Rock Magazines keep to; this also links the various other components of the magazine together.  My double page spread I think reflects the conventions of a real Rock magazine; my double page spread features form of a typical double page with the picture of the cover model on the left hand side, and the article/interview on the right. I think this makes the magazine look more official and it looks realistic.

My double page spread also develops and uses the connotations by using a main image on the left side of the page, and using a smaller image towards the centre or the right hand side of the page. It also presents the question and answers in different fonts, presenting the article as easier to read for the audience.

My contents page however I believe challenges the conventions of a conventional Rock magazine because there is not as many feature stories visible, however I did this because of my own personal experiences while reading magazines. I felt like in Rock magazines they tend to put a lot of articles in there just to ‘fill the gaps’ because they need to write more to fill it; however I felt like including the information that is interesting, and having lots of posters and humorous information. 

Planning my evaluation presentation

 Note: I have already tried to change the angle on these particular images however Blogger is not allowing me to do so. I have changed the rotation on Windows Live Gallery, however when I upload them to Blogger it will not display them as rotated.

I am planning my evaluation before I actually set out to do the 'various different ways of presenting the evaluation' because I wanted to overlook and make sure that I was doing things right before I take the final steps of presenting it.

 After initialising the question, and stating what I am actually going to do, I go into the planing stage of my evaluation...

 However, I did not plan in too much detail for a perfectly rational reason; I don't want to think too much about it because I do not want to have it set and planned out to a point where it feels almost suffocated. I want it to be truthful answers, that have not been too controlled. 

Due to this, I am now going to start the final drafting version of my evaluation, however I will not post this because I think that that would feel like I was repeating myself too much, and it would not flow consistently.  

Drafting my evaluation - before presenting in various different ways

I sent my teacher an email on our schools system explaining that this is the draft essay version of my evaluation before I begin the presentation: 

Hello,

I have created an essay style draft for my evaluation, and I just wanted to send you both it to double check that I have written enough and that the content is applicable before I start the final evaluation, and before I start to present it in various different ways.

Thank you so much for your time.

Bethan Gilmore

This is the draft version of my evaluation: 

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product ‘Zeppelin’ develops various different conventions of Classical Rock magazines, keeping with the theme and conventions. My magazine focuses on the music side of the ‘Rock Scene’ for example I have featured various different rock bands that are not all the same genre, which magazines such as Kerrang focus on, for example: the band Enter Shikari would not be considered Classic Rock, but it would be considered Electric post-hardcore or metalcore, through me featuring this particular band in contrast with a band such as Suicide Silence which would be considered an extremist black metal band, shows that I feature all variations of Rock music. Also interpreting the rock conventions in the context of colour, such as sticking to one colour throughout and focusing on various ways of interpreting that colour through shades and tones. For example, my magazine focuses on the colour purple, however I also feature blacks and whites. This is a convention that many Rock Magazines keep to; this also links the various other components of the magazine together.  My double page spread I think reflects the conventions of a real Rock magazine; my double page spread features form of a typical double page with the picture of the cover model on the left hand side, and the article/interview on the right. I think this makes the magazine look more official and it looks realistic.

How does you media product represent particular social groups?

‘Zeppelin’ is a conventional rock magazine aimed at young adults and teenagers between the ages of 17-25; through my personal experience of being part of the modern day rock movement I believe that the conventions that I have chosen to use in my magazine will appeal to others of the 21^st century rock movement. My magazine represents this social group by choosing particular bands that this social group would listen to and perhaps consider going to see Live, such as: Enter Shikari, Slipknot and Metallica. These bands are very big in the rock industry and they appeal to many fan groups. I have also placed a puff/plug of which advertises ‘FREE DOWNLOAD TICKETS’ this particular festival appeals to the same social group that I am aiming for, and it is inevitable that at least one of the bands I have mentioned will feature there. The use of the adverb ‘free’ would appeal to the audience of ‘Zeppelin’ and make them want to inspect the advertisement.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Considering that ‘Zeppelin’ is a classic/newwave rock magazine I have considered three different magazines that are similar to my own, these are: Kerrang, Rock Sound and Classic Rock. Through carefully considered research I would want my magazine to be published and distributed by Future Publishing, which is the same publisher as Classic Rock; this is because of the magazine circulation that they have managed to achieve for their magazine since 1998 which is 71,242 issues; this is an impressive figure, and considering that Kerrang has been publishing since 1981 yet they have only circulated 42,077 issues.  I believe that going with Future Publishing will allow ‘Zeppelin’ to distribute more copies and it will increase sales dramatically, allowing it to become bigger. Also, considering that ‘Zeppelin’ is a new wave rock magazine, and it appeals to all different genres in the field of rock and alternative rock, including electric, I believe that sales would be constantly increasing. To compare Classic Rock to ‘Zeppelin’, Classic Rock has much more of a ‘rocky’ feel to it, where as ‘Zeppelin’ has a ‘rocky’ feel to it, yet it has more of an alternative aroma.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my rock magazine would be alternative readers, and listeners all around the world, however I particularly wish to target British readers and listeners, this is because through my research into rock magazines many of them are published and distributed in the UK, which makes it easier to access for British readers. Also, throughout the rock magazines that I have researched into, they choose a particular place, for example Britain, and they publish the tour dates and festival dates for that entire country; this process is much easier than publishing for the entire world. I would also like to target festivalgoers, such as Sonisphere and Download because stereotypically they tend to read more magazines, and they keep up-to-date with their musical knowledge and their magazine collection. I would also like to target both young adults and teenagers, from the ages of 17-25, I have chosen these particular ages because this is when I would say that a persons music taste is at it’s strongest, so I would say that I am also targeting extreme fans of rock music, people that know good music and good merchandise of which I would be advertising.

How did you attract/address your audience?

My rock magazine ‘Zeppelin’ attracts my audience by using non-standard English throughout the front page, contents page and double page spread, such as: ‘A LITTLE CHEEKY ADTR’ or ‘SHIKARI SPILL THE BEANS’ this appears to the audience that the magazine is not as controlled as others, and that we like to relate to our audience. Also, the use of the wide variety of bands will appeal to the target audience, and other social groups.

I have also kept with a colour theme throughout my magazines, which are tones, particularly black and greys, and I have also placed some purple, which coincides with the cover models clothes. I think that the colour purple is a unisex colour, therefore appeals to both the sexes making my magazine appealing to both men and women.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Through creating my front page, contents page and my double page spread I have learnt how to use certain applications properly, and I have learnt how to manipulate text correctly. At the beginning of the process I did not know how to use the applications that I would have needed to, such as Photoshop or Fireworks. Through creating my magazine I have learnt how to remove a background on a picture by using Photoshop, and selecting the Magic Eraser Tool, which I have used a lot for this project, also I have learnt how to change the colour of objects that I do not like, such as the blue object on my double page spread that was distracting the audiences attention from the cover model. I have also learnt how to use the application Pages properly, although at the start transferring pictures appeared to be a challenge, I have now mastered this skill, which has allowed me to complete the task at my desired time.  During this task I have also picked up a preference, which is Photoshop over Fireworks; before the creation of my media product I did not know that much about Fireworks even though I was attempting to use it, I learnt that Photoshop is a much easier application to use, and through reading and watching online tutorials I have managed to learn how to do lots of different things that will be quite useful in the future.

By manipulating the text I have used some fonts off the website       and I have then changed the colour of the text according to the colour theme, which is tones and the colour purple. On this particular website, when you ‘SAVE AS…’ the image and open it the background is still visible, therefore I used the Magic Eraser Tool on Photoshop to remove it, this has allowed the cover model or the desired background to be seen through the text, yet the manipulated text still appears bold and clear to read.

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

Throughout the process of the creation of my full product I believe that I have truly developed my skills in many different aspects. Firstly, the technical side of production has been made a lot easier due to me researching how to use various applications properly, and learning how to use the applications considering the training was not available, which made it more difficult to ask for feedback because I did not know how I could actually change things using the applications. After creating some initial drafts I believe the process became a lot easier, because I was only getting negative feedback this made me change various things that was wrong with my magazine, however this made me focus on my magazine so much and I was spending so much time trying to make it look better that it actually ended up looking worse. However, I do believe that I became more resilient to this; therefore I became better at changing aspects of my magazine to suit the feedback.

I also believe that I have not only learnt how to be more creative, but how to use my creativity to the best of my ability, henceforth learning more about myself. This became much clearer to me when I was creating my double page spread, where I realised that I was using my creativity properly and I was relying on not only my research into other magazines but my experience of reading so many rock magazines.

After completing my draft version of my evaluation  and sending it to my teacher, I gained positive feed back, of which I will develop my evaluation and make sure that it answers all the questions relevantly and contains information that links to the question.

Hi Beth,

Q1 – not sure all the band stuff is relevant  - You need to be more specific with the conventions you have used or challenged using media terminology.

Q2 – you haven’t really answered the question – consider how you explore ‘representation’ in section A of the exam – how have you represented a social group?

Q3 and 4 –  seem fine

Q5 – explore your use of images, fonts as well. Audience research and questionnaires etc.

Q6 – be more specific – what applications, technical skills etc.

Q7 – Aim to demonstrate how your skills have progressed.

Hope this is helpful. Remember to consider how you are going to upload your evaluation as you must use a range of technology in an imaginative way. Use images and screen shots, audio etc.

In relation to:What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Through my initial research into various rock magazines I have discovered that Future Publishing is the most impressive publishing company, and it will allow my magazine to get the most circulation in sales.

THE VARIOUS APPLICATIONS THAT I USED...

Throughout the start of my project I began using the application Fireworks because I thought that it was to the best of my ability, and it would allow me to create really well designed logos, and it would allow me to manipulate my magazine according to what I would of wanted. While using the application at first I found it rather difficult to get used to, because everything was not well laid out or well explained. 

I can honestly say that I did not enjoy using the application, but that may also be because I did not know how to use it properly, and that I was just experimenting with the various tools on it. 

Also, at the start of the project I began to create my front cover, contents page and double page spread on Fireworks because I thought it would be better for me than any other application, however I found it extremely difficult to use therefore I used the application Pages which proved to be easier and better for quality. I started using the application Fireworks to edit some of my photo's, and to change the contrast and the gradient of the pictures, however I was hardly able to complete this due to me not understanding how to use the application; then after some research into the program I discoverered that Photoshop would be much better.

Although, i knew Photoshop was a good application to use and I assumed that it would have been better than Fireworks, therefore I began using Photoshop. However, like I did with Fireworks I didn't really know what I was doing properly and I found it quite hard to use at first, but then after I did some research into the various techniques you could use and how you can manipulate text and images according to what you desire, and after that I found it easier to use. Also, one of my peers was using the application Photoshop, and she taught me how to remove a background with using the Magic Eraser Tool, this allowed me to complete various tasks that needed to be manipulated, making the whole process much easier to use. 

One thing that I really wanted to use on Photoshop was changing colour to objects, and I wanted to learn how to do that from the very start of the course. I used the search engine Google to do some research into the initial stages of production, and henceforth allowed me to complete the task I wanted to.
I used the application Photoshop to allow me to remove backgrounds from pictures so I could use them in my magazine, I found this application particulary useful.

I created my front cover, contents page and double page spread on the application pages because I found it easier to use; everything is well laid out and it makes it much easier to use for such production as this. The only problem I found with Pages was when you insert an image and it goes behind the current view on Pages, this came as quite a shock because I had never used Pages to this extend, but I managed to get used to this, and I figured out how to stop this from happening. To do this you must select an option at the top bar of the application which states 'In Line' and 'Floating', the selection 'In Line' makes the image or text go from the initial image and it goes towards the bottom of the picture, but this selection also makes it difficult to move and manipulate to what you want, because when you move the image everything else on the page moves with it. However, I used the 'Floating' selection and it allowed me to move the image without the others moving, and the image also went to the front of the initial image, which allowed me to continue with production. 

Also at the start of the production I began to use the application Word for my front cover, contents page and double page spread because I have used Word before I thought this would be better for me because I would not have to learn how to use any of the tools or how to get used to the application to allow me to continue production of my rock magazine. However, I found it really difficult to get to grips with, because the images would not do what I wanted them to, and the application became really slow because of the high quality images I was using, how quickly I was using the application and because I was doing various other things at the same time. So, I gave up using this application which I am glad I did because at various times it really frustrated me and made production very difficult for me. 

To conclude, I am glad that I used the various applications because they ended up working very well for me and for the magazine. Although, a few applications did not work as well for me as I wanted them to, I managed to get used to the applications that I wanted to use and this allowed me to continue production, and led to me completing my rock magazine.

FINISHED DOUBLE SPREAD...

After finishing my double page spread I can now say that I believe I have improved in my technical skills in various different things, also my initial computer skills have improved by embedding various links which has allowed me to present my work properly and in various different ways. 

Comparing my finished product to my draft version I think that it has improved for the best and it looks much better than what it did before; I've used much more colour, bigger texts in different fonts, another picture and another couple of collomns. I think this has all together improved my double page spread, and I am so proud of the over all result.

I am proud of my result and I believe that after completing my front cover, contents page and double page spread I feel much more confident on the MAC side of the computer.  

FINISHED CONTENTS PAGE...

After completing my contents page I feel so much more confident on the computer and using the various applications that I have been using such as Fireworks and Photoshop for the details like the subheadings and the actual contents of the page where I've had to create them firstly as an image then use the Magic Eraser Tool to remove the background. Due to this I believe that my skills have improved greatly. This will be good for the career I wish to pursue once i get older. 

My contents page was relatively easy to complete and I really enjoyed making it according to my theme and colour scheme, because it allowed me to be creative and make it more original and use inspiration from various other magazines that I like and that I have looked up to many years such as Kerrang and Rock Sound; I think that this has allowed me to make the magazine much more personal by using music that I actrually listen to, and by putting pictures of people that I know, such as my little brother, the cover model, the band and my friends younger sister.

Comparing my finished contents page with my draft version, I think that I have improved it really well, and now looking back I can see that the 'goldy' yellow colour that I chose for the background really did  not work, and I am glad that I changed it according to my peer assessment.

Now that I have finished my detailed analysis on my contents page, I can compare the draft version to the finished version.

Draft version

Completed contents page

I think that the yellow colour that I chose for my draft doesn't look as good as the darker colours; I wanted to make the back ground darker because I wanted the whole magazine to link together instead of having a contents page that does not link. I noticed this through a comment that my teacher made towards my contents page, simply: "It doesn't look like its part of the same magazine" therefore I changed it accordingly and I am proud with the end result.
I wanted to include the logo from the front of the magazine and on my double page spread to further link the magazine components together, and I think that it worked really well.

Now that I am comparing the draft version to my finished contents page I can see clearly where I went wrong, such as the back ground colour, and the title of the whole page from 'contents' to 'contents page' I think that this highlights the reasoning for the page in the first place, and I am glad that I made the changes that I did, because I think it looks much more official.

FINISHED FRONT COVER

Today I have finished all three of the key aspects of my magazine; front page, contents page and double page spread, this will now allow me to focus on answering my evaluation questions. The front page has been created on the application Pages, and the main image has been photographed in the school that I attend, and it has been edited on Photoshop. 

To compare my draft with my finished front cover, I can now clearly see where I was going wrong, and I have made the changes to my front page according to my initial feed back from my teachers and peers. This has finally allowed me to complete my front cover according to my ability.

Now that I have finished my front cover, I can start picking various pieces apart and looking at them more closely, explaining why I chose to do certain things and how I came to that decision.

The name of the model/quotation

Heading/subheading/head

The bottom of the page/plus

Poster special/James Gilmore

The finer detail

Throughout the process of creating my front cover I have learnt a lot about the technical side of media, through trial and error process I have learnt how to bring together all the components I have needed to devise a rock music magazine. I think that this has been a successful process, and it has allowed me a lot of time to self reflect on this project.
At the start of the project I was not entirely sure what I was doing with my magazine front cover, because I wanted it to look so typically rock that I think I was running away with it a bit too much. I spend a stupid amount of time on the finest details such as the masthead, which as you will be able to see throughout my blog (towards the start) I spent so much time choosing the name, and researching into what it actually meant. However, I spend so much time on editing the pixels individually, which is what i thought would make it better and more classic because i devised everything myself. However, I soon came to realise that this was not the way forward, therefore my magazine went from this:

this was while i was editing the single pixels, before i devised the draft version of the current magazine. 

I believe that due to completing my front cover, my current one applies much better to the initial requirements and it fits the profile that I wanted to provide the audience with; I wanted to show the audience that my magazine was new and exciting, and that it also appeals to many different demographics, although it would strongly appeal to those that are interested in rock music and news about rock music, I believe that due to the choice of supporting bands on the front cover, it will hopefully appeal to a more varied audience. 

FINISHED CONTENTS PAGE

Now after completing my contents page I will continue to provide a detailed analysis explaining my
various actions that I have taken to get to this stage of production. However, now that I am looking at my magazine after a few days of not completing it I am starting to notice slight faults with it, such as:

• The lack of imaginative photos with my younger brother
• I do not like the positioning of the 'PAGES 40-46' 
• I also think that the actual contents do not match the required size
• I think the contents look too cramped, almost like they are trying to fit stuff in that they do not need.
• I just think that it looks too basic all together, therefore I am going to make some changes according to my faults that I have picked out
• One of my friends also said to me that the title of the entire page 'CONTENTS PAGE' that the 's' at the end of contents was too big and that it looked like the two words were all one word, defeating the purpose of my title. Therefore, that will also be a change I am going to make. 

MAKING CHANGES

1. I firstly want the contents to be moved and improved slightly, because it has been annoying me for a while, and I think it does not look like a conventional rock magazine, therefore I am going to remove some of the text that is contained in the contents to spread it all out more: 

I have also increased the size of the 'FEATURES' and the 'EVERY MONTH' so it looks like an actual subheading instead of just a bold piece of text.

2. I secondly want to put more interesting photos in my magazine, to make it look like it does not just feature music, but also some action shots of various things. A few months ago I had three photo shoots with my younger brother, one being the initial, one being the improved and one being an action shot. I wish to use what I called the 'money shot' in my magazine, to bring it together more, so it looks like it has more variation. I also may use some of the photos from the improved photo shoot, because I liked what he was wearing in those photos. Also, this shows that I have taken photos in different places and with different ideas. 

I am going to firstly make some of the images I already have smaller: 

and I have also deleted one photo of the cover model that I thought made this particular area of my contents page look more cramped. 

I will now insert the desired image to make it look compact and not to empty:

I think that this image has made the collage look improved but I think that I need to edit the photo more to make it 'fit in' with the rocky and bright theme that I have got going on, on my contents page. 

3. I am going to edit the photo using the application Fireworks:

Now that I have uploaded the photo I can begin the editing process, to make it more brighter and bring the contrast up slightly, however I do not know how to do this, therefore I am going to have to look up how I am going to change the contrast. 

I have tried to change the contrast on the application and I have Google searched the various different ways I can change contrast however I can not find a solution, therefore I am going to try on a different program, Photoshop.

On Photoshop it is much easier to use: 

To begin editing I select the tab filter so see the various different options I have for changing colour, I then start to scroll over the different options that I have, which will allow me to change the exposure and brightness of the picture. 

Once you click on one of the tabs, this comes up:

Now that I have selected the type of picture that I want, I can now scroll through the options and I can see what I am choosing along the right hand side and on the left I can see what it does to the picture. The effect you can see is the 'Film Grain' which I like but I want to have a look through a few more:

However, after looking at different effects on the pictures I have decided that I like the first effect best out of the three, this effect is called 'poster effect' and i think that it is the one that reflects my themes more than the others, therefore I am going to use it. 

This is my now finished contents page, with the various changes done to it. I am much prouder with this version of my contents page, and I think it looks much better and it reflects my themes properly and successfully. 

FINISHED DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD...

After receiving my feedback from my teacher and peers about my double page spread I have changed it according to the feedback, this has allowed me to reach my full potential with my double page spread. Now I think that it looks much better than what it did before. However, I think that it needs a little more to make it look even better, I am going to change certain aspects of it to make it look the best it can possibly be, such as:

• I am going to have some text towards the top of the double page spread to make it look a little bit fuller, so there is a little more light too. I also want to text to make it seem exclusive and like there won't be another chance to buy the magazine
• I also want to add some more images onto the double page spread to make it look fuller, but I think that I will need to perhaps do some more editing for that to be possible
• I want to add something underneath the logo that features at the top left hand corner to make it also look more fuller and more interesting to read

Hopefully if I go by these faults and make changes to it according to the faults i have picked up then it will reach its best potential.

Through a peer assessment lesson, I received this feedback from my teacher and my peers, which i think will be creative and help me to continue to develop my rock magazine to my best capability. 

After receiving my feedback from my peers and teacher, I will edit my front page, contents page and double page spread according to the feedback.

I will firstly change my front cover, and I will do this by making the main image bigger, this will hopefully make the magazine look fuller and more like an actual rock magazine. I will also change the colour of some of the text that is on the front cover, such as the quotation that the cover model says in her interview.

I will then change the contents page, by making the front cover and contents page flow together, so I will do this by changing the colours to be the same to make it look like it's been taken from an actual magazine. This will hopefully make my magazine look more official and professional. I will then put some more images of different people on my contents page, this will make it look like the magazine features more artists and that we have had more interviews instead of just the cover model.

I will then change the double page spread; I will do this by making the main focus of the double page spread, the image, central to an A4 piece of paper, so I need to distinguish the fold that would have been in the actual magazine. This will hopefully make my magazine look more focused and more like an actual rock magazine, instead of just a poster in a normal magazine. I will also add some more shapes, and these will be a particular colour coinciding with the clothes that the cover model is wearing, so purple.

SOON TO BE FINISHED DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD...

peer assessment...

Through being peer assessed by the actual cover model and another friend, I have come to realise that the blue object in the picture is distracting the attention, because it is a different colour from the look that I am trying to go for. Therefore, I am going to change the colour of the blue object and make it darker.

Before changing the colour - initial editing stage

After changing the colour - showing the blue object as now black

Thanks to this link that I found on the internet I have been able to achieve this.

This process has allowed my technical knowledge of Photoshop to be improved and now I feel more professional and confident using the application.
This process has allowed me to change the colour of an object that was distracting the attention of the audience, and I think that it has now improved the image; this will hopefully keep the audiences attention on the actual text at the right side of my double page spread. The text on the right hand side will be white, and this will attract the audiences attention, because the white will hopefully contrast with the black on the double page spread, making it stand out.

The double page spread so far...

This is my current double page spread, of which I am fairly proud of because it has taken me a lot of time and effort to get to this stage of the production, although I am still not totally happy with it. Now that I have taken a day or two off from the project I can now look at my product with a clear eye and I can see the faults more clearly:

• I think that there needs to be much more writing, because columns in rock magazines and in any magazine has more than one question and answers column
• The black back drop behind the question and answers is not all the way to the top of the page, and to me that does not look right
• The main picture is not focused on one side of the double page spread, it is directly in the middle of the picture, and it needs to be strictly to the left hand side
• There is not enough colour in the image, I think I need to bring in my main colour theme that I wanted to use which was purple, also the purple goes with the dress that the cover model is wearing, therefore it will be completely applicable 
• I want to change the positioning of the 'KATIE'S ALBUM' to nearer the picture, to make it associate with the image more
• I also want to change the text of the 'KATIE'S ALBUM' to an actual song that the cover model has written and preformed before
• The double page spread also needs page numbers, to indicate to the reader where they actually are

Now that I have identified the main problems with my double page spread I can change them accordingly to my own faults.

Finally finished the front cover draft...

Although this is my 'finished' product I am not particularly proud of the finished product, due to this I will continue to edit it and make it look more appropriate for a rock magazine. I personally do not think that the colour yellow goes well with the rest of the rock theme.    

Improving the front cover...

To improve the front cover, I'm going to change the image to make the features stand out more. I am going to blur the mise-en-scene: 

As you can see, I have blurred the props in the picture, and hopefully this will make the features stand out more. 

Evaluation front cover- through the feedback on my magazine front cover, I can not edit it to its full potential, making sure that there are no mistakes and that it flows throughout.

Evaluation contents - the contents page was fine, and there was no criticisms about it, making me feel really good about finishing the work on time, and hitting the deadline.

Finished contents page...

This is my completed contents page, of which I will leave the way it is until further peer assessment due to which I will edit and change accordingly. 

Contents...

This is a mock up of almost everything I have mentioned in the following Prezi, however this is going to be the contents page I will continue to edit to present as my final one.  

Front cover for rock magazine...

So far I am very proud of my front cover for my rock magazine, although I am going to leave it at this stage for further peer assessment, just to double check that I've done everything correctly and it looks professional. 

Background colour...

Before

After

Through using a gold colour on my back ground, I think that the magazine front cover looks more 'metal' and 'rocky', due to this improvement I will keep the background colour. I have also changed the colour banner at the very top of the magazine front cover from a bloody red to a electric blue; this enables the tagline to look more distinctive and it brings out the colour in the rest of the magazine, by pushing the darker colours out. 

Change of heart...

While making my front cover for my magazine, I have changed my mind about the masthead, and I wish to make it simpler which will be better quality. Also, I believe that it is taking too much time to get to the stage where I want to be, because I am actually editing the pixels one by one. 

Therefore, I am going to paste some of the fonts onto my blog.

I think that a much simpler font and colour will make the production stage much more easy and it will not be as time consuming.