Prelim Task: Photoshop Experience

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GWx2oDvFfjfu-0jf4zwY3vPIq9_xD5JIQ6FuXI1gkhs

Prelim Task: Flat Plan

Contents page mood board

In this mood board i gained some potential ideas on how i would like to present my ideas and form my layout. My personal likings is the idea of the picture as the background.

Comparison of Lucozade

The Contemporary poster promotes the brand more and gives it a higher status that the 1980's post as it uses factors such as a hashtag, a famous person,colors, simplicity and a better make of the product which is better suited for the consumer. The contemporary product has nozzle which is original to normal drinks and therefore stands out more than the traditional which has a rim. The both place the product on the front cover and use attractive people to capture the reaction of them. The man on the left has a feirce powerful look indicating that this drink gives you power whereas the poster on the right has a woman smiling indicating that this product will make you happy and healthy.

PRELIM TASK: Flat Plan

This is my draft representation of what i would like my final product to look like. I did not want to overwhelm the readers with too much writing so that is why i kept the text to a minimum. I chose a bold sans serif font which doesn't have any details or flourishes. This is because in most pop magazine i looked at has a bold font and i think the reason for this is because pop music in general has a strong influence and is very vivid and striking. If i were to use a serifs font my magazine would give the connotations of a beauty or fashion magazine whereas a bold font emphasis the strength of pop culture.

I asked for feedback on my design and got the following` responses:
- too much empty space t the bottom
- the amount of words is fine
- the background is too dark (though it does not look like this in the draft i showed people the picture in colour)
- the font is good
- love the lighting is so amazing, i love the warm colours
- great model and it is kind of cheesy ' The new face of pop'
- it's good how the question would be related to Naia the model (i haven't thought of a question yet but i told people that it would be related to the model)
- i would genuinely buy this
- dont over crowd it
- keep it simple
- the reader wants to know about Naia and the layout is good
- the fonts are good and the layout s good because it is clear where everything is
- (i told poeple that the colour of the fonts would be quite light like a nudish colour due to the dark background) they like the fact that the fonts would be light and nudish because it would be easy to read
- the bubbles makes it look so cool
- the lighter font makes it stand out more
- maybe thicken the font like the magazine 'vibe' and put the name behind Naias head because people could make out what it would be called
- add more stuff

My thoughts:
Judging by these comments i can conclude that most of these responses are positive however there is room for improvement. Based on these reviews i think i will thicken my font and i would maybe add a little more text at the front but i would not add so much that it would overwhelm the audience. I wouls only place condenced interesting information which would stand out to readers.

Behind the scenes

I bought lights which projected different colours and placed plastic bags on top of white lights to create different colours for the chiaroscuro effect on my models face. I bought a purple fabric as the background and covered my television with it to have a smooth background. Though this is not in the picture i also bough bubbles to blow while i was taking the pictures. I also had a small projector and typed in colours into google and projected this onto my models face for the use of different colours.

Here was the results of the use of lights, projector and bubbles:

PRELIM TASK: Model Consent Form

PRELIM TASK: Feedback on Design

Here are some of the many images I have captured:

I have sent these pictures to some friends to get their opinions and views on this. Here is what they said:

PRELIM TASK: Shot list

This is my 6 key images which i plan to take. I drew these and then scanned it, i had successfully taken these photos. The reason why all of my poses are close-ups is because it is more engaging to the audience to see a face staring at you than a person far away. The only time that would be engaging is if the model was mostly nude but i won't be doing that to my model.  I have her doing different positions on the shot list above. I have her looking at the camera from her shoulder (the first drawing) and i chose to do this to get her good angle and to emphasize some features like her cheekbones and hairstyle. The second drawing is to also get her good angle so that it can look appealing to the audience. The third drawing is my model touching her hair, this pose is one that emphasizes the confidence of the model portraying towards the audience that her confidence got her to where she is. The fourth drawing is of my model looking straight at the camera and i chose to incorporate this shot because it makes the readers feel intimidated and pressured to look inside the magazine. It emphasizes that direct look and creates an engaging effect with the readers. The fifth drawing is of my model touching her face with her hand. I drew this because i wanted to explore what different original poses i could practice with my model. This is a different pose and the hand represents power and hard work and these are the skills needed for successful pop music. The final drawing is my model playing with her hair. It gives the readers that seductive vibe and the purpose of the pose is to gain attention from the readers.

PRELIM TASK: Genre, font styles and features, model, name of magazine

This is a mood board based on what personally attracted my attention. I have decided to base my magazine on pop music so I researched magazines based on this area. From this, i gathered ideas about features that I will include in a music magazine. Not all of the magazines above are music but I placed them there as I like the style and layout of the front cover and I think this will give me the inspiration to produce something of that standard. I plan on using a hint of one or two vibrant colors to present which associates the idea of variety and a mixture of emotions as pop music can make you feel different feelings. This mood board helped me to find out my style of a preferred magazine layout.

In this mood board i gained some potential ideas on how i would like to present my ideas and form my layout. My personal liking is the idea of the picture as the background and the text. However i decided to explore more layouts to see what the audience would like instead of what i would like.

Inspired by this mood board i have created i started to find what name i would like to put as my magazine title. I began to research words associated with music and created this wordle to project my thoughts on potential names:

I decided to stay with the name 'Feels' as listening to my target audience they mentioned how pop gives the listeners a range of emotions as it can be sad, happy, exciting and religious music. I decided to do a magazine about pop because personally I am interested in this genre and I wanted to express my own thoughts and perspective on pop. In terms of choosing a model, i wanted to have a model with an innocent face which looks inspirational to the audience. This is because I feel as if music needs to be portrayed as symbolic and inspiring towards the audience and this is something I want my magazine to be focused on. In my opinion, i think music is becoming more meaningless and the symbolic side of music needs to be exposed as it is important to create a meaningful tune to inspire listeners. 

My target audience would be all genders around the age 16-21. This is because this is the ages where people start to create their identity and discover themselves and I feel as if pop music plays a big part within these ages. Pop music has a variety of different subjects and topics to sing about. My magazine would really reach out to this audience as the main point I am trying to portray is that pop contains a variety of music and this is why a lot of people like pop because it relates to every different feeling they encounter. When asking people around the ages 16-21 they told me that the listen to a variety of music and so i adapted my magazine to portray this concept. Personally, i listen to a variety of music too and pop explores this variety. My target audiences are youths and young adolescents who like to feel good when listening to music. 

PRELIM TASK: Reader profile

Name: Tiara
Age: 16
One of my favourite genres of music is pop music - it encompasses such a wide range of vocals and people into one genre. It brings people together whether you're out having a good time jamming to feel good music but contrary to popular opinion can also have meaningful lyrics which normal people can relate too. I think young people are especially attracted to pop music because it's very now and younger people tend to dig fresh new tunes. 

My name is Kessia and I am 18 years old. I am at university studying International Business whilst living in Hertfordshire. Listening to music, watching movies, reading books and going out to eat food are some of my favourite things to do. In my spare time I enjoy finding about the latest music trends and celebrity gossip. Some of my favourite musicians consist of The Weeknd, Drake, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey and Dua Lipa. I have actually gone to see some of these musicians in concerts and music festivals. The person that I preferred the most to see live was The Weeknd, because I have been a fan of his music for a while and he has an amazing voice. I enjoy reading about new music and what celebrities have been up to on online platforms. Twitter is one of the best ways to find out about new stories and catching up on new memes. Magazines, however, are great in providing more personal information about musicians through interviews that would otherwise be inaccessible, hence why I like buying magazines. Magazines also provide great editorial photoshoots, which are beautiful to look at but also great to get inspired in different fashion and make-up styles. 

PRELIM TASK: Focus group with intended target audience and survey

I spoke with a group of girls who were my intended target audience about pop music.
Here are some questions I asked them with their responses:

Why do you like pop music?:
- Gets you in the mood and makes you happy
- the meaning is better and gets you energetic
- It is fun to listen to, it is my style and is very catchy
- It has symbolic meaning, for example, Sia's music
- It has more of a diversity than rap and there is meaning behind the music

Who are your favorite pop artists?:
- Rianna
- Beyonce
- Michael Jackson
- Sam Smith
- Drake
- Zayn Malik
- Justin Beiber

What Would you like to see in a magazine?:
- popular singers, merchandise- A page of what you can get and where you can get it from
- interviews
- games crosswords and riddles
- gossip about favorite celebrities
- pop up shops and charts and a roundup of the year's highlights and  music
- alternative cheaper looks that mirror celebrity looks
- adverts that interest us and unusual stuff about the readers in the magazine, relatable problems for example acne

Here is a survey which I conducted towards my peers:

This link takes you to a youtube video where i have recorded my focus group with their opinions and thoughts in an idea magazine:

https://youtu.be/AOAOyDj5kDU

PRELIM TASK: Deconstruction of Media Texts

The things that I learned about a music magazine is that they usually promote the artists work on the front cover. They also put quotes up about interesting statements or pull quotes from the artists to capture the consumer's attention. I will use these examples to construct my music magazine. In this magazine,  I like the angle of gaze which gives a fetish aura to the consumers which is done on purpose to capture the attention. I also like how there is not too much text on the front cover, which is another thing that stood out to me as a lot of text could be overwhelmed to the reader. I will use this as an example to conduct short precise text in my magazine.

PRELIM TASK: Initial thoughts/ ideas

To begin with, i assessed and analyzed what type of music I listened to, I did this as it would be more convenient to base a magazine based on my interests. At first, it was quite difficult as I listened to a variety of music then I came to a conclusion that I mostly listen to pop. These include artists like Justin Bieber, Sam Smith, Adele, Clean Bandit, Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson and more. I feel confident in presenting pop and explaining it in the magazine through images and text, However, i think I will need to do more research into pop and the artists involved. One of the skills needed in order to make this project successful would be using Photoshop. This is an area that I would need to learn and develop in order for my magazine to be a success.

Branding

Representation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1aRnCEyqrfXLwKj99wVB8BoVfs5xMl0ig8iFyRgZTzOY/edit?usp=sharing

Colour Theory

Here I have created word clouds on this website (worditout.com) to show the connotations of different colors. In this lesson, we learned how magazine producers are careful about what colors they use to put on the front cover as they each represent some sort of emotion. We also learned that we associate colours to specific feeling based on past experiences, this means that all consumers would interpret each colour differently to one another. Therefore each colour does not have an exact correct meaning or connotation as they are interpreted differently by the audience. However these wordles above state the obvious references towards each colour.