Preliminary Task
Final Magazine
I have leant a variety of things from technological to
theoretical when backtracking to the preliminary task. All pieces of knowledge has
accumulated in order to make a superior magazine when compared to the first
rough almost concept design for a magazine.
Research and planning was vital in order to produce a
magazine that is going to be a hit or success with your demographic as you need
to spend time trying to comprehend your demographic, understand what they are
interested in, hobbies, class status, age, gender etc. All of these need to be
taken into account and can be found out via Quantitative Audience Surveys. Evidence
of the necessity of research is shown as the final "Bonafide"
magazine when compared to the Preliminary says a lot, when you take a look at
the layout, choice of colour and mode of address on the Bonafide magazine you
can immediately have a rough estimate in mind who exactly is the target demographic
however when looking at the preliminary task the choice of colour is scare and
clashing, mode of address is almost confused between three demographics
(adults, children and teenagers) and in general makes it harder to guess who
the demographic is. I have learnt as a result of this that Research is vital as
shown also in the research into existing text. That task taught me how
professional and successful magazines are layout, how the mode of address is
altered to the demographic, colour choice etc, and as a result of this my
magazine emulated and imitated these magazine within the country music genre to
create a well thought out and structured magazine. Other tasks made it clearer
to me who the demographic was such as the Audience Profile which accumulated
all information about the target market into one document, as opposed to just
assuming you know who the demographic are as i did in the preliminary.
When producing the magazine for the Preliminary I never
planned out the stage in which I would construct the product for example photo shoots, I never
created a photo shoot document that directly told me how and where to take
photos and risks involved along with equipment used. As a result of this my
main central image on the preliminary task had low resolution and poor
contrast. However when I planned out a photo shoot with appropriate information
this led to better quality pictures. I have learnt form this in particular that
planning is a vital factor in constructing a successful magazine.
When producing the magazine for the Preliminary I never
planned out the stage in which I would construct the product for example photo shoots, I never
created a photo shoot document that directly told me how and where to take
photos and risks involved along with equipment used. As a result of this my
main central image on the preliminary task had low resolution and poor
contrast. However when I planned out a photo shoot with appropriate information
this led to better quality pictures. I have learnt form this in particular that
planning is a vital factor in constructing a successful magazine.
Rough designs saved huge amounts of time in producing the
magazine on Microsoft Publisher as I already had an estimate as to where
content would go e.g. Text and masthead whereas with the Preliminary I spent
significant amount of time simply re arranging content which wasted time and
again taught me the necessity of planning. The templates done in the Qualitative Audience Research Focus Group helped also in swiftly producing the magazine without hassles or time being wasted.
One of the major pieces of knowledge i value that have been
learnt in the process of magazine construction was my Theoretical knowledge of
Theories and Ideologies heavily utilised in mainstream magazines in order to
make them successful. This varied from Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs to Laura
Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory. My utilisation of this knowledge is showcased on the
front covers of the Bonafide magazine and the preliminary magazine. When
looking at the Main Central Image of the preliminary task, it is irrelevant as
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs are utilised on successful magazines main central
images making them someone to be looked up to or someone inspirational however a
student clenching his fist with an angry expression is not exactly
inspirational for the Teenagers and Adults even though it may appeal to younger
students of the demographic. Then comparing that to the Bonafide main central
image shows what I have learnt, the main central image is inspirational to the
demographic and has relevance as the model is replicating Johnny Cash and Woody
Guthrie who are prominent inspirational musicians who are appreciated by the
Country demographic as shown in my Quantitative Audience research. This taught
me how to integrate theories into magazine and how they can be used to sell
more issues and become a generally more successful and better magazine for the
audience to enjoy and gave me a deeper understanding of the purpose and
placement of Cover Artist or Main Central Images located on a front cover of a
magazine. (Look at images for reference)
Finally my technical skills have improved since constructed my preliminary task. I have
learnt to manipulate images to your own preference, add more intricate and
complex backgrounds and colours to documents and correct editing of images and
text in order to place them correctly on a document. Evidence of this knowledge
can be seen when comparing again the Bonafide front cover and the preliminary
front cover. The preliminary main central image has a background which has not
been edited or manipulated in any way r from giving the image an "Amateur"
vibe e.g. the background is still attached to the model photo even thought he
white background does not interfere with text it still does not look
professional. The compare this to my Bonafide magazine front cover with its
main central image and the knowledge i have learnt is shown as I utilised
Photoshop to edit and crop out the background of the photo and added hints of
extra brightness ad contrast to give the photo a more lively and interesting
tone, this results n better more professional looking magazine as i have learnt
in the process of this project. (Look at images for reference)
In conclusion this project when looking back to the
preliminary task has taught me a colossal amount of information from technical
to theoretical to practical knowledge which can be applied to other media
projects and it is information I value.
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