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Practice Photoshop Task

In order to experiment with my skills within photoshop and develop my technique of editing, I have committed part of my time to creating a practice magazine cover, similar to what I have done with my preliminary task, but this time I have altered the theme to create a magazine of the music genre in order to create a good base of knowledge and skills for when I create my final product.
To also prepare myself for the creation of my final product, I stuck with an artist from one of my genres, of 'R&B'. This creates a more clear idea of how my final product will appear with an artist of that genre.
I have used tools such as the eyedropper tool to collect colors that I used within my masthead and main cover line. I haven't used a large amount of cover lines within my cover other than the main cover line 'the Queen of R&B'. This is because I have noticed that a various high end, popular magazines use a lack of cover lines due to their popularity guaranteeing monthly/weekly sales. This creates an element of prestige within the theme of the magazine and also allows the audience to focus on the model in question. I believe this fits my practice magazine very well as I'd like the audience to focus on Nicki Minaj (the artist in question), and immediately relates the singular cover line to her, informing the audience that the magazine is speaking of her as 'the Queen of R&B'. All of the colors used around the main image are taken directly from the main image itself in order to display a running color theme. This isn't the same color themes as my final product but I wanted to experiment my use of color theme and how to create a theme that links in with the image and creates a professional look.
I also used the text tool in order to print a price onto the barcode that I embedded into the cover, in order to keep the magazine looking professional and to assist anyone who wishes to purchase it, as then they will be aware of the price of the magazine and the shop in which they purchase the magazine from can scan the barcode.
I also used tools such as the rectangle shape tool in order to create the lines that run behind the masthead. The masthead itself takes up the whole left third of the cover, which is convenient for the way in which magazines are placed within shops (displaying the left third only). This is informative to the audience but also gives the magazine a different look, differing to the normal masthead which is typically placed at the top of the page.
Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome of my practice magazine cover and I am satisfied with the skills and techniques that I am confident with on photoshop, leaving me feeling more confident to begin creating my final product.

Potential Competition

National VS Regional Magazines

National vs Regional Magazines from Olivia Wallace

Initial Research: Reviewing Other Student's Work

In order to gather more research and inspiration, I have chosen to review and analyse several other student's blogs and work. This way, I can observe what I like and dislike about them, meaning that I can apply ideas that I like from their to my own. The blogs that I will be viewing, will be those that have achieved considerably high grades as that is what I am hoping to achieve at the end of this course.


Firstly, I will be reviewing Lauren Waine's blog (http://laurenwainemedia.blogspot.co.uk/). I really liked her blog layout and I noted that the theme she used matched her magazine's genre in the way it was very girly and teen-pop orientated. Although her genre is completely different to my own, I loved the way she used Facebook and other social media formats to gather research from her target audience so that she could enhance her magazine so that it suited them. I really liked her final product, although I believe if I were to analyse it without knowing her target audience, I would guess that her magazine was aimed towards 14 year olds and younger, due to it's slightly immature look cause by her used of colour, simple shapes and childish fonts. I do especially like her choice of cover image and the layout of her front cover; it is clear a lot of work has been put in. Overall, I would like to use the a theme throughout my magazine and blog so that they match/are linked. I would also like to use Facebook as a way of gathering research into my target audience.


Another blog that I have reviewed is a blog composed by Courtnie Louise Kerr (http://courtnielouisekerr.blogspot.co.uk/). I particularly disliked her blogs layout as I found it confusing and difficult to navigate. Additionally, I believe that the theme of her blog didn't particularly have much to in in terms of colour. I am planning on maintaining a black and white blog, but I'd like my blog to appear differently to this black and white blog in a way that makes it less simple and more themed and professional looking. On the other hand, I really liked her use of multiple media formats and her employment of video feedback in her blog. I loved her final Double Page Spread, despite it's difference in genre. I believe it was very professional looking, it was what you'd expect a magazine double page spread to look like and it put across the full genre of the magazine itself in a singular article. Along with the Double Page Spread, I also thought that her Contents Page and Front Cover also looked very professional in the way it stuck to a certain house theme and I believed it represented it's genre very well.


I also reviewed Natalie Howey's blog (http://nataliehoweymedia.blogspot.co.uk/). The first thing I noticed was the layout of her blog, I really liked it. Then when I looked through some of her blog posts, I noticed her work contained thorough detail. I would like to be able to apply that much detail within my blog posts so that I could achieve a high grade like her. Her final product was professional looking and fitted her chosen genre, although I believe her Front Cover did look slightly simple. Furthermore, I personally though the image she used within her Double Page Spread was highly professional looking and completely made the article and brought it together. The use of lighting and positioning of the model as well as the layout of the article created a product that you would generally expect to see in a magazine. I would like my final Double Page Spread to look as professional as this.


Finally, I observed Alysha Stirling's coursework(http://alyshastirlingmedia.blogspot.co.uk/). I loved the relationship between her magazine theme and the theme of her blog; the colours fit perfectly and also completely suited her magazine's genre. I really like the images she chose for her magazine and believe the use of the records and clothing came together to not only fit into a genre, but to completely created the genre and put it across in a way which meant that you could tell the music it was based around solely by looking at it. When looking a her final product, I do believe that her Front Cover could have been Photoshopped to a better quality due to some of the areas of the page appearing to be blurred and pixelated. Moreover, I found that she used various media throughout her blog, making it exciting and moving it away from the boring and constant text filled blog that is so frequently seen. Her posts fully put across her skills and understanding of media and that practical production of the media. I think Alysha's may have been my favourite out of all blogs that I observed.