This is how far I have got with my contents page today, I have added a picture of my main artist, a picture in the bottom box which I can write about tomorrow. I have also cut round a picture of ryan to be the editor, and have written a comment from him about the main artist.

This is the start of my contents page, to start off I have taken inspiration from Q magazine and have decided to use red boxes as the background, one box being for the editor, one for highlights and I havent decided which the other one will be yet :)

This is my edited picture. First I increased the brightness of the picture to make it stand out more, and went round the picture very carefully with an eraser so it was smooth around the edges, I also changed the background to an off white colour, so its not too bright white, just dark enough to let the picture stand out.

The next stage was to cut the picture out from the background using the magnetic lasso tool, as you can see I need to tidy up the edges and create a background!

This is the picture I have chosen to use on my front cover, I chose the picture because I like the pose, her eyes and the positioning of her hair. The lighting is a little dark so I may have to edit it to make the picture slightly brighter, but overall I am happy with the results.
Also Im glad I took lots of pictures on the two photoshoots I did, as it gave me a wide range of choice when it came to choosing which picture I wanted to use.

These are all the pictures I took while I was out on photoshoots, I had a clear idea of what I wanted to acheive, so I got them done relatively quickly. The ones of Alice were more extensive than the bottom two, as I was happy with those straight away. The ones of Alice took time, took brainstorming, but I really enjoyed going out, getting to grips with the camera, trying out different camera angles, high shots, low shots, close ups, medium close ups, two shots etc.

This is the camera I used to take the pictures for my media productions.

This is the second page of the contents in Q magazine, with some annotations around the side.

The contents page, in my opinion, is very picture based with olnly a minimal amount of text. It does however manage to look proffessional at the same time. It uses pictures to entice the readers attention firstly, and by being aethetically pleasing it makes the audience want to read on, and discover whats inside.

I also thought however, that the page was a little disjointed. It didnt contain much real substance, nor did the first page. If the two pages were combined, paying less attention to huge unnecessary pictures, then it could be fitted on the one page no problem. Jpwever, the writers of Q decided to spread it out over two pages and pay more emphasis to the pictures. It also uses screen shots of the pages inside with the page numbers next to it, so it makes it easier and quicker for readers to find the pages they want.

Overall, I thought it had more bad points than good, and it could be greatly improved. However, the use of bright pictures and block layout seems to work in its own way, and maybe swerve away from designs of more mainstream of "pop" or "teen" magazines full of bright patterns and text. This takes a more adult view on the contents page, maybe reflecting the target audience of the magazine.

This is the cover of "Q" magazine with my annotations around the side.

Main picture: The picture on the cover is of Florence and the Machine, a well known pop alternative singer. She is looking straight towards the camera which means she is giving the reader direct mode of address, making the audience feel more personally targeted. The picture is very femenine which could suggest that this issue, or even all of them are targeted at women. If a man went into buy a magazine, they might ignore this because of the femenine picture and colours. From a first glance it looks more like a beauty magazine than a music magazine, so readers have to pick up the magazine to find out what its really about, also men are targeted by the use of language on the front, swearing, casual adult language which may appeal to them.

Colour: Florence is wearing blue eye shadow in the picture, which is complimented by small features of the same blue around the front cover. This makes the features of her face look softer, also making the whole front cover bond.

Main Coverline: the main coverline reads '"I FEEL SO ALONE" WOMAN ON THE EDGE' this is a coverline typical of magazines such as "Hello" or "Closer" which revel in celebritys misfortunes and splash it over double page spreads with glossy pictures of them. This however, is a music magazine, so its rare to see a headline such as this on a more sophisticated magazine. This is also mainly aimed at women, as they are targeted by coverlines about feelings and drastic life changes, especially in other womens lives.

Masthead: The masthead on this particular front cover is dominating the whole front cover. The huge "Q" in bright white against red is instantly recognisable as "Q" music magazine. Its also on the third left which means people scanning the shelves will be instantly drawn to this magazine as the title stands out.

Language: the language used on the front cover is varied. There is informal language like "MEET THE NEW SIMON COWELL...(AND THIS ONES NOT A BASTARD)" which shows that the magazine is maybe for older teenagers, and that the magazine is less formal than others. There is also a rhetorical question; "SKILLREX, DANCE GENIUS OR NOISY GIT?" thsis again has informal language by the use of the word "GIT", but as its a rhetorical question it also reaches out the audience and their opinion.

Audience profile:

Age: 17-34

Gender: Males and Females, this issue predominantly females because of the colours, picture and main coverline.

Interests: New music, information on artists, showbiz news (more sophisticated).

This is the cover of NME with my annotations around the side. In my annotations I described the colour, form, style, and techniques used.

Colour: The annotations are on the copy of the magazine, but we had the original while I was annotating. The masthead, main coverline, the sticker on the right, the word dividers at the bottom are all red, creating a certain mood. The man on the front cover is alos wearing a red t-shirt, integrating him to the overall theme of the page. 

Interactivity: There is a sticker on the right hand side of the magazine that reads; "WIN! SIGNED MIGHTY BOOSH GEAR" this tells me that the magazine are promoting a program that appeals to its audience, also that the magazine is not too serious, as it says the word "gear" which is a fairly relaxed term. This interactivity makes people more likely to buy the magazine, as an opportunity to win something presents itself, the magazine becomes instantly more attractive to its audience.

Masthead: The masthead is usually the first piece of text people are drawn to, and in this case its  on the third left, and its very bold and bright which catches peoples attention straight away. Also the name "NME" is very well known as the magazine has been around for a very long time, so its instantly recognasable among other titles.

Main coverline and other coverlines: The main coverline is obviously about the man in the picture, promoting his band and his music. There are also a multitude of other coverlines around the cover, promoting other bands. This in fact increases the audience interest, as more artists are on the cover, more people are likely to want to buy the magazine.

Audience Profile:

Age: 16-30 - simple layout - more sophisticated than Kerrang!
Gender: Male - prodominantly male colours and all male bands
Interests: New bands, indie, rock

This is my school prospectus. I decided instead of using one or two main images on my cover, I would include lots of different smaller pictures to show more of the school. I have also used lots of different camera angles; the first was an establishing shot to show the new sixth form block outside, taking advantage of the bright sun and blue sky to create a more welcoming photo. There are also two shots of girls working, an establishing shot, a medium close up of a boy playing drums, a girl choosing a book from the library and a two shot of people working, this is to show the variety of lessons taught and to show how hard the students work. I have also used 3 two shots to show that the students and teachers have a happy and professional relationshiop together, which shows the the school as a empathetic and supportive enviroment.

In terms of editing I had very little to do, only small features that let down the pictures overall appearance. For instance in the picture on the far right there was a puddle on the floor, making the picture look messy; to correct this is used the clone tool to clone the other pieces of grey to make it look even. The most editing I did was on the title though, the original sign had lights hanging over it and was very messy, rusty, and looked poor. I spent a lesson carefully editing the red parts to tidy it up, brightening the yellow on the lettering to make them stand out more, editing out the lights and nails, and generally tidying up its appearence. This was all the editing I did, but considering that it was a school prospectus I didnt want to make it look fake at all. Looking at the St. Marks official prospectus it hit me that all the pictures looked too posed, and even though I have got posed pictures, I wanted to make most of them look as natural as possible.

As well as the pictures there is a piece of text in the centre which reads; "At St. Marks we know that there are no limits to a childs potential, and we will treat each one as an individual; because here, every child matters a great deal." I put this in the centre to reflect the views that are at the centre of the school's ethos. I think this could have been in a more imaginative font or colour to improve the overall appearence of the front cover.

Making this school prospectus has been a learning curve for me, which pictures work, tools on photoshop, how house style and font is equally as important as good pictures and how to plan and take successful photo's. In my music magazine I think I should plan in far greater detain to ensure I know exactly what im doing when it comes to taking the pictures and editing the final piece.