When I first started using Microsoft Publisher
for my preliminary task, I found it difficult to get the hang of making a
magazine. I did not know exactly how magazines were constructed or formed in
order to attract a certain demographic. I also found it hard to focus on the mode of address because my target audience was very broad. This is why I believe that my
preliminary task was not done to my best capability. It was unorganised, the copy did not line up
and the images were placed all over the place. The typography also did not
represent my demographic which were students, parents and teachers. It was too
funky and not as serious as a school magazine should look like. The pictures on
the contents page also did not to any of the stories. This shows that I was
unfamiliar to how magazines link everything and have the same theme throughout
the magazine.
In magazines, there is usually a three colour
theme throughout the whole magazine. Even if there isn’t a three colour theme,
there is always some sort of theme colour throughout the magazine. This helps
the reader to define between the different sections in the magazine. For my
preliminary task, the colour theme changed from the front page of being black,
baby blue and yellow to being on the contents page of dark blue, black and
white. This made my school magazine look unprofessional and rather odd.
After researching about the structure and form of
magazines, making my final music magazine proved to be a lot more time
consuming however easier because I knew how to construct it so it looks more
professional. For the front page and contents page, I found it a lot easier to
form them to attract a certain demographic of young teenage girls. However, for
the double page spread it was more difficult because we did not make one for
the preliminary task so I had to find out and research the forms and
conventions of a double page spread.
I found out how the front page, contents page and
double page spread were constructed by finding two different magazines which
were aimed at different demographics and analysing them. This helped me to see
how magazines who are aimed at a similar demographic to me construct and form
their magazines in order to attract their target audience. It provided me with
the information I needed to in order to make my magazine look professional. It
built up my skills in using Microsoft Publisher, using all aspects of the
programme to make my magazine look as proficient as possible.
While making the preliminary task, the pictures I
used which I took were not photo-shopped using Photoshop or Photo Sherif.
However when doing my music magazine, both or one of these programmes had to be
used. I decided to use Photo Sherif because I found it easier. From using this
programme, I have learnt and gained a lot of new skills such as cropping the
background, whitening and getting rid of spot blemishes. It look me a while to
get used to using it because it was my first time using such a programme to
manipulate photos to make them look better than life (hyper-reality). I did not
airbrush my images or use cropping to make the models body look slimmer because
from the research I carried out, it showed that it made the models look unreal
and it gave the wrong image to young girls. The young girls look up to the
people featured in magazines as inspiration, so if I did crop their body or
airbrush them, it would make the young girls see something that isn’t real as
being perfect.
Along with the technological skills, I have also
gained insight into theories that magazines use such as The Male Gaze and Uses
and Gratification theory. I learnt that magazines purposely use the pictures
where the models pose fits the male gaze. They use this to attract their
audience which sells their magazines. All magazines do this because as the
theory suggests, we look at everything from a males perspective (the camera
lens is seen in a male’s perspective). Magazines also use the Uses and
Gratification theory in order to help the readers relate to the magazine and
articles. This is so the reader can escape from everyday reality problems. This
is why magazines mainly use interviews in their double page spreads. Interviews
tend to draw the reader in because it makes the reader feel as if they are
asking the questions and they are getting the answers straight away, so it is
as if they are interviewing the person themselves.
Overall, I have learnt and developed many
technological skills in order to make the final product from the preliminary
task. Researching about magazines has helped me make my final product look more
professional and formal. My preliminary task was not done to my best ability
because I did not have the knowledge that I had about magazines when I made my
final product. This is why my music magazine is better than my preliminary task
of a school magazine.
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