Evaluation Question 7- My Progression.

The two examples of my past and present work is critiqued and commended to a degree suitable enough to highlight how my design skills have developed tenfold. these works are contained in the above links, as you can see, my Preliminary Task and my Final Product are easily identifiable to the point where i needn't even label them, this is because i have learned that i can progress my work farther by using better software, as well as using my own unique fonts and incorporate "Mise e n Scene" and semiotic value into my magazine to significantly increase the impact upon the reader. as well as preparation techniques such as taking around 30 pictures, even if it of the same scene in order to ensure i have a high probability of having at least one picture which is presentable rather than one picture which has by chance blurred upon taking.

Evaluation Question 6- Forms Of Distribution For My Magazine.

1/ Apple is a widely known business which has its own self established music company, over recent years Itunes and Apple have spanned into other realms of production besides music by introducing Podcasts and Texts, this makes Apple and Itunes the perfect distributor for my Music Magazine as the publication spectrum of Apple would gladly welcome a new, modern Rock magazine as a breath of fresh air to their business.
2/ NME is a firmly established music magazine publishing company which spans across all different genres of music throughout modern pop, as my magazine is an Indie-Rock form of music NME would find this type of magazine interesting to publish as a side to the NME Magazine itself.

3/ ReadMyMag.Com is a website which takes any magazines which are able to be formatted into a publisher file and publishes them on the web for public viewing at no cost, this means my magazine would be eagerly taken by this site and distributed as those who were keen to follow the music scene but perhaps could not afford to buy magazines every month could still benefit from the magazine and advertisements etc would still be included.

4/ Amazon Kindle is a media device designed to hold many publications for the user to view at their disposal, my magazine would be ideal for such a device as it would allow fans of music and the music industry keep up to date with the latest music information on the go, with no hassle of having to carry many hard copies or having enough stock in store to purchase, and due to the savings of no printing the costs could be subsidized.

Evaluation Question 5- My Products Challenges

My product, whilst maintaining a decent element of high standard must have distinctive features which allow it to vary from other magazines, otherwise they would be the same magazine, Therefore i have incorporated into my design many new, innovative features which allow my magazine to be Individual or much like the Genre my magazine covers "Indie".

In many ways i have drawn notable techniques from many magazines such as the average Masthead size and presentation from NME, the thin boarders from MOJO, Etc. However this was only as a basic skeleton of my magazines design to ensure it maintained a professional quality and strong foundation to make sure that my magazine has a strong sense of direction and could be built as quickly and effectively as possible.

A few general differences between my magazine and say the NME is that my magazine is capable of including as much information as NME whilst being more liberal with the space of the publication and thus allowing room for a more extensive description. Another difference is my use of font, my use of font is a genuinely unique font for a magazine, as on the front cover the font is VERY aesthetically based, to the point where the actual diction of the font is compromised in a way, however i feel that the attractiveness of the font makes up for its flaw of not being easily understood.

Evaluation Question 4- My Knowledge Of Technologies.

Evaluation Question 3- My Social Group.

Evaluation Question 2- My Form Of Address

Addressing the audience from Sambalino123

Evaluation Question 1- My Target Audience.

Method of Evaluation Presentation

Today i have enlisted on a few sites of web 2.0 for which i will evaluate my studies, as i am keen to display my knowledge of alternative ways to display my information rather than generic word documents. I wish to make myself distinct from other candidates...

I have signed up for accounts of websites such as Prezi, Flickr, Slideshare, Voki, Padlet and YouTube, as well as downloading software for my PC (Screencast-o-matic) to further my ability to evaluate my study.

Final Magazine *

Final Contents Page

I am yet to decide which design looks best...

v3, Front Cover and Contents Pages

Magazine Padlet Feedback

Complete Magazine Draft

Magazine Body Copy

OUT OF THE SHADE

Lead singer and guitarist Callum Birchall sheds some light into The Shades and tells RUSH about Fame, Fortune and why he doesn't like Fried Chicken…

q/ So, apart from the famous “Cocktail Incident” what is THE most outrageous thing you have ever done personally?

a/ “Jesus, I remember this one time, I was out with Sam and Kyle and some bloke took us to this place off Bold Street and well, I hadn't tried Cocaine before…”

q/ A rumor has arisen that The Shades have a new Drummer and are releasing a new album later this month! Any truth?

a/ “I hate to be painfully Cliched but, maybe there is, maybe there isn't - you know I can’t say, I mean it’s safe to say we’re not down and out, not yet.”

q/ People often talk about chemistry and I know it’s a bit soon but how good was your chemistry with Sam Shaw?

a/ My relationship with Sam was as strong as it could get man, I mean, I grew up with the guy you know? We played Football, had laughs, made music together and he was just a great guy you know, a real good, honest guy.

q/ I know you've been struggling recently with your own problems with heroin but your rehab is showing positive results right?

a/ Right, I mean drugs are the best feeling in the world, but I mean, if you don’t learn how to deal with your limits then you risk getting f**ked, and that’s what happened to me: you do the drugs, don’t let them do you – if you think you’ll fall prey to addiction then just stick to Drinking and Eating or Sh*t.

q/ Do you still speak to Kyle and Shaun?

a/ Yeah I still speak to both of ‘em! We still go to our manager Nate’s every Tuesday to play Xbox and stuff, we have a strong friendship and of course I’m in a band with the guys you know, I don’t just, y’know, go and live on my secret Himalayan Mountain Range Villa for Ten years!

q/ How much have you changed in the last Ten Years?

a/ Not much at all, I suppose I monitor my sleeping more, I need more sleep to maintain a productive work rate, either that or getting ruined on Gin and Tonic…

q/ What angers you most about today generation of music and all that it entails?

a/ You know what really angers me? This perverted adaptation of the American dream of music where only “Solo Artists” are getting recognition from shows like “The X Factor”, you know, what happened to saving up for a sh*tty guitar and all your friends getting other sh*tty instruments and all getting together and being sh*tty in someone’s garage or something? Because that’s how all the great bands were formed, what you though The Beatles got famous of Pop Idol? No way!

q/ Did you ever think you would get this big?

a/ No way man, no way, never!

q/ Would you change anything about your musical career?

a/ I would definitely have done a lot more band stuff because you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone, and losing a band member in a car crash is a pretty terrible way to go I mean, it left us scarred for sure and there were many things I wish I’d said and done when he was still around.

q/ On a brighter note to finish, are you excited for the latest Justin Bier album?
a/ Oh f**king Jesus no (Laughter), what a compilation of nightmares, trauma and “Songs” dedicated to mentally deficient 15 year old girls, I’ll pass on that one (Laughter). 

Front Cover Feedback v1

after analysis I concluded that the "End Of An Era" tagline was not bold enough to stand out amongst the background and I will therefore have to Bolden it, along with the other text on the main image. Also the image of the crowd i have used is not a picture i have taken so i will need to replace it.

Front Cover v1

Be sure to zoom out to get the full view, the full description will be available once the final design additions have been confirmed, finalised and applied.

Photoshopping my Actors

Although I took great care in ensuring my actors were relatively photogenic for my shoot, some factors such as blemishes were out of my control, so therefor I had to utilize photo editing software (in my case Photoshop) in order to correct any minor issues which may have jeopardised the validity or quality of my magazine.

Fore example, above is my original, unedited photograph, as you can see, the actor closest to the camera has come small isolated acne...

I was able to use the "Spot Heal" tool on Photoshop to get rid of these blemishes for an overall more professional looking product... I did this whilst trying to maintain a decent standard of realism within the photo as I did not want the photo to look fake.

As you can see, The actors overall appearance has improved tenfold, this in itself will enhance my magazine to the same extent

Shot List

As you can see from my photograph below, I have used a Close Up Shot on my three actors, I have specifically used this type of shot in order to imply that the magazine is "Up Close" and "Personal" with my musicians.

By using this shot I feel I have achieved my desired effect by also instructing my actors to maintain constant eye contact with the camera, which results in the actors appearing to look straight at the reader, not only does this explore a more up close and personal angle of the band, it also in some ways contributes to my magazines "Rock" theme by being up the readers face and the image speaks volumes in this way.

I specifically have partial amounts of each actors face covered (Excluding The Front Actor) by either another actors face or shrouded in shadow in order to make a subliminal statement that not all of the character is as plain as the eyes see, beyond the section visible to us, is another side of the musician. This once more conforms to the typical Rock image of being "Shady" and encapsulates that Rock stars often live very different lives away from public view and the shadows which shroud them in anonymity and mystery. this is al however without obscuring to much of the face which I felt looked poor in quality after analysing the Second Shot. as you can see, the middle actor almost looks contorted if the front actor is too far central to the frame, to eliminate this I spread the actors out farther and achieved my final piece.

Magazine Inspiration

Today i saw a feature in an NME issue featuring Nirvana, the text layout at the bottom right of the front cover, where the text is in alternating coloured boxes of Yellow and White is particularly attractive, i will strongly consider using this feature in my magazine as i feel it will give my magazine a certain degree of realism and feel.

My Photo Shoot Location

I chose to have my picture taken down a back alley in Liverpool, just near Moorfields station, whilst at first this may seem an odd and relatively unrelated, I feel as my magazine is a rock magazine, the back street image really epitomises the stereotype and accompanies my theme perfectly, as my illustrated musician are the new face of rock music, a genre which is often construed as being rough around the edges and not clean cut, much like a dingy back alley would appear to most people, the two aspects go hand in hand.