26/02/2010

Due to posts being lost from September, I have re-written the blog entries from September to December.

30/09/2009

Towards the end of September we were set a preliminary task which was to create a school magazine for a set demographic or target audience and was preparing for our coursework. Before the preliminary task was set, as a class we were looking over and discussing key terminologies used within the media.

07/10/2009

This week we are learning about what makes a good magazine in terms of the structure, layout, target audience, niche market etc. This is what I will have to include in my coursework in order to get a excellent mark along with other factors.

14/10/2009

As a class we researched different types of magazines ranging from sports to cooking to music. We done this in order to be aware of conventional layouts and in general, what makes a eye catching  magazine.
We also discussed as a group what we liked and disliked about some magazine covers for example the title or picture may be too small, so these criticisms we pointed out had to be noted so that we did not make the same mistake as what we saw. We also looked at how each genre of a magazine targeted their audience, for example a Hip Hop magazine will have a young artist that most youngsters know so it will sell more and they can relate to.

21/10/2009

As this was our preliminary task and was a school magazine, I decided to look at other magazines that the school published in recent years. I went around the school with a questionnaire asking different year groups what they would like to see in a school magazine.. I felt this was very helpful because it allowed me to have a rough idea as to what I would put in my magazine. Also I started learning how to use Adobe InDesign Software learning,

28/10/2009

This week we had to decide who my target audience was going to be and who I was going to aim my magazine at. My initial niche market was going to be the lower school which was year 7- year 11 because I knew as there were 5 different year groups my profit will be quite high compared to Post 16 sixth form students as there are only 2 different year groups. I then decided to aim my target audience at Post 16 because I have more things in common with them and I had an idea of what I would feature in my magazine, therefore this was a big advantage to myself. I also carried on with InDesign, improving and learning new skills in my own time in the school holidays.

04/11/2009

This week I compared the different magazines that I had researched and questioned people about their likes and dislikes about what they wanted to see within a magazine. I am still familiarising myself with the software.

11/11/2009

As I now know what I want as my front cover from my researching, I have made a basic draft layout in Microsoft Publisher. This software allowed me to adjust changes quicker and is a simple way of showing designs on a page. I have chosen my colour schemes and target audience so next week I will be ready to start designing my magazine. I am still using InDesign brushing up on my skills.

18/11/2009

I have also started making the proper design for my magazine starting on InDesign as I feel fairly confident with the software.I started taking photos for my front cover that will appeal to my target audience. I had 15 final photos that I can chose from and I asked a group of my target audience which they felt they liked the best. Also I am still using InDesign.

25/11/2009

I continued working on the magazine, choosing fonts, effects and positioning pictures etc in the correct place. I knew that in order to get goo dmarks you had to manipulate the photos so using another software called Adobe Photoshop I adjusted the photos. I also drafted my contents page and completed it within the same week because the deadline was very soon, although I had finished I needed to get some feedback and adjust in order for me to meet top marks.

02/12/2009

Deadline for coursework is this week and all my work is completed on time to what I feel is a high standard.