Final front cover

Here is my final front cover for my music magazine.

Final contents page

Here is my final contents page for my music magazine.

Final double page spread

Here is my final double page spread for my music magazine.

Evaluation 7

I used movie maker to upload this video to youtube.

Evaluation 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

A massive part to the production of my magazine was using different technologies.

I expanded my knowledge of websites that i could used t upload things t my blog such as go animate, voki, sliderocket, prezi, flickr, youtube, surveymonkey, movie maker etc. Sites like this have made it easy for me to upload my work through different social media to show my process. This was good because I got to find out about new social media sites.

I also gained knowledge of technologies that consist of Photoshop, indesign, picasa, blogger, SLR cameras and the Mac computer compared to the windows pc. I used such technologies to capture the images i needed for my magazine, edit them and and produce the actual magazines. there were some difficulties as this was the first year of the media students using indesign which meant that they didn't know the program as well as they knew others such as Photoshop. I had to learn how to use it myself.

The technologies I have learnt to know when constructing my music magazine has improved and expanded by a great amount which has helped me to produce a good quality music magazine.

Evaluation 5

Evaluation 5 by Ellesha on GoAnimate

Video Maker - Powered by GoAnimate.

Evaluation 4

Evaluation 3

Evaluation 2

Soul being the type of genre it is, doesn't really get as much recognition as other genres such as pop and rock do. Which is why I believe this genre has its own separate social group. Here is a voki of how I think my media product represent particular social groups. The reason I did this was to make my magazine seem more realistic, and then yet again relating it back to music as the grammys is a music award show. Looking back at my reader profile I can say that my magazine does fit its social group and target audience as it meets everything Isabelle wanted. As a young person that loves music the magazine offers her a chance to get free studio time and she is eligible to win things also. One thing she did say was that all she cared about was the music and I think my magazine truly represents just that. from the topics and features to Josh Lavaly’s interview, everything always balls down to the music.

Evaluation 1

Here the evaluation process starts.

During the course of the next 2 or so weeks I will be writing  up an evaluation for my music magazine using the following questions:

1. What ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

More decisions - DPS

When talking to Afreen (a class mate) about my double page spread, the first thing she said was the blue circle didn't fit in with the theme of my magazine. I 100% agreed with what she said and so I used the same gold colour for the box as it shows conventions of colour schemes throughout my magazine. She also spoke about adding some colour to the text - I also thought that would be a good idea so I did and I think with the help of her advice it has benefited the look of my magazine.

Decisions decisions - Contents page

So I've nearly finished my contents page but I had a few minor things that I needed to figure out. These are as follows:

I like the gradient look for the contents page but when I asked my peers and teachers none of them liked it, because of this I've chosen to take it of because if my target audience doesn't like the way the product is its best if I change it so I can produce a successful music magazine. I also took it off because after looking at it for a while it had a poster-like effect to it and through research of magazines none of them had gradients for a whole page.

 After that change Mr Varguese said that I should try putting in lines to separate the columns. I did this as shown, however I didn't like the way it looked, nor did my teacher or some of my peers so I decided to take the lines off.

Lightening the front cover picture

When making improvements to my magazine i noticed the front cover image was a bit dark and so i used the curve function on Photoshop to make the picture lighter.

So far.. Nearly finished?

I have made many improvements to my magazines from the last pages I posted on here.
I've shown my changes by using the drive on my Google account.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/195yFDDg67kZcRVC7ueUkMCTfHH7Lseuz9kagHQ9bOvU/edit?usp=sharing

Were I'm at so far.

I haven't posted on here in a while, probably down to all my hard work :)
It's been a long journey and creating the pages for this magazine hasn't been easy.
Here are the first three drafts I gave in to my teachers. There very rough and as you can see, annotated everywhere with red pen. from looking at the feedback I got for this I was then able to improve my pages which is shown by the ticks. after every change I made I ticked so I knew I had done it so when it came to handing these pages in again it would've been closer to finishing.

Barcodes

In my media lesson I asked Mr Varghese about the barcode on my magazine and he told me it was too long and it wasn’t a magazine barcode. So I went on the internet looking for magazines barcodes and I noticed that most of them start with a 9 following a 7. When I tried to generate my own barcode in the same way, it wouldn’t let me so I had to look for one on the internet that looked as similar to a magazine barcode as possible.
I found a website called www.barcode1.co.uk where I found the new barcode for my magazine.

 

In my research about barcodes for soul music magazines I found out that some soul magazines have ISSN numbers with the barcodes, however looking at other soul magazines and different genres, I noticed most magazines have the barcode I’ve placed on my magazine.

                                                   

 

 

 

 

Process.. Front Cover

I'm in the process of making the font cover for my magazine and I needed to put a barcode and a QR code on it. Through searching on the internet I came across the website called http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/index.php and created my these things.

Playing around with fonts.

Finding fonts for my magazine was really hard because I needed something to connect well to the genre of my magazine. To help me decide I looked a various different examples of magazines and noticed that the fonts they've used are quite plain and simple but still effective. Looking through websites like dafont and fontspace, I found some fonts that I may of liked to use then came to a decision. The image below shows the two fonts I'm going to use for my front cover and content page titles along with some of the ones I was contemplating upon.

Interview Answers

I've done the interview for my magazine with Josh over my HTC Desire mobile device. I recorded it on my phone and also on my laptop on a programme named audicity.
The Questions and answers are as follow.

Do you think being from Sierra Leone and growing up in London, has influenced your music? How? 

Yes a lot because I’ve been brought up here all my life, but I've still got that African heritage side to me which can explore the afro beat section. There are many different genres of music that England has to offer, I’ve adapted all of that, so essentially it ranges but I would do more western music, more British music.

When did you first find out that you can sing?

Erm, my first memory was when I was in year 3, like 7 or 8 in a school play and I got a pretty big role, when I sung all the teachers were crying, I had parents crying and coming over, telling my mum how great I was and it all started from there.

Do you sing in the church as well?

Yes, I've been in the church all my life.

It's been said that you sing like a cross between R.Kelly and Ne-Yo. The readers want to know, who inspires you?

R.Kelly because I grew up listening to him from childhood, he is one of my influences.

Are there any other people?

Tyrese, loads of people tell me I look like Tyrese (laughs) but also people like Marvin Sapp, Fred Hammond, I'm more inspired by these people because I believe that I'm more soul than R'n'B.

What would be your dream collaboration?

Erm Wow that’s a hard one, there’s so many people but if I could it would have to be Richard Addams

Would you ever consider branching out to different entertainment like acting or dancing?

No, It’s all about the singing for me right now, but I can dance, I wouldn’t do it for a career but I'll always have a go at something.

You seem like you’re full of life and exuberance, what keeps you motivated to get up in the morning?

The fact that I'm still alive, the amount of things I’ve been through, just living another day is enough for me to be thankful and make the most out of things like staying out of trouble, me having another chance is enough to try and meet the force of my beliefs.

You look very stylish [I try, I try], where do you get your dress sense from and how important is your image when it comes to your artistry?

I have an older sister, back in the day she used to pick out the stuff I wore, she styled me, her style was classy, and I got that bit from her. My image is everything; I think that’s one of the major things that can make or break you so I have to always look on point.

So all the ladies want to know, are you single?

Am I single? No I'm taken, for like three months now.

Tell me something you've never told someone before?

I'm not really a secretive person; I'm pretty much an open book.

What is one thing people don’t know about you that they should?

Erm, nothing really what you see is what you get with me really.

Do you play any instruments?

Yeah, I play the drums, I try to play the piano, I have a guitar and I try to play around with it. I also have a violin but I don’t play it.

Are any of your family musical, or is it just you?

Everyone in my household is musical my mum and dad were in a choir, my sister sings and my little brother tries to sing. [Laughs] So everyone’s musical in my house.

What are a few things do you want to achieve by the end of this year?

I want to get my provisional done, I need to make an EP/Mix tape, and I want to finish college.

This year I'm travelling with my church, they made an album and a couple of us would be going to Ghana for a concert out there and I would also be going to the Caribbean, and America as a backup artist for a gospel artist.

What do you think about the music industry right now?

The music industry is a bit mad because everyone wants to be a singer these days but its all about marketing because they look at what they can get out of you and are looking for money. The music industry now is a different and difficult game but if you follow through, you might not get to the stage that you want, but if music is is what you want and performing, you don't have to be the most famous person to be a performer, because if music is what you do, people hearing your music alone would be enough for you to feel happy, that’s your job done. In terms of being famous and being on T.V shows, I don’t really want to go down that road.

Do you have anything coming up that people need to know about?

I’m in a concert called confused in April; live gospel concert in Holston and you can find me on twitter at www.twitter.com/J_Lavaly and on Facebook www.facebook.com/JoshuaArtistLavaly for more details

What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you?

I was at my cousins 18th birthday when I was 15 and I tried to dance with one of her friends, everyone was watching me and I got turned down.

What separates you from other musicians in the industry?

I've got a bit of everything; I’ve got a bit of jazz, soul, gospel, R’n’B I can switch it up anytime. A couple artists only stick to one genre of music, I can change it up if I wanted to, I bring something different to the table, I’m unpredictable.

What is your dream?

My dream is to be a legend, when I’m gone I want people to remember my name, my music and what I stood for.

Thank you for coming

Thank you for having me.

QUICK QUESTIONS

Favourite food: Chinese

First CD: Craig David

Favourite CD: Chris Brown; Fame

Favourite item of clothing: Pumas

Jordans or Pradas: Jordans

Snapback or Beanie: Snapback

Suited up or a tracky: Suited up because I'm a big boy now

Most expensive thing you've bought: True religion jeans

Beyonce or Rihanna: Beyonce

Favourite Soul singer of all time: Marvin Sapp