-- UNIT 14 Digital Magazines --
- 16slark
- Jan 24, 2022
- 11 min read
Updated: Sep 28, 2022
L.A.A
FINAL Learning Aim A-Unit 14- Purpose, Content, Audience
FINAL Double page spread LAA Unit 14
FINAL LAA Analysing Front Cover of Two Music Magazines
FINAL Print v digital LAA Unit 14
L.A.B
Unit 14 Learning Aim A- Purpose, Content, Audience of my magazine
My magazine's audience profile
Pitching your magazine Idea.
Magazine Masthead Analysis
Magazine Photo Shoot Planning Task.
Front Cover and Double Page Article Mock Ups
S.W.O.T Analysis
My Artist Article
The Article I Edited
My edited Artist article
Artist article
Details about artist
Addam Wiley
Pop artist
3 existing Albums, on tour for third album,
Fashion - gender fluidity
Album names-
1– shattered - heartbreak of first romance
2– frame work - building self back up
3– unbreakable- build up and better than before
Songs on album 3- shatterproof, armour, options
Tour
World tour
Unbreakable tour
Currently at O2 arena after a sold-out tour across America
Interview takes place backstage in the O2
I’m here at the O2 arena with Addam Wiley who is on their tour for their 3rd studio album, ‘Unbreakable’. We are backstage in Addams’s dressing room here to get the gossip on the life of this young pop star.
How was the tour around America?
‘Long! *laughs* No it was great. It was so nice to be back touring and meeting all my lovely fans. It’s so nice to work with my incredible dance team, choreographer, my fabulous hair and makeup artists, my amazing costume designer for the tour…Everyone working on the tour is amazing including the sound crew, the stage managers, the set builders. There’s a lot of work that go into these tours and everyone works extremely hard and it pays off. A big thank you has to go to my fans for coming and creating such an accepting and fun vibe in the arenas. It really boosts the whole teams energy ‘
Tell us about the ‘Unbreakable’ album?
‘This album is umm...… this album is about finally regaining the confidence I lost from the past and living the life I’ve dreamed of living. I really hope this album is a gateway for people to feel confident and empowered in their own skin. However, some of the tracks are just stupid and shouldn’t be taken seriously*giggles*, there are some that are really meaningful but there are some like ‘options’ that are just created when me and my team are messing around in the studio.’
There seems to be a story across your previous albums, does this link to this album?
‘Yeah… definitely, I think this album is almost an ending of a big chapter lyrically and also a big chapter in my life. I’m not saying this is the last album but I think this chapter is over and I’m ready for a new one to begin.’
Your fashion on the tours and at events is very eccentric and breaks stereotypical barriers, who are some of your fashion influences.
‘Oh um…. There are so many um…. Definitely Harry Styles, Ariana Grande………Alexander McQueen is one of my favourite brands as well, also people like Kim Kardashian, I think she always looks stunning and I definitely look to her for inspiration, umm… also my costume designer, Olivia Hammond, who works very hard for my tours, and I work together along side my stylist, Nick Osborne to create outfits for the tours and also find clothes to buy that I like and that also make me feel the most confident.’
In the past you have received hate for your fashion choices, how do you deal with the hate being thrown your way.
‘Ignore it. I try and avoid my comment sections as much as I can but I do really like talking with my fans online so I just let the hate go over my head. Since a young age I’ve been quite good at ignoring hate and focusing on the love. I mean yeah, I do see some comments and It’s not the best and I feel down but I just have to pick myself up and move on. To anyone who receives hate or anything I just want people to ignore it. It is easier said than done but once you start ignoring the hate then you get to see the large amount of love that over shadows it.’
Who have been some of your favourite collaborations on the ‘Unbreakable’ album and who would you like to work with in the future?
‘I loved working with The Weekend, he is such a talented singer and we really bonded very quickly while writing together. Getting to work with Todrick Hall was such a dream come true for me because he was and still is such an inspiration for me since a young age. Anne Marie was such a pleasure to work with as well. In the future I’d love to work with Doja, Nikki Minaj, and my number one idol, Ariana Grande.’
Do you think you will ever get to work with these artists?
‘There may be a few things in the works……You never know.’
In your previous albums we have heard some very heartfelt tracks such as ‘hammer’, ‘jar of tears’ and ‘day and night’ from the ‘shattered’ album, and tracks such as ‘pretending’ and ‘tool-box’, from the ‘frame-work’ album.
How is this album different?
In this album I think I have finally moved away from those hard times and grown and like I said before I am happy living the life I dreamed of since I was young. I also hope this album shows people I can do more than sing songs about broken hearts and crying *giggles*.
You seem to have a special bond with the Instagram model Lily Carrington, how did you guys meet?
Lily and I have been friends since secondary school. We first became friends when we were like 14. We instantly clicked and I don’t think I have ever had that close of a bond with someone so quickly. Lily is honestly my rock, she helped get me to where I am today. I dunno what I would do without her…. Probably still be writing songs about being sad *laughs*
Finally, while going through all the emotions from the last few months and also touring, is there time to write any new music?
‘Like I said before, there a few things in the works but at the moment I try not to write much as I really want to be present and enjoy the moments I have now rather than thinking about future plans. Also, on tour it is impossible to write because I’m either rehearsing, or at sound check or getting ready or actually performing.
My Pitch
Focus Group for my Music Magazine
Technical skills-
Cropping
After a lot of trial images i made my official first drafts of my front cover and double page spread. I will continue to edit and amend these drafts until i am happy with the final product.
My InDesign progress throughout this project
My Photoshop progress throughout this project
I continuously editing my double page and front cover, adding and taking away from it to create the desired look of the magazine.
When looking at my double page spread with my artist article I realised i would have to re arrange the oder of the text to fit my desired layout. i played around with the oder of questions from the article and then got my final positioning. the entire article did not fit on the double page spread so the rest of the article would continue on the next pages of the magazine. i thought this would be the best way to present the article as the main cover artist is supposed to be a big deal therefore would have more pages about them.
I am in the final stages of creating these pages so the changes made are more detailed and minimal.
I made quite a drastic change with my double page spread. i flipped the article so that I have the picture first with the two paparazzi images which i also inverted and then the article second and i think this is a much better layout for my magazine. i also edited the title, and re arranged the text to fit the page better.
Mobile and iPad verion- mock up designs \
Iphone and IPAD
loading screen
Evaluation
Assignment C: Evaluation
For my magazine pages I have used 2 main images with 4 supporting images. I used a medium shot for the cover as this helps to create an editorial vibe as well as a long shot for the other main image. Both these images help to create an editorial vibe which was a key aspect of my magazine. I also used other supporting images that were made to look like paparazzi images. I did this to help create the gossip aspect of the magazine. This also helps appeal to a younger audience.
I manipulated these images on photoshop. I adjusted the brightness, levels and curves of all the images while turning some of them black and white to give a sleeker effect to the images. I also smoothed the images and resided some bits of the images on the ‘Face tune’ app on my phone. I retouched the images as-well on photoshop to even out my skin in the images. I used the detail tool to add detail to parts of the image for mere definition while also using the blur tool to decrease the detail of certain parts of the images. I also cropped all the images to make them smaller or get rid of unwanted space in the images, following this I used the spot healing tool to delete some objects out of the images.
I used the 2 main images to draw the audience's attention while using other supporting images to maintain the attention of the audience and give more context to the articles inside the magazine. I used the paparazzi images to help consolidate the narrative of the music artist. The artist I have created is supposed to be a pop sensation therefore the images needed to portray this level of success. Using paparazzi images helps to create this narrative. I used the editorial images on the cover and as the main image on the double page as I took a lot of inspiration from vogue magazine. Celebrity articles in vogue always make the artists look like professional and important models. The images are used to grab people's attention and help show the artist's overall brand. The artist I created is remarkably successful and breaks down gender stereotypes, therefore he is wearing a dress to reinforce this narrative I have created. The use of walking down the stairs make him physically higher than us and creates a sense of power or influence. I chose these representations as they are personal to me, and I knew I could portray them very well in my images. I manipulated the angles and positioning of the model when taking these pictures to help create a sense of influence as I wanted this artist character to have a lot of influence on people. I also did this as after looking at and researching past artist articles many images are taken in these styles, so I brought that into my work for this project.
The target audience of my magazine will be people of any gender aged between 14-25. The audience will have a wide range of sexualities and gender identities as well as race and ethnic backgrounds. To cater for this audience the magazine will include celebrities of all different ethnic backgrounds, sexualities, races and gender identities. As the audience is a younger demographic and some are still in education or just starting work the demographic profile of the audience will be span from A-F. This is because of the wide age range; some will still be in education, and some will be working. I chose to target this age range as 14 is the age where people will start to be figuring out their identity and then age groups lead to the ages where they have social lives involving clubs and bars. This wide age range means the topics of the content can be a lot broader. The content in the magazine will contain editorials about pop artists and fashion and exclusive interviews with stars who have made an enormous impact on the music industry. The exclusive interviews would appeal to the audience if the artist interviewed is popular with the age group I am targeting. The magazine will contain quizzes and how to guide the audience to complete. This will make the audience more interactive rather than passive. The magazine will also contain a lot of pages about fashion statements and trends. This section will not be divided into boys and girls as we can expect to see in other youth magazines, but the clothes talked about will be seen as gender neutral. This will help break down the pre-existing stereotypes in other magazines. The magazine will also contain stories about clubs and social lives within the community. The magazine will also have pages at the end of the magazine for the audience to send in pictures of themselves in their ‘Friday night fit’. This will help create a sense of community for the audience.
The magazine's unique selling point is that there is a gap in the market for this magazine. There is not a magazine like this being created. The content I will focus on is not represented enough and will appeal to the target audience. However, my magazine has taken a lot of inspiration from other music and fashion magazines. I have taken a lot of inspiration from magazines such as Vogue. GQ, Top of the Pops and Billboard magazine. These magazines are all aimed at different age groups and genders, my magazine has a large age range and aims at different genders in its target audience, so I took inspiration from all these magazines to aid me in appealing to a vast audience. To start making the magazine we had to complete our principal photography. I knew I wanted my Images to be noticeably big, bold, and editorial, therefore I knew it was best to use the studio in the art department to shoot my images. I have taken a lot of inspiration from vogue magazine, so I used similar lighting techniques for my shoot. After taking lots of Images, I then started my selection and rejection process. For this I had to go through all the Images and reject or select the Images. This Is where I would choose not to use an Image, or I would choose to potentially use It. This process was easy to start as I just rejected all the blurry or bad Images but then I had to keep narrowing It down to a few options which got harder and harder as the task went on. Eventually I had gathered the Images I wanted to use for my magazine.
The next step was to learn the basics of photoshop. The technical skills I learned where cropping, cutting an object out, adding text, adding shapes, using the eraser tool and many more. I then used these skills and any previous photoshop skills I must then start creating my magazine from cover. I started by making a few mock ups of the front cover. I put in one of the selected main Images and started to place boxes where the masthead, cover lines, barcode etc would be blacked. I also manipulated the Images by adjusting the contrasts, levels and curves of them while also changing many of them to black and white to create a sleeker look to the Images. After playing around with low of different Images and mock ups I found the Image I wanted to use and then stuck to It. I then started to create my masthead by using the website Dafont.com. This Is a website that have thousands of fonts that are free to use. I knew I wanted to have the Idea of construction portrayed in my font, so I found one that looked like the lines on blueprints. I did not like the plain black and white text, so I made the ‘men’ In ‘statement’ pink to add the brand Identity to the masthead but also to reinforce the Idea of breaking stereotypes. As pink Is stereotypical female colour, I made the ‘men’ bit in pink to counteract this stereotype as this Is what the magazine Is about. I then added that into my magazine along with creating cover lines to attract the audience. All the cover lines had to be related to the magazine, so they are focused on LGBTQ+ pop artists and fashion. I also added a skyline, barcode, the price, date of Issue, the strap line of the magazine and another image. After adding all these elements, I added pink and black detailing to the page to reinforce the brands colour scheme. I then ended up with my final product after weeks of editing and tweaking the cover.
The last stages were to create the online versions of the magazine. I started this by creating mock up drawings of how I would like the layout to be on an iPad and on mobile. I used the ‘Procreate’ app to draw these mock ups and then took these and started to create these layouts on photoshop. Creating the layout was more difficult than the cover because you do not just have to create the magazine Issue cover, but you must add the links to social media, other Issues and the screens are smaller than the print Issue so therefore there Int lot of space to fit everything.
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of creating this magazine as it was extreme creative and fun to produce. I learned a lot of skills from this project which I will take into my future projects.
Comments