Website
http://modafashionmagazine.weebly.com/
1. In what way does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products. (Unit 18 P1 M1 D1)
The genre of my magazine is Fashion, which opened up a range
of different inspirations. I looked at magazines like ELLE, Vogue and Cosmopolitan,
as they all are magazines, which I wanted, mine to have similarities to. I got
inspiration from Vogues simplicity. I really liked Vogues basic and bold font,
also how simple the layout is as the magazine isn't busy and everything is
placed easy for the reader to read. I also got inspiration from Elle for
similar reasons to Vogue. I liked Elle’s layouts, the use of a set colour
scheme and again the masthead. Most of Elle magazine has a 3 colour scheme,
which usually consist of white/black and another colour like pastel pink,
vibrant red or midnight blue. I got inspiration from Cosmopolitans use of
catchy headlines and stand out stories. I like that Cosmopolitan use headlines,
which grab the reader’s attention, I tried to recreate this technique by
creating my own headlines, which were interesting and intriguing. One example
of a headline I used in my own magazine was ‘The big size 0 debate, what really
is perfection?’.
2. The two questions below are in relation to your images.
A) How do the images you have used in your magazine represent particular social groups? (Unit 57, P4, M4, D4)
My magazine represents my target audience in many ways but
especially through images. I took photos of models, which I thought mirrored my
target audience; mix gender, young people who have an interest in fashion. I
took photos of three different people who three completely different look and
styles. I choose to do this because each of my articles has completely unique
stories which needed equally unique people to visually capture it. For my
article about size 0 I choose to photograph a model that was thin and could be
mistaken for size 0. Although this is very stereotypical and people could see
it as not thinking outside the box I simply just wanted to capture something
which in many eyes is what they represent as size 0. I dressed my model up in simple,
black clothing, as I wanted nothing to subtract from the appearance of my
model. In many of the photos I shot I made sure my model was expressing
multiple different facial expressions, from angry to disheartened as that
represents many people’s feelings towards size 0. The photos I took for my faux
fur VS real fur article were similar to my size 0, purely because both articles
are controversial talking topics and needed images, which are thought
provoking. Also for my faux fur/real fur images I added props for my model to
use, which made it more relatable. I gave my model a white fur throw to use as
it referred to fur and also was controversial for the audience as they’d be
left questioning wondering is this model wearing real fur or faux?. The image I
used on my front cover represents my target audience as I decided to take a
photo of somebody who looks ‘normal’ enough for people to relate to. I didn't
want to choose a cover girl who was abnormally skinny or extremely unique
looking as people wouldn't see themselves through the model on the front cover.
I choose 17-year-old female Chelsea, which is exactly what my target audience
is and dressed her in fashionable high-street clothing, she was wearing a white
stripped baseball tee style shirt from H&M which is what my target audience
would be able to wear as it’s from a popular high-street shop which most people
can shop from. She had a relaxed facial expression with a subtle pout which is
what you’d presume for a fashion magazine. On the front cover I didn't give
Chelsea any props to use purely because I wanted her to be the main focus, also
her makeup was natural as I wanted her to just be a pure beauty, as overly fake-ness
is just article and not real which in my opinion isn't a great message to young
people that you have to extremely change the way you look to be beautiful. The
other images I used throughout the magazine were for different articles
including The Mac Review, Fashion Enthusiast Interview and Real Life Dolls also
all have my own images on the layout. The images I used on ‘Mac Review’ were of
a friend of mine called Chloe who’s 17. I decided to use her because I wanted
my photos for this article to be the ‘after’ makeup with her wearing the mac
make up I reviewed. I also choose her because she relates to the theme of my
magazine as being slightly edgy and cool as she has fiery red hair and an
individual style. She’s wearing a casual checked dress which is from Topshop;
so it’s easy for the readers to find this outfit as its high-street not
couture. Her pose and facial expression is relaxed in one of my photos she’s even
holding a makeup bag which is containing the makeup I reviewed that visually is
effective is most people like to actually see what their reading about. The
images I used for ‘Fashion Enthusiast Interview’ were again of Chloe as I
choose her to be my interviewee as I wanted to find out more about her fascination
for fashion as I thought it was an interesting topic. I took the photos after I
interviewed her as it looked natural and wasn't to staged. She was sat on a
clear chair which is where I interviewed her which made it look more believable.
I didn't want her to really pose as it wasn't meant to be a photo-shoot just a
few photos for evidence to show the interview.
Examples of photos I took for my magazine
B) How do the images you have obtained reflect professional practice?
The planning of my shoot was slightly easy because the models I decided to use are close friends of mine. I contacted all three of them (Chloe, Chelsea and Jude) and arranged a meeting place for us all to meet which helpfully was the location for my photo-shoot. Before I started taking my images I gave all of my models a detailed brief on what my articles are about and what I want them to act like in the photos. Before we all meet I messaged everyone telling them what clothing to wear, what props to bring and how they should do there hair and makeup just so its perfect for the specific articles. The location I used was just at one of the models house purely because I needed a blank canvas in form of a plain white wall as I wanted my photos to look like they have been captured in a photography studio as I didn't have the facilities. Permission from my models was simple because everything I asked them to do involving me taking photos of them they did. I feel confident about the photos I took because personally I think they relate to my articles and the models I have used work well with the target audience as they mirror the type of people who would read Moda. If I was going to take my photos again I would mix the locations as I feel when I used a dark blue wall for the canvas of my 'Fashion Enthusiast Interview' it made the photos look better as my model stood out further and the overall photos looked more professional. I wouldn't change the models I used if I was going to do my photo-shoots again purely because I feel the models I choose are unique looking and all have an individual style. They also are photogenic and were straightforward to direct when positioning them and telling what facial expressions to do. One software I used frequently was Adobe Photoshop as I feel it really transformed my photos with a few simple steps. I used Photoshop on my images but most of them was just really simple enhancements like brightness, contrast and spot healing as I didn't want to overly transform my photos. On my front I increased the brightness and contrast to create a more sharp and defined look. I then used the spot healing tool just to cover up small blemishes, I finished off the editing by changing the photo to black and white as I preferred the image to not be in colour as I wasn't to sure about the background colour in the original image.
Examples of photos I photo-shopped
3. Who would be the audience for your magazine? And how have you sought to attract them? (Unit 3 P2, M3, D2)
I have attracted my target audience to Moda magazine by writing articles which will have great interest to young people. For example body image and the thrive to be skinny is a big talking topic with young people which is my I dedicated a whole article about size 0. Also the layout I choose for my magazine was young and fun, I used fonts which were girly that would attract the target audience. I used a set colour scheme; black, white and pastel pink which is connotations for femininity. Some choices I made referring target audience was decided through Survey Monkey, I got my colour scheme choice from there as 85% of my participants answered black, white and pink as the best colours to use. I also got results from Survey Monkey about articles to use and personal answers; for example what shops do you mostly likely buy your clothing from was a question I asked as it helped me get insight into my target audience.
Examples of photos I took for my magazine
B) How do the images you have obtained reflect professional practice?
The planning of my shoot was slightly easy because the models I decided to use are close friends of mine. I contacted all three of them (Chloe, Chelsea and Jude) and arranged a meeting place for us all to meet which helpfully was the location for my photo-shoot. Before I started taking my images I gave all of my models a detailed brief on what my articles are about and what I want them to act like in the photos. Before we all meet I messaged everyone telling them what clothing to wear, what props to bring and how they should do there hair and makeup just so its perfect for the specific articles. The location I used was just at one of the models house purely because I needed a blank canvas in form of a plain white wall as I wanted my photos to look like they have been captured in a photography studio as I didn't have the facilities. Permission from my models was simple because everything I asked them to do involving me taking photos of them they did. I feel confident about the photos I took because personally I think they relate to my articles and the models I have used work well with the target audience as they mirror the type of people who would read Moda. If I was going to take my photos again I would mix the locations as I feel when I used a dark blue wall for the canvas of my 'Fashion Enthusiast Interview' it made the photos look better as my model stood out further and the overall photos looked more professional. I wouldn't change the models I used if I was going to do my photo-shoots again purely because I feel the models I choose are unique looking and all have an individual style. They also are photogenic and were straightforward to direct when positioning them and telling what facial expressions to do. One software I used frequently was Adobe Photoshop as I feel it really transformed my photos with a few simple steps. I used Photoshop on my images but most of them was just really simple enhancements like brightness, contrast and spot healing as I didn't want to overly transform my photos. On my front I increased the brightness and contrast to create a more sharp and defined look. I then used the spot healing tool just to cover up small blemishes, I finished off the editing by changing the photo to black and white as I preferred the image to not be in colour as I wasn't to sure about the background colour in the original image.
Examples of photos I photo-shopped
3. Who would be the audience for your magazine? And how have you sought to attract them? (Unit 3 P2, M3, D2)
I have attracted my target audience to Moda magazine by writing articles which will have great interest to young people. For example body image and the thrive to be skinny is a big talking topic with young people which is my I dedicated a whole article about size 0. Also the layout I choose for my magazine was young and fun, I used fonts which were girly that would attract the target audience. I used a set colour scheme; black, white and pastel pink which is connotations for femininity. Some choices I made referring target audience was decided through Survey Monkey, I got my colour scheme choice from there as 85% of my participants answered black, white and pink as the best colours to use. I also got results from Survey Monkey about articles to use and personal answers; for example what shops do you mostly likely buy your clothing from was a question I asked as it helped me get insight into my target audience.
A) Describe how you used secondary research to complete this project.
I used secondary research in my critical debate, through books and websites.
B) What problems do you encounter when sourcing information for your critical debate?
SWOT Analysis
I found good documentaries about body image, size 0 and weight health which helped build up my debate.
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Threat
Some sources I found weren't reliable as they were just purely peoples opinions rather then actual facts and figures.
One figure I did found about size 0 which I thought was useful didnt have the source of the figure which was a problem.
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If I was going to complete this task again or a similar version I would try and find more book sources rather then websites. As I feel they seem more reliable because there sources from an actual author rather then websites which sometimes are just peoples thoughts and opinions or though it is useful but not when your focusing on facts.
C) Describe the different types of primary research used to complete this project.
1. Interview - I conducted an interview with a friend of mine who has a keen interest in fashion, it was a 1 to 1 situation with me asking her several questions and her replying with in-depth answers.
2. Focus Group - I organised a focus group with 6, 16 - 21 year olds and asked them questions about issues including size 0 and body image. I group discussion began and everyone started sharing there opinions which sparked other people to open up and share there thoughts.
SWOT Analysis
Interviews work well as you get detailed responses as your focus is drawn to just one or two people.
I feel focus groups are good as it creates a big discussion and you get a wide variety of responses.
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With focus groups being a lot it can be hard to record all the responses.
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Questions and topics brought up in focus groups and interviews can lead to responses and answers for future focus groups and interviews.
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You have to make sure you choose specific questions to ask interviewees or focus groups as because your letting the person or group be free to say there opinion they could go off topic and respond misleadingly.
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5. How has your written content attempted to engage your audience? (Unit 36, LO1 P1, M1, D1, and Unit Factual Writing LO4, P4, M4, D4)
A) What was the purpose of your interview
The purpose of my interview was to get a interesting insight in the life of somebody who has such a strong enthusiasm for fashion. I wanted to do an interview which was unique and different, I was thinking about interviewing a model or fashion student but I choose against both those ideas as I felt theirs only so much you can really ask those type of interviewees and theirs a limited amount of information they can share. That's why I decided to go more outside the box with interviewing someone whose more 'normal'. Also I feel my target audience would see themselves through this interview as my magazine is targeted at people who have an interest in fashion. I feel I was successful with using interview techniques as I devised multiple questions which were interesting and open enough to allow my interviewee to give an extensive answer. I choose to ask questions which were not so specific and in the style of yes or no, for example 'what started your interest in fashion? as I feel questions like that are tedious and boring, it also allows the interviewee to open up and no be restricted about what they are allowed to say. My interview fits the genre of my magazine as its all about fashion. I expect my readers to gain knowledge about fashion icons, high street fashion and future careers in fashion as that's all what my interviewee discusses. I also expect my readers to see apart of themselves in this interview and have similarities to it aswell through the answers of the questions. Before my interview I done background research regarding my interviewee Chloe as I wanted to make sure I've chosen the right person to interview. The preparation wasn't to difficult as my interview was completely focused on the life of someone interested in fashion so all my information was through Chloe's responses. I started it with an open question 'what started your interest in fashion?' which got the interview going as it aloud Chloe to really get into the interview and give a detailed response. A lot of my questions were sort of part 2 of previous questions like 'who in the media would you see as being a fashion icon?' was one question which I lead to a second question 'are there fashion icons from the past, who you like?' as I felt splitting one question into two was better for the interviewee and readers as it could of been two overwhelming for the interviewee to answer such an in depth question. Also the readers may find if off putting to have to read a massive paragraph rather then smaller individual paragraphs.
B) Think about your other articles too and consider their style
The style of my other articles were a mixture of casual and formal. The more serious topics I wrote about like the size 0 debate and real life barbie dolls I used language which was formal as I was discussing a serious subject which shouldn't be mocked. But articles like the mac review and fashion enthusiast interview I decided to use language which was chatty and more fun as the style of article was light hearted; something you'd casually read if you had a spare few minutes. I separated the majority of my articles into small paragraphs so its more easy for people to read.
6. How do you feel your website design conforms to the conventions of your chosen genres and brand identity? (Unit 56 P1, M1, D1)
7. What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product? (Unit 18, LO4, P4, M4, D4)
8. Looking back at your pitch of ideas, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from the pitch to the full product? (Unit 18 LO4 P4 M4 D4))
My original ideas were to create a sleek and sophisticated fashion magazine called 'Moda'. My target audience was 16 to 21 year old females with a keen interest in fashion. I feel these original ideas have remained as I used the same masthead, target audience and theme for the magazine. However I did extremely change the articles I was going to write about, before I actually decided my articles I was going to write about latest fashion trends, celebrity style, beauty and hair tips, high street fashion and interview people who are involved in fashion. Out of my original treatment the only articles which I actually did the beauty article (MAC makeup review) and interview (the fashion enthusiast article) as I felt out of all my original article ideas those two were the strongest as the other article ideas were slightly uninteresting and tedious. I wanted to excite my readers and make them want to actually read Moda as that is why decided to write articles about controversial and thought provoking topics. For example I wrote about whether people should wear real fur or just stick with wearing faux fur? which at the moment in the media and society is a big talking topic as fur has recently came back into fashion. I also decided to write an extra article for my Moda magazine about people trying to look like real life barbie dolls, because I wanted to create a theme for this issue of Moda and I choose 'The Controversial Issue' as I felt the articles I was writing had a theme of controversy. I also changed my original colour scheme and layout idea. At first I wanted to go for a really girly and natural colour looking magazine but I decided to change it for a more edgy and stylish look, by using a lot of harsher colours throughout the magazine page. For example whenever I added text to a page I would put a black box underneath the writing to make it stand out and look less feminine. However an idea which stayed the same was my location for taking the photos. Originally I wanted my photos taken in a place which looked like a photography studio as I wanted a model on a white canvas. I decided to stick with that idea as I took photos of my models around my friends house where I white background was used. I found the project challenging in certain ways. Actually writing my articles I found was the easiest part as I enjoy writing especially magazine articles. Also taking photos I found to be not challenging as my models were cooperative and easy to work with. The planning was apart which I found in some ways difficult because I didn't want to create a stereotypical fashion magazine which about being girly and obsessing over celebrity outfits. But I didn't want my magazine genre being confusing and hard to understand. What I found most difficult was creating my magazine pages on Indesign as Graphics doesn't come easy to me. I often struggled with making my pages look like a magazine so I had to give myself practice before I tried to create the finished piece. I think I have gained a lot through this project, I feel I understand a lot more about magazines from what type of articles are used to how people create the pages. I feel I have gained more Indesign and Photoshop skills because I now don't find it so daunting to edit images and make layouts. What I would do differently I was going to do this again would probably be improving the photos I took and perfecting my magazine layout as I feel I did miss out small details.
6. How do you feel your website design conforms to the conventions of your chosen genres and brand identity? (Unit 56 P1, M1, D1)
7. What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product? (Unit 18, LO4, P4, M4, D4)
Before I created Moda my Photoshop skills lacked but I feel I've improved throughout the assignment.
I used Indesign to create my Moda pages I feel its a really important software as my magazine pages wouldn't of looked the same without the software. |
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8. Looking back at your pitch of ideas, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from the pitch to the full product? (Unit 18 LO4 P4 M4 D4))
My original ideas were to create a sleek and sophisticated fashion magazine called 'Moda'. My target audience was 16 to 21 year old females with a keen interest in fashion. I feel these original ideas have remained as I used the same masthead, target audience and theme for the magazine. However I did extremely change the articles I was going to write about, before I actually decided my articles I was going to write about latest fashion trends, celebrity style, beauty and hair tips, high street fashion and interview people who are involved in fashion. Out of my original treatment the only articles which I actually did the beauty article (MAC makeup review) and interview (the fashion enthusiast article) as I felt out of all my original article ideas those two were the strongest as the other article ideas were slightly uninteresting and tedious. I wanted to excite my readers and make them want to actually read Moda as that is why decided to write articles about controversial and thought provoking topics. For example I wrote about whether people should wear real fur or just stick with wearing faux fur? which at the moment in the media and society is a big talking topic as fur has recently came back into fashion. I also decided to write an extra article for my Moda magazine about people trying to look like real life barbie dolls, because I wanted to create a theme for this issue of Moda and I choose 'The Controversial Issue' as I felt the articles I was writing had a theme of controversy. I also changed my original colour scheme and layout idea. At first I wanted to go for a really girly and natural colour looking magazine but I decided to change it for a more edgy and stylish look, by using a lot of harsher colours throughout the magazine page. For example whenever I added text to a page I would put a black box underneath the writing to make it stand out and look less feminine. However an idea which stayed the same was my location for taking the photos. Originally I wanted my photos taken in a place which looked like a photography studio as I wanted a model on a white canvas. I decided to stick with that idea as I took photos of my models around my friends house where I white background was used. I found the project challenging in certain ways. Actually writing my articles I found was the easiest part as I enjoy writing especially magazine articles. Also taking photos I found to be not challenging as my models were cooperative and easy to work with. The planning was apart which I found in some ways difficult because I didn't want to create a stereotypical fashion magazine which about being girly and obsessing over celebrity outfits. But I didn't want my magazine genre being confusing and hard to understand. What I found most difficult was creating my magazine pages on Indesign as Graphics doesn't come easy to me. I often struggled with making my pages look like a magazine so I had to give myself practice before I tried to create the finished piece. I think I have gained a lot through this project, I feel I understand a lot more about magazines from what type of articles are used to how people create the pages. I feel I have gained more Indesign and Photoshop skills because I now don't find it so daunting to edit images and make layouts. What I would do differently I was going to do this again would probably be improving the photos I took and perfecting my magazine layout as I feel I did miss out small details.
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