Post Questionnaire Results Overview

Post Questionnaire

Below is my post questionnaire. I gave candidates a copy of my completed magazine to refer to.


Gender
M/F


Age...............


Looking at my magazine, how many times do you think you would read 'UPROAR' in sixth months?
0
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
21+


Do you feel as though the price of the magazine  is suitable? If not, please state why, and what you would be prepared to pay.


Yes
No
Reason and price prepared to pay?..........................................................................................


Do the colour schemes used appeal to you?


Red and black        yes/no
Yellow and black   yes/no
Blue and white       yes/no


Which is your favourite feature of my magazine? (Please circle one)
Masthead (title of magazine)
Image on front cover
Layout
Typography (font size and text)
Colour Scheme

What aspects of my front cover do you like the most, (i.e. colour scheme, image..) and why?

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

What aspects of my contents page do you like the most and why?

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

What aspects of my features article do you like the most and why?

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


What would you do to improve my magazine?
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Rece Pictures

Final Product

Weekly Update 9

This week I constructed my features article. I did this whilst refering to all my previous research on features articles. I tried to follow the conventions as well as possible.

This construction took me the least time out of all three. Probably because, by this point, I have gotten used to using Photoshop CS3.

Here are the differences between the original flat plan and the final result:

Construction of Features Article

I first created a page with the correct dimensions of two A4 pieces of paper. I then divided this in half with the line tool.

I then added an image (which I darkened) onto the page, overlapping the half way point.

I also added a blue shape for the white, bold, title to go over, as well as text above and below this. I then wrote an introduction to my article.

I added a blue shape which an extra part of my article would go in later.

I then added the 'splodge' shape in white to this box. This is a common feature throughout my magazine.

 

I changed the font from a plain bold font, like on the front cover, to a crackled font for effect. I also darkened the blue so that the title is slightly different from the rest of the article and to draw attention. I also created an black, 'noise' effect coming from the blue banner. This helps to create a rock vibe.

I then added in my article. The interviewers words in blue, and the band's words in black. I arranged the text into columns like in other rock magazines I have read. 

I added a quote over the image like in NME. I used the crackly font, the same as the title, and outlined this with white to show up well. I placed the quote at a slant to add variation to the page and make it more visually appealing to my reader. A caption was placed in the bottom right hand side of the image in order to tell my reader who in band, is who. This makes for easy reading.

I also added the text, 'Words and images by Zara Dorman', as I noticed that all articles in real magazines did this.

Weekly Update 8

I found the production of my contents page was more challenging than the front cover. I found it more difficult to keep it looking professional. It was also very time consuming. It was particularly difficult to keep images and text in line.

There are a few aspects of the contents which follow the flat plan i.e. the title and the message from the Editor.

Construction of Contents Page

I first began by creating an A4 canvas with a black background. I then cut out my image on a separate page and transfered it onto the corner of my contents. I then created the title 'CONTENTS' with the date and issue number under it in the same yellow colour. I didn't want the whole background to be one colour; I wanted it to be both black and white like it was in Kerrang!.

I then made the rest of the page white using the shape tool.

Under the heading I used the shape tool to create another rectangle, this time in black, in which I put the heading 'THIS WEEK IN UPROAR'. I used a font which I used in my front cover for consistancy. The word 'UPROAR' is exactly the same as it is in the front cover, only smaller and white to contrast the black.

Under the image, I then created another white text box with a black outline. This is where I put the cover line 'GIRL POWER' and some text about the story. The word 'GIRL' is slanted for edginess, and red to link back to the front cover. It is also red to hightlight the fact that the article is about a female, because usually, rock magazines are predominantly male. I also layered a quote over the image in white. This is to follow the conventions of a rock music magazine, where quotes from the text are put on the contents page to make the reader want to read it.

I then created my subheadings by layering yellow text over black rectangles. This was done in the style of Kerrang!, and the subheadings used were the same.

I then began to put the magazine contents under the subheadings, with red page numbers. I added my 'cover stories' symbol to the text featured on the front cover.

I also created an editorial. I created this with the use of the shape tool. I made a black rectangle and then used white text to write a short, familiar sounding letter. The text is lower case, like it is in Kerrang!.

I used to line tool to create columns, and kept adding more content under the subheadings. Make-shift images were put in place (they will later be replaced with original images).

I added a red splodge shape over the right hand corner of the editorial box to carry on the theme from the front cover, and to also appeal to the target audience.

I added an image for the main article with a page number and a quote, like in NME.

I cropped my original images using iphoto to take away any non-important part of the images. These would be placed onto the contents.

I started to create an album cover for the contents page. I did this using photoshop. I made the canvas size into the dimensions of a CD cover (12 cm x 12 cm), and made the background grey. I then wrote the band name in red over this in a bold, block font.

Next, I made the text small and centered it.

I then decided to increase the size of the band name. I used the shape tool to find a shape which resembled prison bars. I layered this over the text.

I then added the album cover, in lower case letters to contrast the band name.

I added the album cover to my contents page under the 'win' subheading. I filled the rest of the page with images featured in the articles inside. A picture of myself (the editor) was added over the splodge shape in the editorial box.

Layered over these images is the page number, name of the band.

Quotes were then added to the bottom two images.

Weekly Update 7

I found creating my front cover fairly straight forward. It was sometimes challenging to stick to the original faltplan, and I found that a lot of the time, changes to the layout looked better. Here is the difference between my flat plan and the final product:

The masthead now takes up the full width of the page and the cover lines are not in the same places. The barcode, however, is in the original place.

Construction of Front Cover

I began by cutting out my the band in my chosen original image.

I then began to create the masthead (see - 'masthead design'.)

I added a black strip at the very top of the page over the masthead, this would have white text in it.

I then wrote the text 'WIN' in red, and 'WIN A SIGNED COPY OF THE YM@6 ALBUM' in white. This would hopefully attract the target audience as they would know from this that they have the opportunity to win something.

I outlined the 'WIN' with white so that it showed up against the black background. I added coverlines in white  text and outlined these with black. The main cover line overlaps a black rectangle, slanted to appeal to my target audience. I added another slanted rectangle in a dull red colour at the bottom of the page.

I found a splodge shape and cut this out using the cutting tool. I coloured this black and put it over the red, slanted banner at the bottom. I outlined the banner with a black, crackled effect in order to define the shape and make it stand out more. The outline makes it look slightly 3-dimensional.

I found a barcode, resized it, and placed it in the right hand corner of the page. 

I used the shape tool to add more white space around the bar code in oder to make room for more text.

I used the text tool to add the date, the website address and the price in pounds and euros. The barcode already had an issue number on it. All of these components were included on the barcodes of Kerrang! and NME.

To follow conventions, I had to include another image and cover story and I decided to follow the style of Kerrang! (above, left), to do so I used the shape tool to create a white box, and placed an image over this (later to be replaced with an original image).  I then wrote text, some black and some white with a red outline, for the cover line. 

Over the red banner I added text and plus symbols to show the various bands featured in the magazine.

I replaced the small image with one of my own which I took from a gig that I went to.