Adobe Illustrator

In today's lesson we learnt how to use Adobe Illustrator, this program is to create the masthead of the music magazine.

Starting my proposal.

In today's lesson I started writing my proposal for the music magazine, I have written some of the main ideas I have for my magazine, the genre, sections, articles, etc. I still need to choose a title for my magazine. Moreover I will include pictures of the artists, do some more research about this genre such as researching artists, famous music tracks, old singers, history, fashion related to this genre, and more. I will choose the types of fonts I want to use for the front page, the contents page and the rest of the pages. This was a really general plan, I didn't go into detail because I haven't made up my mind about how I want my magazine to look like.

Evaluation of college magazine.

For this task I created my own college magazine using Photoshop. The name of my magazine is "inside L.S.C", it is also the masthead of my front cover.
The cover star is a student holding a folder and making eye contact with the camera (audience). I had to look for a model and take the picture with my phone. She is wearing all black clothes and I think that made a good contrast with the background which is a white/beige wall.
The colour scheme is black, white and brown. I used orange in some cover lines to make them stand out. Most of the cover lines are aligned left. On the right side of the cover star I included a quote from one of the articles and also at the bottom right I wrote some information about the article that is about the cover star's experience at the university after being a LSC student.
For the cover lines I used the same font but mixing different colours and sizes. The masthead is at the top of the page and the font is different from the cover lines because it is the name of the magazine and it is also the biggest text.
My goal was to keep the front cover simple and I think I achieved that, it looks neat and professional.

Moreover, I had to create the contents page of the college magazine using InDesign. As I already used this program, I knew how to create the contents page.
I decided to do a double spread for the contents because I wanted to include a picture of two students in one of the pages. At the top of the other page I wrote the name of the magazine with brown letters. I used the same font for all the contents text. The numbers are bigger and with another font, also they are in chronological order. Lastly, I added another picture in the page, this one is smaller and there are some boys in it.
As some of the comments that I had on this task said "The contents page goes with the front cover". I agree with it, I wanted to link the contents page with the front cover, so I used the same colour scheme and similar fonts. Some comments said that I could add a puff, I didn't really have time to finish the front cover therefore there were some things I wanted to put but due to the deadline I couldn't. To improve this task I can include all these things such as a puff, barcode and social media links.Another recommendation was to use the same font for the numbers on the contents page and to use a regular size.

Overall, I think I did a good job on this task and I managed to create both a front cover and a contents page on my own. I learnt how to use a new program (Photoshop) and I expanded my knowledge using InDesign. This task gave me the chance to get to know these programs in more depth and when I create my music magazine I will be able to use them.

I will work on:
1. Managing better my time.
2. Trying to use similar or the same fonts in contents page.
3. Using a smaller size for the number of the pages.
4. Including more assets like a puff and a barcode.

Feedback of proposal/pitch

I explained my proposal to the audience and I received some feedback. As the genre I chose was less known there were some questions about the artists I included and the audience I wanted to reach. Once I talked about it I think they liked the idea of creating a magazine about a genre I could relate to. The audience liked the title and said that it was cool and catchy. The only concern was that if I distributed the magazine only in the uk it wouldn't be as successful because there is a low number of Latin residents. My answer to that was that my aim was to make it an international magazine so that people from other countries such as USA, Portugal and Spain would be able to enjoy the content I create.

College magazine

College mag mock up

We started to design our own college magazine, we started by creating a mock up of the front cover.

Practice exercise Photoshop

We learned how to use photoshop and we designed a front cover using an image from the internet.

Vibe magazine

The next magazine I chose is Vibe magazine. I didn't have the physical magazines so I went to their webpage to get the information I needed.

A) Textual Analysis.

Front cover.

Image:
Thee colour scheme (black, white and grey). The artist is dear, this colours connote that he is gone, he doesn't shine anymore so he became black and white.
The image is a medium close up with a side view angle of the artist. It has a low key lighting, the background is white and the artist is in grey, his face is light grey which means the light came from the upper left of the camera.
The cover star is Tupac, he is naked as we can see, this connotes that he is being himself and that he wants to show his real self and be open with his fans. Moreover, his eyes are closed, it seems like he is praying. The cover lines also give us information to think that he is praying. 
The only thing he is wearing a black hat which is a hip-hop signature nowadays. Also he is wearing chains around his neck, like the artists on the other magazine, this connotes status and power. He wears this accessories to reflect the genre of the magazine.   
They kept this cover simple, there is nothing in the background so that the main focuses are on the artist. This front cover is a tribute to the artist because he died, that is why they decide to use a serious theme.

Page layout:
The masthead is behind the cover star, however we can still see the name of the magazine with clarity. This is because they want to give importance to the artist but they want to make sure their name stands out as well.
The anchorage is Tupac.
There is a skyline that says what is the article of Tupac about (Q and A).
The cover lines are aligned left and they are following the cover star's silhouette. It says 'prayer, passion, purpose' which is a key element that adds meaning to the image because it is a little spoiler of what the interview is going to be about. The cover lines are written in black and the font used is simple, this implies that the whole article is real and deep because they do not try to be fun and cool.
There is no barcode because it is a digital cover, the date is below the masthead (September 2016) and also the webpage link is there.

Language and genre:
The language used is young and trendy, although it seems like they wanted to be serous, there are some factors that stick to their style which is being cool and urban. The cover lines use 'gimme' and 'changin'. These are urban slang.
We can recognize the genre of the magazine because Tupac is a rapper, also the hat and the chains represent hip-hot and rap.

Contents page:

(I didn't have the physical magazine so I used an old contents page of vibe magazine that I found online)

Image:
There is just one contents page.
The colour scheme is white, black and orange.
On this contents page the image is of the singer Chris brown. It is a mid-long shot with a low key lighting.
Mise en scene: The artist is wearing a black suit that matches the black background. The fact that he is wearing a suit connotes that he is professional. however he is also wearing jeans which is not considered professional. This connotes that the artist is mixing both styles because he wants to challenge the impression people have of RnB artists. Most of the people think these artists are hooligans, in this case Chris Brown wants to show his professional and serious side.
It looks like he is singing and dancing which reinforces that he is a singer, also links to the magazine genre (music magazine).

Page layout:
There are nine sections, the page number is written on each section. The numbers are in orange so that they stand out, they are  also in chronological order.
There are two columns, one with the sections, aligned left. The other one in smaller and it is aligned right, this one gives information about the picture such as the place and the pieces of clothing.
On the left top there is a V that represents the magazine name and also there is a barcode.

Language and genre:
The language used is simple and they use some slang which connotes how trendy they are. The music genre is represented by the star (Chris Brown) and the other artists mentioned in each section. Also the posture of Chris reinforces that he is a singer and a performer. (Opened mouth connotes that he is singing, opened arms connote that he is dancing.)

Double spread article.
(online article)

Image:
The image of this article is of Tupac, it looks similar to the one on the front cover. The picture is a medium shot, it has a low key lighting. In this shot, the artist is looking to the camera which adds up to the whole revealing and showing his truly self vibe we saw on the front cover image. He is making a connection with the audience. Also the fact that he is dead  but looking 'right into our eyes' moves the audience. In this shot we can see how he is not naked. However it looks like he is getting undressed. This connotes that he wants to 'undress himself' with this I mean that he wants to be real and truthful about himself.
We can see also a tattoo, this links to the rapper identity. Most of the rappers and hip-hop artists have tattoos.
The article is about him, that is why he is the image on the page. 

Page layout:
It has the same colour scheme that the front cover has because they are related. (black, white and grey)
The heading of the article is '20 Years Later: Tupac Is Hip-Hop's Prophet Of Rage And Revolution', it is the biggest text on this article.
The introduction is the writer's experience meeting Tupac (three years before he died), he says that he was surprised because he could see that the artists was humble and vulnerable. The writer also says what a great artist he was and will always be. Then he talks about Tupac's life and trajectory, in the conclusion he expresses how shocked everyone was when he died 20 years ago. The article was written on the 13 of September, 2016. (The date of Tupac's death.)
Later on, there is a Q and A with Tupac done before his death.
Drop caps is used at the beginning of the first paragraph of the article.
There is only one column and the same font is used throughout the article. The quote that is in the front cover is taken from this article so that the readers come to read the whole thing to find out the rest of it.

Language and genre:
The language the writer uses if formal, however the Q&A has informal parts. When Tupac answers the questions the language used is urban, includes slang and some bad words. This is to keep the article real. This makes the magazine genre clear because of the style of the artists when he talks.
Also the genre is represented by the artists that are usually on the contents page, the outfit and accessories that the stars wear project the magazine genre as well.

B) Audience and Institution.

The target audience of vibe magazine are both male and female. Although both genders read the magazine, there is a slightly higher percentage of male readers (51%).
Most of its audience are African-American and their ages are over 21 years old.
This magazine talks about rap, hip-hop and RnB, therefore their audience are those interested on these music genres.
The magazine wants to entertain and inform its readers about the music culture.

Publisher information:
Vibe's publisher is SpinMedia which is an American publisher that owns other pop culture websites such as Spin, Stereogum and Frisky. It was founded in 2005, it was first known as BuzzMedia and its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States.

XXL magazine

A) Textual analysis.
Image:
3 colour scheme (white, blue and black). However, the mast head is red which breaks the colour scheme, this may be because they want to make sure the name of the magazine stands out.
It's a long shot and high angle shot, it includes ten artists. It connote unity, all the artists look comfortable around each other. The fact that they are all freshman and they are all in the same shot implies that if they stick together they might develop better as artists.
The image has high key lighting, everything looks clean, the background is also white.
They are wearing matching outfits (all white with gold accessories) and their attitude is relaxed and cool.
Mise en scene, they are styled as rappers.They are all wearing gold jewellery which reinforces their start status. It represents their wealth.

Page layout:
The masthead is behind the cover star which implies that the artists are more important than the magazine title.
The anchorage is ''2016 freshman class'' because it is the biggest text.
The cover lines are aligned right, they have a similar font which is not the simple and traditional font. They use a font that looks trendy and cool. The same font is used for all the texts in the front cover.
There is a barcode at the bottom on the right, also the price is there and the date is not really specific but it says summer 2016.

Language and genre:
The language they use on the cover is simple, they just use the artists names to tell the audience what kind of articles are included.
We can recognise the genre of the magazine by the image and the cover lines, in the image we see rappers and the cover lines tell us their names. Therefore the magazine genre is represented by the artists.

Contents page.
Two pages are used although they are not consecutive. There is one content page on page 6, an advert on page 7 and the other content page is on page 8 followed by another advertisement on page 9.
All editorial items are listed. There are twelve sections.

Seven of them are on the first contents page, this first page also has an image. That image is another picture similar to the one on the front cover, all the artists are on the shot, it's a long shot and a high angle shot as well. This page keeps a similar colour scheme to the one on front cover (white, black and red).
'The A-side is the first page's title, all the sections have the page number and those numbers are in chronological order. On the first page there are three columns, the language is informal and simple so that everyone understands what each article is going to be about.
The five next sections are on the second contents page, there is just one column aligned right.
The title on this page is 'The B-side'.
The colour scheme of this page is white, red and black. However, the colour brown predominates as well.
The image on this page is a picture of the yoga instructor Jess Taras. One of the sections is about her therefore they used her for the image on the page. Her skin is light brown and the background looks like a rock (brownish), maybe what the photographer wants to transmit is that she's inside a volcano or something similar. There is a red light which matches the page numbers and might represent lava. This connotes that the article may be spicy and hot like lava. Each section has the page number and they are also in chronological order.
The same font and the language that they used on the first content page is used on this one as well. The language used connotes that the magazine is for young people, also that is is trendy and cool.

Double spread article.

Image:
The image in this article is a picture of the artist DJ Drama. It is a mid-shot, it has low key lighting, the background in dark and also he is dressed in black clothes which makes the set up darker. He is wearing a black hat which is something we relate to rappers, also the chains link to the rapper style. DJ Drama is looking to the camera which creates a connection between the artist and the audience.
The article is about DJ Drama, therefore he is occupying the entire page.

Page layout:
On the other page it's the actual article. The heading is 'WHO U WIT' because is the biggest text. Once again the colour scheme is black, white and red. The subheading is 'DJ Drama's back again to host the XXL Freshman Class and reflect on this year's selects.' The whole sentence is written in black but the artist name is red. This connotes that the artist is the star of the article.  Also it makes it clear that the artist's name is DJ Drama.
The article is the artist's comments about this year's Freshman class. First, on the introduction he talks about the Freshman Class in the past, then about this year's artists who made it into the magazine. On the conclusion he talks about how he has been on the Freshman class for four years now and how he understands the star's positions.
The article has a pull quote which is a section taken from the article, they used this sentence to intrigue the audience and to make them want to read the whole article. This pull quote is also in read so that it stand out from the rest of the article.
They used two fonts to keep it simple, the heading and the pull quote have the same font. For the article they used a different font that is traditional and looks professional and clean.
There are three columns used for the article.

Language and genre:
The language used is informal because the artist talks in a urban style and even uses bad words such as 'shit'. This connotes that the magazine is urban as well and that it wants to represent the artist's personality. We can tell the genre of the magazine is hip-hop/RnB because the artists are rappers and hip-hop singers, the language is colloquial and they use slang. (for example, in the heading 'who u wit')


B) Audience and institution.

The target audience of XXL magazine are rap music and hip-hop fanatics. The magazine talks about urban music, urban artists and more. Therefore the audience they want to reach are the people interested in those kind of topics. The xxl magazine readers are mostly men (78%) in their late twenties, that is why many articles portray the female gender in a manly way which is sexualising women. In the article of this issue for example, the yoga instructor is used to attract men's attention. That article is mostly pictures of her half-naked.
The African-American community is the magazine's biggest audience (67%). Therefore, the magazine use black artists and culture to engage its readers.

Publisher information:
The xxl magazine publisher is Townsquare Media. This publisher was funded in 1994, is an american company based in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Townsquare is a media, entertainment and digital marketing solutions company. It owns and operates many radio stations, live events and digital, mobile, video and social media properties. This company specializes in creating and delivering content that its audience like such as artists and products.