Today, I want to look at different fonts that may work for my magazine and other products. I am going to ask my Facebook group for their opinion. I also need to analyse how looking at similar products has helped my research.
Update: I have looked at different fonts on dafont.com and found four that I thought would work great on my genre of magazine. I then went on to ask my Facebook A2 Media Studies group on their opinion. The font Dubiel won the most votes, therefore I think I will use this when creating my magazine.
Friday, 14 October 2016
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
Deconstructions Review
I wanted to deconstruct magazines, websites and billboards so I could get inspiration for my own magazines, and see from real life examples, what conventions work well.
From looking at three international magazines, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Elle, I found that all follow a really strict house theme throughout each magazine. For example, Vogue uses the same style masthead on every page, which creates synergy. This is a convention I wish to use for all of my products, as I want them to look as professional as these magazines, even though my products are region based. All magazines used a dominant cover image, of a celebrity using a close up shot. Even though my magazine is for the North East, I still want to use celebrity endorsement- even if the 'celebrity' is only well known in the North.
From the websites, I found that all used a very low toned colour scheme for the conventional parts of the page (navigation bar, title, etc), I think this is so the images of the stories don't clash with a specific theme. I like how their websites look very professional, however I think I want to add colour to mine.
The billboards I deconstructed were Gucci, Burberry, and Michael Kors. From every billboard, I found the use of one main image and small amount of text, I will keep this in mind when designing my final billboard.
Deconstructing has helped me gather inspiration as I was really looking at the fine details of each product. It will also help me when deciding what conventions to use.
From looking at three international magazines, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Elle, I found that all follow a really strict house theme throughout each magazine. For example, Vogue uses the same style masthead on every page, which creates synergy. This is a convention I wish to use for all of my products, as I want them to look as professional as these magazines, even though my products are region based. All magazines used a dominant cover image, of a celebrity using a close up shot. Even though my magazine is for the North East, I still want to use celebrity endorsement- even if the 'celebrity' is only well known in the North.
From the websites, I found that all used a very low toned colour scheme for the conventional parts of the page (navigation bar, title, etc), I think this is so the images of the stories don't clash with a specific theme. I like how their websites look very professional, however I think I want to add colour to mine.
The billboards I deconstructed were Gucci, Burberry, and Michael Kors. From every billboard, I found the use of one main image and small amount of text, I will keep this in mind when designing my final billboard.
Deconstructing has helped me gather inspiration as I was really looking at the fine details of each product. It will also help me when deciding what conventions to use.
Monday, 10 October 2016
Pitch Feedback
On my Facebook page, I asked the members if my pitch interested them and any topics they would like included in my magazine. I only got a few comments and likes but they were all positive, which indicated that my magazine idea is going in the right direction. I now need to add some polls and surveys for my members to do, which will hopefully give me some insight into what they enjoy reading about etc.Time Management #6
In this lesson, I will be looking at who my competition is, in terms of magazine competitors, and additionally asking my peers what they think of my pitch, and reviewing their feedback.
Update: I have researched who my competitors are, and found out that the likes of Vogue and Cosmopolitan are my main competition when it comes to content and design, although they are national magazines. However, THE CRACK, is my competition in the North East region, as they have similar content, but are in fact a different genre, and their magazine isn't really aimed at my primary target audience.
Additionally, I have reviewed my pitch feedback on what my Facebook friends thought of my pitch, and it was all positive.
I have also finished deconstructing 3 magazines, 3 websites and 3 billboards, which are now available on my blog.
Update: I have researched who my competitors are, and found out that the likes of Vogue and Cosmopolitan are my main competition when it comes to content and design, although they are national magazines. However, THE CRACK, is my competition in the North East region, as they have similar content, but are in fact a different genre, and their magazine isn't really aimed at my primary target audience.
Additionally, I have reviewed my pitch feedback on what my Facebook friends thought of my pitch, and it was all positive.
I have also finished deconstructing 3 magazines, 3 websites and 3 billboards, which are now available on my blog.
Website Deconstructions
I have deconstructed three websites, FashionMagazine, Elle, and Vogue. Although they are not regional magazine websites, I still feel like their design will give me inspiration, and I will be able to recognize what conventions work well on a website.
(Click on full screen if writing is too small to read)
(Click on full screen if writing is too small to read)
Magazine Deconstructions
I have deconstructed three magazines, Elle and Vogue, and Cosmopolitan. I have gone into detail on the front cover, contents and double page spread. This has allowed me to research deeply into magazines that I am inspired by, and how they have designed their pages, and what conventions they have used.
Facebook Page
I have created a Facebook page and had added 42 members. I made sure to add only people from my region, yet haven't specified in a primary age, so I receive a good set of results when I do my polls and surveys. I want to do these as it will allow me to analyse who my primary and secondary audience will be. This this let me create a magazine that is professional and a massive hit in the North East.
Friday, 7 October 2016
Time Management #5
In this session, I am planning on quickly uploading the regional and national magazine institutions Prezi to my blog. I am then going to deconstruct a regional magazine cover, contents page and double page spread. I want to look at the conventions they use and how I will incorporate it into my own work.
Update: In this lesson, I managed to upload my regional and national magazine Prezi and have gave brief details of my own institution. I will try and upload a post going into more detail about my own institution. I have not finished deconstructing a magazine yet, and plan to do this outside of college.
Update: In this lesson, I managed to upload my regional and national magazine Prezi and have gave brief details of my own institution. I will try and upload a post going into more detail about my own institution. I have not finished deconstructing a magazine yet, and plan to do this outside of college.
Billboard Conventions
A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure that are found in high traffic areas such as a motorway or highly populated city. They are in place to present big advertisements to passing drivers, and the will often have distinctive visuals with witty slogans. The largest standard size billboards are also known as bulletins. They are located primarily on major highways or motorways, and receive high consumer exposure due to their size. Posters are the other form of billboard advertising, and are usually situated along primary and secondary arterial roads. Posters are a smaller format than bulletins and are viewed principally by residents, commuter traffic and pedestrians. They try to be as simplistic as possible, therefore do not have many conventions.
Simple Font- Easy to read font is used because they are usually viewed by a person when they are traveling in a car. It may be difficult to read if the font is cursive and elaborate, which makes the billboard pointless. I will make sure to use simple font on my own billboard because I want my viewers to be able to read it easily.
Bold Colours- Simple but bright backgrounds are key because it will catch the readers eye and allow them to see the billboard easily when traveling past in a car. I need to make sure to use simple colours when designing my billboard, as I want it to be attractive yet effective.
Images- The image used should showcase the product or company being advertised. It is important that this is clear for the viewer to see. I will make sure that the audience is aware of whats being promoted on my own billboard.
Slogans- Slogans are made to be memorable by the company and should bring the product to mind when you hear or see the slogan. It is a really good advertising technique as something short can be catchy and stay in the readers mind. I will include a short catchy slogan on my own billboard, so the people know what product it is.
Logo- Logos are used so company products are recognisable that they belong to that business. They are also a name for a certain product/ or magazine etc. I will make sure I use my logo on my billboard, so the public instantly knows it is my work.
Simple Font- Easy to read font is used because they are usually viewed by a person when they are traveling in a car. It may be difficult to read if the font is cursive and elaborate, which makes the billboard pointless. I will make sure to use simple font on my own billboard because I want my viewers to be able to read it easily.
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| Billboard Conventions |
Bold Colours- Simple but bright backgrounds are key because it will catch the readers eye and allow them to see the billboard easily when traveling past in a car. I need to make sure to use simple colours when designing my billboard, as I want it to be attractive yet effective.
Images- The image used should showcase the product or company being advertised. It is important that this is clear for the viewer to see. I will make sure that the audience is aware of whats being promoted on my own billboard.
Slogans- Slogans are made to be memorable by the company and should bring the product to mind when you hear or see the slogan. It is a really good advertising technique as something short can be catchy and stay in the readers mind. I will include a short catchy slogan on my own billboard, so the people know what product it is.
Logo- Logos are used so company products are recognisable that they belong to that business. They are also a name for a certain product/ or magazine etc. I will make sure I use my logo on my billboard, so the public instantly knows it is my work.
Website Conventions
Websites have many different conventions that make them user friendly, and a great way to inform readers of new information. They are easy to set up as well as cheap to make, and they are the most common form used by youngsters today.
Logo- The logo on the website has to be eye-catching and have constant synergy throughout all pieces of work. It is usually located at the top left hand side, or middle, as this is easily seen when you first look at the screen. As soon as people see the logo, it allows them to know what site their on, and if its the one they are looking for, as on the internet one search may come up with lots of different links on a search engine (such as Google). The audience should also recognise the logo and be able to piece together what genre of site they are on. I will make sure the logo on my website is corresponding with all of my other products, so this allows continuous design throughout, and so readers become accustomed to my work.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)- The URL is always located at the top of the webpage and is usually the name of a product or company that the site is on. So, on my example the website is Vogue and the URL is WWW.Vogue.com. This is a necessary convention on all websites, and I will use it on my own. I will also make sure it is connected to the name of my magazine.
Navigation Bar- The navigation bar is also normally situated at the top of the page, but can either be horizontal or vertical. The bar has tabs which allows the viewer to see the different topics and pages on the site, and then hyperlinks to another page once they are clicked. I will make sure to include a navigation bar on my site as it allows the audience to click to different pages and see new content.
On- page Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)- The SEO is similar to a search engine like Google, yet only allows the them to search on the website. This could be something they are interested about or something that they can't find themselves. It also saves the readers time by searching straight away what they want to know rather than go through the whole website looking for their answer. I will make sure to include this when designing my website as it always creates a professional feel.
Advert- It is usual to see adverts on websites, as they are normally promoting something that may be intriguing on the page. For popular websites, big companies may pay them to advertise on their page, which will increase sales for them. I'm not too sure whether I will include adverts on my own site as I am not expecting it to be overly popular as I am only targeting my audience to the North East region.
Multimedia Content- Media Content can include photo's, videos, sound etc, which is something every website has. This makes the experience for the viewer a little more interesting that just reading text, and normally something needs an image to go with it for it to make sense. For example a description of a new music video, and then not linking in the video would be pointless. I hope for my website I have lots of my own images to use, as this will make my website a little bit more interesting.
Inbound Links- These are links that come from other sources such as Youtube, Soundcloud, and Facebook etc. They are similar to multimedia content, however they are sourced from another website. This may be a linking in videos from Youtube, or being able to connect to Facebook from the site. I will try and use as many inbound links in my work, to make it interactive for the reader.
Logo- The logo on the website has to be eye-catching and have constant synergy throughout all pieces of work. It is usually located at the top left hand side, or middle, as this is easily seen when you first look at the screen. As soon as people see the logo, it allows them to know what site their on, and if its the one they are looking for, as on the internet one search may come up with lots of different links on a search engine (such as Google). The audience should also recognise the logo and be able to piece together what genre of site they are on. I will make sure the logo on my website is corresponding with all of my other products, so this allows continuous design throughout, and so readers become accustomed to my work.
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| Website Conventions |
On- page Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)- The SEO is similar to a search engine like Google, yet only allows the them to search on the website. This could be something they are interested about or something that they can't find themselves. It also saves the readers time by searching straight away what they want to know rather than go through the whole website looking for their answer. I will make sure to include this when designing my website as it always creates a professional feel.
Advert- It is usual to see adverts on websites, as they are normally promoting something that may be intriguing on the page. For popular websites, big companies may pay them to advertise on their page, which will increase sales for them. I'm not too sure whether I will include adverts on my own site as I am not expecting it to be overly popular as I am only targeting my audience to the North East region.
Multimedia Content- Media Content can include photo's, videos, sound etc, which is something every website has. This makes the experience for the viewer a little more interesting that just reading text, and normally something needs an image to go with it for it to make sense. For example a description of a new music video, and then not linking in the video would be pointless. I hope for my website I have lots of my own images to use, as this will make my website a little bit more interesting.
Inbound Links- These are links that come from other sources such as Youtube, Soundcloud, and Facebook etc. They are similar to multimedia content, however they are sourced from another website. This may be a linking in videos from Youtube, or being able to connect to Facebook from the site. I will try and use as many inbound links in my work, to make it interactive for the reader.
Monday, 3 October 2016
National and Regional Institutions
When researching into institutions, I found that magazines are published by appropriate companies that relate to the audience and fan base of a particular magazine. I have looked at national and regional institutes, to help me decide who would publish me.
Time Management #4
In this session, I plan on looking at national and regional institutions, to have a good idea of who would be interested in branding my magazine, website, and billboard.
Update: I have looked at institutions and have started a Prezi with details on national and regional publishing companies.
Update: I have looked at institutions and have started a Prezi with details on national and regional publishing companies.
Saturday, 1 October 2016
Regional Magazine Genre Ideas
I wanted to see what options I had when deciding the genre for my magazine, so I looked at Northern business, music, sport and lifestyle magazines, and found that fashion and lifestyle would be the best genre for me to do.
Regional Base
In this Prezi, I have decided what region my magazine will be based in, and had a look at some statistics regarding it. I found out quite a lot of information that will enable me to create a great magazine for the North East.
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