What I would have done differently

If i were to do this coursework again the main thing i would have differently was my time keeping, throughout this coursework my time management was very poor and as a result it shows in some of my work. What i will also do differently next time is a lot more work outside of school so i don't leave myself so much to do during school and so much to do so close to the deadline. Something to think about which i could differently next time is maybe concentrate on a different area of music for my magazine. Next time instead of creating a magazine on hip-hop and grime. Maybe create a magazine on a different area of music such as pop or rock. The reasons for this is because creating a magazine for hip-hop and grime made research very hard as there are very few known hip-hop magazines compared with pop or rock magazines.
Lastly, another thing i'd do differently is go more in depth with analysing and annotating my work, as i feel i did not do enough of what was required for the coursework.

Time management

My time management throughout this coursework work was poor. When i first started the coursework i spent too much of my time working on the front cover of music magazine and didn't leave myself enough time to work on the contents page or double page feature. This explains why my finished front cover was to a good standard and my contents page and double page feature were to a very poor and basic standard. Another way in which my time management was quite poor was the fact that i wasn't doing much of my coursework out of school, so had too much to do whilst in school involoving my coursework. If i was better at time management i think i could have made parts of coursework a lot better.

Double page feature

For my double page feature, firstly i started by designing what would sit in the background behind the text and around it. This would be the photos i would use and samller images cropped in such as stars. I also put a title in and this was above the text at the very top of the page and spread right across the double page. For the background colour i just used black, it is very simple but then makes my title and text stand out. The font i used is called copperplate, i also used this font on my front cover and my contents page. The reason i used this font so much is because it's a wide and stylish font and also very easy to read. For the language used in the interview i tried to make it sound like a stereotypical hip-hop or grime artist, by doing this I used slang words and tried to speak about the music like a hip-hop or grime artist would. The real double page features i looked at influenced the ideas for my double page feature because it helped me things like the layout of the feature and how you would structure the text, I think this helped me a lot when creating my double page feature.

Technology

The first type of technology i used in this coursework was the apple mac computers they are completely different to ordinary computers and take a while to get use to, but once being ok at using them it made the work a lot easier to do. After using the mac for a little while i started using a programme called photoshop on the macs this programme was extremely hard and confusing to use at first, and took some time and practice before i could start using it to design my Magazine front cover, contents page and double page feature. Another type of technology used througout the coursework was the cameras. I only used the camera once and that was when i was taking the photos for my work. Once getting use to photoshop and the macs it deffiantly made it better designing my music magazine. When using the technology that I was using for the work you can really edit and do anything you want to your work to satisfy how you want it. The only thing that i can say bad about the technology used in the coursework is that at first not being use to or being good at using the macs and photoshop got me working at a very slow pace to start with and didn't leave me enough time towards the end.

Photos

When I took the photos for my Magazine front cover, contents and double page feature i made sure that the people i took photos of were looking like a stereotypical front cover character of a hip-hop music magazine. I did this by making sure the people I took photos of had a mean and hurtful look on their faces. Altogether I took aproximatly 20 photos and used 3 different locations for them. Out of the 20 photos i used about 5 photos for my front cover, contents and double page feature. This was because these 5 photos were the only ones where i as the photographer really captured the look i wanted for my front cover. I made sure that the people i was taking photos of were wearing typical hip-hop clothing for example a hoodie and a flat peak cap. I used the locations that i used because they had very basic backgrounds. What i mean by this is that i did'nt want any of the background in my final editted images so made it easier by choosing simple locations.

Front Cover

For my front cover I had to make a lot of different choices from what font i would use to which photos i would include on my front cover. At the end i think i made all the right choices for my music magazine front cover and i ended up quite pleased with it. The main feature of my magazine is the central image i took a lot of my lesson time editting the images so they were right for the front cover. The title of my magazine also took a lot my time up. This was because i spent a lot time lookin on the internet for a suitable font for my front cover and finally found the right one. I then had to copy the text into a new photoshop file and edit it. This was because the font was not available for free download. They are the main features of my front cover. Other features on the magazine include text above my main central image which explains why my band are in the magazine, and also coming to the end of creating my music magazine front cover I included another picture down the side with a short caption to also explain the picture. Once I had finished my music magazine front cover I noticed similarities to other music magazines such as the photos I used. They were similar because my photos all have mean looking characters on the front and this is the same as other hip-hop magazines and Rock magazines. What is different about my magazine is that i used different colours for text depending on the background colours, this is because the background i used had a lot happening in it. Other music magazines use one block colour for text and have a plain background.

Initial ideas

Before i started anything on my music magazine front cover i took the photos that i would include on my front cover. I took approximatly 20 photos and then chose four photos that i would include on my magazine front cover. When i took the photos i tried to have the people i was taking photos of looking at the camera with a stern and maybe even mean look, or for some of the other photos i took i had them put their heads down or put their hoods up. By doing this i was creating a stereotypical charachter that you would usually see on the front of a hip-hop or rap magazine front cover. The ideas i had for front cover were to have the skyline of a city in the background of my front cover with my main images over the top. the reason i did this was to really promote the fact that in my double page spread i explain how my band are doing really well and blowing apart the music scene, I the pictures of my band over a image of the new york skyline this was because i also explain how the band are blowing apart the US music scene. The ideas i had for my magazine front cover was to create a fairly dark looking and fairly mean magazine by doing this i hoped to create a magazine that would attract my inteded audience, they would be male and between the ages of 15-30 who ovbliously enjoy grime/hip-hop music.