Looking back at your preliminary task (the college magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

There has been a considerable difference between the levels of photographic skill between the first task and the final task. This is partially due to my increased skill in photography due to my own ventures and taking an AS Photography course. This is partially to do with time keeping as in the first project I procrastinated and had very little time to collect images for use. In the final project I used various lighting skills, such as an external slave flash to light certain parts of the image and using ambient lightly in a way to compliment the subject. I tried to incorporate a variety of different shots with different artistic styles to suit my magazine. In the case of the first project my image was taken for the "iPod" intertextual reference. This is when my previously learnt Adobe Photoshop skills helped me. The layout of the cover is very similar between both pieces, the main image/model is featured along the right handside with subsequent text and puffs etc, being shown on the right. I took considerably more time selecting fonts for my final piece, I aimed to find a simplistic, yet sophisticated font to match with a similar font that had been adjusted to look rough. In the first project I did not seem to mind which I used, however, I feel this is one of the strengths of "One Two" magazine - the fonts are suited to the style and target audience. I used the same two fonts throughout and much like the font style of "iMag" I focused on font size, colouring and placement to create emphasis. Doing this creates simplicity and therefore sophistication, in the case of my final piece I chose to remain in one colour spectrum, aside from using black and white, I used one other colour and it's various shades. This adds to the artistic feel and creates a good contrast with the black and white background. I feel this is one of the downfalls of "iMag" the text is a similar colour to the background which can be visually awkward to some degree. I was very conscious about how to target my audience in terms of what is written. In "iMag" my audience was college students, therefore my language was suited to them. I used snappy and punchy sentences, with various important words enlarged or emboldened to create an emphasis on the things that would attract them. "One Two" magazine had a very different approach, little description was used to detail what is featured in the magazine - merely a title, name or page reference. This is because I wanted to give my magazine a "No-nonsense" feel, the content and style is implied through this. It not overzealous nor flashy and bright.

There were a number of things I had to consider for the final outcome of my magazine. Firstly the research of other texts and magazines was essential. This opened me up to new ideas and styles. It helped me to consider how I could use layout and other conventions to target my chosen audience. In addition, the use of other materials helped me to decide how to write my article, what would be interesting for my audience to read. Advertising was also considered along with demographics and psychographics. This way I could decide how to target the audience and advertisers.

Technology and software understanding was a crucial element to this project. I was lucky in that I had experienced Adobe Photoshop before so I understood it's complexities and new how to use the various tools and other functions. I feel this put me at and advantage to some of my peers who had to learn it from scratch. My understanding of these programs was useful to me in the end as I could create my magazine the way I had envisioned it and I created a piece of work I was happy with.

Seeking feedback and sharing ideas with peers and teachers, both taking the media course and not, was very useful to me. I shared ideas and thoughts with those in my class and my teacher. This meant I could correct mistakes I had missed, or take their creative skills on board. I showed my artefacts to people outside of my Media class to see what they thought as an "outsider" and potential consumers. This led me to finalise my ideas and gain my finished result.

Throughout the entirety of the design/creation process, attention to detail was one of the most important aspects to me. Knowing myself as a perfectionist, I knew I would focus a lot on detail and would act as my own rigorous quality checker. Although time consuming, this was very useful to me as I would focus for long periods of time on different parts of the magazine. I was not afraid to re-do a piece or an entirety of an artefact to get my desired result. Ultimately I feel this is one of my strengths and this is why I am happy with my final product.

I had to focus on my written segments to ensure my magazine targeted the selected audiences. I felt an interview was appropriate as it would appeal to most audiences. However, I made the interview seem interesting in a variety of ways. For instance, the interviewed musician: Ben Francis, was portrayed in a philosophical and respectful manor. With comparisons and influences such as Bob Dylan, it was suggested that he was very musically and lyrically talented. This would be interesting to a wide range of people including musicians themselves, those who are involved in music i.e bands and writers. Throughout the rest of the magazine I tried to maintain an unbiased approach, with no negative or positive enforcement in titles, this in itself creates an interest - why are they being featured? But more so for a level of sophistication, it looks and reads like a listing and is more "no-nonsense" in comparison to other magazines.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout the project Adobe Photoshop CS4, Blogger and flickr were the three main computer programmes that were used. I felt I was fairly competent when using Photoshop as I have used it thoroughly in GCSE subjects such as Graphics and CiDA. For this reason I did not have much to learn and found it easy to negotiate the program to achieve my desired final result. Because of my previously learned Photoshop skills, I could edit/design my pieces quickly and efficiently so I was not so concerned about time when it came to the actual creation of my artefacts. Blogger and flickr, however, were fairly new to me. I had to learn to use Blogger and flickr to blog my final pieces, evaluation and analyses. This became difficult and tedious at times as the programs were very alien to me. I transferred my photographic knowledge learnt in my AS Photography classes to achieve the artistic images I desired. This included using a DSLR and external lighting (slave flash) to light my pictures in the way I wanted.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Who would be the target audience for your media product?

My magazine is aimed more at maturity and cultural acceptability than age and other typical demographic features. Hence the reason for the varying images/audiences above. My magazine is aimed at those who enjoy music and is less targeted at particular demographics. In some respects I hope it would achieve the credibility "The Independent" has in terms of sophistication, yet, more accessible to other ages. Because the target audience covers different ages, different musical genres would have to be considered. This could be anything from rock to folk to country to disco to pop. Ideally, the audience would be conscious of their appearance and dress and would therefore shop at many different places, aiming at different fashions and price ranges. In terms of activities, they may be interested in producing their own media/arts ie. photography, videography, poetry and songwriting (band). They may also spend a lot of time attending festivals, gigs, theatre and musical productions, films and the suchlike. This is helpful for the success of the magazine as there are many different advertising possibilities. I hope the clean-cut, sophisticated - yet slightly edgy style will be what attracts the mature/cultured persons. There is nothing overzealous about it and it appears unbiased and I feel this would be a good pull.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

When designing and creating my three artefacts there were a number of things I had to consider. These are: Title, Mise-en-Scene of images, costumes and props, people, title font and style, written content, the suggested music genre of the magazine, layout and contents pages.

The title of the magazine "One Two" is shown in the top right hand corner of the page. This is somewhat unconventional considering the norms of magazine layout. However I did this to connote unconventionality and to make it more interesting to the potential consumer. The arrangement of the title is also particularly unconventional. "One" is a larger size, different font style and is placed above "Two". This creates a noticeable contrast within the title, which in itself is very interesting. The title "One Two" is an intertextual reference to music and my main idea was that of the sound technicians calling "One Two" into a microphone. I feel this is an effective, yet short and snappy title, similar to "Q" magazine - it is easy to say and therefore easy to remember.

There are a range of different elements in the mise-en-scene of my images. The images of "Ben Francis" were very dramatic and are connotations of his lifestyle and personality. To address the "artistic" side of the musician I shot photographs in an artistic way. An external flash and considerable editing was used to create high key midshot images with artistic qualities. Although the images were shot in the home, I used lighting and editing in such a manner which implies an unknown location. Similarly, this is linked to the article and "Ben Francis'" mysterious holiday home. The only other photographs are candid/documentary images I have taken at various festivals and gigs, I felt this was appropriate as it entwines with the musical theme.

When shooting pictures for "Ben Francis" I made my brother - my model, don a long black coat and a guitar. Some of my inspirations were Ian Curtis from Joy Division and pictures of Bob Dylan shot by Barry Feinstein. In some of the images which show him writing I included pieces of paper which share the idea of lyrics, notation and song writing. Furthermore, I included the Macbook which is mentioned in the article. I ensured the images reflected the article and interview.

The people shown vary greatly. The main model, my brother, was used to represent "Ben Francis" aside from this are pictures of a crowd at "Latitude Festival", Seasick Steve and Sebastien Tellier. I shot these myself prior to this course, but decided these images would be perfect for my magazine. The images even inspired some of the cover lines or 'kickers' and articles in the magazine.

I used a mixture of two fonts throughout the entirety of the three artefacts. I did this to create continuity between the pieces and also to connote simplicity and sophistication. The title "One Two" has a different font for "One" (28 Days Later) and a different font for "Two". The font for "One" is a rugged/scratchy version of the font used for "Two" (Franklin Gothic Heavy). This creates a contrast between the two, as both are simplistic and sans serif fonts, the scratched font implies there is more than meets the eye when considering the simplistic and sophisticated layout. The rest of in the artefacts is "Franklin Gothic Heavy". To differentiate headings, coverlines and show importance my main focus was font size, colour and boldness. I tried to ensure that text colour scheme was monochromatic, usually a dark or light colour to contrast with the background and varying shades of another colour.

The written content is very basic, with the majority of the written work shown on the double page spread. Featured on the double page spread is an introduction and an informal interview. Again, I used an unconventional layout with the text, the introduction and title are shown on the right, with the interview on the left. This is used to draw the reader's gaze across the page.

One of the main ideas of my magazine was to represent many musical genres. I tried to make sure the layout and style did not represent a particular genre. However, I am aware the cover seems deep and dark (Joy Division, Bob Dylan inspiration) so in turn, I tried to juxtapose the image with some of the cover lines for example: The Jam and Jimi Hendrix.

I approached the layout of my magazine very carefully and tried to have a recurrent and simplistic, yet visually enticing style throughout. The cover and contents are very uniform in layout and style. When designing the double page spread, one of my main motives was to reflect the interview in the layout. Although the layout is still fairly simplistic and minimalist; there is an added "edge" created by the torn paper.

I'm pleased with contents page as it incorporates all the styles I had in mind when thinking about/designing it. I feel it is visually enticing, yet simple and effective. In addition, it is not unconventional in comparison to some other covers, but I feel it has a very unique style.

Own photographs.

Click the above images to be linked to larger images on flickr.

Drafts and early ideas.

Click above images to be linked to the corresponding full size image on flickr.