Feedback of Double Page Spread

 

Shown above, are three images of texts that I sent my friends asking them to review my double-page spread. I chose these three friends as they are not the closest of mine so I knew I would get an honest review form them about how I could make the product better. One common improvement from the friends that I saw is that they believe that more written content on the double-page spread would make is more visually pleasing as there would not be as many blank spaces on the page. One of the friends also stated that a fact-file may also be a good space-filler, this is an option that I am going to consider when I make some tweaks to my double-page spread because I think it makes the model look more interesting and will persuade the reader to want to read the article to know more about her.

In contrast to this, my friends said that they like the camera angle of the photo as it shows the expression in the model's face, after hearing this, I believe that I made a good decision when deciding to put the image in black and white as I think it makes the picture softer which is more relaxing for the target audience to look at, however I also have the red lips which is striking against the black and white of the photo, drawing the reader in further. Friend 2 said that the double-page spread obviously had some common characteristics of other magazines; this is a good outcome from the feedback as it shows that I have used the common conventions of magazines which are proven to be successful in drawing in the attention of the readers.

Finally, the final friend, friend 3 said that they loved the style of writing on the double-page spread. I did this because it is common  phrases and words such as 'fabulous' and 'chilled' that the target audience may use in their vocabulary. I should know this as I am part of the target audience itself so I have personal insight into what the target audience would look for in this sort of magazine.

In conclusion, I have decided that I am going to add more text to the article, such as some more questions or maybe a short story form the model about her experience at the festival. This will improve my media product further and make it look more professional. Also, to reduce the amount of blank space that is shown on the double-page spread I am going to re-interview the model and create a short fact-file to put in the top right corner of the page. Hopefully, after making these improvements my target audience will be more  attracted to the magazine.

Finished Final Double-Page Spread

This is my finished double-page-spread. I decided to have the text on the right side of the page so that the reader could see the model on the left before reading the article. She is sitting in a mysterious pose with no eye-contact, enticing the reader to want to find out more about her so they will read the article. I edited the picture to be in black and white as the red text and red lips is more striking against a plain background. The red on the model's lips can show a deeper connotation of passion and lust, which makes the reader curious about the model and what her article is going to be about. This also carries on the dominant red colour scheme on the front cover and contents page of the magazine; this makes the magazine flow. The double-page-spread represents the target audience as being relaxed, but in contrast to this, energetic. I have done this by using common teenage girl language making the reader feel more connected to the article and having them wanting to read more about the festivals that they could be going to.

Finally, the font that I have used in this media product is girly and elegant, which represents my media product as following the stereotypes of young teenage girls. I did this because I believe that the magazine should have some sort of font that links the magazine to girls of a teen age, to show the target audience that this magazine has been designed specifically for them.

A Second Photo-Shoot. Was it Worth it?

So, after careful consideration I made a huge decision to restart my photo-shoot as the first batch of photos that I took I feel that I didn't put the most amount of effort into that I could of. This was a hard decision to make as it meant getting my camera ready and finding models to use that are appropriate for the magazine. As you can imagine, this was not easy!

I chose to change the environment that I took my photos in as this meant I had a large range of pictures to compare and see which ones worked best. Therefore, the second sets of photos were taken in the Chapel at my school. The lighting was perfect! It wasn't too bright but on the other and didn't make the photos look dull and colourless.

I didn't expect this photo-shoot to turn out very well as I had lost a huge amount of faith in my creativity skills so when I looked back at the photos that I had taken I was pleasantly surprised and relieved to say that I had found the perfect pictures to use. I also decided to throw in some pictures that I had taken last year at festivals because, well, that is what my magazine is about! Unfortunately I didn't even use the second batch of photos as after I had played around with some of the first pictures on a photo-editing site I decided they were perfect for the cover and double-page spread.

19th Februrary 2016

The past two weeks have been all about doing research for my double-page-spread. This is (for me) the most important section of the magazine for me as it is most likely one of the reasons the reader has picked up and bought the product, therefore it needs to be gripping and exciting. I have found that like the magazine front cover there are common conventions to the double-page-spread also.

Double-Page Spread Mock-Up

double page spread inspiration

I am going to use these two images as inspiration for my double-page spread. The first one of Adele that I have used is inspiration to me as I believe the picture is powerful as it is of a very well-known artist. She is not looking towards the camera which makes the reader view her as mysterious and so they will want to know more about her. The large headline is catchy and inspirational to the reader who can infer that she has come out of nothing. The second double-page spread that I have used as inspiration is the one of Nicki Minaj. I like the way that the text is set out in an interview style as it pulls me in to reading it because it is easy to follow and makes me feel directly involved with the interview.

Double Page Spread Analysis

5th February 2016

After making the final media product for my music magazine contents page, I have considered the feedback that I have got from people and am going to make a few changes to the contents page to make it (hopefully) even more professional. I will show the before and after in another blog post and show the before and after changes.

Feedback of My Contents Page