Research and Planning: Research into semiotics.

Semiotics is related to the study of signs and symbols.

These are signs that offer clues to determine identity and meaning. For example in genre; skulls and spiders are often used in association with horror.

Semiotics are helpful to us as we create our magazines as we can use the signs to differentiate in genre and to specify to our target audience.

The above is a front cover for a Northern Soul Magazine.
This is shown by completely exploiting the genre to appeal to its target audience:-

-The bold masthead: Blues & Soul
-The main image of Stevie Wonder- A Northern Soul Icon
-There are then interviews with other hugely recognised figures of Northern Soul eg. Martha Reeves,          
 The Temptations etc.
-The Prize give-away being a Northern Soul/ Motown getaway

Research And Planning: Draft of college magazine

Apologies for the quality...

I tried to use a simple format for my magazine so that it does not appear overcomplicated and cluttered.

My intention is to keep the colours similar as well. 

Research And Planning: Target audience for college magazine

The target audience for my college magazine will typically suit the following criteria

Age: 17-22... this helps to cover school leavers and mature students who have chosen to re-enter higher education.

Gender: Male/Female. As a college magazine, I feel it is important to not be gender specific so that all students have an equal opportunity to have their interests met and voices heard.

Interests: Music, socializing, trips/events... I will try to cover as much of what interests the students as possible.

Education: From A-Levels to B-TEC and National Diplomas. my magazine is available to anyone on any course. Its more a social magazine as opposed to being subject specific.

Class: Working Class- lower middle class.

Research and Planning: Examples of medium close-up

Research And Planning: Analysis Of College Magazine

The magazine title (masthead) is 'College', a clear indication to the target audience and content.

The main image is of a young man- possibly a student himself. This idea is encouraged by him carrying study books.

The front cover also uses college jargon; Campus, Spring Break- words often related to student life.

The stories also relate to students: Campus fashion, student night life and new technology's available to the students.

There is bar-code and date. This shows it is an established magazine rather then a free handout. It also broadens the audience so we know the magazine isn't aimed at a specific college.

There is a simple use of colour: A charcoal background, the contrasting green and white text then stands out. The cover only uses three different fonts. This makes it look more professional and less cluttered. This is perfect when aiming at mature students as opposed to small children who are often associated with bold fonts and colours.

The 'Splat' acts as a grabber- the use of bright colours and graphics instantly attracts the eye of the reader. This is ideal for special offers or events.

Research And Planning: Introduction to Photoshop (Skin Correction Tutorial)

The aim of this was to take a standard image of a girl and then giver her a professional magazine finish.

First I used the 'Spot Healing Brush Tool' to remove blemishes and spots. Eventually all her spots were gone and I had a smoother surface to work with.

Duplicating the layer, I then used a Smart Blur and changed the settings to create a glossy glow on her skin. By lowering the opacity of the layer, I made the glow more natural and more toned.

Research and Planning: Introduction To Photoshop (creating a document)

Research and Planning: Indesign Tutorial

This was a tutorial in using Indesign. 

First we had to find a film review online and then find an accompanying image. Using copy and paste, I saved the text within a Word Document and saved the image to the desktop.

Opening Indesign, I created a document, Having done this, I then went on to create columns and a heading so it resembled the format of an article.

Using the 'Place' tool-I took the text previously saved and positioned it into the columns. 

I used the same method for the image.

I also experimented with the background; using different colours and adjusting the gradient. 

Drop shadow on the image. Creating a border around the text.

I found this a lot easier than the first Photoshop tutorial but it is something I am going to have to develop my confidence in.

Research and planning: Introduction to Photoshop

Creating a CD cover was a trial set my the tutor to just get a basic understanding of how Photoshop works. This was my first time using Photoshop.

New to the software, it was fairly straight forward using the cut and drags. I found some difficulty when it came to distorting the background and manipulating the colour of the images and background; I got confused with all the different functions available on the toolbar.

Altogether, I learnt how to:
- Cut an image and the move it to a second image
- How to change the transparency levels of an image
- How to add text and adjust the font
- Eventually grasping how to change the colours of the images.

Further on in the task I then learnt how to convert the image to a JPEG format for it to be uploaded.

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