Change Of Plan (CoP) -- Main Article

Taiye Selasi

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 

  I've recently been inspired by the likes of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Taiye Selasi, both extremely talented and intelligent authors who I look at as great examples and ambassadors for west Africa. Two years ago I stumbled across Adichie whilst selecting a book to create a book report for, I was intrigued by the fact that she was Igbo (like me) and I decided to read her novel Purple Hibiscus. A few weeks ago I came across her TED Talk which I thoroughly enjoyed, I also came across the trailer for the film Half Of A Yellow Sun which is based on her second novel (Half Of A Yellow Sun), additionally I've selected the book I plan to read after I've finished reading the book I'm currently reading (Selasi's debut novel Ghana Must Go), it's Adichie's latest novel Americanah.

  The first time I came across Selasi was when I read her article in ELLE magazine's October issue (her article was my favourite feature of that issue). Whilst looking online for potential books to read I found Selasi's book and this prompted me to do a little research and by doing so I discovered that she's had a variety of articles and essays published. Most insightful was her essay "Bye-Bye Barbar (Or What Is An Afropolitan?)" which I admired as it defines the emerging generations of Africans or those of African descent who can, in the words of Selasi, be identified by their "funny blend of London fashion, New York jargon, African ethics, and academic successes.".

  With regards to my CoP, I'm currently drafting the concept for my main article. I want to stick to a more tradition style so instead of my proposed article, I plan to create a profile-piece centered on a fictional blogger who is inspired by the likes of Adichie and Selasi and others of the same calibre.

• Adichie: "Purlpe Hibiscus" Book
• Adichie: TED Talk
• "Half Of A Yellow Sun" Trailer
• Adichie: "Half Of A Yellow Sun" Book
• Adichie: "Americanah" Book
• Selasi: "Ghana Must Go" Book
• Selasi: "Bye-Bye Barbar" Essay

Test Shoot -- Main Image & Cover

  I carried out my first test shoot today and I'm extremely happy that I did because the test shoot has given me an idea I'd like to test at a later date.

  The test shoot was informed by the mood board below. Originally I wanted the hands and arms painted black however I like how the painted black gloves (in the test shoot) look and I also like how the camera captured the light that's reflecting off the gloves. My favourite shot from the shoot is the image in the centre and when I carry out my next test shoot I'd like to use longer gloves and possibly a different type of paint to see whether I can find a paint that looks better than the paint I used today. I also need to become more comfortable with the Digital SLR camera, as I got quite a few shots that are out of focus.

Media Language -- Interview

In preparation for my article I've started to look at print interviews and the language that is used. I've looked at two interviews from Time magazine featuring actor Terrence Howard and actress Whoopi Goldberg and picked out a few features that are techniques used when conducting or creating a print interview. I plan on using these feature when conducting my interviews and when writing up my article. For instance the use of open-ended questions or statements followed by a question (like the examples I've highlighted in the Time magazine articles above). I want to do this so that when it comes to writing up my article I'll have a good amount of responses to work with.

Target Audience Questionnaire -- TAQ

I've created a questionnaire made up of ten questions in order to understand audiences (most especially my target audience: young adults aged 18-24) and to collect information and opinions that I can take into consideration when in the production stage of my magazine. When creating the questionnaire I really wanted to know what people thought about magazines that are free. I know that I have my opinions on free magazines due to the fact I've read free magazines with good content (i.e. Fabulous and Live Magazine) and free magazines with not-so-good content (i.e. Lewisham Life). The question I asked was:  Do you believe that there is any stigma attached to magazines that are free? I asked this because I wanted a rough idea of how many people believed there was a stigma attached to free magazines and if so why? And what can I do to rectify this for my magazine?

Good Weekend -- Cover Layout Analysis

I like the use of contrast in colour for this cover. The darkness of the background and Annie Leibovitz's (cover model) shirt, against her skin connotes mystery and suggests that she has a good story. It makes her seem intriguing therefore the cover seems intriguing, so ultimately the issue seems intriguing, prompting anyone who saw this cover to pick up this magazine.

I like that the power of the main image is not overwhelmed by a lot of text, cover lines and colour which would make the cover too busy. The masthead and cover lines being on one side makes the cover look clean and makes it easy to read. Additionally, the use of the feature colour for the word "PLUS" is good as it differentiates the main article from the other articles that are in the issue.

Research: Brown Sugar -- Interview

The beginning of the film features an interview with hip-hop greats such as Common, Method Man, Jermaine Dupri etc. and they all answer the question "When did you first fall in love with hip-hop?". I like how the individuals interviews have been edited together because it produces one story - one narrative. I hope to achieve this when I begin to construct my article after I've completed my interviews.

Whilst watching the beginning of Brown Sugar and reflecting on the articles I've read that feature interviews with more than one person, I noticed a difference in the creation of a piece based on interviews for print and film. In film, when editing together what people have had to say, putting together clips of people saying the same thing/giving the same response, has an effect. It emphasises the prevalence of whatever is being said. However, I haven't seen this applied to print pieces or articles, suggesting that it doesn't have the same effect. Most probably because an audience can't receive the feeling, opinion or emotion that is trying to be put across by reading an article based on interviews, it may only be received when an audience is listening or watching something based on interviews.

First Print Out -- Main Article

I printed out my main article in order to look at my layout on paper so I can look at the sizes of the text as well as where I plan on having the main body of the article and images. I'm going to use the annotations on the page as a guide when I next work on my article.

Good Weekend -- Magazine Layout Analysis

My magazine has been heavily influenced by Good Weekend magazine. I like the concepts and layouts for their covers and I like the layouts for their articles (like the one above). I like the section folio (which I've adopted for my magazine) and the way the text has been layered on top of the picture which makes it easier to read.

Esquire -- Theory of Magazine Layout

I was given a task to look in detail into the different features of a magazines front cover and to then look at the connotations of the features - I chose to look at an issue of Esquire.

Layout Development No.1 -- Main Article

Good Weekend -- Masthead & Cover Analysis

I really like the simplicity of the Good Weekend covers, there's usually one feature colour and either a black or white colour for the text on the page and this make the cover look sleek and quite cool. They layout is good as the cover lines are nicely spaced out, making them easier to read. The covers have one main image and this gives the consumer/reader a point to focus on, it also acts as an advertising strategy.

I love the design of the Good Weekend magazine masthead as it changes it's placement and design for each issue, however it still keeps it's basic structure. I plan on adopting this structure for my magazines masthead South Eastern.

Mood Board No.4 -- Masthead

I currently trying to figure out how I want my masthead to appear on my front cover. My main decision I need to make is whether I want the name of my magazine to appear as South Eastern or SE. I'm finding it hard to decide how I want it to appear because the masthead says a lot about the magazine, this means I have to consider each aspect of the masthead such as font and colour. For example, if the masthead is bright pink, it connotes femininity and girliness. Plus, it fits in with the conventions of a magazines targeted at females of all ages (i.e. Cosmopolitan magazine: targeted at women, Seventeen magazine: targeted at teenage girls and Elle girl magazine: targeted at teenage girls).

Construction -- Main Article

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I'm going to be conducting multiple interviews for my article and in order to do so I'm going to need some good questions. I want effective leading questions that are going to generate great answers so I have enough to condense into a great article. I've already started to write up some questions that I'd like to ask, such as the following:

• What kind of encouragement did you receive from your teachers in secondary school and further education, in regards to higher education?
• Did the ethnicity of your teachers play a part in your decisions?
• Tell me something about the ethnic make up of your course. 
• What about the ethnic make up of your lecturers?

Mood Board No.3 -- Double Spreads & Interviews

For this mood board I've used images of double spreads/interviews/articles that I like because of their different attributes (especially the layouts that incorporate different images).

Hoodies, Louts, Scum -- Critical Analysis Of The Representation Of Youth In The News

  In summary, Garner's article in The Independent newspaper addresses the fact that young people are negatively represented in all news platforms/outlets, and that there are only two main situations in which young people don't receive bad press: in the event of a young persons early demise or in the event that a young person displays some kind of talent in television shows such as The X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent.

  Garner provides figures that show that the words most commonly used to describe teenage boys in most articles about them are the words "yobs", "thugs", "sick" and "feral". The use of such terms promote Acland's (1995) Ideology of Protection theory as this negative representation of young males (which essentially dictates the collective identity of young people) feeds into the hegemonic idea that young people are delinquents who need to be "monitored" and "controlled". For instance, after viewing the film Eden Lake and seeing how the young people in the film behaved, you could argue that the young people were feral, nasty and dangerous and that they needed monitoring. However, Eden Lake only provides one representation of young people and that representation can't possibly make up the collective identity of all young people but such representations tend to be the only ideas that contribute towards hegemony - which according to research found (in regards to teenage boys and the news) is taking it's toll.

Read the article here.

Covers -- Magazine Layout Analysis

1.

I like that the main image has been layered on top of the masthead because it ensures that the main image is the first thing the buyer of the magazine sees. I want to do this for my magazine because I want my main image to be the focus as it ties in with the main feature of my issue (mentioned in my last post).

2.

I like that the background for the main image is the same colour as the background for the bar code, as it makes the entire layout look cleaner. I think I'm going to have a light grey background (similar to the W cover) and I'd like to incorporate the way Paper Magazine placed their bar code on the front cover.

3.

I like that all of the coverlines are on the left-side of the cover and that they're all in one colour (excl. the "PLUS") and that to differentiate them, Philadelphia Style has used different fonts. I'd like to incorporate this aspect for my front cover and play around with the wide variety of fonts on PhotoShop.

4.

I like that instead having "Issue 146" it only says "146" as this makes it seem like you can collect issues.

5.

I like that the magazines have stuck to the conventions of a magazine and have the masthead in it's traditional place. I plan to stick to this convention as my magazine is going to be called "South Eastern", so unlike W magazine, my masthead will have to go across the cover.

6.

I like that the feature information has been placed underneath the masthead as it looks cleaner and is more efficient for the reader/buyer because they know what they're gonna get from the magazine easier.

-- Additionally --

I like that all of these covers have one main image and that they all have clean layouts that are nice and easy to read.

Mood Board No.2 -- Main Image

Seen as the issue of my magazine I'm creating is for the month of October, it's going to be a Black History Month special and for the main cover image I don't want a person/cover model. I want painted-black hands either in the Black Power salute, a fist or a praying position. However, I do like the style of the Jazz: Life cover and may create something similar.

Mood Board No.1

All images sourced from Tumblr

Here's my first mood board for my magazine and it consists of images of front covers or articles, all with aspects I admire and plan on using.

Target Audience

The brief I chose requires me to create a regional magazine and I've decided to make mine free, similar to the free newspapers/magazines that are distributed at train/tube stations and local community centres. Therefore I want my magazine to be accessible to people of all ages, ethnicity's, religions etc. and most importantly of all classes that could be found in any region/area/city/borough of the country (outlined in the socio-economic classification diagram above).

Company -- Magazine Layout Analysis

The interview featuring Lily Loveless, Kaya Scodelario and Hannah Murray in last months Company sprung to mind whilst developing the idea for my main article. This is because like my proposed article, this article is based on an interview of more than one person and instead of breaking the article into three segments for each interviewee, it intertwines their individual ideas and responses, in order to create one story/discussion and I plan on doing the same for my article.

I like the fact that instead of one main image of the three interviewees, they have their own portrait-style photo and I'd like to have this for my interviewees, possibly in black and white. I also like the way that the sub-headings and responses have been laid out, however I plan on having questions instead of sub-headings. I do like the design of the title of this article as it appeals to the target audience for this magazine, however I won't be incorporating this aspect of the article because it won't suit the style of my magazine.

My Magazine -- Main Article

Brainstorm of ideas for my magazine

For my main article I've decided to do a double spread interview featuring four or five black female professionals/graduates and with this interview I want to get to know whether they believe that there is still significance or value to getting a university degree. I'm a black teenage girl and I've been told by many black women, that I'm black and a woman and that this puts me at a disadvantage in life and that without having great qualifications, having a great (or even decent) career is not going to happen. However, some of the women I've heard this from haven't been to university and have jobs (not careers), so I want my article to be based on the words of black women who have been to university and due to their degrees, have the ability to compete against those who aren't at such a disadvantage, for the careers in the big wide world of work.

Apparently -- Magazine Layout Analysis

I admire this magazines efforts in rebelling against the conventions of a magazine (i.e. having two large columns instead of three smaller ones and having un-even margins) in order to appear as a more relaxed, cooler magazine which would appeal to their niche teenage audience. However, I don't plan on adopting this idea for my magazine because my magazine isn't targeted at a niche teenage audience who would be attracted to a more relaxed magazine layout. I also don't like the fact that this spread has no folio or section folio because without either it doesn't look like a magazine but more like pages from a leaflet. 

Nevertheless, I do like the style of the main image, it's caption and the deck, and I'm considering incorporating these aspects of this particular Apparently spread into my magazine. 

Black History Month (bHM) Magazine -- Magazine Layout Analysis

First of all, I really love the fact that the magazine designer has decided to keep the spread black and white because this adds to the authenticity of the images used, as the images used are vintage photographs which represent musical legends such as Stevie Wonder and Grace Jones in their element. The colour scheme also makes the spread an easier read.

I like that the pictures have their own caption and I plan to incorporate this element of the layout into my magazine, as well the simplicity of the bHM magazine's folio and it's section folio, however I might have the month and my magazine's logo because my magazine will be one that comes out every month. I also like the addition of a pull quote because it grabs your attention almost immediately after the headline and gives you a bit of an idea as to what the article is about and then directs your attention to the deck of the article which gives you an informed explanation as to what the article is about.

Plus, due to the fact that I want to have a lot of images in my magazine, I plan to include credits at the end of my article(s) similar to the way that bHM magazine has done. I also plan to use different PhotoShop fonts  in order to differentiate the deck, pull quote, headline, body of the article, captions and credits from each other, like the bHM magazine has done.

A2 Task Selection

Two weeks ago I was given the task options for my A2 coursework,  there were a wide variety of tasks available such as creating an original television channel, a radio play or a promotional package for a new film. I found it extremely hard deciding which one to pick because I knew that I didn't want to do a task that was film-based as I did that last year therefore I focused on print-based tasks.

The task I have decided to do is...


The first four pages from an original regional magazine together with two of the following three options:
• a radio advertisement for the magazine;
• two hyperlinked pages from the magazine’s website;
• a billboard advertisement for the magazine.

For this task, as well as creating the first four pages of a magazine I'm going to have to create two of the following: a radio advertisement for the magazine; two hyperlinked page's for the magazines website or a billboard advertisement. I'm already considering creating the hyperlinked pages and the billboard ad, in order to improve my PhotoShop skills and possibly, to learn how to use InDesign - and I'm already brainstorming ideas.

Back To School

You already know what's up from the title of this post. I'm back at sixth form and better than ever!
In media we've started to look at British Nationalism and it's role in film and television. During Mondays lesson we had a great discussion and made an attempt to define what being British meant, which we found extremely hard because being British means a lot of things to a lot of different people. We had a collage made up of different images that all represented Britain in their own way, which acted as a stimulus for our discussion. We concluded that being British was more like sharing a school of thought or state of mind, instead of something that could be physically described because of it's complexity and it's ability to be influenced by other cultures and people, but at the same time rebel against what others do and believe. This definition of Britain's identity is very evident in Britain's film, television and music because our directors/producers/artists are influenced by ideas that originate from places such as the USA however we tend to rebel against the conventions of Hollywood Blockbusters and by doing this, have established our own convention (i.e. Grime, Indie music, regional soaps etc.).

My Album Cover

As promised, here is my album cover. If I was to improve it I would change the font of "I BEEN ON" so the cover was less similar to a meme and I would place a Parental Advisory sticker on the bottom left corner.

UPDATE: Magazine Concept

Like the magazine cover above, I'm going to layer the image of "the beloved" Oprah above the TIME magazine logo. Just like TIME magazine have done for their following covers:

Magazine Concept

For my magazine cover I plan to have the wonderful Oprah Winfrey on the front and I've chosen to do a TIME magazine cover because TIME magazine always have iconic figures on their covers and they don't usually have other images on the front so the focus is solely on the person.

I chose Oprah Winfrey because she's recently topped the The World's Most Powerful Celebrities List for the fifth time. Plus, she's already posed for TIME magazine's front cover twice:

Welcome All

I'm very excited to be creating my first post for my A2 media blog.

Since our media exam, our main focus in class has been Photoshop and I've really got to grips with Photoshop since my first time using it last September. We've had two tasks so far: the first task was to create an album cover and the second to create a magazine cover, and I've already completed the first task. I've started the second task (however I'm going to start a new magazine cover as I now have a better concept).


- PS. I'll have to post my album cover when I'm next in school (which will be the 8th July) because I'm on work experience next week.