Evaluation Questions

Making Of Contents Page, Difficulties and strategies

In the making and thinking of the Contents page, I wanted to keep it very consistent with my Front page allowing the reader to not lose interest and keep cohesion. Again with Photoshop I created another A4 canvas, and almost seperated it into two different columns of the contents page. The right side as you can see had the main features of the publication, with them being the upcoming ones in the opening pages of the magazine, but I also allowed the reader into an insight on who or what they were going to read about with an image depicting a person aligned with the story. These images to, with another filter, were changed to keep the black and white context and to allow the text to really stand out such as 'NEW MATERIAL' along with the subsidiary text giving a brief insight. The column was created by creating many layers for the backdrop of the text, along with manipulating the photos and using the font 'IMPACT' to for namesake give an impact.


The second column had the heading 'Delve Deeper Inside..' Again with the included masthead to give the punch, although with a correlating grey fading into black background using the gradient overlay tool. This column was made by using the rectangle tool to create a layer over the near side of the canvas, then using the gradient overlay to keep the colours very consistent. Using the same font in which I believe keeps further cohesion and simplicity I added further features with again brief insights to allow the reader to chose whether they want to continue with the content or move on.

Making of Front cover and the Difficulties and strategies used.

During the process of making the front cover for my music publication, I had a variety of ideas in which to portray the genre's of music that I was mostly focusing on. First of all I had my flat plan of the basic conventions of the magazine that I wanted to fulfil. So to start off I created an A4 sized canvas on photoshop and placed my Masthead on the page in the top left to give it its very own place on the publication, not mixed in with anything else. However I felt that the masthead deserved a slant to typify the Genre it is depicting.

Secondly the features I had previously planned I integrated into the publication. These followed in the colour scheme I had chosen of predominately red furthermore with the font selection, showing an urban but yet composed style. Although to complement the title of the features I felt that orange on the lure's underneath would really sell the features.

This was followed by choosing a strapline which I felt could just top it all. I believe I have done that with my 'R'n'B with a serving of grhyme'

Perhaps the biggest most forefront problem I had in really setting the bench mark for this front cover is that I wanted to have one whole image to really sell the magazine in terms of aspirations, emotions and genre to dominate the background as well as the front cover itself. I had selected an image which had a very autumn feel to it and although I believed it could fit into the magazine without any altercations. The colours didnt seem quite right. So I filtered the image using the Photoshop filter engine and selected 'Plaster' Which can be seen fig.4 of this post. However the balance of the lighting and the smoothness were way to heavy, not giving the image its effectiveness and power. So I tinkered with the lighting, balance and smoothness then found the right setting which I wanted as you can see. The lighting of the face and the definition of the hat( a cultural significance) gave it a great personality. Also with the backdrop of the image to an almost frosty treeline, although the tree's can not be seen from the normal image.

Furthermore i added the line for where the masthead would

be placed.The colour scheme of the image I wanted to be a solid black and white/grey to really give the image a cold but yet powerful story. The effects I used around the image and also upon it are shown as i used the Inner Glow and the Stroke to create the almost peppered red outline, along with the gradient overlay to give the background of the image the grey feel.

Front Page and Contents Page

Original Photography and Analysis

This photo I decided early on to be the photo to take up the front page. This was because it exploits a lot of aspirations, facial expressions and is a very positive image. Furthermore with this being the first issue of the magazine created during the autumn time, I decided to allow the late autumn sun and the golden and brown trees express that tremendously. 
Secondly the image itself I believe portrays the genre of the magazine as it shows a part of the fashion or culture with the Eskimo Hat and the Hoodie. But the main reason for the setting of this picture I believe is to tell one message and it can be seen just by looking into the image. It shows a young MC, looking into the future and really aspiring to become great and on top of the world, (Thus the height at which the photo has been taken at)

This photo, used in my contents page to depict an article, is about also another UK MC. However I feel that this image sends out a different message and purpose. The photo itself is very much focused on the person with the lighting purposely and strictly upon him, with the clouds and the background seemingly darkened, which hereby portrays the lingering stereotypes of the R'n'B and Grime scene. Which is littered with bright stars but also the very dark and infamous backgrounds. 

This photo is imitating the fun, joy and emotions set by R'n'B and Grime but also to just open peoples eyes up so they can see that not everybody is just a thug or hangs around on the streets, but actually can present themselves properly, thereby celebrating the Top 40 I have included. This photo again has the person in the center of the imagine attracting all attention.

Promotional Article Feedback.

For the upcoming publication of the music magazine we had to create a promotional feature article demonstrating persuasive writing skills and once again connecting with our target audience. In my article, the main feature of it was introducing and promoting an MC which has recently risen to prominence and given readers an insight into himself and his personality, but also a history into the Grime scene and his success to date.


The persuasive devices i decided to use mostly were statistics to really show the success and talent of the artist, this allows readers to understand about the underground success you can make before even becoming mainstream or making a renound name for yourself. Statistics such as 80,000 views from YouTube overnight and selling 20,000 records underground give the perfect backdrop for an artist coming from a very negatively stereotyped genre trying to come to light. Also relating back to similar artists which names are world wide now such as Tinchy Stryder, allows the reader to relate this new artist and create a vivid picture in their head, before listening to any of his new material. Furthermore the relation to these UK artists creates a brighter image for Grime as it has now produced many great names, with P Money looking to become one, mentioning these names adhears his material and name.


Secondly, The use of rhetorical questions that I have involved such as "Why is P Money getting a raucous of attention now?" gets the reader involved to ask themselves why the artist is and it stimulates the reader to put themselves into the artists shoes. Also getting references from other big UK names such as SB.TV where i claimed that he is the best that has featured on the channel upholds his growing presence in this article as it begins to grow on the reader, however despite the article mainly sticking to national success, it hints to international success very soon with the revealing of a new single coming out with an american artist and an album that is promising to go platinum. Also a short but powerful interview I also included to give the promotional piece a bit more of a personal feel so the reader can get to know the artist and see how real he was. The speech I used for the artist was very real and how an MC from London is likely to talk and this gives the realism of the words used and shows the reader of his genuine character, which sells him even more so.


The last paragraph of my article I believe is the most powerful and as I feel it had to reinforce his presence and sell him completely, if it hadn't already. The colloquialism of the paragraph firmly grips the reader as it sells what is to come from the artist, including the aforemented new single with B.o.B who has also recently shot into stardom, revealing that his track that I also promoted and analysed to give it professionalism and show his qualities, is going to be released on iTunes, the biggest downloading network. Furthermore to keep the realism installed and firmly instigate the articles target audience it again reveals that P Money is going to Wood Green in London to further promote his CD. To end off the article as powerfully I could, I used a variety of sentence structure. "Remember where you first recognised his face, his background and his face. Right here.

Masthead Creation and Analysis

During class we had come to the beginning of creating our publications, this was firstly done by drawing up 3 mastheads that we wanted to use, albeit with one maybe lacking in creativity. This was to finally pick out one that I felt would be right for the publication and to really convey the Target Audience and to make a point to the reader. To create these, once again I used Photoshop skills by manipulating layers and using blending options, however in comparison to other creations I had delved deeper into the realms of blending and using tools like gradient overlay and drop shadow.

The first masthead I created had a rather simplistic but yet subtly powerful look. The colours used of blue and pink are heavily integrated into the R'n'B scene, the colours also have a high amount of gender representation as the blue background hints at the male contingent which founded the genre although the pink hits out at the massive female talent of the R'n'B culture. The font used does not however really show a tint on the youthful impact on both genres as it seems very bold and hard hitting, it looks as if it would be more suited to a rock/punk more based publication. The Blue oval backdrop provides the main statement for male dominance of the two genres as it overshadows the pink.

For those reasons, in comparison with my second Masthead, it was already far down the pecking order. The second I created had a totally different aspect to it. The theme on this masthead was more based towards the UK and grime side of my publication as it instantly hits the youths who dominate the genre. The reasons I believe this is the perfect masthead for my publication are : 

• The font that imitates somebody doing graffiti or tagging, Associated with grime
• The colour of red, brown and black. Very affiliated with signature colours of artists
• It is smooth and not complicated, very clear to denote from it
• Practical

The creation of this particular masthead was not planned as much as the first one and was more taking individual thoughts and placing them together.

The third and final masthead I created is more challenging to the second as it competes with it in terms of design, typography although I believe it does not relate to the genres and does not attract the same kind of attention against the second. This masthead was a mix between the two preceding it as it has a similar type of colour scheme in the font, however the font is more urban, it does not hit the heights of my second as the colour of purple is more of a female colour, which is almost unheard of in the grime stage. 

However, the backdrop I believe does relate to both genres as it gives it the loving feeling that R'n'B brings and the positiveness of artists in the grime scene.