Introduction To Photoshop

In lesson we had an introduction to using the software Photoshop. They told us the basic tools needed in order for us to use this when creating our magazine. Photoshop can be used to edit text, photos and backgrounds. They told us how to use the text box tool and how to change the colour of the background. We learnt how to import pictures and to resize them without deforming the actual picture. The layers was another thing we got told about. this was helpful as i would now have a full understanding to photoshop when using it for my magazine.

College magazine research.

This is what we done in lesson to show the conventions of a college magazine. we annotated the main things which could give us an idea for our college magazine. this would help our understand with the codes and conventions of a magazine.

Production Schedule

Magazine Evaluation

Magazine Evaluation:

During the research stage, I decided to look at existing magazines to give me an idea of how to structure and plan out the layout for my magazine. I searched on google images to find a range of music magazines such as: Vibe, Clash, Glamour, Beatz and Mixmag. The Glamour magazine inspired me to target a wide range of women aged around 25-35 and because their layout was a suitable for the type of article. I also had previous experiences regarding to researching magazines which consist of doing a survey to find out what people think about: the genre of the magazine, what they look for in a magazine, what attracts them to a magazine and the cost of the magazine. In regards to the type of article I was publishing in my magazine I came to a conclusion to research a magazine as part of my target audience: Women. I wanted to use the codes and conventions to make my magazine it fit into this type of genre. During this stage we also had a mini class debate to help us with more ideas and get down any other points that could be beneficial to your article.

        My journalistic skills consist of using formal language because my target audience is quite older and tend to use this language more. I decided to write my article in a serious tone to exaggerate the fact of music piracy and how serious it could come across in people’s eyes as it is a serious thing over the internet now. Statistics were also used in my article in inform the audience on real information and keeping it straight to the point. I used a high lexis throughout my text and attempted to use sophisticated language for the audience. My article had a catchy title to target a wider audience of people who may have a passion in music. This targets the secondary or tertiary audience as well was the primary audience.

      When creating the magazine I used a software called 'Adobe InDesign' this allowed me design my layout for my magazine and also produce my magazine with guidance and structure. I was confident using this software because I have had previous experience with using the software to create a magazine. Due to me planning out my layout on paper before it made it much easier for me to get the basic layout down on InDesign and allowed me to progress quite quickly. However, the fact that I have had previous experience on the software I didn't know everything I needed to know for my magazine, for example how to import pictures in a boxed area in which I needed help.

       Once I finished my article in InDesign I designed a questionnaire about my magazine to get people in my class to fill out so I can get some feedback on my magazine. This enables me to find out what people think of my magazine and how it could be improved. Some things that I found positive from the feedback of my magazine is that people of both genders found my magazine attractable because of my consistent color scheme and they could see the codes and conventions of the genre of my magazine. They also commented on the fact that the pictures on my magazine are quite narrow on the page. This is because my target audience is older in age meaning that they focus on the text and the content more than the pictures in the magazine. However, the males who filled out my feedback questionnaire commented on the font text type and think it could be improved. One reason for the text type being different is because my magazine is for women and they tend to attracted to different text types to keep the attracted to the article. This is because it helps them remember what they are reading and also keeps them interested in the text/article. As my magazine was not aimed at males, they did not really find it to their interest and did not find it eye catching to their interest. However, both genders would recommend my magazine to their family and friends. They also recommend a price of 99p.

       I used blogger to publish my work to make it more presentable and clear. I had some issues using blogger because i haven't used the site before. I had to make time to mess around with the site to get a full understanding of it and know how to use it properly. But now that i know how to use the site i have become more confident with publishing my work and other things which may need publishing.

       There are some things i could improve is learn how to use the Software more such as InDesign and Blogger as i did have a few struggles when using these. This would make it easier for me to use in the future and would make me more confident when using again.

Introduction Magazine

Introduction-Raw Text

Any Music Lovers?

Question of the week: Is Piracy destroying the music industry?

70 per cent of online users think that there is nothing wrong with music downloading or file sharing. What do you think? 

Music downloading/file sharing has been around for a while now and nothing has been put in place to prevent these downloads or file sharing from occurring over the internet, However 63 per cent of music downloaders admit it because of the fact it is illegal. Should they feel guilty? 

Many people agree with music downloads or file sharing over the internet because they believe that they are receiving the best songs out of downloading rather than buying the whole album/CD to play two or three songs that they want to hear. Online downloading is a quick and easy procedure so why not use sites like YouTube Music converter or MP3 Converter to download the songs you want. However, others may disagree with this because they believe with this because it is breaking the law and there are no legitimate sources for these downloads. They could create viruses on the computer and also affect the artist which is not ideal for the industry.

Some artists such as Shakira support the idea of music download or file sharing. She Said: ‘It brings her closer to her fans and to the people that appreciate her music.’ This implies that Shakira doesn’t really care about the money when she makes songs, she cares about the love people have for her music. Which makes her happy. ‘Music is a gift that’s why it should be a GIFT’ Shakira Said.

Nelly Furtado also accepts online downloading. She is happy ‘if people hear her music as people who don’t have a lot of money can listen and access new things.’ If a well-known, developed artist can accept online downloading why can’t others?

However, some artists disagree with online downloading. For example Lily Allen, She believes that ‘Music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music’ which is destroying the music industry.

To conclude I think that music piracy is not destroying the music industry because downloads increases the artist's popularity and promotes a wider target audience as it is free and more people are able to access it. People have the freedom to know new songs. If downloading music online was such a big issue more things should have been in place to reduce or stop the access of downloading music illegally or Artists could copy right their songs to prevent illegal downloading. I understand other people’s views on this but, Music downloading/File Sharing are socially accepted by people just like recreational drugs. People Enjoy what they are doing, Right?