My Contents Page analysis

Hello!
Yes it's true, I can finally show you my final contents page! Sorry for the delay, I've had so many complications with the contents page itself and complications on this website however the main point is that I can finally show you! To be honest I believe my contents page is the weakest out of all my page but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have potential becaue I believe it does. My analysis of my front cover is shown below and I hope you like it.

My music magazine contents page analysis

What did I learn?
Doing this part of the project made me realise how important structure is for example how to lay out my columns and where to put my graphics. If I hadn't of structured my page properly then I don't think it would have been successful at all and it could have been extremely messy.

The Tiana Interview!

Hey!
Finally I managed to get an interview with my artist Tiana; my apologies once again for the interview for being so late it's just I've had to work around my models and my artists schedules. Moving on the interview on the whole was successful and I do see most of the things said being put into my final magazine. The interview will be shown below and I think it has quite an entertaining and colliquial feel to it which is what I wanted.

Standfirst: Tiana Reeves has been topped the music charts across the world with her new single ‘Magic’. Can she do it again? We hold an exclusive interview with the stunning, sassy star and ask her personal questions including her life before fame, her inspirations and musical talents.


Welcome Tiana! We are delighted to have you here with us today! So tell us, what is it like to be a universal hit and to be called ‘The new face of Hip Hop’?
Ah thank you, it’s a pleasure to be here. And well, what can I say apart from it has been absolutely crazy but in a good way. I guess I never thought I’d become this huge so to get here so quickly is more than I ever expected. It’s something I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams!
As for that new title, gosh it’s an honour! As I said, things are going so fast I didn’t believe I’d get such a strong title as that. However it’s a nice feeling to know that as an artist you’re appreciated and so are your songs. So being the new face of Hip Hop personally is truly special.

How wonderful! Sounds like you’re having an amazing experience. However taking that into account, when did you first start singing?I first started singing at the age of three when I was singing Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance with
Somebody’ in my bathroom. I think it was a touching moment when I first sung because my mother started harmonising along with me and ever since then we just started to sing together which made our bond grow stronger.
                                                              
Quite a powerful song for someone as little as three! Along the way there must have been some artists  that  have inspired you to become who you are today. If so who are they?
I have three main music inspirations which I call my ‘Power Three’. These are: the fabulous Tina Turner, the always-determined Usher Raymond and the legendary Michael Jackson. These artists have been my
inspiration since they ever began because they are all so powerful on and off stage; they always do great performances. Hopefully one day I can be as powerful as them on stage and express myself freely like these artists do.

They have performed all over the world and in the most unlikely of places. Where would you most like to
perform?Well I’ve always been a fan of the ‘Alan Carr: Chatty Man’ show so performing a single on there would be really good fun as the audience are friendly and the host is extremely welcoming so yeah I would love to be on that show. Even thinking about the possiblity of being there is very exciting!

Very reasonable as the show is extremely funny and amusing! There have been many collaborations on that show too such as Mariah Carey and Eminem performing there together. Who would you like to collaborate with in the future? Well because he’s one of my ‘Power Three’ I would love to collaborate with Usher in the future! He makes incredible songs that the audience adore and he just never fails to please. Making a single with him would be an extraordinary experience for me; I know it would be one of a kind.


We’re sure the song would be successful and remain in the charts for quite a long time. Being a new hit and taking over the music industry must mean that that you’ve got quite a lot of offers from guys?I’ve had a few and been on quite a few dates. However right now I’m trying to focus on the music side to things rather than my relationship status. Although that doesn’t mean that I’m a work-a-holic, I still maintain a social life and all. *Giggles* there is someone in mind that I would like to go out with in future as he is such an attractive person and he’s sociable however that will remain a secret for now!

Well missy you do seem to have such a secretive side to you! Moving on, do you play any instruments? Indeed I do *shyly looks away*. I play the flute which I know doesn’t go along with my image and I play the keyboard. I like playing the keyboard as this is how I start making new songs and it’s quite typical but I have a passion for playing the flute because of its distinct sound.

Wow the flute! Never would imagine you playing an instrument like that, but then again you are full of surprises. Do you think you’ll stick to doing Hip Hop or can you imagine yourself doing mix genres of music?Hip Hop is where my passion lies however I’m not afraid to try new things. So, if the public demand is for club dance music which is what is popular now then sure I’ll probably do a club dance hit. I know for a fact that I don’t see myself singing a rock tine anytime soon! I can’t sing rock tunes at all!

Good choice! Club dance is popular but hopefully Hip Gop will come back around! Although what do you believe the future holds for you - surprises perhaps?I believe that my future will be successful and that I will continue to make more successful singles that the public will find an interest in. To get a platinum album would be on the agenda too! *Giggles.*
We hope so too! Well thank you for participating in our mini interview, I hope you had fun and we wish you all the success for the future.
*Laughs* Thanks and yes I did.

Conclusion: Will she continue to take over the music charts in the near future and remain the new face of Hip Hop? She’s currently working on her first album ‘Magic’ which will hit the stores in June 2011 so make sure you buy yourselves a copy!
What did I learn?
Preparing questions really helped when doing an interview because it made me feel more organised and also the way I structed the questions made it flow and sound natural which is what I wanted it to be like.

Picnik - A brief explanation

Hello!

As I mentioned before, this week I am going to post loads of posts to make up for the time that I haven't been posting. However the topic of this post is the editing website picnik which specifically made to help make photos look professional and by having fun in changing the way a photo looks. Below will show a brief presentaition in which I used this website to change the way I wanted a photo to look:

Editing Using the Software Picnik

What did I learn?

I learnt the many different techniques and effects that I can use for future photos and even past ones such as the Tiana shoot photos.

New Pictures

Hello!

APOLOGIES! Once again I've been so caught up with the designing aspect of things that I have simply lost track of time. But don't worry; for the entire this week be prepared to be bombarded with posts from me about what I have been getting up too!

Moving on to fill you in there have been many changes, new things added and improvements that I have applied to my magazine. For example:

• Changed the Front Cover
• Almost finished the Contents page
• Finished the double page spread however I'm debating whether or not I have to change some features

Now I know that seems like I'm almost finished but I haven't forgotten to print screen things that I have been doing. This being done so that you can visually see what I have been getting up to and pictures are always a nice touch.

However this post specifically is to show some more photos that I have taken for my magazine in which these photos are all for my contents page.

 These photos were taken with the use of desk lamps, natural lighting and no flash. Due to the schedule of the model I only had time to take three main photos as the rest of the photos were to an unprofessional standard or blurry. Even though there were many problems with this photoshoot I believe these three photos were successful and I'm glad that I managed to take photos that look good and are of a professional quality. Although these weren't the original photos as I have editied the photos slightly on Photoshop Cs3 and the photo editing site 'Picnik. As mentioned before these photos will probably go into my double page spread and if I had to use one of the three photos I took I would use the first image as I think this ties into my articles more.

This is the same model that I used above. Again due to her busy schedule I wasn't able to take many photos of a professional standard. It was a relief to find her in suitable clothing and a setting appropraite to my magazine. The background was used by simply putting white sheets around the environment to cover up the messy surroundings. On the whole I believe that this photo is successful as I like the pose and the emotion shown on her face. Additonally when I edit this on Photoshop CS3 it would be easy to get a smooth finish around her body structure. Althought if i were to take this shot again then I would remind her that she isn't wearing any shoes which I totally didn't realise when taking the shots.

For this photoshoot it was taken inside the school sixth form. Originally I started my flat plan with including a boy inside it because it's aimed towards males and females. However I then decided to scrap including a guy within the magazine because I believed that I wouldn't be able to get hold of one. Time went by and I realised that my magazine was becoming female dominated so I decided to arrange a photo shoot time and place and I quickly took some photos. I believed I thought about the mise-en-scene because the background is white and so when I edit the photo it won't be hard to do. On the whole I believe this photoshoot was successful and I managed to take a variety of photos that would all apply to my magazine. Although if I were to choose only one image it would be the image located on the right because I think that it would be easier to place on my contents page and it's a good size to work with.

What did I learn?
I learnt that the mise-en-scene really impacts the way the final photo will look for example looking at these photos in comparison to the photos I took for the 'Tiana' shoot I realised that those photos are not as professional and sometime in the future I may have to go back. I've also learnt to look at every aspect of the model before taking the photo for example making sure the model is wearing shoes or that everything is in the right place.

Tools I have used

Hello!
Since I didn't print screen along the way I decided to make up for it by showing you all the tools I used on Photoshop CS3 and by showing brief examples of the tools.

Tools I Used In Photoshop

View more presentations from NamibiaM

What did I learn?
I learnt most of the many tools displayed in Photoshop CS3 and how to use these tools effectively when working on my magazine.

My Finished Front Cover

Hello!
I have finished my front cover! It took a lot of effort and work but in the end I prevailed! This mini presentation will show you the main things that I have changed from my flat plan to my front cover and the steps I took to get to my final product. I hope you like it and please do remember that my magazine is aimed towards 18-35 year olds and the genre is Hip Hop.

(In case the picture of my front cover is shown smaller and not good quality I have embedded a photo of it below.)

My finshed front cover

What did I learn?
I learnt how to use Photoshop CS3 properly as that was the editing software I used to create my magazine (I'll go into the tools I used in future presentations) and I learnt that even though you have a flat plan there are things that you'll inevitably want to change and if that's the case there's no need to get stressed about it.

Front Cover so far

Hi!

Recently I've been working on the front cover of my magazine using the software 'Adobe Photoshop CS3'. So far using this software has been stressful as sometimes things don't go the way you want it to. However I've been trying my hardest to make the magazine look of a professional standard and conventional. Additionally to be nice I've also attached how my magazine looks so far which is presented below.

Overall I'm quite happy with what it is looks like so far because I like the colour scheme and I believe it was good; how I stuck to flat plan. However there is much more that needs to be done and much improvement for example the artist's name needs to be bigger and there needs to be more range in fonts.

What did I Learn?

I learnt how to create a masthead and change the colour by using cropping and highlighting tools and I also know how to put into text and change the colour of my text by using the text and hightlighting tools.

Photo Shots Part One

Hello!

Sorry for the delay! My internet connection has been running wild for the entire week! Moving on last week Tuesday at 6pm I took photos for my magazine. The photos that I have specifically taken are for my front cover and my double page spread. Overall being a photographer for the period of time I had was a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The model posed as the celebrity singer 'Tiana' and I shall embed some photos I took with this post.

What did I learn?

I learnt that putting the model in front of a faded or white background will help much more in the editing process and once again save time. Also to always take the date off when taking picturs for my function as now I will have to spend more time editing the photo.