Monday, December 17, 2018

Photoshoot Images

Photoshoot Images

1st Best
I feel this is my best photo as the lighting is very flattering and accentuates her facial features well. The close up is focused well and draws attention to her eyes which are looking into the camera, following a key magazine convention. The soft simile brings a sense of innocence to the image and sets a calm, happy atmosphere. The colour scheme definitely brings Christmas into it making it perfect for a special Christmas edition magazine. However, to improve I could have zoomed out slightly so it could be used as a from cover and ensured the hair was neater.
2nd Best

I like this image as I feel the positioning is quite nice and would make or a good from cover. The lighting is natural and highlights the girls facial features well, to improve here I would have had ensured all the models were wearing subtle highlight to produce a glowing effect. The 3 different levels creates a nice intimate effect which worked well with the Christmas theme. To improve again, I would have given all the models a hat and asked them to all wear the deep red top. Furthermore, the positioning of the hand in the photo could also be more relaxed.

Friday, November 9, 2018

Research Shelter Charity

Shelter Charity Website

What They Do:
Shelter helps millions of people in England, Scotland and Wales each year with homelessness or bad housing. They offer one to one service to give personalised  help, online help, legal support and they have a national helpline.

The Layout: 
Shelter's homepage is quite simple, it has the conventional navigation and search bar which makes it clear, easy to use and accessible to a wide range of people. There is a minimalist colour scheme with splashes of red to highlight their logo and their volunteers further emphasised by the contrast with light coloured background. The donation button placed right next to the search bar adds another dimension of colour which makes it obvious to the visitor where they can donate. There is a donation button at the bottom of the page in the same colour, giving the layout an organised and finished look.  

The graphology of the homepage is very well thought out as it plants the idea that if you can't afford to donate, you can help raise funds; this is suggested by the two young women on the right side of the page dressed in a red to match the logo, their clothing even gives information on what they did to help create funds. Furthermore, the fact the fundraisers look the age of university students targets young people who don't have much money and informs them that they can make a difference through volunteering and fundraising. The image also links to the text stationed off centre over a white translucent box stating "Join us for Vertical Rush 2019" which clarifies that they don't just need donations but volunteers too to help raise money.

Their Mission Statement:

They want:

  • Rights for renters and an end to discrimination.
  • To build more social housing.
  • To support the people who are struggling


Thursday, October 11, 2018

Bauer Media


Bauer Media
Introduction:
Founded in Hamburg in 1875, BAUER is an entertainment network built from multi-platform brands. These multi-platforms include digital, radio, TV and magazines. BAUER is currently in its 5th generation of family ownership and is an international institution which is based in Germany and reaches many places including Poland, Australia, New Zealand the USA and the UK.


Conventions:
A convention shown on the first page is the navigation bar running across the top of the page off centre to the right. As you hover over one of the subcategories they are highlighted in a light blue colour and underlined in a different colour going in a pattern of dark blue, light blue, orange, purple, pink green, light blue, dark blue which brings a bit more colour to the blue themed page. The main theme of blue gives professional and well presented feel to the page.

A second convention is the search bar placed at the top right above the navigation bar. It makes the website easy to navigate and accessible

After clicking on the brands links, a convention used is a filter option. The filter bar gives the option to looks at magazines, radio, digital, TV or events. This is useful for anyone looking for something specific and is often used by multi-platform websites.
Text Genres:
Descriptive text is mainly used throughout the website. The opening page is very descriptive, informing readers about different articles which goes on to use narrative text.


 
Target Audience:
Their target audience is mass, appealing to males and females of all ages and sexuality as they work with brands appealing to them all. They have a broad range of brands and subcategories again making it appealing to a mass audience.

Monday, October 1, 2018

Magazine Textual Analysis

At the top of the page, the masthead, in capitals, reached across the page in bold red writing in a sanserif font "PRIDE".  The red writing draws attention which correlates nicely with the connotations of the word "PRIDE". Like Hall's theory suggests, the connotations of the word "PRIDE" are what makes up the meaning toward this magazine and represents the magazine as supportive of the British female African, African- Caribbean community.

Across the whole page is a photo of "Nicole Scherzinger" in a medium close shot. She's looking over the shoulder directly into the camera, a typical convention of magazines, whilst wearing a dark smokey eye and a bold red lip to match the masthead, giving the impression she is strong and powerful yet feminine and seductive; this again represents the magazine as supportive and empowering toward Africa, African- Caribbean women. The direct eye contact with the camera allows readers to believe she is strong and independent as she looks quite intimidating and femme fetal. The airbrushed finish to the photo would appeal to women and make then wonder how "Nicole Scherzinger outgrows her dolls" in hopes to become a powerful yet seductive woman like her.

Throughout the cover, there is a colour theme of red, black and yellow. This technical code represents the page in a distinctive way to make it project above the other magazines. The red matching Scherzingers lips and the black matching what she is wearing with yellow as a contrast colour makes the magazine very feminine yet noticeable and denotes it in a captivating way. There is also the use of white to pick out important text for example, the main feature on "Nicole Scherzinger" is printed in a white serif font. Like Barthes extension of the theory of the sign suggests, the denotation of these colours; bold red, yellow and black; along with the connotations; strength, hope and sophistication; created an eye catching cover with a large amount of meaning.

A technical code placed half way down the page on the right tells us the magazine is international " UK vs USA the land of opportunity debates. This allows us to understand that the magazine isn't only supportive of British African, African- Caribbean women but women around the world.

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

History of Magazines Between Men and Women

History of Magazines Between Men and Women

Women's Magazines

See the source image
Britain's first ever Women's magazine was created in 1693 called The Ladies Mercury. It was a spin off of The Athenian Mercury published by the author John Dunton which was a magazine aimed at both men and women, people would send in question generally on the topic of love and marriage.
See the source imageThe Ladies Mercury was a weekly publication offering advise on love, how to dress and how to act.  It filled a single sheet printed on both sides, however, it only lasted 4 weeks and at the time was not called a magazine. The term magazine was not used until the publication of the Gentleman's Magazine first published in 1731. Historic magazines for women are known for being very sexist. Most of the featuring women were known through their husbands name and not their own. Women's magazines were usually house wife themed, giving instructions on how to be a good wife or new knitting patterns which installed the traditional rolls of a woman.

Men's Magazines
See the source imageSee the source imageBritain's first ever magazine for men was The Gentleman's magazine published in 1731. Unlike the women's magazine, it lasted for over 200 years. The editor, Edward Cave, used the name "magazine" for the first time meaning storehouse. The Gentlemen's Magazine had original content provided by regular contributor and even had quotes from books in. This differs massively to the women's magazines. Historical men's magazines encouraged them to go to University and get educated to become strong providers for the family they were expected to have.Men's magazines would included more exciting topics making them more of a pleasure to read and less of a guide book.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Media Forms

What are media forms?
Media forms are the different ways media is presented. There are many forms of media, here are 3 well know forms of media:

  • Print- books, magazines and newspapers.
  • Broadcast- TV and radio.
  • Internet- blogs and social media platforms.
Different media forms will aim to reach and influence different people in different ways.


Print Media

Image result for newspapers 


Simply, print media is mass communication through printed publications. Print media is the "old fashioned" form of media where book, newspapers, magazines, comics and more would be printed for people to buy and read. Although, in more recent times, print media is becoming less and less popular as devices such as the Kindle allows people to read print media without it actually being printed. However, print media is still popular with the older generations and still plays a significant roll in media today.
Image result for broadcast media


Broadcast Media

Broadcast media is the communication via methods such as the TV or radio. It supports the largest share of advertisement and has a huge influence to watchers and /or listeners worldwide. Radio broadcasts offers a unique method of reaching the audience as there is no visual. It allows the broadcaster to reach the "theater of the mind" which leaves the image up to the individual allowing them to visualize a products or interpret a song etc. in a way that is custom to them.

Internet Media

Image result for internet
The internet is a mass media which has the ability to connect people at opposite sides of the world in less then 30 seconds. It is one the most used forms of media and has transformed the means of mass communication greatly. Social media is a huge part of the internet and has an immense impact on the public. It has the ability to influence how people act from "which holiday you should go on this summer" to what "which Starbucks drinks you just can't miss".  The internet is a rapidly growing form of media with a mind blowing number of followings.