Audio Visual Research

Comparing Two Audio Visual Elements from Two Magazine Websites

ELLE Magazine

Genre: BTS Montage

 Opens with presented by Hearst. There is no sound until the action begins. I shall ad this as my distributor is Hearst.

There is next the sponsors name. I don't have a sponsor. Here I will put the name of my magazine

 First shot is an extreme close up of a watch- one of their products and the music is introduced. Throughout the shot film there is use of foley- focusing on the shoes and the sound of the skateboard. The colour pallet is pretty muted but bright. There are many settings- the bathroom, a corridor, the stairs, a street and a studio. Most of the shots were very short and snappy, there were no shots longer than 3-4 seconds long. . There were also a large variety of shots and it was in slow motion but only slowed down a minor bit. As she makes it to the studio and is being made up for a photoshoot the music gets more chaotic and fast to reflect the pace of the action which I liked. The very last shot was of the final product of what was done that day as a still image.

The video was naturalistic in an idealistic way. It presented things that can be done in everyday life but in what almost feels like you're looking through a filter in the sense it looks minimalist, uncluttered and celebrity lifestyle-esk. It would definitely fit my 16 to 25 years TA
ELLE Magazine Audio Visual Example

BAZAAR

Genre: Interview
Opens straight into a cut away of Lily in a photoshoot. There is a quiet, simple track paying in the background from the beginning. There is a short montage of the shoot before the next image.

 Before each subject there is a title over a cut away from the photoshoot.

 The music still plays quietly while she speaks.
In comparison to ELLEs short film this one doesn't have many different shot types as it mainly focuses on her being interviewed.

The colours here are also muted but much further, almost black and white which I don't think would meet my TA very well.

At the end it has a "Like, follow, share" slide which i think would world well with my TA as social media is a huge part of their daily life.

BAZARR Audio Visual Example

Making My Logo

Logo Designs:

1.                                                                                      2.


Overall, I prefer the second one, I feel it looks best on my website. I asked people who fit the TA and they also prefer the second one as it is more interesting and eye catching.

*** After trying the logos on my website, I feel my original choice was to busy and dark for my website and overall didn't fit very well so I changed to the other more simple one***

Website Plan

Website Layout Research

I need to design a website that relates well to my magazine, to do this I need to follow conventions and look closely at other entertainment- fashion lifestyle magazines. Here is what I found in order of how I saw it.

Look Magazine:

A Pop Up- personally I find pop ups quite annoying, the screen loads first and just as you're about to get on with what you can to the website for it pops up and and demands you do something which you have to do so that you continue doing what you first intended to do. For a privacy, competition, discount code notifications I prefer a banner at the top or bottom of the page, its less demanding and more user friendly.

The Masthead- It is certainly necessary to have the masthead the first thing a user sees, it lets them know they have found the right website and it is the biggest link to the physical magazine and creates synergy.

An Ad- This product would be well advertised to the TA of LOOK. It is a very female based aged 25-40 TA at which age hair dye would be of interest to them. If I am to use an advert the product must be of intrigue to fun loving go-getters aged 16 to 25 of both male and female.





The Navigation Bar- The navigation bar was right under the masthead and is very user friendly. They are a solid convention of websites in general, not just magazine websites which is why I will definitely will be using on on my website.

The navigation bar also has subheadings for 'Life' and 'Hey Busy Girl' which I like and think would be helpful for users.


Social Media Links- This is very important when it comes to attracting my TA. My research on my target audience revealed that 80% of respondents 'hardly ever' read magazines; which is the result of having everything in the magazine available on their phones, tablets, laptops etc. Having social media links would be a great way to advertise something exclusive to the magazine.

A Large Image/Title- As you scroll down you see a very large image. I found that this image was too big, you couldn't see the whole image without having to scroll up and down and the white text was difficult to read with the background. However, I like the idea of having an image as a title background. This highlights to me that I'd have to be careful in choosing the image and text colour. Furthermore, if you click on the image it takes you to a feature page that links to the title on the image.

The Features- As you scroll down, you reach a heading and the features that relate to the features. I like this, its very organised and clear. This would be a great opportunity to link to the magazine, maybe there is an feature in the magazine that requires updates, this would be a good call to action and persuade readers to visit the website.

Page Link- At the end of each section of features it give you the option to view more feature which is I like.




Elle Magazine

Thing that Elle has the Look doesn't:

Navigation tool


Next to the navigation bar, there was this symbol, when you click on it takes you to another navigation tool.


5 Suggested Features






Picture links to the top 5 features are right under the navigation tool.



Rather than being under a heading each feature has a tag to say what section they are from.


Variety Magazine:

Some things different Variety has:

Top Story Section- similar to Elle but presented differently.

 

A Login- Create an account. This could be great at personalising a users website experience with recommended section due to past articles read etc.w

Contents Plan: Edition 2

Contents Plan: Edition 1

Contents Research

To help work out my contents page layout I'm researching pre-existing contents pages ones to see how I can create one of my own.

I was originally thinking of doing a single page contents however, I like the idea of a full page image on the right like the content age from ELLE, it looks sleek and clear which I really like and it will appeal to the TA. I also like having a heading to each section of the contents like in ELLE and GLAMOUR. All the contents pages uses columns to present their feature which is definitely something I'm going to use, columns are a connvetion of magazines across all genres so I think its very important to use them.

Cover Plan Edition 2

Cover Plan Edition 1

Masthead Research

I need to work out how my masthead is going to follow enough conventions to be recognised as a entertainment- fashion lifestyle magazine yet still stand out and be original, like Hall's repetition and difference theory.

 

Straight away from looking at the mastheads, red and pink are used often so I will avoid using them colours. To me, the mastheads that stand out the most are ELLE, GQ and Esquire as they are clear with interesting colours that stand out. There is actually quite a range of fonts used across the magazines however, a bold san-serif font is more popular which personally I'm not a huge fan of; I like look of ELLE, LOOK and Esquire so i think a serif font would be great for my magazine. A convention of these magazines is a mixed use of caps and lower case latter in the mast head which I also prefer to fully caps for fully lower case. 

My Best Shots: Contents Edition 1

 Feedback: 'Love the look of this. The range of colours on the food stand out really well!!' - MasonT789
'Ace but...now i'm hungry' - Miss S King
This would be great as part of my Fashionable to Eat section. As MasonT789 commented, there is a nice range of colours and its healthy to eat. This high standard way of eating is becoming much more popular and affordable. Furthermore, the TA is mainly students including uni students who will be looking for good, easy to make food.





Feedback: 'This is a nice shot - i like the flora in the foreground, you could pick up the leaf colour for lines/ graphics' - Miss S King
I think this would be a nice link to the Fashionable to Wear section, she has a lovely representation created by a subtle smile and casual stance which would appeal to the younger end to the TA age 16-18 more.










Feedback: 'With some editing, this could work well at introducing intertextuality on your contents page.'
Peaky Blinders is very popular with my TA from ages 16 to 25 and a new series is currently being released which means a refreshed sense of fandom is awakening. This would be a great TA attraction.

My Best Shots: Website

Feedback: No feedback yet
I think this photo would make a great website photo, she has a cheeky smile and stance. She looks as though she may have been on a day out with her friends or family and had a lovely time. I love the representations and connotations that the image brings.













Feedback:
'I like this because it is different and I can see this appealing to your TA. It needs a bit of TLC in photoshop.' - Solidisee // Flickr
'This would be good for the target audience. It is very different way of a photography style' - MasonT789
The reasoning behind this shot was to take something a bit different. A very popular book and film, The Fault in our Stars, has a similarly composed image that they used as their cover and advertisement which I took inspiration from as their target audience is very similar to mine.

Feedback: 'Super shot- you could make something of this - perhaps the story could be that she's under a cloud or has a cloud hanging over her? Maybe a come back story?' - Miss S King //Flickr
'That is a really powerful shot. With a bit of care you could get rid of that electricity pole at the end.' - Solidisee // Flickr
I like the idea of a come back story. A motivational story would be great for a TA of 16 to 25 as a large amount of them will be students. The low angle really makes her look strong and powerful, creating a very positive representation. The telegraph pole has been a common difficulty among the majority of my photoshoots and will make the editing process interesting.


Feedback: No comments yet
I feel this could be another feature, tell a story about men in fashion. A low angle to create the idea that he is worth looking up to, that he is setting a new representation.











Feedback: 'Might work well on website or contents as there is room to text wrap on the right hand side' - Miss S King // Flickr
I had this photo in mind for a title image. Through researching conventions of a magazine website I found that almost every title had an image to go with it. It would also create some nice synergy to the physical magazine if I choose the variation of this image for the front cover or contents page. I like the natural colours in this photo, I like how the blue and the green splits the image in half. I agree that this would allow plenty of room for text.