Effects Mock-ups.

I have been practicing with the effects I can create in photoshop, and these are what I came up with.

I really like the effect this one creates on the edges and shadows of the picture. Also I love the effect the flag creates in the background. I might incorporate the flag idea into my photo.

I quite like the sepia effect on this one but I'm not sure about the grainy effect because it makes it look pixelated and blurry.

I think the second one looks better because there is more detail and it looks less washed out. I think this effect would work better if I put it on a darker background because the white areas just disappear into the background and it doesn't stand out very well. I think this could work quite well with the models I plan to use because Tom, the lead singer who will be at the front, has dark brown hair and Katie & Molly have lighter hair so Tom will stand out more.

I like the bold outlines of this effect but I'm not sure about the grainy surface.

I love the amount of detail I can show with this effect. The tattoo looks amazing.

I really like the simplicity of this effect. I looks like some of the screen print style street art. I think the effect on the font on Mike's hoodie looks quite effective and it would be better if Billie and Tre Cool were wearing brigher tops because they seem a bit featureless compared to Mike.

Magazine Institution.

Magazine institutions

View more presentations from Eleanor ’Norry’ Watson.

I don't think IPC Media is the right publishing company for my magazine because although it has a wide range of magazines most of them are not aimed at my target audience but at more mainstream audiences who are interested in lifestyle, celebrities and outdoor pursuits. Other than NME their magazines are mainly targeted at older audiences. I think Development Hell Ltd. would be a good publisher for my magazine because it is quite small and the magazines that it currently publishes are quite genre specific. The Word has quite a arty style to it so my magazine would link to that and might interest some of the current audience.

Outfits for the female band members.

I have decided what style to use for Tom, who is modelling as the lead singer in the band but I have had to look elsewhere for style ideas for Katie and Molly, who are going to model as my female members.

I want them to look recognisably punk but not too gothic or sexualised e.g. tight leather and fishnets. I would like the girls' style to link to Tom's to make them look like a group rather than 3 individuals however obviously with them being a different gender they are going to look different and have a different effect on the style.

I like the idea of using a feminine girly style - puffy skirts, light pink mixed with a more boyish punk style with blazers, leather jackets, ripped tights, driving glove and skinny ties.

I think I will go with along the lines of black dresses, blazers or leather jackets, ripped leggings and military boots.

Art style for cover.

For my front cover I would like to create this type of effect with the messy paint or ripped collage style.

This street artist has been pointed out to me and I love his style. I want to use his idea of scribled paint layered into the picture of the girl. Although I wouldn't have a close up of the face I would also like to keep the simple sketch effect of the subject with the soft shadows and highlights.

Analysis of another's pitch.

http://ellapatrickmusicmagazine.blogspot.com/2011/01/25-word-pitch_11.html

I choose to analyse Ella's pitch. I like the kind of music she is planning to use.I also like how she is making the magazine around a specific genre with a good range within the alternative rock genre because it will give people who like that kind of music a lot to choose from. She has challenged existing media conventions by choosing a black, white and dark purple colour scheme rather than the typical black, white and red colour scheme that a lot of magazines use. She has also made the magazine genre more specific so its not like NME, Q and other magazines which are maybe too broad with their genre to attract a specific audience. I think that the target audience is realistic, at the age of 16+ certain teenagers are likely to be drawn to bands that don't challenge the status quo and are genuine. However I think the target audience should be more specific than this because not all 16 year olds would like this genre of music. Also it is likely to appeal to some older fans of bands like Nirvana and the Sex Pistols for example. I think the product would do quite well because she has create the right look and style that would appeal to fans of the alternative almost gothic rock genre. However she has made it clear that it is not for a mainstream audience.

Ideas for Band's Outfits.

For the outfits of my the band, I've looked at the style of a variety of punk artist. 

The Sex Pistols had a very thrown-together look and it was all about making a statement - the ripped Union Jacks, defaced Queen's head and Swastikas - the purpose was to shock. Even though I love their style and the whole point was to shock people I don't want the possibility of offending and alienating people by using something as emotive as a Swastika on the front cover.

For some of The Jam's photo shoots they were dressed smartly set in worn down areas like graffiti walls and the underground.





Some of the post-punk bands have adopted a more indie look with the skinny jeans, skinny tie and blazers.



I think I will go for a mix between the smart suit style and the rough, ripped look. I think the main colour will be black with some colour for the tie and shirts. I really like this photo of The Clash, the style of the skinny trousers and leather jacket with the shirt and tie underneath.



Pitch Feedback.

I think my pitch went quite well, the moodboard gave the audience a clear idea of the type of magazine I want to create. Although I did have to explain my sources of inspiration and my reasons for choosing Punk genre and Banksy/ graffiti style design,I think my moodboard could have explained this better however I after I explained it was clear what I wanted to do and why. I was asked what sort of band I would feature in the article and the front cover, although I said I would feature and all boy band I have changed my mind after realising it might stand out from the normal punk band dynamic. I was asked what type of style punk the band would look like and I explained that I would have a mixture of post-punk more indie style that a lot of modern punk bands have and the ripped rough look of the original punk bands, like the Sex Pistols for example with the ripped t-shirts and leather jackets. I was asked how I would make the magazine appeal to people who weren't into punk, I answered that I wouldn't try to widen the target market by watering it down or adding other genres, I am going to stick to this even though this might limit the target market slightly I think some magazine like NME and Q for example have too many different genres to get a deep feel and a good range of bands for a particular genre.
Some of the issues I will face are getting the front cover to look artistic without it looking like an art magazine, also creating a link between the graffiti style for the design and the music in the magazine. To over come the difficulty of the style of the front cover, I have decided to include a photo of the band rather than just a stencil, which I said I would do, and create an arty, graffiti style effect on photoshop.

Pitch Questions

After the pitch I was asked a series of questions that I had to answer explaining in more detail about my ideas for my magazine.

Band Name Ideas.

I want the band name to be meaningful and to reflect the theme of the magazine. Listening to my iPod some lyrics stuck out that could work:

• Call To Arms
• Surrender To Nothing
• I'll Attack!
• Promises Look Like Lies
• Love What You've Done With The Place
• Feel The Rays
• City of the Damned
• Better Not Wear It Out
• We Will Not Sit Down
• I Want A Riot
• Here Comes A Juggernaut

Also a quote I came across in history that stuck out was "Peace Talks with a Loaded Gun" it referred to a government going into negotiation for peace with the intention of contiuning the war if the other government involved did not co-operate in the way they would like. As it is quite long I might use this for the title of the band's album. For the band's name I like Call To Arms, Promises Look Like Lies and We Will Not Sit Down.

Even though I originally planned to have an all boy band. I think I will have a mixed group because it goes against the typical image of a punk band so I think it will add appeal to the band and magazine.

Magazine Pitch.

Ideas on Colour Schemes.

I think I will either use the black, white and red or the black, white and yellow colour scheme.

Ideas for Fonts and Magazine Names.

For the magazine name my first thought was to use Green Day lyrics e.g. Batteries NOT Incld, Zip Gun on Parade, Beating Out of Time because I want to use their album artwork style as a theme in my magazine but I then thought that unless a reader knew Green Day well they might not see the connection and relevance so I have decided to use words that relates more widely to punk and protest music.

The alternative options that I have come up are: Anarchy, Rebel, Spray Can and Disorderly. I like Spray Can but I think it might give the impression that it is an art magazine. The idea for Anarchy and Disorderly came from the typical associations with punk and anti-establishment music. I got the idea of Rebel from Shepard Fairey’s work with OBEY.

 This font is called Sex Pistols and is well recognised so it is likely to stand out and draw in fans. I love the mix-match of the letters.

I don’t think this font is as effective as Sex Pistols, it looks too cartoon and child-like.

I like this font but I don’t think it reflects the meaning of the words as well as others.

I like the military stencil style of this font.

I really like this font it has the feel of a worn away military stamp.

I like the backwards E on this font. It also links to my theme really well.

This font looks too clean and nice to reflect meaning of the words.

I like the sprayed stencil effect of this font but it’s quite hard to read.

 

I think this font looks to cartoon like to go with the theme.

I like the ripped, worn down effect of this font, it reminds me of police mug shot boards with the horizontal lines.

I like the freehand sketchy style of this font.

Even though it has the dripping effect that I like this font is too Halloween-like to fit in with my theme.

I love the scratched paint style of this font.

I love the raw sketchy style of this font, it looks like as though it could be etched into wall in anger.

I think this font looks too hip-hop style which might confuse the audience so I’m not going to use this one.

 

I love this font and it fits in well with my theme but I think I would use if for the puffs etc rather than the main font.

I am going to go with these fonts as possiblities for my masthead and main font.

I have decided to use the name Rebel for my magazine because it is short, to the point and gets across the punk, anti-establishment theme of the music.

Street Art Exhibition.

Today I went to The Herbet in Coventry for the current exhibition of Street Art: Contemporaty Prints From the V&A. There was a large of range of different street artist with different styles and techniques.

SPQR

Meggs - Save Me From Myself

Laura McLauchlan

Horn Head - Weird Uncle

Pure Evil - Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Bastards

Insect - The Executioner

 Kerry Roper - Modern Youth

Vhils - Periferia Uniforme

The artists used a range of medias including stencils, screen print, collage and freehand painting.

These artists in particular caught my eye.

Pahnl

Pahnl uses simple cartoon style stencils of people, dogs, cats and birds. He creates a continuing story with the characters, spreading them out over urban areas. The video was playing in the exhibition, it's simple but very effective.


Shepard Fairey - his work is usually done by screen printing. His is most famous for his Obey work but has also done music related art.

He also did the well-known cover for Led Zeppelin's album Mothership.

 

Miss Tic - is a french artist who works with stencils usually of the same woman. I love her print "Ma Zone" with ripped layers collage in the background and the stencil woman on top, I would like to create this kind of effect on my front cover.

Ben Slow - I love the effect he creates with the raw sketch image and dripping paint.