Final Magazine Advertisement - Ancillary Task

I am very pleased with the final magazine advertisement that we produced. It is somewhat different from how I imagined it would be, but there are some similarities in my vision and the end result.
I must say that it was a particularly challenging task trying to make sure that the advertisement looked 'just right', and in this way; effective. After all, it would need to be affective, as it is meant to intice people to purchase a copy of the album.
However dark the photographs are, I think that this adds to the effect that we were trying to create, and resultedly makes the whole product more effective in being eye-catching and attention-grabbing.
If I was to re-create the magazine advertisement, starting from scratch, I don't think that I would particularly change much about the planning, production or end result; as I feel that myself and Carli worked particularly well on the piece.

Construction Of Magazine Advertisement

1. We opened a new, blank document in Adobe Photoshop and chose a black background colour.

2. We then added in our first photograph, using the 'place tool', which then enabled us to be able to edit the size of the photo. Me and Carli felt that it would look good if the photo was approximately half the size of an a4 side, which would be the size of the advertisement in an actual magazine.

3. We then had to create a new layer by clicking on the 'make new layer' icon. We could then add on our second photograph, placing and sizing it accordingly.

4. After discussing and clarifying what kind of effect we both had in mind for the product that we were constructing, we used the 'layer mask' tool to effectively 'cut' the edges of the photo away so that we were left with the parts that we wanted only. This would enable us to be able to overlay the two photos, only having the parts that we had left of this photo (which would be on top), visible and blended with the original first photo.

We then used the gradient tool, selecting the icon/gradient that is best described as a box fading diagonally from white to black.

5. We then changed the gradient by selecting the 'gradient colour'. We chose to use the 'white into transparent', as, after talking to a member of our media studies and discussing it with him, we decided that this would work best to create the effect that we were looking for.

6. After a while spent on playing around with dragging the line used to create this (changing direction and length every time to see which looked and worked best), we finally agreed on a result that we thought looked really good. After consulting the font chart that I made previously and considering the results that I have shown in the form of a tally in a different blog post, we added in the title 'Mazzy Star'. This was a very rough outline of what we wanted the title to look like, as we were yet to decide the size, placing and effects that we put on it, if any.

7. We then began to add on all of the text boxes and text that we required for the mag advert. We tended not to pay too much attention to font and size as we did this.

8. As it was vitally important that the product looked 'just right', we had to alter the text font, size and placement; and it took a great deal of our time playing around with this as we just couldn't agree!

9. In the screenshot below, you can see the further development/ construction of the product in this way. Also, we tried to add on elements of existing media products that we thought might make our own look more professional. Like, for example, we added on an HMV logo, as we had seen this on an existing product prior to creating our own. We also added on the record label logo to which 'Mazzy Star' are signed; which Georgia had designed beforehand, to add on to the Digipak back cover.

10. The final copy of the Magazine Advertisement.

I think that my group members are very happy with the product that myself and Carli created and I feel particularly proud because I think that it looks very good and could be considered an existing media product of this kind. We have included all of the aspects of an advert that our research has shown us, and have managed (due to a lot of hard work) to create the desired effect. Overall I think that it fits the genre of both 'Mazzy Star' and 'Into Dust' very well.

Planning For The Magazine Advertisement

Action Plan

Myself and Georgia are going to concentrate on the production of our group's Magazine Advertisement. We are going to plan the piece; by coming up with ideas and sketches. So ulitmately, we have decided to put as many of our ideas toegther a spossible to create the advertisement that we all want and are happy with.

Then, myself and Carli are going to actually produce the product. I think that it is best that two of us work on this, as we need more than one opinion on what looks good or bad during the production process. This will have a great impact on the end result, hopefully!

We will need to use the program Indesign and possible Photoshop to produce the product. I think that the piecee will look more effective and attractive if we both practice our skills on these programs before we begin the production.

Sketches and Ideas

I have drawn a sketch to represent what I would like the end result to look like. This sketch was based on the ideas of both myself, and Georgia.

Personally, I really like the idea of having two pictures blended together, in a 'overlay' style. I think that it will really suit the genre of 'Mazzy Star', and in particular 'Into Dust'. However, prior to the construction of this product, I must express personal worries about the skills involved in making an effective-looking product. We want to be able to achieve an end result that could be interpreted as an existing media product. In this, we are competing with products that have expertise exercised on them! However, due to the fact that there will be both myself and Carli, I'm sure that we will be able to pull it off.

And, Georgia has also drawn her own sketch, to represent her initial ideas when asked to produce a magazine advertisement.

To me personally, the piece looks a little more suitable for a magazine cover, rather than a magazine advertisement. From this, I can learn that this may be an issue in our production period and is something that I will have to keep a close eye on, in case our end result doesn't look effective on completion.

Magazine Advertisement Research

Advertisement in general
Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade its viewers, readers or listeners to take some action. It usually includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume that particular brand. Modern advertising developed with the rise of mass production in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through branding which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an effort to associate related qualities with the brand in the minds of consumers. Different types of media can be used to deliver these messages, including traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor or direct mail. Advertising may be placed by an advertising agency on behalf of a company or other organisation.

In summary, what is the specific function of a music magazine advertisement?
A magazine advertisement is making the audience aware of the release of an album or single, or the beginning of a tour of a particular artist.
I have included a list of the things that I have found, through my own research, would or may be included on a magazine advertisement:

• a/multiple photographs or pictures relating to the artist or band performing, or relating to the music video of one of the songs on the album, often the most popular. If it is a single being released, then the photograph or picture would relate to the music video of that particular song.


• one or more places that a member of the public would be able to purchase the album or single


• the record label that the song or album belongs to


• the title of the artist or band


• the title of the song or album


• one or more quotes or ratings from trusted sources - for example, a newspaper
  

I have found one particular existing magazine advertisement that I thought was interesting.

The illustration used is very 'busy'- there is alot going on in it. It attracts the viewer's attention and cannot be considered boring. It uses a wide variety of colour, though of course this would be used in consideration of the genre and artist/s and their own style. It includes a few ratings and support in the form of quotes, from magazines, newspapers etc. The release date is shown in quite a large font, as it is an essential piece of text, and vital in this particular area of advertising.

From looking over other magazine advertisements I can make the general conclusion that I need to create some kind of correlation between the music video and the magazine advertisement. They need to relate in some way.