Post Production Techniques and Process (U3: P5)

Learning Outcome (U3): be able to carry out post-production techniques and processes for an original media product to a client brief

Front Cover
My front cover is suitable for my target audience because of a few different reasons. The first of which is the colour pallet that I chose has connotations of urban street art, something commonly associated with hip hop especially in North London. Another reason is the photo of the model that I used on the front cover. The photo I took was from a worm's eye which made the subject look more menacing and powerful which is an image that hip hop artists want to portray. I also included cover lines with interesting articles to entice my target audience into buying my magazine.

Strengths 
One strength of my magazine is the bright colours which make it clearly visible and stand out from other magazines on a shelf. This is important because on a shelf there are lots of magazines so it is important to stand out in order for my magazine to be noticed and bought by my target audience. This is especially important as my magazine is new and is yet to have an established following. The main colour of my magazine front cover is yellow which relates to the conventions of my genre in that its similar to graffiti.

Another strength of my magazine front cover is the photograph on the front of the artist I interviewed. The reason I feel this is a strength is that it makes the reader clear of the fact the interview with the artist is the main focus of the magazine. This will encourage my target audience to read all the pages in my magazine before the interview.

Another strength of my magazine front cover is the masthead that I chose. I decided to use the font "DonGraffiti" from Dafont.com which links to the conventions of my magazine genre because graffiti is a regular sight in urban areas such as North London.

Weakness
I feel that one weakness of my magazine front cover was the editing of my main image. I should have brought down the exposure and increased the contrast to make the photo look more dark and menacing which is a convention of hip hop artists. This would have been appropriate for my target audience because hip hop is a dark genre.

Double Page Spread
My double page spread is suitable for my target audience because I feel the images I used are relevant to the conventions of hip hop music. An example of this is the graffiti-covered train in the background of my double page spread which is similar to the graffiti found in North London. The picture of the train was taken by me in North London and the image that I photoshopped in front of it was also taken by me.

Strengths
One strength of my double page spread is that my subject is in the middle of the page so the reader knows exactly who is being interviewed. This image was taken by me so it is original. It is important to include an image of who my article is about so that the reader can personify the text and so that the artist being interviewed can gain recognition.

Another strength of my double page spread is the use of graffiti style font DonGraffiti that is also used on the masthead of my front cover. This is a strength because the conventions of my magazine are consistent through my front cover and double page spread which creates a brand identity for my magazine.

Another strength of my magazine double page spread is how despite there being a detailed background, the text is still easy to read. What I mean by this is the text around the picture is easy to read due to the fact I chose a clear serif font, on top of a colour block with low opacity so the background can still be seen by the reader. The font also follows the conventions of my magazine as it was previously seen by the reader on the front cover. This gives my magazine a consistent brand identity.

Weakness
I feel one weakness of my double page spread is the excessive use of colour. There are lots of different colours on my double page spread which could be considered overwhelming to the reader. One reason behind this is the graffiti background which does follow the conventions of hip hop with the idea of urban graffiti but also makes the page look very busy.