Learning Outcome 4 (U3): Be able to carry out post-production techniques and processes for an original media product to a client brief (M4, D1)

D1 Analyse how post-production techniques and processes create meaning in the media product to meet the client brief

How the exported media product meets the client brief
The client brief states that I needed to produce a new online and print based music magazine for North London, as there is a vibrant music scene developing locally and people need to know about it. I can confidently say that the magazine I created adheres to that brief. I exported this as a JPEG as this fits the requirements of the client brief.

As the brief states that my magazine needs to be based in North London, I believe that I successfully made it appear so on the cover and through the content in the magazine. This is shown on the cover of my magazine as it explicitly states that it is indeed a North London magazine. My magazine also adheres to the brief through the content of the double page spread in which it references music venues such as the KOKO which is based in North London. Therefore my magazine successfully met this aspect of the client brief.

   The brief also states that my magazine must be based on a vibrant music scene. I believe that I successfully showed this through my music magazine through the colours I used for the front cover. I say this because the colours yellow and blue are literally vibrant and visibly pop out from the rest of the cover which uses a dull grey as its background. This shows that the music scene is vibrant as the colours chosen for the front page were taken from a mood board solely using images from the genre.

    As well as this, the brief states that my final project must be based on a music scene that is developing locally which I believe I successfully adhered to through the content in my double page spread. This is due to the fact that I referenced the success of the "band" through things such as lucrative record deals and shows they played in the North London area as well as other successful bands playing in the same genre that are also based in the North London area.


Analyse how post- production techniques and processes create meaning in the media product to meet the client brief
One way that I created meaning through post-production techniques and processes is through the main image on my front cover.

Main image on Indie Insider's front cover
The main image of my magazine was in fact three images of the same person that I used the magnetic lasso tool (to cut out the model of each picture individually) and the marquee tool (to select, copy and paste the images) and lastly the select tool to resize and shape the images. As well as this, I coloured in the shirt of the model who was positioned on the right so there would be no contrast between the model and the colour scheme and because I didn't have permission from the company whose design was on the shirt, I could have been potentially sued if the magazine was released. By using this post production technique, I was able to meet the client brief which stated that my magazine could be based on a band in North London apart of a vibrant music scene (Indie).

Fonts and effects

For my front cover I used the fonts "Fresh Marker", "Kevlar UnderWear" and "Bebas Neue" (all from DaFont). The only effect that I used on the font(s) was a drop shadow that I used on the lower half of the magazine. It was decided because of the variety of different backgrounds (due to the band member's shirts) causing the yellow font to not be able to be shown on the band member on the right's white t shirt. In an attempt to contrast this, I made the drop shadow black so that the entire text can be shown.

I did this by using the text layer in photoshop then using the effects menu to apply a drop shadow. This replicates the codes and conventions of a number of existing magazines, which frequently use drop shadow effects, or blocks of colour behind text, to accentuate it. I used the shape tool for the strap line at the bottom to achieve a similar effect.

The font "Fresh Marker" was decided for on the front cover as the Indie genre is a lot more informal than genres such as Pop or Classical so having a font that sort of looks like someone drew on the magazine enforces that idea to the onlooker. It was used in the double page spread due to the fact that it looks like writing and because it was used for the purpose of captioning various photos in the double page spread that were deliberately made to look like polaroids. This links to the client brief as the use of these types of exiting and vibrant fonts make audiences more interested in finding out about the North London Indie Rock music scene. Additionally, the indie music genre is associated with lo-fi production values, because typically the bands produce albums for more niche audiences, with less budget. Therefore, the handwritten typeface style reflects this. I believe that, overall, my magazine cover captures the essence of the indie genre by employing many such codes and conventions.

Mouse tool. Was used to move images in the project as well as to resize them and reshape them. An example of this is making the band members on the side smaller than the front man. I also used it to flip the same images. 

Magnetic lasso. Was used to select certain parts of an image before putting it into the project; the band members from the original background, the polaroid background.

Marquee tool. Was used to copy and paste photos into the project. This can be seen when I copied and pasted the polaroid outlines from google images.

Text tool. Was used to add text into the project; the title, puff pieces, body copy. The puff piece was created by using the shape tool. I then resized it using the mouse tool, before using the same tool to position it. When reshaping, I used the shift key, so that the proportions would not have altered and caused the puff piece to look warped. Finally, I used the layering function to ensure that the band members' heads were over the top of the puff piece. This type of layering is a common feature of many magazines. I did this so that the band members would be the focal point of the whole cover, and weren't swamped by other elements. Subtle codes and conventions like this help to convey a professional aesthetic. 

Use of Colour
In my front page spread I used the colours blue, yellow, and grey despite originally deciding to use pink instead of grey. This was decided on due to the grey allowing the other two colours to pop more rather than having three vibrant and loud colours. The original decision of the colour scheme was inspired by my mood board in which the three colours would show up a lot in the Indie Rock genre through various album covers. However, it became apparent whilst making the front cover that the majority of Indie magazines used darker colours such as grey, black and olive for the background of their magazines. This caused me to incorporate the two and justify the colour scheme I ended up using for my front cover. In my double page spread, however, I used the same grey background for my magazine but only used black for the title and body copy with the only cover in the double page spread coming from the various photographs laid out across the pages. This was done as the background would have been too light for white text so to make it easier for the reader to see, I used black text. The colours from the front cover were decided against because in the majority of the photographs, the main subject was wearing black and the colour(s) yellow and blue would have clashed with that. This links to the client brief as the use of these types of exiting and vibrant colours make audiences more interested in finding out about the North London Indie Rock music scene which was shown in the client brief.


Conclusion

Overall, my North London-based music magazine successfully adhered to the client brief. I took a North London-based band from a vibrant music scene (indie rock) and made a front cover depicting the band as well as a double page spread displaying body copy and a large number of photos of the group.

The sense of synergy across the front cover and double page spread works well, and I believe that I've established a sense of branding through the limited colour palette. I achieved this by using the same background, and using the same font for the article title as the masthead. This works well, because it associates the band with the magazine and therefore the magazine with the indie music scene. using a limited colour palette is an effective way of branding a product, though it is something that will need to be developed and worked on over future issues of the magazine.

In terms of weaknesses, I think that perhaps the fonts were a little on the safe side, and might need sprucing up. The cover lines used a plain sans-serif font, which is a convention of many magazines, such as Mojo and Q. However, I could have used the shape tool here as well in order to give the cover lines some kind of backing. 

Additionally, in future issues, I would like to feature North London itself in a bit more detail. The only reference to North London on the cover is in the skyline beneath the masthead. Featuring a more prominent background - perhaps of an iconic area like Camden or Islington - would help to establish this more as a North London magazine. I could have also done this for the polaroids in the double page spread, perhaps by having the artists posing in the North London area - on the bridge over Camden Docks, for example, or on Upper Street in Islington. The double page spread could have used a bit more colour as well, so that it is in line with the client brief's requirement to celebrate a vibrant music scene.