Researching into Industry Standard Software- DTP

I have decided to research into the different software programmes the magazine industry uses to create their publications, and how I may be able to access such sites for my own magazine and poster creations. I first looked into Desktop Publishing, and what this really meant, here is a brief definition from http://www.life123.com/technology/computer-software/desktop-publishing/a-guide-to-desktop-publishing-software.shtml A Guide to Desktop Publishing Life 123;
Desktop publishing, or DTP, is using your computer and software to combine text and graphics on a page that will be printed. Newsletters, brochures, greeting cards and any other number of items that can be printed on a regular printer-not a full press-fall under the banner of desktop publishing.There are industry standards in desktop publishing that include the big names like Adobe, Corel and Quark.
Mentioned most is the use of the company Adobe- in particular Photoshop which is easily accessible to the public. Having previously used this software before, I would like to produce my magazine on it also, so as to make sure it emulates the industry standard and it should enable me to ensure my magazine cover really looks professional. To recap over the Adobe software and how to use it, I watched a few short basic Youtube videos about the programme to reaffirm my knowledge.



From these videos I was able to get a quick insight into the basics of Adobe Photoshop, and how I can apply these skills to my own images and texts on my magazine covers.

My Magazine Cover Subheadings

Having looked at many different TV guide magazine covers, I found that all of the subheadings on the cover portrayed big news and events happening to soaps on TV. I shall incorporate this into my own cover, but using other people to be cast members from different made up soaps so as not to infringe on any copyright by using existing images. With the subheadings usually portraying the biggest soap news, my subheadings will be as follows: 'Where's Ellie?' 'Is Stacey's love affair in out?' 'Soap Awards Winners Announced'
Each of these subheadings should continue to raise audience interest. With the use of rhetorical questions, it continues to keep audiences thinking, with the main subheading for 'The Ridge' will be 'Will they find Ellie Dean?' therefore gaining audience's attention before the soap opera is properly aired, but having hopefully previously seen the trailer, it will continue to keep the story alive.

Font Style

Having looked at the different type of font styles used on published TV magazines, this will then influence the way my own magazine will look like in terms of font style and colour. Having already deliberated on the house style of my magazine and the type of colours I will use, the main focus now is figuring out the different fonts that I will use. I have looked at many different styles on online websites to see which would best suit my magazine and the normal font conventions.



Here is the font type 'Nouvelle Vague', having used 'dafont.com', I managed to pick a lot of different font types to go onto my magazine. I think this font best fits magazine conventions, as well as making it stand out against the rest, adding more of a personal touch for the magazine to make it identifiable. The font looks sophisticated and the bold writing emphasises this making it best suit the norms of magazine font styles.



Here is the font style 'Elegant Typewriter', I chose to look into tho type of font as it in keeps with the idea of journalism, and magazines, adding an old traditional twist. This type of font is best associated with old newspapers and writings, therefore I felt it would add a more older feel to the magazine. Witht his in mind, although it being a very conventional font type for magazines etc. I believe I need something more modern and contemporary to suit audiences today, as well as in keeping with the idea of all of the news inside being the newest and most up to date information.



Here is 'School Book New', I wanted to test out more unconventional font styles, to try and challenge certain magazine conventions and to see whether my magazine would work better with something more personal. However, after class feedback on this font, I found that people found it to look childish, and a type of font that would be found on children's magazines rather than on a TV guide. Therefore this will not be the font I will use on my finished piece.

From further research, I found none of the other font styles I looked at seemed to fit the magazine conventions as well as 'Nouvelle Vague'. With audience feedback as well from my peers, many also said the same. Therefore this will be the font for my magazine title.

Naming my magazine cover and Newspaper association

Most of the TV magazines I have researched each have fairly conventional names, being generic to this type of magazine i.e. 'Hot TV' 'TV Extra''Total TV Guide'. With this in mind, my own magazine cover will also replicate such conventions conforming to stereotypical titles, and ensuring that the name is clear to audiences and represents clear links to the type of magazine this will be. All of the names are short and to the point, therefore my own product will continue to mimic this conventional style. The title will be the biggest writing on the magazine cover, and will be placed in the top left hand corner of the page. Some of the names in mind: TV's Hottest Trend TV The Soaps Guide Hot on the Box Telly's hottest Mag TV Gossip To ensure I am making the best choice of title for my magazine cover, I asked the people in my class to write down their favourite name, which would then help me choose the best title that would appeal to audiences. From this most of my peers preferred the title : Hot on the Box- everyone of my sample choosing this as their favourite title. From this research I will then use this name as my magazine title. So as not to infringe on any copyright laws, I will make up my own newspaper name of which this magazine will be featured in, imagining that the brand of newspaper is popular amongst audiences, such as existing publications i.e. Daily Star. With this in mind associating my TV magazine to a 'well-known' newspaper will automatically broaden and branch out the target audience and those that will see the magazine, hopefully then giving the magazine, and the article on my soap opera trailer, a wider chance of audience variety. Another reason I have chosen to link my magazine to a newspaper is because many audiences don't tend to go out and buy newspaper magazines in today's society, therefore the offer of it being free with a newspaper would again reach audiences further, giving my soap opera a better chance of recognition and viewer interest. I shall name my newspaper, 'Daily Orbit'-this in keeping with the themes of 'star' and 'sun' as is popular for other newspaper names. The newspaper would be a national paper, therefore reaching audiences across the country, as well as those who can access the TV broadcasting channel my soap opera would air on 'IPV'.

Magazine Cover House Style

The colours I will use for my magazine cover will all be fairly bright and eye-catching to ensure readers' attention. The title font will be red, with the date and issue number being white. The white font will be the main colour used for all of the subheading etc. apart from the top tagline and the bottom which will also be red. The background colour will be a dark blue which fades lighter as you sweep across to the right of the page, this being a typical feature in most magazine covers, making sure the colours aren't too blocked. Other colours I will use will be Yellow, this meaning that Red, White, Blue and Yellow are my main house style colours, in keeping with this bright colour scheme other TV magazines have.

How will my magazine cover look

Here are some quick sketches of the type of layout my magazine cover will follow, with the main image central and all of the other images being in the background to this image and clustered around the side. I have also considered the different colours and house style I will follow for this process as seen on my next blog post.

TV Magazine Cover-influences

Having annotated different TV cover magazines below, it has helped me in structuring my own TV cover mock up in order to help me when it comes to putting my planning into action.  On all of the magazine covers I have researched font and layout has a huge impact on the design. The font itself varies throughout the front page, with the title and biggest storyline in bold bigger writing, with most of the other tag lines and titles in smaller, regular font in different colours. The use of many colours on the magazine cover grabs audiences attention, and draws them to specific story lines or news articles that would gain the most influence. This will be incorporated into my own magazine cover also. Also needed is the date and issue number underneath the main magazine title, and also the name of the newspaper that this magazine will feature in. At the top of all of my research magazine covers, there is a tagline along the lines of 'TV Guide- Your seven day telly guide!' -with informal language used to gain audiences attention, to make them feel like they are dependent on the magazine like they would be a friend. The main image is embossed and central to the page, with various other images and texts surrounding the image with the focus on other soap operas that will feature in the magazine. The title that goes along with the main image will be bold and big to grab audiences attention. there will be headlines such as 'hot celebrity couples!' and 'reveal all!' these also being marketing techniques in order to gain audience attention and make them feel as though they are getting the latest most important soap news. I shall also incorporate the hashtag element onto the magazine cover, this Twitter convention allows audiences to get involved even more so with the talk about the new soap opera and will gain more audience interest from elsewhere. As this is a modern development in the social media world, it ensures that my trailer can be accessed by a variety of people from all ages, although initially reaching my main target audience. The use of hashtag may help to get the trailer trending on this social networking site and continue to raise awareness of this upcoming crime soap opera.

Ancillary Task; Magazine covers- History

Ancillary Task: Magazine Cover, Analysis of TV magazine conventions

Having collected a few different magazine covers, I have fully analysed the different conventions of each, and how they are utilised to appeal to the target audience. The house style for all of them included big and bold colours in order to catch the readers' attention. All of them featured the date and issue number as well as the title and newspaper of which they came from. This will help me with my own production of one as I shall ensure each of these features are added to give my magazine cover the same professional outlook. Also featured were catchy headlines, with the main storyline in the biggest font and image, with small images and subtitles around it to show how this magazine also features other programmes on television. Also apparent it the use of 'special exclusive' interviews to make audiences feel as though they are getting the latest of information regarding the soaps of their interest.

Ancillary Tasks: Magazine Covers Research

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