Denotation and Connotation

Denotation' tends to be described as the definitional, 'literal', 'obvious' or 'commonsense' meaning of a sign. Whereas the term 'connotation' is used to refer to the social and cultural factors and 'personal' associations (ideological, emotional etc.) of the sign.

So denotation being the thing itself and connotation being the meanings we describe to that thing, some examples are;

Denotation;
- Blonde hair
Connotation;
- 'Dumb blonde, jealousy...

Denotation;
- House, home, residence all mean the same thing but all have different connotations...
Connotation;
- Home: cozy, loving, comfortable
- House: the actual building or structure
- Residence: cold, no feeling
            

Textual Analysis Of Existing Texts

This was originally a slideshow on keynote on the macs, but due to errors getting it on to my blog I had to export it to images. I have looked at two magazines, one being Q and the other NME. I have looked at the front cover, the contents page and a double page spread for both of the magazines.

The Four F's Of Magazine Design

The four F's are:

• Format - visual style
• Formula - what is in the magazine and where it is
• Frame - the margins and gutter
• Function - what is it's job? sum up in a sentence, sell line, or slogan...

These will help me when it comes to producing my music magazine as I can then think about the four F's to help me produce the best magazine I can. If i'm thinking of more than just the visual style like, for example, I will be looking at the job is of it which will help me come up with a sell line which will then, therefore, help my music magazine sell well.

Print Terminology

Print terminology are things such as;

• Primary
• secondary
• Quantitative
• Qualitative 
• Serif
• Sans serif
• Lower case
• Upper case
• Sell lines
• Masthead
• House style
• Mid shot
• Long shot
• Close up
• Wide shot
• Extreme close up

This terms will help with the presentation of my music magazine by making it look very sophisticated and professional.

• Bleed is a printing term that refers to printing that goes beyond the edge of the sheet before trimming. So, the bleed is the area to be trimmed off. After trimming, the bleed ensures that no unprinted edges occur in the final trimmed product. Bleed will help me with producing my music magazine to make sure there are no errors of printing at the sides.

On this picture the part labelled '2' is a safe zone outside the trim area (bleed).

• Strap line is a short catchy sentence that represents a business, project or concept. It is a way of expressing something of what you do: what benefits you give your customers, or what you stand for. This would benefit my music magazine as it would help persuade the customer to buy it.

• Pass audience is when one member of the household buys a magazine but another member of the family in that household reads it. Whether they are your target market or not, it adds to the number of people who have read that magazine

• Pug is where the corner of the page is covered and usually has a buzzword (promotes something that is exclusive or for example where a magazine has a prize to win it will usually say the word "WIN" to promote something the reader can get for free) inside of it. It is an incentive to open the magazine. Also, it can be short snippets of information on the front of the magazine next to the title which will draw the customers attention, so, therefore, it will benefit my magazine a lot. 

• Tagline is the word of phrase used to engage a readers interest in a story by categorising it, for example, 'exclusive', 'sensational'. This will help me when I come to make my magazine cover I want to interest the reader as much as I can and by engaging them by using tagline it will help me a lot when selling the magazine.

• M.I.R.A is a way to approach analysis of media text;

M - Media form: What is this? 

For example, a music video, movie,TV series, magazine, poster...

I - Institution: Who made this?

R - Representation: Who or what does this show?

For example, is the representation positive or negative? Is it a stereotype or is it original?

A - Audience: Who is this for?

M.I.R.A will help me with my magazine as when my audience ask questions I will know the important things about the magazine, for example, who made it and what it is and what it shows...

• Gutter is a vertical margin of white space where two pages meet, it allows for bindings in the magazine. This will make my magazine look more professional and also neater and perhaps easier for the reader to read as the text in the middle will not be lost.

• Allies are what separates the columns in a text. it will space out the writing making it easier for the reader to read which will make my magazine look neater yet more professional.

Research Methods

I will be using different research methods for my AS Media such as:

• Primary research

Primary research is research I will carry out myself. For example; interviews, questionnaires, surveys, textual analysis or even the internet. Advantages of using primary research are that the researcher can focus on both quantitative and qualitative issues, the researcher has control over how the information is collected and controls the search design to fit their needs. However, disadvantages of primary are that it may be very expensive carrying out research compared to secondary research as for things like questionnaires it will cost for all of the paper used and for any equipment needed for any other experiments.

• Secondary research

Secondary research is research that I use that someone else has carried out, so you're looking at existing research rather than primary research where you collect the research yourself. For example; search engine, websites, books, magazines or journals. Advantages of secondary research are things like the ease of access to many sources of secondary data and low cost. However, the disadvantages are that it may not be specific to researchers needs, the researcher may not get the full version of the research to gain the full value of the study. 

• Qualitative research 

Qualitative research is research concerned with peoples ideas, opinions, thoughts and feelings. For example interviews, observation, sampling, and questionnaires. Qualitative research is strong for;portraying perspectives and conveying feelings and experiences, the ability to embrace both verbal and non-verbal behaviour, to penetrate fronts, discover meanings and reveal the subtlety and complexity of cases or issues. However, difficulties and weaknesses can be things such as; it can take time to negotiate access, assemble a sample, develop trust and rapport, and find out what is 'going on' or what people are thinking.

• Quantitative research

Quantitative research is identification of patterns and trends, for example; more woman than men read 'vibe'. Quantitative research can also be things like  surveys and customer questionnaires to help firms improve their products and services. It's about asking people for their opinions in a structured way so that you can produce facts and statistics to guide you. To get reliable statistical results, it's important to survey people in fairly large numbers and to make sure they are a representative sample of your target market. Quantitative research is a good method of research as it can tell you things like; what type of people are your best customers, how many people are interested in buying your product or service, and the needs of your target market. A disadvantage is that a large sample of the population must be studied; the larger the sample of people researched, the more statistically accurate the results will be. 

Contents Page

This is my draft for the contents page. As you can see, I have stuck with the school colour scheme again to make it look plain yet professional and sophisticated. The colours stand out and therefor catch the readers eye, for example the red and black fonts on the white background. Also, I have kept the same font as I have for the masthead on my front cover so it looks simple and not messy with loads of different fonts. The masthead is also a sans serif font to make it look more formal. I am going to use images on the contents page to attract the readers attention and make them want to go to that page, whereas, if there was not any photo the magazine might come across boring and plain.

This is my final contents page where I have changed a few things but still kept it simple yet effective. I have included the school logo where it uses the rule of three; challenge | Commitment | choice, which fits in with the overall theme of the magazine. I have also used post it notes to put the text in so it makes it more like a school magazine as it's school equipment, but it still look sophisticated and professional. I have included two images, one being the Ecuador team and the other showing the new school system. The use of images my attract the younger audience, so therefore, I will  my magazine will have larger amount of buyers and readers. 

School Magazine Front Cover

This was the original photo that I took before I edited it. It's a mid shot of a year 9 student taken outside the main entrance of the school. The photo is also taken next to the school's new system where members of the staff and students swipe their card to easily and quickly sign in and out of school. One of the main bits of information I was going to include in the magazine as well as a short snippet of it on the front cover is the 'new school improvements'. So, therefore, this mid shot would be a good choice for my front cover.

This is the photo after I edited it. As you can see, I coloured in the background white to make it look more plain yet professional. I also put the masthead at the top in a big, serif font to make it look more sophisticated and to make it the first thing the reader looks at because it stands out the most. I also added shorts snippets of the 'New School Improvements' and 'exam results' to catch the readers eye and to make them want to read more about it. I have also stuck to the school colour theme; red, white and black, this make the front cover look more professional and it makes the information stand out in some cases, for example, the red and black fonts stand out on the white background and makes it easier to read.