InDesign Skills

I have developed my InDesign skills in various ways. One of them includes that I know how to do text wrap (as shown in the above screenshot). I also added a background to the pull quote to make it stand out more. Also, it supports conventions, especially in Kerrang! magazine who use a similar technique to attract attention to their pull quotes as shown below...

I have also learnt how to put guidelines on my magazine to use conventions and column the article in the DPS to look even. I included a vector image of a film strip in the DPS which I edited to fit just right using InDesign, used different fonts to suit my magazine, sent various images to the 'front' and the 'back' to make certain ones stand out, made a background for the DPS that looks like a spotlight showing they are important and stand out (and also links to the film strip), used various spacing to make sure of no 'orphans', drops caps (convention of most magazines) and I included a red background on the front cover to make the text of the bands stand out and still look rock-y.

Journalism Skills Development

AS English Language - Article and Commentary


AS English Language - Monologue and Commentary











I study English Language as well as Media at AS Level, helping me write my article. Above are some examples of pieces I have completed which show my writing skills are improving and the fact I have knowledge of conventions of an article already as I have completed a commentary describing what I have done.


Magazine Article Drafts


I changed some of the formal lexis from my original draft such as the word 'eponymous' (to 'self-titled', making it slightly less formal) as my target audience might not know what it means. Apart from that, my article has mostly stayed the same. I included puns (from Harry Potter, so the target audience would understand them) and humour to keep a light hearted feel to it and compound sentences (and some minor exclamative sentences to make the magazine article snappy, e.g. 'We are rock!") to keep the reader interested and wanting to read on.

English Skills and Paragraph Plans

The newest all girl rock band

Mischief Managed created chaos in our whammy studios this week. After their newest album rocketed to number one, whammy decided to investigate the secret behind their ‘overnight’ success...

We managed some mischief at the Whammy studio this week, care of the newest rocketing girl band on the planet. We just had to get Sarah, Melody and Jess in for a photo shoot to see what makes them tick, after their first album shot right to number one in the rock charts. That must be a really awesome feeling. "We are stunned", lead singer Jess, tries to put her feelings into words. "Phenomenally happy, but stunned." Whammy hopes it never stops too!

Drummer Sarah shows us a little drumstick magic while we ask what’s next for the band. "Ooh, it’s just all so exciting. We’ve got gigs coming up and we’re writing new stuff. We never want it to stop."

On the topic of new songs, Mischief Managed are to release their new single ‘Amateur’. "Yeah looks like we aren’t amateurs anymore", Jess declares, who wrote the song. "We are rock now."

The name of the band comes from Harry Potter, so are the girls all fans of the movies? "Yeah, I think we’re part of the franchise now," says guitarist Melody. "Sirius-ly though, it is all a bit magical."

Indeed the band’s ‘overnight’ fame does seem like something out of the movies, but they seem determined to enjoy every minute of their well-earned success. "We all worked really hard, making the album he best it could be", explains Jess. "It just all came together, like wizardry or something".

So "Mischief" have cast their spell over their legions of fans.

Mischief Managed’s self titled new album is out now. ‘Amateur’ will be released on the 15th Jan.
 



I looked at various Kerrang! DPS articles (including the ones I put on my blog) so see how they wrote their articles. I followed a similar structure to follow conventions so the audience would be used to it. I found they used 'Kerrang! studios' a lot in the article to avoid a biased opinion. I decided to use a similar structure to create a brand and a sense of normalcy to the article, which readers can relate to.

Taking English Language also helped me write my article so I already have knowledge on the subject and how to make it enjoyable to read and involve the reader, with no bias. I have used various inquits such as "...lead singer Jess, tries to put her feelings into words" and different sentence moods such as interrogatives ("so are the girls all fans of the movies?") and exclamatives ("Whammy hopes it never stops too!"). I created a humorous and light-hearted article with shot sentences so audiences can be able to read it and want to read it. I included various Harry Potter puns ("Sirius-ly though, it is all a bit magical.") to relate to the name of the band and to make fans of the franchise laugh and want to read on.

Paragraph Plans

I have broken down the article down into paragraphs to make it easier to read, it looks nice and make it flow. I had to change the size of the font and the wording as I had a few 'orphans' which didn't look very nice, so I tried not to include 'orphans' to help with the layout and the design of the magazine and to create a nice finish.