Magazine Research - Time Magazine

This issue of Time Magazine featured teen activist Greta Thunberg, who has been fighting for climate change activism around the world. Time is not necessarily a strictly activist magazine, but features hard hitting journalism and discusses world issues in most of their publications. Again, Time has their typical layout - the red frame and Times New Roman font title. It is an incredibly well-known magazine, and honestly the true inspiration behind my design ideas. It has a simple cover, with one or two article titles, and a creative photograph for the cover that sets the mood for the cover story or the magazine as a whole.

Magazine Research - The American Prospect

This magazine, The American Prospect  is again another political magazine. After further research, I am beginning to see that I may have to blur the lines a bit on my own magazine, and make it a cross between social activism and politics, which I am perfectly capable of doing and actually sounds quite fun. This magazine is different from the other magazines I have researched, however. There is no model on the cover, and it has a busier design than the others. I am not a fan of this design, but it is always nice to see some variation.

Magazine Research - Ms. Magazine

Ms. Magazine has been in circulation since 1972 and tackles a predominant social issue: feminism. While I plan on focusing on a broader range of social issues with my magazine, this is an excellent example of a specific issue with layers upon layers that can be discussed and highlighted. This issue again is very similar to most social activist magazines, in that it has a clear message in the cover photo with the relevant cover story title. There are only a few color within the scheme, and the mood that is provided is very grim, which matches the article titles listed on top of the magazine. This magazine does a very good job of getting their message across, and this is exactly the type of cover I would like to show for my magazine. I would want a picture with a message, a striking headline relevant to the photo, and a few other inside article titles. Minimal color, and no clickbait-type headlines. Something I've also noticed is that social activist magazines tend to have one-word titles that are powerful and really roll off the tongue. I've yet to come up with a title for my magazine, but I would also like a powerful title as well.

Magazine Research - Dissent

Dissent is a more politically centered magazine, but nonetheless can be considered to fit my genre. Social activism has very blurred boundaries, and nowadays the two seem to go hand in hand. The colors within the cover of this magazine are minimal, but this attracts the eye of readers as many magazines these days are quite colorful. The striking font also attracts the eye, as does the contrast in the article titles down below. Overall, this magazine is formatted very differently from most magazines, which are normally very peppy, colorful, and exciting. So far in my research, I've found that this genre of magazine typically has a darker color scheme, a minimalist cover design, and more creative/artistic photos or drawings. With other magazines, they typically have one cookie-cutter format, with a pretty model in the middle against a plain, colorful background. They also have more "clickbait"-esque article titles on the cover such as "Lose Weight with These 5 Tips!", but activist magazines have true article titles like "The Seeds of Progressive Populism", listed in the issue of Dissent above.

Camera Shot Activity

To practice our camera shots for photography and filming, Mr. Elsbree had us go around school in small groups and get different types of camera shots. Here are the ones my group took.

Extreme Close Up

Low Angle

Canted Angle

Mid Shot

Wide Shot

High Angle

Magazine Research - The Progressive

The Progressive is an activist magazine that promotes all kinds of protests and issues within its volumes. Its covers always seem to be some kind of figurative image, whether it be a political cartoon, or a semi-realistic photo like the one pictured above. The cover story is about how protesters have been arrested on terrorism charges for protesting against the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would disrupt dozens of natural ecosystems and endanger numerous species. Other stories within this issue include "Why Being Poor is so Expensive?", "The Criminalization of the Peaceful Protest", and "Making the Sick Work for Their Healthcare". This magazine has been in print since 1909, and was founded by Senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. on the idea that it would document the plight of those resisting corruption and working to protect a representative government.