EVALUATION

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For my magazine i decided to use a title that isn't related to music, similar to Q magazine. During my questionnaire the name was mentioned and when i asked around it seemed a popualr choice. I thought by doing this it would be challenging a typical convention for a music magazine. I also used typical magazine conventions such as a barcode, price, date and issue number. As i studied music magazines in great depth i was able to understand typical conventions that were required such as a bold masthead, which i used to attract a reader. However i challenged this by placing an image on top of the masthead which covered the majority of the masthead, despite that i feel as though the cover looks appropriate and realistic. I used other conventions such as sell lines, like the 'WIN! tickets for Friendly Fires live', i also used an image of a musician in the centre of the cover. This is a typical music magazine trait, and helps to link the genre of artist to the genre of the magazine. I used a variation of fonts, by using a variety of sans serif and serif font along with bold and upper and lower case language. Like other music magazines i created a house style by using a specific theme and colours which were purple, black and white. I felt this colours were appropriate in creating the genre of the magazine, especially as purple has strong connotations of bold and energy. However i applied a similar layout to music magazines, as i wanted the magazine to appear realistic. During my questionnaire, i asked people what colour theme should be used and asked for three colours to be selected, the colours that were used the most where red, black and white. I decided to use the colours white and black as they were simple and could be easily applied to the genre of my magazine. Despite this i ignored the idea of using red as i thought this had much stronger connotations of blood, death, danger and rock which didn't represent the main genre of my magazine. This is why i decided to use purple to create an electric indie feel. Another idea that i used from my questionnaire is the use of questions that i could use within my interview on my double page spread. During the questionnaire the idea behind the bands personal life and touring was a popualr choice. I decided to use this questions as i thought this would allow the audience to have a strong interest towards the article written. However during my questionnaire the idea of a band was a popular choice for the deature of my magzaine, i decided to use a soingle musician instead, as i felt that it was be easier to incorporate text and graphics within the cover compared to a band, as there would be less space.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

As my music magazine has a target audience of 16-29 year olds, both male and female i had to incorporate colours and themes that are appropriate for both sexes. My magazine is targeted towards a niche audience, as my magazine is very specific. By using the colour purple i felt the colour can appeal to my target audience. I also decided to feature bands that appeal to my target audience that would also fit well with my genre of the magazine. I wanted my magazine also to be modern and focus on new and upcoming bands, as young adults how an interest in new music, which can also be supported throught he variety of shwos adio one provide, as well as magazines such as Kerrang which has a strong focus on new bands. The outfit of Candy also on my cover is in fashion and very model which also fits the style of my magazine well. Therefore my product represents fashionable and young adults who are into new, indie music. I feel as though i have accidentally represented my audience, also known as an unintentional signifer, through the double page spread as i used very bold colours and used violent words to appeal to my audience. I also feel as though the colour scheme within page spread appeal to more rock than indie users, which wasn't intentional to begin with.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My magazine is aimed towards a more niche audience ratehr than a mass audience as the context is very specific within it, as it appeals to those interested in new music rather than older, rock bands. Bauer media and IPC media are two magazine instituions that already publish well known magazines. Bauer media publishes and distributes, 'Q' magazine, 'Kerrang' and 'Mojo'. Where as IPC media distributes 'NME' magazine. Seeing as my main focus and anaylse were on magazines 'Q' and 'Kerrang', i feel as though Bauer magazine would be appropriate in distributing my magazine as it has a similar atmpsophere and genre to the magazines it already distributes. However the company already have three major magazines, so for a beginner magazine it would be awkward in starting out. Therefore it would be appropriate to use IPC media, however 'NME' magazine isn't as popular and sucessful as the magazines that Baueer media distirbute. Therefore i would chose Bauer media to distribute my product, as it's a well known and dependable company that has made magazines sucessful so far. However IPC would be a more specific choice towards my magazine genre as it too has a specific audience, therefore i would be distributing my magazine with a institution which normal appeals to a more mass audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for my media product are males and females ages between 16 to 29. This is because i felt that it would be easier to produce a magazine for those in that age group rather than an adult audience, as i am unaware of what is appealing for an older audience and it was easier for my research to be carried out for those between 16 to 29 as i had easy access to people within that age range. I also wanted to allow my magazine to focus on upcoming and new bands, as many younger people are interested in what is new and want to be 'ahead of the game', within the music world. At the moment there is a trend in popular music and style. Indie is very much in fashion within the music world, and so is the fashion. I wanted to incorporate what is popular with young adults, in the world of fashion as well to create a modern magazine that would be appealing. By doing this i used specific costumes which are in fashion and also link the the music genre of my magazine. My audience would also have to have an interest in live music, whetehr it is local gigs or tours at arenas, as many of the features within my magazine focus' on the idea of this. It would also be vital as well as i wanted to create a magazine for those who have a strong interest with new music talent, which could inspire people to take a route into thos field with some help from my magazine. I also targeted my magazine towards a middle class group, this can be shown through the use of lanaguage, as the audience would have to be educated to understand some of the lexis used along with the price, which could be expensive for those in a lower class. Despite this my magazine is monthly which therefore could appeal to a lower class audience as they would be able to purchase the magazine for a cheaper price comapred to Q magazine. My magazine would also appeal towards those living within the western culture, as the bands featured are either very British, or American, as they are often mroe succesful than those from other countries.


How did you attract/ address your audience?

I addressed my audience through using bold colours such as purple, as well as props. I wanted to create a modern, trendy music magazine which has a deep interest in rock and indie music. By using the colours white, black and purple i was able to create an indie atmosphere as the colour is bold and has alot of energy and is popular in the world of fashion. I also cretaed an indie style by dressing my main artist on the cover of my magazine in modern clothing. The leather jacket has connotations of rock and the bold red lipstick help to suggest that the magazine has a strong rock modern feel to it. Then by contrasting the image with the colour theme i was able to emphasize and suggest the genre of my magazine without physically writing it. This therefore would be appealing for those who interested in thise genre of music. I also made the magazine appear simple, and the text face was bold and in sans serif which would appeal to a younger auidence. Therefore i was able to address my target audience ( males and females aged 16-29) suitabley. I didn't use an audience pleasure as i felt that they are usually more appealing for a younger audience, therefore i included the chance to win tickets to see a band lvie as i felt this would be more appropriate for my target audience. The language within my magazine is very friendly, and allows the reader to feel involved within the magazine which would persuade them to buy the magazine again. The language used however is formal in parts to allow the magazine to appear realistic. I used a variety of simple, compound and complex sentences which would therefore appeal to a variety of people within my target audience, along with emotive lanaguage which would allow the reader to feel involved. However my audience is some what similar to characteristics that i have, i therefore failed to pay attention to specific use of language such as personal pronouns as i expressed the magazine in a way which would be appealing to me.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt how to use adobe cs4 indesign as well as photoshop cs4. With the indesign programme i learnt how to use its facilities to create a magazine layout. The programme allowed me to experiment with a varity of tools to create a magazine. Features such as the fonts were modern and new and i could create shadows as well as other effects easily. With photoshop i learnt how to edit a photograph in a variety of styles, such as changing a picture form colour to colour and black and white. I also learnt how to edit a poor quality photo into a higher quality by using specifc applications such as paint daub which adapts and edits the photograph to apply theme. I also learnt how difficult it is to rearrange texts and graphics within a magazine, as it requires a varity of layers which i learnt how to do. Despite this my knowledge of ICT was strong beforehand as i like to edit photographs in my spare time. However after a lesson on photoediting and air brushing at school this improved my knowledge and allowed me to extend it dramatically to create visually interesting images.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I became more aware of the magazine conventions that were required to make a magazine look realistic. This can especially be shown through the cover to my music magazine compared, to the preliminary cover. I was much more aware of conventions such as fonts, where sans serif was more popular than serif and upper case was used more than lower case. I also learnt how to apply a varitey of layers to create an effect, especially those typical to a music magazine. I also learnt how to improive my ict skills to create an effective magazine as well as images. In particular i worked with publisher, adobe photoshope, and indesign cs4 which were new programmes to me which throught this project i have learnt to work with. During the preliminary task i was unaware how to create layers and edit photographs sucessfully without changing the complete photo. I was also unware that music magazines have conventions such as a varitey of fonts. I had previously asssumed the majority of text were int he same font, however i have learnt that there is a strong variety which all help to create a different effect. Other than this my knowledge of music magazines and their conventions was strong as i had studied this topic for gcse and was aware of specific terminology such as house style and ideology which is required to udnerstand the production of the magazine. I am also a fan of magzaines and read alot so i was also aware of the layouts, and specific langauge that is used to attract a reader, as well as audience pleasures. Whilst completeing my final media product, i became very aware of what was appealing and effective. For my front cover (which can be shown through my draft) i used font which wasn't bold and difficult to read. I later realised how to apply a shadow and an outlien to the font to make it bold. I also realsied that my double page spread was originally child like and not very realisitic as i over used text boxes and flat colours, without a shahdow. My interview withint he double page spread was also very short, unlike a typical music magazine. I therefore adapted the dpuble page spread completeley by using embedded quotations, and a larger interview ona simple setting. I also used a varity of font, similar to a typical music magazine convention. I feel as though i have learnt alot through out the process of creating a magazine and understand the difficulties of creating a magazine along with a deadline, as ideas and the construction have to be very accurate and precise.

Throughout my blog there are audience feedback, which allowed me to understand what was appealing to my audience.

Jadedaniellesmith said...
wooooooooooooooooo mmazinnn :)

Chelsea :) said...
your images look really professional and it's really good how you've edited them all, just like a real magazine! wooooo x

Chelsea :) said...
your contents page is amazing! i love the black and white house style on it too because it all fits in :) x

Jadedaniellesmith said...
wooooooooooooooowoooooooooooowoooooooo

Becky said...
i really love you pictures there are AMAZING, i love the fact that you used black and white photograghs it works really well. xx

Judging by my audience feedback, the use of my images as well as house style as been successful in terms of looking professional and typical of a music magazine. There were no audience feedback which provides criticism, therefore i cannot comment on this area.

EDITED PHOTOGRAPHS

For my music magazine i had to manipulate images using photoshop cs4, to allow the phtoograph to appear more appealing and of a better quality. Throughout my magazine i manipulated every image.

BEFORE EDIT

The first image i manipualted was the cover image of Candy. This is the original copy, however the background colour was too dull and failed to fit with the colour theme i required. However the texture of the background was appearling. I wanted to make the background black and white whilst allowing Candy to remain in colour. By using photoshop i duplicated the layer of the photograph, i then turned the top layer into black and white. By using the magic wand tool, i selected candys outline and then pressed delete which removed her from the top layer and showed the bottom layer of her which was in colour. Therefore i created a black and white with colour picture to use for my cover. Below is the finished copy. However for my magazine i ahd to crop out some of the background to allow the phtoograph to fit the proportion of an a4 sized paper.

AFTER EDIT

For my double page spread i also manipulated all of the images through using photoshop. During the photoshoot my camera broke, therefore i had the challenge of eliminating the lines and the purple tint within the pictures.

BEFORE EDIT


To edit the lines out i used the paint daub application which faded the majority of the lines out. I then increased the contrast withint he image which allwoed the shadows to stand out which then helped to disguise the remaining lines, it also helped to filter out the purple tint. I tehn increased the orange tone to allow the image to have a 70's feel.

AFTER EDIT

BEFORE EDIT

For this image i manipulated it by applying paint daub application, which filtered out the white lines. I then increased the contrast level. This then added some shadows to the image whilst still allowing it to be light.

AFTER EDIT

BEFORE EDIT

I liked this image as i created the idea of the band being ont he road and touring. However the background was distracting and didn't create the specific atmosphere. By using photoshop i used the magic wand tool and cut around the car and band/instruments. I then applied a black background to the image so when i applied the photograph onto magazine article it would look as though the band where placed onto the page.

AFTER EDIT

MY MAGAZINE

After lots of hardwork and time i have finally completed my magazine called 'GRAZED'. I like the finished result, as i think the colour theme fits the genre of the magazine well and intended target audience.



This is the cover for my magazine. I use purple, black and white as my main colour theme which i used repeatdley to create a specific house style. The colours also have connotations of rock and indie, especially the bold purple which has connoations of energy and upbeat. I used typical music magazine conventions such as sell lines, an example of this would be the list of bands, as well as the 'WIN! tickets to see friendly fires live'. By including this convention, it shows a link with music as there is a prize for a gig. Therefore i am associating an auidence pleasure with music, like a typical music magazine. I also used a main image of an musician, therefore emphasizing the genre of the magazine. I wanted my artist to wear modern, indie type of clothes which would help to emphasize the genre of the magazine. By using bold lipstick and a lether jacket i feel as though the genre or rock/indie has been emphasized. Also by using a barcode, issue number, date and price i have followed the typical magazine conventions, these are required for most magazines. I also used a variety of textface, which is shown through the use of serif and sans serif fonts on my cover. I also incorporated the idea of upper case, which is typical of a music magazine.

For my contents page i followed the colour theme through to create a house style, i left the page fairly simple, so it is easy to read and less confusing. I didn't use alot of images as i felt as though the page should stay simple and easy to read.This is because i often find that contents pages are confusing and by keeping it simple it is easy to read and follow through. I also have a target audience for older teenagers and young adults, therefore bold wiritng rather than imagery was more appealing. Whilst reading and researchign through other music magazines i was aware that the editor often had their say on the contents page, i thought this was a brilliant idea to incorporate someones point of view and therefore i used this idea. The signature used was originally on paper, which i signed myself. I then scanned and uploaded this image onto my laptop, which i then cropped before placing it onto my contents page. I think this allows the magazine to appear more realistic.

This is my double page spread, which is of the band called 'Serenade Squad'. The band was made up however i feel as though the photographs allow the band to appear realistic. I incorportaed the colour theme of the clothes in photographs with the colour theme of the page. I did this by using colour within boxes and fonts. I rotated the pictures to allow the atmosphere of this page to be laid back and calm. I used alot of bold colours to attract the reader. I used the colours red, blue and white as they are the colours for the british flag. I wanted to empphasize the idea that the band were british and punks which Britain is knownf or music wise. The colours also have connotations of rock, heavy and dark, which i believe represents the bands genre of music well. I used a box in the cornor to emphasize what this page is by stating it was an interview, which is a tupical magazine convention. I also incorporated the page number along with text stating who took the pictures along with the article. The text i used was bold and in uppercase to create a bold loud feel which i used to represent the personality of the band, this is also a typical music magazine convention. Within my images i used instruments as props to allow the reader to understand that this is a band, another music magzine convention. I used an electric guitar and drum sticks to help emphasize the idea that the band were a rock band, which is known for its heavy drum lines. I felt as though the props were effective in creating a music atmosphere and helped to establish who was who in the band, which is another convention used by magazines.

Below are drafts. After throughly considering the genre of my magazine, whilst researching other magazines i decided that my drafts weren't realistic enough. For example on the cover of my draft the font was ahrd to read, therefore i applied a shadow and lining to allow the sell line to stand out and be bold.

The draft contents was for a mnonthly magazine, however i felt as though the contents was limited, and was very small. To allow it to appear realsitic and more liek amonthly magazine i added more topics and pages to create an effect that the magazine was covered with information.

For my double page spread i felt as though the layout was very simple despite the fact that i used typical magazine conventins such as the page number and arrow guiding the audience to the next page. I thought that the colour scheme was too varied, therefore i decided to cut out of the blue and leave a white and red theme as the navy within the mise en scene could be used to represent the british flag, along with british rock. I felt as though the boxes enabled the magazine to appear fake and cheap, i therefore cut these out and decided to keep the page simple, whilst embedding quotes. Typical to a magazine convention.

SERENADE SQUAD

Yesterday i got my band together called the Serenade Squad. We took pictures at my local park on a half pipe, i thought the contrast between the lively band and the calm countryside would be effective. I also took some pictures around my car, to give the feel as though the band are on the road, however the background posed much of a difficulty, as houses are in the way. I shall attempt to edit the picture on photoshop cs4 and remove the background.


Another isssue that aroused was the fact my camera appropriatley decided to break through the photoshoot. This therefore caused the pictures to have lines and a purple tone on the image. I have used a variety of editing techniques on adobe photoshop cs4. By applying a paint dab to the image, it has erased some of the lines.


These are some of the pictures that were taken.

PICTURES

I wanted to use my friend Candy as the artist to my cover as her style is suitable to the design of the magazine. With the help of my friend Jade Smith, who is a photographer, we took a series of photographs in the hope to find one suitable for my magazine. These are some of the images that were taken. All of which are unedited.