A2 media studies evaluation

By Talia Gaye

In what ways does your media product use,

develop or challenge forms and conventions of

real media products?

FRONT PAGE:

SCENE BIRMINGHAM MAGAZINE

Scene Birmingham Magazine has influenced my magazine in terms of its layout on the front page.

I decided to call my magazine Discover Birmingham. I liked how Scene Birmingham made ‘Scene’ the focus of their masthead and then included Birmingham in smaller writing below. This is something which I then wanted to include for my magazines Masthead. I made sure that the Masthead was the biggest font used on the page so that it was most recognisable to my target audience on the page. I chose to display the magazines date above the masthead in smaller writing as Scene Magazine did, again to ensure that the focus wasn’t taken from the masthead itself.

As shown on the left, I used a very similar layout for the front page of my magazine. I liked how Scene Birmingham magazine used various pictures in a collage representing different aspects of Birmingham. I also decided that I wanted to include this in my own magazine, however, I changed the pictures used to recognisable landmarks around Birmingham such as Selfridges, the Bullring, Brinley Place etc. I wanted to create a ‘D’ shape for the collage as shown above to show a relationship between the pictures and the ‘D’ used for ‘Discover Birmingham’. This was something which Scene Birmingham didn’t use for their magazine, however I thought that it would be very effective in terms of Branding for my magazine. I also used ‘brum notes’ to analyse the conventions and apply to my own magazine.

I had mentioned at the start of my blog that for my magazine I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, therefore ensuring that I have minimal features used on the front page especially. This meant that like Scene magazine I challenged the typical codes and conventions of including cover lines on the front page. Instead of cover lines, I chose to give the audience a brief summary of topics which were included within my magazine on the bottom of the front page.

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/research-and-planning_16.html














CONTENTS PAGE:


Again, Scene Birmingham magazine was one of my main influences in terms of the layout for my contents page. I saw on their October 2013 issue contents page the use of a collage across the top of their contents page. I noticed that Scene had used the same pictures from the front page as they had on the contents page, which was something I wanted to do differently. Therefore, I used separate pictures for my contents page than the front page of my magazine but chose them so that they adhered to the topics discussed within my listed contents. I also chose to feature my pictures within ‘diamond’ shapes instead of squares. I thought that as I wasn’t using as many photos as Scene Birmingham did, changing the shape which the photos were framed in would be more effective for my magazines layout on the page. As with scene magazine, I made sure that the photos stayed at the top of the page and I kept my contents on the bottom of the page. I chose to give each photo a orange boarder to keep the same colour scheme of orange white and black throughout the whole of my magazine. This enabled me to create distinctive branding for my magazine as I also used orange for the colour of my masthead and various text on the front page of my magazine.

STYLE BIRMINGHAM MAGAZINE

Style Birmingham has influenced my contents page again in terms of its layout of its listed contents. Style Birmingham had kept its contents on the bottom of the page for their contents in columns. I liked how they did this as it kept the contents page simple which was something that I said I wanted my magazine to be in terms of its layout. I also liked the way that Style Birmingham kept each topic area used within the magazine as separate contents lists. Again, this was something which I wanted to be able to incorporate within my own magazine. Style Birmingham, divided each topic area with the use of lines and different fonts. However, even though inspired by their layout, I wanted to separate each topic area by filling the background of each contents which orange and displaying the topic area above each contents. I chose to make the background of each topic orange then any other colour as I wanted to keep a consistency in colour throughout my magazine. I kept the colour of the text used on the page simple like Style Birmingham did, in a black font, again so that it matched the colour scheme used on the front page of my magazine but also to ensure that I was keeping my magazine simple – something which I wanted the magazine to be.

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/research-and-planninng.html


http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/research-and-planninng.html


DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD:


Again, Scene Birmingham was a main influence of mine when creating my magazines double page spread. I liked the way in which on their double page spread, they positioned the image on the article so that it was facing the writing on the page. I thought that this was an affective features to use on a double page spread as it made the image interlink with the article on the page. It made it obvious that the article was about the girl featured on the double page spread. I took inspiration from this and when taking my original photography made sure that I positioned her so that she was looking downwards to the article which I was going to place on the left hand side.

I also liked the way in which the article included a main image, but then featured smaller images on the other side of the page which again linked in with the article. I chose to include this within my own double page spread and used smaller images of ‘Robyn Gough’, however only using images of her clothes. I did this so that it linked with what the article was discussing, which was fashion, and also so that it didn’t take away the main images focus of the fact that she was the girl being interviewed within the article. I wanted to outline each of my smaller images with a white boarder, which was something I did on my contents page, again to make smaller links between each of my magazines pages.

PAPER CUT MAGAZINE

As I was creating a double page spread article based on a fashion blogger within Birmingham, I knew that the colour scheme I was going to use could be different to the one I was using for the branding of my magazine, Discover Birmingham making it a lot more easier for me to create my double page spread a lot more effectively. As I knew the topic of my double spread was going to be based around Fashion, I focused my research into not only regional magazines, but also fashion magazines. A article which influenced me a lot was a article within Papercut magazines 4th Birthday addition as shown on the right hand side. I was inspired by the very simplistic layout that they chose to give this article and it was something which I wanted to be able to use within my own magazine. I loved the way which the main article was contrasted with a picture on the right hand side, which spilled over to the left hand side of the article page. I also liked the way in which the font was kept very similar and simplistic. I thought that this was very suitable alongside with the colour scheme of black and white. From seeing this article, I decided that I wanted to make sure that my double page spread wasn’t kept separate in terms of an image on one side of the page and my article on the other. Therefore, I extended the text from the left hand side of my article onto the right hand side where my main image was placed. I also made sure that my font was kept simple. Therefore, I used the same font throughout the whole of the double page spread only made variations through using ‘bold, italics and different shades of monochrome. I also wanted to keep my magazine monochrome as I felt as though it fitted in perfectly with the theme of my magazine being kept very simple. I also did it as I wanted my article to portray Robyn Gough as an ordinary girl which females of Birmingham would be able to identify with easily instead of a role model. By using a monochrome colour scheme I think enabled me to portray Robyn Gough as more of an ordinary girl.





ENDANGERED SPECIES

I liked the way in which the billboard used a question as the main text on their advertisement. I thought my doing this they were engaging directly with the audience. I used the same technique for the tag line of my billboard. By asking the question ‘have you discovered your Birmingham yet’ I was not only engaging directly with my target audience with a rhetorical question, but I was also linking this question directly to my magazine through the use of the words ‘Discover Birmingham’.

COSMOPOLITAN

This billboard influenced my own in terms of its masthead. I liked how it placed the masthead at the top of the page separate to the main image and any other text used on the advertisement. I also chose to use the same feature on the billboard of my magazine, however I chose to place my masthead within the centre of the advertisement against a background which it matched well against. I did this as I wanted to make it obvious that the billboard was advertising the magazine ‘Discover Birmingham’ but also blend in nicely with the picture that the appearance of my billboard was appealing to my target audience.

HEALTH NET

When I came across this billboard on social media, I liked the way in which it included a reference to social media. By doing this it was advertising that information on the health net was available through social media. It was also a feature which I noticed a lot of billboard advertisements use. I decided to use this within my own billboard advertisement. I added the three icons for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on the top right hand side of the page and gave the user name of all three accounts for Discover Birmingham below. I think by doing this it made it more obvious that my billboard was advertising my magazine Discover Birmingham.

The Great and Powerful (Disney)

By looking at this billboard advertisement I noticed that without the release date being visible and the reference to being in ‘IMAX 3D’, it wouldn’t have been obvious that it was advertising a film, it could have been advertising anything. This was when I realised that I would need to add a release date onto my billboard but also identify the fact that it was a magazine. Therefore, under my billboards tag line, I included “Your free monthly magazine”. By doing this I was able to inform my audience on what the billboard was advertising but also linking it back to the actual magazine by saying “Online and In stores – January 2015”.







When searching for radio adverts to influence my decision on my radio advert, I focused on searching for scripts before I started to write my own. I searched these through Google Images where I was able to read through them. By doing this I was able to recognise the fact that most radio adverts are kept short and to the point. By doing this I was able to create my script knowing exactly how I wanted it to be in terms of the choice of two voices, how long I wanted it to last and how I was going to ensure that I made it clear I was advertising a regional magazine based on Birmingham.

I was specifically influenced from the radio advertisement which I have included in the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKXjn4sdRoA

I liked the way in which this radio advertisement used one simple music track the whole way throughout the radio advertisement. I thought that by doing this it did not divert the attention from the main purpose of advertisement for the radio advert. This was a feature which I then included within my radio advertisement as I wanted all of my products to be kept simple so that I could brand my magazine effectively. By not using any extra sound effects and contrast in music in my magazine I was easily able to do this.

I also liked the way in which the radio used a contrast between a male and a female voice. I thought that this kept the audience interested in the radio advert as there was a variation in people instead of the one voice being played throughout. I also included this within my own radio advertisement as I thought that not only I am enabling my audience to not become bored of the same voice throughout the radio advertisement but I also chose to do this to show binary oppositions of male and female. This was to represent the fact that Birmingham is a diverse multicultural city, again enforcing the fact that it was a radio advertisement based on a regional magazine for the Birmingham audience.

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/research-into-music-for-my-radio.html

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/research-and-planning-for-my-radio.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKXjn4sdRoA

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/research-into-music-for-my-radio.html

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/research-and-planning-for-my-radio.html

When creating my regional magazine it was very important that I was able to identify a specific target audience to ensure that I could construct my magazine to suit my target audience.

I was able to identify that my target audience was going to be of the whole of the Birmingham population in particular. This would be a magazine which I would aim at them specifically. However, even though my magazine was going to be specifically about Birmingham and appeal to the Birmingham audience, I also wanted to make sure that people who from outside of the Birmingham region would be able to identify that the magazine was focused on Birmingham in particular. But also, I wanted to make sure that my magazine was not only readable for a Birmingham region but people from different cities would be able to read and use my magazine to be informed into life around Birmingham and use it also as a ‘what's on’ guide.

I think that I have successfully made my magazine appealing and specific to the Birmingham region. However, I have also made it useable for people who do not live in Birmingham and want to find out about the city.

FRONT PAGE

The photography:

On the front page of my magazine, I have tried to attract the audience through the use of my pictures. As I would basing my magazine to appeal to the Birmingham region, I purposely chose to take my original photography of places where the Birmingham region would be able to identify immediately. I therefore chose to include pictures of Selfridges, The Bullring, The Birmingham Library, Brinley Place and The Ikon Gallery. As well as taking pictures of these places, I tried to take most of my photography at low angles so that it would look a lot more appealing to my target audience when I combined all of the pictures together. I also chose to position the pictures on my page into a D shape. I chose this shape in particular as I wanted to demonstrate a relationship between the mastheads name ‘Discover’.

The Masthead:

I purposely chose to call my magazine ‘Discover Birmingham’ I did this as it relates to my target audience being actively involved in finding out about Birmingham through the magazine. I displayed this at the top of the front page of my magazine purposely in bigger font than any other text on the page so that it was clear to my target audience that this was the name of the magazine. I wanted to keep the ‘Discover’ bigger than the ‘Birmingham’ as it related to my target audience discovering the city through the magazine. However, I made sure that Birmingham was still mad visible on the page to show that this is a magazine which is based on the Birmingham area specifically.

The Topic areas:

Instead of using cover lines on the front page of my magazine, I decided to keep it simple and instead put topic areas along the bottom of the front page. I think that doing this instead of cover lines attracted the audience more as I was able to inform them on all topic areas which are covered within my magazine instead of selective cover lines. By doing this I was able to appeal to a lot more people who may be interest in one topic a lot more than they would be in another.

CONTENTS PAGE

The photography:

When choosing the photography for my magazines contents page, I wanted to ensure that the photos were all relevant to contents which I was going to include within my contents. By doing this, I think that I have attracted the audience to my magazine a lot more. My reason for this is because when they are looking at the contents page, some of the articles then relate to the pictures I have chosen. This will give them an insight into the articles within my magazine before needing to read on further, something which a magazines contents page is supposed to do.

Tag line:

At the top of my contents page I have included a tag line saying “Your best guide into life around Birmingham”. I did this as the use of the word “your” directly addresses my audience. I think the use of direct address is very important as it attracts the audience to reading the magazine.

Contents dividers:

The use of my contents dividers attracts my target audience to my magazine as I have again split each topic area into separate content lists. By doing this I am enabling the reader to read the information which appeals to them the most. By doing this they can then look at the areas which they wish to instead of looking though a table of contents which includes all topics.

Double Page Spread

The photography:

For my photography, I wanted to ensure that I portrayed Robyn as an ordinary girl, someone which everyone would be able to connect with through the article. In order to show this, I ensured that the photography which I took of Robyn didn’t show off her ‘beauty’ in sense and instead was shown looking ordinary, looking down at the interview from behind. By doing this, I was still able to make it obvious that the article was about Robyn, a fashion blogger, but the main focus was on the ‘fashion fix’ and her tips into how to dress fashionable for an affordable price around Birmingham. This is something which would have attracted my target audience to my magazine.

The interview:

Within my interview, I have mentioned aspects of Birmingham which most people within the Birmingham region will be able to recognise. I have also mentioned Robyn being able to get her ‘Fashion fix’ from high street stores within Birmingham's Bullring, which again is something which the audience will be attracted to as it is a topic in which everyone will be able to then go away from and have access to. I also started off the interview. At the start of my interview, I also introduced Robyn Gough as a ordinary girl who is a student in Birmingham. This is again something that a lot of young people within Birmingham will be able to relate to and again attract them to read into the interview.

CONTENTS PAGE

The photography:

For my Billboard advertisement, I purposely had chosen to take a panorama photography of Birmingham as I thought that it would attract my audiences attention as I have used a view of Birmingham which the region of Birmingham would be very familiar with. It was also an effective photograph to use as it links in directly with the name of my magazine ‘Discover Birmingham’ this is because on the right hand side of the photograph, there is someone who is looking out to the view and almost ‘discovering Birmingham’. Again an aspect in which people will be able to relate to on my billboard.

CONTENTS PAGE

Social media icons:

By including social media Icons on the top right hand side of my billboard is something which the majority of my audience would be able to relate to as social media is so broadly used by all age groups and genders. Therefore, I thought that it would be something which would attract my target audience into reading my magazine.

Tag Lines:

The tag line which I have used on my billboard is a rhetorical question asking “Have you Discovered your Birmingham yet?”. This directly addresses the audience as I am asking them directly if they have discovered Birmingham. I thought that this would be a good question to ask on my billboard as it links with my magazines name of ‘Discover Birmingham’. The use of the question directs the audience into thinking about whether they have discovered Birmingham yet and if they want to read my magazine in order to do so.

Within my radio advertisement I have tried to address and attracted my target audience as much

as possible. Within my advertisement I have tried to address the audience by asking them

questions and directly speaking to them through the use of ‘you’.

As shown on my radio advertisements script below, I have directly addressed the audience on

every line of my advertisement with the exception of one. By doing this I am speaking directly to

each listener and attracting them to my read my magazine. I have done this through the use of

the words “you and your”. I think that by doing this, the listener is a lot more likely to engage in

listening to the advertisement.

The line which I have chosen to directly address the audience is within the middle of the

advertisement. I have done this as by directly addressing the audience from the start I am most

likely to have managed to attract their attention. This line then enables me to inform them on

what my magazine has to offer and hopefully gain the interest of people who are listening. I then

made sure that I engaged with my audience again until the end of the advertisement with the

use of direct address.

How effective is the combination of your

main products and ancillary texts?

My magazines Masthead is the main way in which I have been able to brand

my magazine as it interlinks all of my products together. The masthead

enables the magazine to be immediately recognised as Discover Birmingham.

I have included my magazines masthead at the top of every page within my

magazine. I have also included the masthead of my magazine on the top of my

billboard advertisement and made reference to the name of my magazine

throughout my radio advertisement. I did this to ensure that there is a

relationship all of my products which I have created.

By featuring my magazines masthead, it will be easy for my target audience to

know that each product is advertising the same brand.

Another way which I have been able to brand my magazine is through the use of

my colour scheme. I have made use of the colours Orange, white and black

throughout my magazine and billboard advertisement.

The use of the colour Orange is associated with happiness, fascination,

attraction, creativity and is associated with things which are hot. Because of

these connotations I thought that Orange would be the perfect colour to use

mainly throughout my product as it represents all things Birmingham.

Having my masthead in orange font, with the connotations of fascination,

attraction and creativity was perfect for my magazine it is relevant to the idea of

my magazine having the latest information and topics on Birmingham which my

target audience can use in order to ‘Discover’ the city.

I used black and white throughout my magazine a lot as I wanted to keep my

magazine very simple, which these colours allowed me to do. They both also have

connotations of power and the unknown, which again links to the idea of my

magazine acting as almost a guide into life around Birmingham which is displayed

by the different content areas my magazine includes.

I had chosen to keep these colours consistent throughout the whole of my

magazine and billboard.

I have also kept a similarity between all of the fonts used within my

magazine and billboard advertisement.

The font which I had chosen to use for my masthead was “Primetime”.

I used this font as I thought that it was a bold font which stands out to

the reader. It also looked ‘trendy’ which was something which I

wanted to ensure my magazine gave the impression of being as

Birmingham is represented as being a trendy city to live in. I also

chose to use the same font for the tag line of my billboard

advertisement. I did this as I wanted it to be the main focus of my

billboard advertisement as well as the masthead at the top of the

advertisement. By using the same font for both of these I thought that

it would give my advertisement a very strong brand image as shown

below.

I have used the font “Trebuchet MS” for the whole of my magazines

contents page and both of the topic areas displayed on both the front

cover and billboard advertisement as shown below. By using the same

font throughout both of my products, I am showing a similarity and

relationship between both products for my magazine. This has enabled

me to build a brand image for my magazine and enabled it to become

easily recognisable as ‘Discover Birmingham’ magazine.

I have used the font “Times New Roman” throughout the whole of my

magazine contents page. I did this as it was very similar to the other

fonts used throughout my products and was a very simple font which I

wanted to ensure my magazine was kept simple. However, by using the

use of a different, but similar font, I have been able to give my

magazine a slightly different type of branding to show that it is a

separate article from the theme of Birmingham magazine. Even though

I did this, I still made sure that elements of my magazines branding was

still used such as the black and white colour scheme for both my font

and background/photography. This enabled the audience to be

reminded that it was still a part of Discover magazine as shown below.

As a part of my branding for Discover Birmingham, I kept the use of

collages consistent through my magazine and my radio advertisement. I

made sure that within my magazine, I included a collage on every page

using the shapes which had four sides. I used collages to make a link

with the diversity of Birmingham contrasted with the different images to

show this.

Within my radio advertisement I purposely chose to record the voices of

both a girl and boy to keep the theme of a collage consistent. This also

demonstrated the diversity between boy and girl with the idea that

Birmingham is a diverse city to live in.

Overall I am very happy with the branding of my magazine. If there

would be one thing which I think I could of improved on, it would be

to include the theme of collages throughout magazine and radio

advertisement on my billboard advertisement.

I think that my radio advertisement was slightly harder to brand as it is not visual. This meant that I had to

brand my magazine through the choice of music and the actual radio advertisements script.

I tried to brand my magazine by keeping my radio advertisement very simple. I did this by only using one

music track behind only two voice over's (a boy and girl). I purposely did this as the theme throughout all of

my products was to keep everything simple. By using a boy and a girl I am clearly distinguishing the

difference between the two voice over's so that it isn’t confusing for my target audience but also showing

diversity of Birmingham through the use of the two binary opposites. I also chose to only include a one music

track behind the voice over’s with no sound effects as I wanted to again keep my radio advertisement as

simple as possible to fit in with the branding of all of my products.

I also chose to use the words ‘Discover Birmingham’ throughout my radio advertisement consistently as shown

in my radio advertisement script below. I did this as it directly referenced the name of my magazine

‘Discover Birmingham’ showing that the radio advertisement was for my magazine specifically.

I also chose to include ‘your best guide

for life around Birmingham’. I chose to do

this as I had included this line within my

magazines contents page as shown

below, again showing a good use of

branding throughout all of my products.

I had also made sure that I included my magazines topic areas within the advertisement to reference

another aspect of my magazine as shown above. By doing this I was showing similarities through my

products and enabling myself to brand my magazine well.

David Gauntlett and Tessa Perkins (Representation theory)David Gauntlett says that the ‘identity is complicated...constructed and mediated’. There are often more to places and people than what is shown as representations are made and mediated in certain ways through media texts.

Tessa Perkins also says that “stereotypes are false with an element of truth but truth is hard to establish”. Stereotypes are often about other people which concern only the minority –however these stereotypes do not change.

Women are often sexualised and objectified as the represented in some ways to entertain the male audience. Within my magazine, I have represented my main image within my double page spread as being quite ‘coy, sexy and stylish’. I have portrayed this by placing her within my photography with her back towards the camera. David Gauntlett would say that is very stereo typical for a women to be represented in this way as she is positioned as if she is wanting to be looked at.

Birmingham is also represented as being a city which is famous for its history. However, I have challenged this representation by trying to demonstrate that Birmingham is a more than this but has developed and become very diverse and urban. I have tried to emphasis this through the front page of my magazine where I have included pictures of Shopping within Birmingham, the Art that Birmingham has to offer, food places and the brand new library as shown below. Tessa Perkins would agree that my magazine in some ways goes against the typical representation of Birmingham.

Roland Barthes (Narrative theory)Roland Barthes came up with an ‘enigma code’ which can be applied to any Narrative and media text. This code is where by the text portrays a mystery and lures in the audience. In this case Barthes would say that I have constructed my magazine creates questions for the audience.

For example, within my magazine, the front page creates the narrative for the magazine as it gets the audience involved and ‘hooks’ them. The contents page is then where the story of the text is shown which enables the audience to become more involved within the media text. The actual content within my magazine is then a disruption to the narrative as it will begin to be an on going process through different issues of the magazine which keeps the receiver of the text involved.

My magazines front page portrays a mystery to lure in the audience as it creates questions for my magazine. This is through the choice of including no cover lines on my magazine. The receiver of the text can only rely on the topic areas and the photographs on the front page to try and work out what the magazine is about. By using only these features Barthes would agree that I am getting the audience to trust in the fact that my magazine is a regional magazine about Birmingham as I am not giving them a detailed preview of what is inside.

Steve Neale, David Buckingham and Jonathan Culler (Genre theory)Steve Neale says that “genres are instances of repetition and difference”. Society see media texts over and over and become used to the way in which different media texts are constructed so they are easily identifiable. Neale is says that sometimes different texts need something a bit different but to be able people to still know what media text it is.

David Buckingham describes genre as being “in a constant process of negotiation and change”. By this he means that how we change our media texts should change appropriately to suit the target audience.

Jonathan Culler says that generic conventions are to establish a contract between the creator and the reader. The reader should be able to make sense of the conventions as it is what they expect to see within a particular type of media text. Conventions allow the creator to give understanding however, we can deviate in the way we use them. It is risky to deviate too much to the audience as we could potentially alienate them. Because of this we need to ensure that there is some type of what he describes as “shared framework”.

All theorists would agree that I have successfully shown the genre through my work. For example, I have demonstrated all theories through my front page. I have included the typical conventions of a magazine Masthead and a main image. However, I have chosen to have no cover lines and have a basic layout. This is a repetition of media genres through the use of my conventions however I have also created a difference with they way in which I haven’t provided my audience with cover lines.

What have you learnt from your audience

feedback?

I had created a questionnaire consisting of eight questions in order for my to understand my target

audience and know what they wanted to and were expecting to see within a regional magazine. I also

used survey monkey to advertise my questionnaire;


The full response to my questionnaire is on my blog;

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/research-into-my-target-audience.html

The following responses were the most relevant for my in the construction of my magazine;

Most people agreed that they would like to see a variety of topics within my regional magazine (63% of

people I asked) as it makes the magazine a lot more appealing to a wider target audience within

Birmingham. My response to this was to include my topic areas “Fashion and beauty, Arts and Culture,

News and Business and nightlife and entertainment” within my magazine.

Most people also agreed that they would prefer it if my magazine was text and image based (74% people

who I asked). By doing this I was able to be a lot more creative with my magazine in order to appeal the

Birmingham region.

Once I had came up with the idea of an interview with a Birmingham Fashion blogger as my double page

spread article, I thought that it would be a good idea to ask my target audience if they would expect to

see an interview within a regional magazine. By asking this I was able to see that it was a good idea to

make it my main article as 65% of people asked said that they would like to see an interview in a regional

magazine.

It was helpful for me to have more than one view point for my magazine as it enabled me to find ways in

which I was going to make my magazine appealing for as many people as possible. The questionnaire

made me change some of my original ideas so that I could make my magazine appeal to my audience.


http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/research-into-my-target-audience.html

In terms of feedback which I received for the front page of my magazine I felt as though it helped me improve it a lot – something which I wouldn’t have been able to do without the feedback.

For the front page of my magazine, I set up a small focus of three people on ‘WhatsApp’ where I sent a photo of the front page of my magazine and asked for their initial thoughts. I felt as though overall I received positive feedback from this which made me feel reassured about the direction I was taking my magazine in.

My focus group recognised the use of a collage to present life around Birmingham with key landmarks and also identified the relationship I have tried to make between the shape of the collage and the name of my magazine.

Another person within the focus group mentioned how she thought that I should change the font at the bottom of the page which at the top didn’t stand out to the audience. This was a vital piece of feedback for me as I thought that the fact the front page of my magazine did not include any cover lines, the topic areas on the bottom of the page was the only way in which I could ensure my audience was informed of the content within my magazine. By changing the font I used as well of the colours on this particular piece of text I though really enabled my magazine to be identified as a regional magazine which was going to inform the Birmingham region on different aspects of life around Birmingham.

Another individual within my focus group also identified the fact that she liked the way in which I had kept my magazine very minimal in its colours, text and pictures. This again made me feel more confident in how I was choosing to brand my magazine.

I was able to use this feedback constructively as I purpose chose to ask people who lived in the Birmingham region themselves.



I had also uploaded my work to a social networking site (twitter). I did this so that I could reach out to the target

audience of Birmingham and gain feedback into aspects of my magazines which they either liked or did not like

meaning I could improve it and feel confident in the work which I had produced.

The feedback which I received was very positive. Someone was able to identify the fact that I have tried to create a

‘D’ Shape using the collage on my front page to give a sense of branding through my product. This was very pleasing to

know as it shows me that I have been able to brand my magazine successfully. Also, someone commented on the

pictures which I have used throughout my magazine. This is very good to hear as it shows that because of the amount

of original photography I decided to take, I was able to select the most appropriate photos to use within my magazine

and they were effective!. They also mentioned the use of the colour scheme how they really liked it. This was good to

hear as I again was able to identify the fact that my colour scheme worked well for my magazine. Someone mentioned

the use of the use of the black and white colour scheme on my double page spread as making the main image used

look ‘powerful’ and easy to identify that the article was about her. Someone had also mentioned that they liked the

use of the pictures throughout the magazine and the chosen colour scheme also enforcing that fact that I had made

the right decisions in the creativity of my magazine.

I am glad that I uploaded my magazine on social media as I was able to gain more than one opinion on my work and

also know that what I had constructed was suitable for my target audience of the specific Birmingham demographic.

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/construction-of-my-magazine.html

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/construction-of-my-magazine.html

As well as creating a focus group, I also asked my teacher for

feedback on the front page of my magazine. By doing this he was

able to point out the use of my pictures on the front page. He

identified the fact that one of my pictures (as shown below) did not

fit in with the pictures I had used within my collage.

From this feedback I was able to change the one picture which I had

used to a picture of the Pitcher and Piano in Brinley Place. By doing

this my front page had reference to my contents page as this

location was also mentioned here. I also found that all of the

pictures on the front page were taken at an angle which made the

picture look more appealing to my audience. This was something

which I hadn’t achieved in the one photography by using the

mailbox, but once changing the photo I had again.

When I began to create my masthead, I used social media to gather

audience feedback for what I had created. I posted a picture of my

magazines masthead onto Facebook, where I got a positive

response. Again, the comment made was based on how bold but

simple my masthead was which was something I wanted to

magazine to be in order to attract my target audience of

Birmingham. Using social media enabled me to know that I was

going in the right direction for the masthead of my magazine.

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/targeting-

audience.html

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/targeting-audience.html

One of the ways in which I received feedback from my target audience was by presenting my

work to my in a focus group with students and teachers within my sixth form. By doing this I

was able to gain very good feedback from my original billboard which informed the decisions

which I had made to create my final version.

I had created a billboard advertisement for my magazine shown below which I presented to

my focus group. The feedback from this was very useful as they pointed out to me that the

advertisement wasn’t obvious to my target audience what it was advertising. Even though I

had included several references to my magazine such as the masthead, the topic areas which

I had put on the front page of my magazine and the use of the question using the words

‘discover’ and ‘Birmingham’, I did not include anything which suggested that it was for a

magazine. As well as this, they pointed out to me that my colour scheme wasn’t kept

consistent throughout my products because of my billboard. Because of this feedback I was

able to construct a new billboard which included similar features however new ones as well

so that the advertisement was obvious that it was for a regional magazine. I have included

both billboards below.

BEFORE AFTER

In order to gain feedback from my work, I uploaded my billboard onto twitter. I did this so that I could publically share

my work and gain feedback into what they liked about it or even what they didn’t.

I found that the audience liked the use of the panoramic image used for my billboard. One person described it as being

“very effective”. This was good to know as I purposely chose to take a panoramic photography of a view of Birmingham

as it fit well with the layout of my billboard advertisement. Also I thought that it fit well with the magazine name

‘Discover Birmingham’ as it was a view of Birmingham almost showing what there is to be potentially discovered

around Birmingham.

Someone also said that they thought that the billboard was good however they found it hard to see the orange writing

at the bottom of the page. By receiving this feedback I was able to chose to keep the colours the same as I wanted to

ensure there was a consistency in colour scheme throughout my magazine, however I chose to make the writing a bit

bigger and also change the font to being ‘Bold’ so that it was more visible to my audience. If I hadn’t of received this

feedback than I may not have been able to sell my magazine successfully to my audience as it may not have been

clear. However, by receiving this feedback I was able to change this.

Someone had also noticed the fact that the colours I had chosen to use for my magazine were then used through my

billboard advertisement. For examples the use of the orange text. They also said that they liked the use of the picture,

this shows me that as more than one person is commenting on the same aspect of my magazine, I have branded and

constructed my magazine correctly which gave me confidence in the decisions I had made for my products.

When creating my radio advertisement, in order to gain feedback from my target

market group, I used the website www.soundcloud.com in order to do this. On this

website I was able to upload various tracks and versions of my radio advertisement so

that people could like and comment on it.

I uploaded my final edited version to SoundCloud so that people were able to view it and leave

comments below the track. As shown above, this was a really beneficial technique in terms of sharing

my work as I gained positive feedback from my target audience. Not only this, but the feedback in

which I had received was specifically about elements of my radio advertisement I had constructed on

purpose to try and brand it well. For example, people who commented mentioned how it was obvious

that the advertisement was for ‘Discover Birmingham’ as I had referenced ‘Discover’ a lot throughout

my radio advertisement as well as mentioning ‘Discover Birmingham’. They also commented on the

use of direct address constantly through the advertisement and how it was effective as it directly

related to them.


http://www.soundcloud.com/


How did you use media technologies in the

construction and research, planning and

evaluation stages?

In order for me to keep a record of my progress throughout my project, I used the website blogger where I was

able to use it as an ‘online diary’ throughout A2. I was able to hyperlink, upload, embed and comment on what

I had learnt through my research and planning.

An example of the way in which I used blogger would be when I was starting the construction of my radio

advertisement I research copyright free music on YouTube and embedded the tracks which I liked into a blog

post. I was then able to comment on my research and plan how I was going to use the content for my project.

By using blogger, I was able to review my progress throughout the course as each blog post is kept in

chronological order by date and time. I was able to review my time management frequently and also see what

areas I knew I needed to focus on more than others.

Blogger also enabled me to save blog posts as drafts before publishing them, this enabled me to log thoughts

that I had on my work and at a later date review them enabling my to action them and keep a track of my

progress once I was ready to publish each post.

Under each of my posts on Blogger, there are comment boxes which people could write on and give an opinion

on my work. This was useful to me as I was allowing myself to receive target market research easily and always

give myself the opportunity to improve on my work.

I chose Blogger to record my work as I like the way in which it is very accessible through the use of the

internet. This means that not only do I have access to keeping track on my work but so does everyone else

enabling me to receive feedback from my teachers and class mates without having to show them myself. I also

found that it was very good to record my work on as there was no way which I could lose my work as well as

the fact that each blog post has no limited to the amount which can be posted. Blogger enabled me to record

the progress of my project through the use of different types of media such as images, videos, text and online

magazines.

I also found that Microsoft PowerPoint helped me a lot when trying to keep a progress of my project on the

blog. I used Microsoft PowerPoint in order to store each screenshot of my progress stored safely un till I was

ready to comment and upload the photos at the end of each day. Without this I think that I would have found

it a lot harder to keep progress on my blog enabling myself to develop in different areas.

Blogger

Microsoft

PowerPoint

As well as using Blogger I also made use of other websites to help me with my research and planning

throughout my project. I used Google search engine mainly to find images of other magazines and

billboards and also websites which I could gain inspiration from for the construction of all of my

products.

YouTube enabled me to search for music which I could use within my radio advertisement. I had to

make sure that the music which I was going to use from YouTube had links to free downloads and that

they were all copyright free.

The website freesound.com was also another website which I used to help me look for sound to use

within my radio advertisement. On this website I was able to search and download various types of

music which were free and copyright free. This website was very useful to use as unlike YouTube, I

was able to search music my genre allowing me to search for music which I thought would suit my

radio advert a lot more than other types of genres.

Another website which I used a lot throughout my project was Issuu.com. This was a very useful

website as it allowed me to search for all genres of magazines and view online versions of them. Even

though my magazine was of a regional genre, I found it useful to look into other genres of magazines

such as Fashion magazines to look at their layout and gain ideas into how I also wanted mine to look.

When I first started creating my magazine I searched for a font which I wanted my masthead to be

created in. I did this by looking on a website called dafont.com. On here I was able to find a font

called ‘Primetime’ which I then installed from the website into my own computer to be able to use

for the masthead of my magazine.

I had also used the website fotor.com to help me keep the theme of collages consistent. I used this

website to help me create the collages of photos on the front page of my magazine, the contents

page and also the double page spread. This website enabled me to search various collage templates

which I could then save for free and insert into my page plus document. Without this website I would

have found it very difficult to brand my magazine like I have done.

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/organisation_18.html

http://taliagayemediastudiesa2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/organisation_18.html

MY MAGAZINE AND BILLBOARD. When I created my magazine and billboard, I used my camera to take various photos of Birmingham and my ‘model’ used for my double page spread. While I did this, I made sure that I took a variety of pictures of the same shot so that I would be able to choose from more than one picture ensuring that I could use the best photography possible for my magazine. The camera took good quality photos, however at times I needed to ensure that I had a steady hand to make sure that the photos which I produced were not blurry. Once I had taken the photos I needed for my magazine, I was then able to insert these into my magazine template on PagePlus. This software allowed me to edit my photos as well as use features such as layering images and text, cutting out photographs, inserting different backgrounds on individual pages, using different fonts (as well as size and colour) to name a few. What I loved about PagePlus was how it allowed me to export my work as a JPEG and then view it as a magazine. By doing this I was then able to see what my magazine looked like properly and would be able to go back and improve on areas which I wasn’t keen on.

Another software which I made use of was Paint.net. My main use of paint.net was to edit my photographs, removing their background using the ‘magic wand’ tool. This was really useful for my project as I used this for the main image on my double page spread. By using this tool I was able to remove the background from the original photograph and then add it onto the PagePlus document allowing me to naturally blend the photograph into an appropriate background colour which I had chosen.

PagePlus

MY RADIO ADVERTISEMENTFor my radio advertisement, the main software I used was audacity. This software allowed me to upload sound and edit it into a soundtrack. To start with I recorded my script on audacity using a microphone. Audacity allowed me to add several layers of sound which meant that I could record the script as many times as I liked. Once I was happy with the amount of times I had recorded the script, I was able to then play it back to myself. Audacity allowed me to mute each different layer and play one at a time so the sound didn’t overlap. I found that I liked different parts of different script recordings. Because of this I used the cropping tool on audacity to cut each sound and paste the sound into a new layer. I was then able to build the script together again using my best attempts at the radio advertisements script. I used a new layer to add the final script into. Once I was happy with this I deleted all other attempts leaving me with my final piece. Once I had done this, I was able to import a soundtrack into Audacity alongside my script. Again, I liked certain parts of the sound track more than others so I cut out parts which I liked and joined the same sound together various amounts of times so that it made the radio track play for longer.

Once I was happy with my spoken script and soundtrack I was able to edit the Audacity file by moving different parts of my script alongside the soundtrack so that it went with the music naturally. I was also able to increase the volume of different sections of the audio track when need be which was really useful when the voices were speaking.

Once I had finished my soundtrack and was happy with it I was able to easily then export the file as an MP3 sound and my radio advert was complete.

I really liked using audacity as it was very straight forward and easy to use. Without Audacity I would have found it very hard to create my radio advertisement.

I liked the way in which I only had to use this software to create the whole of the advertisement where as for my billboard and magazine, I used a variety of software's.

For my evaluation I used Microsoft PowerPoint to present it.

I found Microsoft PowerPoint a very easy software to use and thought that it was very

reliable in keeping my work safe.

I liked the way in which I was able to use different templates to make my work be

presented in more interesting layouts. I liked how I was easily able to include hyperlinks

to my blog posts and insert images to how my progress through A2 easily.

By using Microsoft PowerPoint I didn’t have to adjust to any new programmes as I was

very familiar with it.

By using Microsoft PowerPoint I could easily access and edit my work from different

computers without needing the availability of the internet.

I am very pleased with the outcome of my Evaluation using this software.

MY FONT PAGE AND CONTENTS PAGEThere are both similarities and differences in how I developed from AS to A2. I used my skills which I learnt from AS in making my magazine through Page Plus and Paint.net, however this year I improved my work in A2 by using tools such as photo editors and different tools on Paint.net and PagePlus which hadn’t been used in AS.

My AS project included the creation of a Rock/Indie genre magazine named ‘Roit’. The name of my magazine had no connection to the topic of my magazine in AS, I created it as I thought that it sounded good for the genre of music. However, in A2, I had created my magazines name based on the topic of a creating a regional magazine. By naming my magazine ‘Discover Birmingham’ I thought that it referenced the fact that it was a magazine focusing on a specific Birmingham region as well as suggesting that it was a magazine which was going to inform its readers and allow it to ‘Discover’ the city through the magazines content.

In terms of my magazine photography in AS, I constructed all of my photography throughout the magazine in one location. This meant that my images were limited for the use of magazine as shown above. Where as in A2 I choose to go to a lot of locations and take a lot of photos. I did this as I didn’t want to restrict myself to have to use only a few photographs. I was also able to represent Birmingham as being very diverse through my use of the photography. Where as in AS I needed to ensure that the few photos which I took where matched to the genre of Indie/Rock music as much as possible. My photoraphy in A2 was only to suit a specific audience of people so I found it easy to construct my photography, where as for A2 I had to make sure my photography suited my target audience within a region of Birmingham – a much wider audience.

I followed very similar codes and conventions of a music magazine in A2 as I did in AS. This year I found that I slightly challenged the conventions of a magazine in terms of my magazines front page. This is because I didn’t choose to include any cover lines on the front page of my magazine – instead gave the reader an insight for the content by listing the different topic areas. I am glad that I challenged these conventions as I think it has enabled me to brand my magazine well and achieve the simple layout which I wanted my magazine to have.

I think that this I have made my magazine a lot more realistic through my choices of branding and layout as a result of my research and planning. From reviewing my AS project compared to my A2 project I am happy with the progress.

AS Project

A2 Project

MY DOUBLE PAGE SPREADI feel as though for my double page spread I have progressed from AS to A2 well. I have used very similar layout and techniques but I think that I have improved on these massively.

In AS, I think that I followed the typical conventions of a magazines double page spread, however I do not think that the way in which I constructed them were very realistic.

I think that this year by keeping my layout very simple I have made the magazine work very well and branded my magazine affectively. I wanted to ensure that there was similarities between each page of my magazine and on each page to show a relationship between each page.

This year, as I wanted to ensure that I branded my magazine well, I added extra features which I did not in AS such as including my magazines masthead on each page. I also thought that it would be a better idea if the text on my double page spread was made a lot smaller and kept consistent in colour and fonts used.

I chose to make the theme of using collages consistent throughout the whole of my magazine so that it was represented as a featured used within Discover Birmingham magazine.

In AS, I chose to keep only the colours consistent throughout my magazine to show branding. Where as in A2 I have put a lot more thought into ways in which I can show consistency throughout my whole project without each page looking the same.

In A2 I thought that it would be more effective to give my double page spread its own identity from my magazines ‘colour scheme’ and kept it black and white. Regardless of these two pages being completely different from my contents page and front page, I have kept small details present such as the collages, masthead on top left hand corner and the same font to ensure that the relationship to the magazine itself is still present – something which I didn’t do in AS.

AS Project

A2 Project

RADIO ADVERTISEMENTI think that I have progressed a lot from AS in terms of time management. My reason for this is because in AS I

was only required to make a magazine including a front page, contents page and double page spread. Where in

AS, I have constructed a magazine – including a front page, contents page and double page spread as well

creating a billboard and radio advertisement which is promoting my magazine within the same amount of time

as AS.

By doing this I had to develop my skills in order to make a radio advertisement on a new software which I had

never used before – Audacity. I needed to adjust my skills on PagePlus which I had learnt to develop a

magazine and change this into creating the format for a billboard advertisement.

As well as creating two extra products at A2, I also had to develop my skills in my research and planning as I

was a lot more limited to where I could gain inspiration from for all three products. I found that in AS there

were a lot of magazines which were based on an Indie/Rock music genre. Where in A2 I was a lot more limited

at the examples of magazines I could look at which were regional magazines. As I result of this I found myself

looking at lots of different types of magazines such as music magazines, fashion magazine and regional

magazine etc. and then needing to adapt this research to make it useful for the construction of a regional

magazine.

At AS, it was very important that I branded my magazine well so that I could easily use the same theme

throughout all three products. This wasn’t very difficult for my billboard however in terms of a radio advert I

had to try and brand it verbally instead of visually. This was something I had never done before and made me

need to think it my script a lot more. While branding my products I also needed to ensure that I was appealing

to the specific region of Birmingham.

This year I feel as though I have developed my skills throughout all areas of my project compared to year twp

and feel happy with my end products.

A2 media studies evaluation

Education

Transcript of A2 media studies evaluation