EVALUATIONFront cover and contents page.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real music magazines?

My main image is the most dominant on the page and clearly shows authority over everything else on the magazine. I did this to reveal the superiority and control which is a great achievement and motivational point for many artists

Cover lines are very important part of any magazine front cover. They help the reader find out what in the particular issue of the magazine, and in turn broadening the audience range.

Freebies are an essential part of any magazine. It lets the reader know they are getting more than just a magazine. It could be the difference between an okay magazine and a great magazine.

This magazine uses the usual standard bar code to essentially improve the realism factor of my magazine.

Front cover

Mast head and strap lines are used to appoint the audience and connect them to the magazine. The main goal of my magazine is to entertain and these aspects I hope do. These two are usually enough to make the reader buy the product. I developed this by researching the appropriate font styles for both the masthead and strap lines. I believe this is appropriate for my chosen genre as it is ‘in with the crowd’ and ‘creative’ which are two things my chosen genre value.

The box out is the collection of freebies, like the go getter of the magazine. It handles the target audience in getting what they want from the magazine. Things like posters, interviews and many more. I think

Contents

The top strip is an advertising layer in the magazine world. They are a great source of advertisement. They work in a kind of billboard way. They can advertise various things. I have developed it by adding a distinguished red line between the title of the mag and the strip. This is to increase the chances of the audience catching it. Also it would help with sales and of course increase the profit of the mag. Things like this differs a long time professional from a ‘recruit’ .

Contents

I added the main article title ‘rivalry’ and ‘contents’ to make the reader associate information with this page. The clear positioning of these medias help the reader to distinguish a clear recognition that this is the contents page. I didn’t want to bore the audience but I did want to differ my style from the conventional music mag. As my audience is a niche market I wanted them to feel like they were getting privileges for buying the mag. This would in turn increase distribution and sales.

Featured articles and cover lines are a curtail part of a magazine. They work as a kind of menu. They are definitely a must for any contents page. I first came upon this in my research. I found out that the main articles have to be different from other articles. So I developed this by adding pictures related to the article and added some outer glow to change the look of thee text. I didn’t want to discontinue my house style. I also didn’t want to differ it to much that it was two different styles. I wanted to make the audience connect the relevant colours with my mag.

Contents

Heading and introductions are for the initial interest of the audience. They help to brighten the page and to increase the chances the audience read this article, which is the main article. Also This helps to add a new layer and the reader may buy the mag for this reason. I had to think of my readers age range and that they like something to look at while reading. This si how I developed it.

Double page article

Double page article

Images and Quotes characterize and improve an article. They were more difficult to develop in the thinking process. I wanted them to enhance the magazine and create a unique look, one that if someone saw it they would know it was my magazine. So hence forth . I also wanted to create a look that my target audience would like to see. While taking into consideration the audience I had to create suitable quotes and images to interest them. I developed this by creating a readership profile and learning about my target audience.

The main featured article is the main selling point for many magazine companies. It is one of the things readers are looking for. I developed this by thinking of an idea that was related to my genre. I used interesting vocabulary and realistic questions to try to keep it entertaining throughout.

Double page spread

House Style

In my research I started to notice a pattern of recognition with my mag. This turned out to be my house style. It immediately tells the audience what their reading. With this recognition they know what they’re reading is reliable which in turn increases sales and flow.

These green arrows show something the audience is getting extra to the magazine. It shows a pattern in my mag that points out where to look to see certain things inside

The blue lines show a font and colouring similarity. I tried to keep a flow of colour and font in these pages. Red is clearly the dominant colour but I wanted white to play a part in separating important features. As this is a code of convention my mag will be much better.

How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents young adults/teenagers using codes of conventions that I have researched within my genre.

Firstly the colour scheme is used to display and convey relevant information. For example red is symbolic of hatred, disgust and rage, but at the same time it represents love, care and peace. These kind of colours have many meanings and are used effectively. White and black are a contrast and compliment each other. I used these to stimulate the readers mind and make them feel like they are exclusive readers. in addition the colour red is also a symbol of power which the reader could associate with, Overall I want my target audience to feel like their reading an exclusive magazine, something to look forward to. This is what I strive to achieve.

Secondly the fonts are very important. A magazine that has genre specific fonts will out market one that does not. I choose fonts which are related to rock and rave. As this is a niche in the market my magazine would do much better directly addressing the specific audience. In line with the codes on conventions I didn’t want to choose fonts which were unclear. The likely hood is, my magazine may have failed.

The image and costumes are very important for giving of the right message. I used certain poses and clothing to relate to my audience. It’s what they expect to see. I used costumes and lighting effects to show unique rock/rave look that was typical of my genre but not exactly copying every other magazine. Because of my research I was able to pick the right clothing and show the right camera angle for a more genre specific feel. I learned the figure must be in the presence of power and righteousness while not being to aggressive. I did this by symbolising a humble look that was relegated to my genre. One that people strive to be. While the clothing and colours are all relevant, they do undeniably follow a pattern in line with the code of conventions

All of this is crucial for striving to relate to your social group. There is however one important factor that many people overlook. This is being able to relate, in words to the lives of these teenagers and adults. Being able to do this will open up opportunities for direction and make the readers consider a connection with these magazines. This will further help get across information and the messages I am trying to pass on.

The language is the solution for a target audience. The language I use is the language they use to showing similarities is a fine way to connect and show a mode of address in the audience.

taken as a whole I feel my magazine uses many of the codes of conventions which I have illustrated. My magazine shows my target audience which is a niche market using:, colour, fonts, quotes and other codes of conventions to signify the integrity and decency of the artist.

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

My magazine could be associated with many of the media institutions but the one I would pick would be IPC media.

When I did my magazine institution research I ended up with IPC as they seemed most likely to market my product.

IPC distribute NME, a well known music magazine. They also have allot of diversity in their institution. Because of this they seem likely to consider a magazine which is connected to a niche market and shows originality. A worthy investment.

They have much fame in the world they are a huge company who are always expanding in size. I feel this is a good point to start an attempt to sell my magazine. The endorsement and advertising deals would swiftly gain publicity.

IPC uses their own products to endorse other produces. As they are so diverse, their many products all over the internet, television and other various outlets. There would be many ways to advertise a magazine.

The nature of this company is to expand. They have so many outlets which are all great for advertisement purposes . Time Warner cable especially as they can advertise to millions of people 24/7. The benefits of this company are huge. This would clearly increase fame and sales.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I used a readership profile to find out what it is my audience are like. I thought if I know my audience it would be much easier to attract them.

Readership profile link - http://www.slideshare.net/harleybear/readership-profile1

The readership profile shows some things I researched in relation to my audience. The pictures represent things my audience are into. I found out that my audience, put simply want simplicity, fun and rejoice in reading and entertainment. You can see the percentage of people reading the

I used the relevance of my magazine to create I kind of relationship with the target audience. I new if they could socialize with others talking about this issue or that issue of ‘Velocity’ then popularity would come to me. To further this point I wanted to create a magazine that would directly address this audience. Doing this would allow me to gain a sort of consistency with the readers. This would tell them that every issue of my magazine would be Equally as good. I believe this would attract and address the audience in such a way that they would like my magazine.

I use the content of my main article to create a safe environment in my magazine. This will gain the trust and appreciation of the audience which I am striving to get.

The language is also a way in which I will get the audience to get a trustworthy feeling and further emphasise that this magazine is one which they should buy and spread the word about. Also The large images and font will make the reader feel involved and motivated to reed on.

The colour red and black contrast. In my research I found out that the huge contrast in colour makes the text more appealing to read. This would attract the audience into reading my magazine.

What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this music magazine?(Lighting, photography, Photoshop, indesign and the internet)

The very thing I learned it that Photoshop takes a while to get to grips with. I had a difficult time getting to grips with it. Of course I got better with time but just the time it took and the care to attention I had to pay shows how advanced the technology of our time is. (see next slide)

The photography is obviously a big part of any magazine. There are many things to take into account like positioning of the camera. I used a tripod to give an absolutely still, high quality to my photo shoot. For the main image I had to work out the right distance to put the camera. This took a couple of tries but I persevered. The second image was relatively easy. Just a close up of me behind a green screen, although I wanted the small amount of light to highlight the tip of my hair for effect.. I was trying to set a kind of serious mood, I did this because I wanted to keep the audience interested . The double page spread image uses a red filter instead of effects to add a different style.

The internet was a big factor for me. Social websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have shown me my audience in a nut shell. I researched some relevant videos on Youtube for my audience research. This was to take a look at the kind of scene behind the music. Partying, fun and mischief was some of the main takeaway from this. The internet was also a good way to get in touch with individual members of my audience and ask them relevant questions.

Photoshop technologies A great part of Photoshop is the ‘duplicate layer’ option. It is a

unique feature that really comes in handy. In many situations like testing or changing a layer you always have a backup which helps allot.

The next feature is ‘blending options’ which is one of the most versatile on Photoshop. It helps when you need a new look to a layer. The main features of thi9s are; outer glow, stroke and colour overlay. Each of which can be used in it’s own unique way. The outer glow was used on my magazine when I needed to make something stand out or just meet the terms of my house style. Stroke works with the outer glow giving it extra range and depth. Colour overlay worked well with my text and certain titles.

The last one is the ‘lasso’. It is a very specific cutting tool that can cut with great accuracy and precision. As the magic eraser tool is not always as accurate as I like the lasso is very helpful.

Experimenting with Photoshop was really helpful with learning the basics and helping with the positioning of the title. I also learnt the main effects to put on most objects. These are: outer glow, colour overlay and stroke. It took a while to find the write positioning for my objects. Although the flat plans did help.

• The first step in Photoshop was to make a black background and put my picture of choice. The reasoning behind this choice of picture was that I wanted my arms to take up unused space but I didn’t want to take up to much space. I resized the photo to apply to my needs. I later added effects to my photo to match the rest of my mag.

Photoshop technologies

Lighting The lighting was a big factor in my photo shoot as well as filters. I had the idea of

having the double page spread photo having a large shadow behind it. This turned out to be hard to do and edit in Photoshop. The idea was to make the shadow represent the demons that we have to overcome. The red filter I used was a representation that life isn’t perfect.

I was going to use this picture to show that the music scene is affecting our youths sleep patterns and how they suffer in the class rooms because of this.

The lighting also had to be placed in many areas to fit the right effect I was going for.

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

One of the most important things I have learned throughout this magazine work is positioning. The flat plans helped allot. I noticed that preliminary task the amount of content on the page was not enough to fill the page. I needed more information and other media. I made sure on the music magazine I knew enough about my audience to write an article and had enough images to represent the rest of the magazine. I do how ever regret using the preliminary colour red. I feel it gets a little vague. If I were to do this again I would use a wider range of colours.

Another big progression for me was learning how to use language. From the initial collage magazine there is a clear step from okay to a solid article. The language used in the music magazine article was thought out. I tried to make it sound realistic. I didn’t want my audience to feel like there reading a scripted article. Also the questions I asked I thought must be related to what the audience would want to see.

It’s clear the difference from when I started the magazine to the finished product. I have learned allot in the process of making this magazine. I feel its worth noting that I spent more time on the front cover than the contents. Also I was unclear on the copy write claims for band album logo’s and album covers. This leads to a large amount of time spent on an article that was illegal to use. Although I did use some inspiration from the original article to the finished piece.

A great tool in Photoshop is ‘opacity’. This allows objects to be faded. It controls how dense the object is. It helps in specific objects. I used it for a couple of reasons. The first being the velocity sign. I first used the colour overlay tool to cover the font red. I didn’t like the density of red. To I changed the opacity to 75 rather than 100.

Something useful have learned is the Photoshop advances. Text flow was a very useful statistic on my double page spread. It allowed my text to flow around my image. This was the same technique I used for a ‘pull quote’. Just making the text flow around an object is a skill in itself.

Photoshop technologies