AS Media Evaluation Media CourseworkMusic Magazine

Name - Saif Mohammed LambeCandidate Number - 5290

I tried to use my own ideas to make my magazine look more unique, but I used many conventions that you would usually find in a magazine to make it look professional and realistic. Using the results from my questionnaire I found that people enjoy seeing a big image and lots of interesting article names on the front, I decided to use the ideas and create my magazine, these ideas are similar to those found in major magazines such as NME and Kerrang!. I looked at a number of magazines to get more ideas.

The conventions I used from these magazines are things like:• Big bold title to stand out from everything else and as it is the most important thing• Big main image to interest the audience• Strap line to give more detail • Barcode in the corner with the price to it is noticeable but not the main attraction• Big font for the main story to gain attention• A colour scheme to make it look formal

However I also challenged ideas from these magazines such as:• More images on display to interest the audience• A logo (the plug sign)• A neat layout to make it readable.

1, I decided to place my title in the same place as the NME magazine because it looks nice and effective and stand out.2, I chose to put my image on the opposite side however because I thought it looked better due to the angle of the photo looking directly at you. 3, I made my writing overlap slightly on the image and behind image 2, to show more effects as the NME version looks very small. 4, I placed my introduction paragraph at the top rather than near the writing so it looks more interactive and not all in one area. 4, I also added a ‘quote’ box to make it look more effective as an interview, and made it stand out in a black box to make it different.

My media product represents a social group of male/female as I used an image of a female, as boys and girls would like it. The colours I used represents the age group of 16-20 as its quite bold and not to childish or to formal. I added more photos to interest the audience as the social group I have chosen would like to be see them, as it would make them more interested. The price I have chosen would also represent my social group as it is affordable and cheap.

The language I have used also represents the social group as it is informal but formal so that it is readable and suitable to everyone.

Theses are all the characteristics that come to mind when I think

about the social group for my music magazine that I have created.

I think that I my magazine should be distributed with a popular company of a company that could maximize my products brand.

The media institution that could distribute my product is called Bauer Media, who distribute music magazines such as Q, Kerrang!, Mojo. I would choose them as they distribute big named magazines, which would mean my product would be popular. They distribute magazines that represent all ages, genders, genres e.g. sport and photography etc.

Another company that could distribute my product is called Seymour. This company distributes magazines for music, cars and lifestyle. It would be good as it would have a new genre in their brand and as they are already popular it would make my magazine popular.

From the results I found from my questionnaire, the audience for my product would be male/female that enjoy reading about the latest music updates or gossip in the industry. The audience would also be 16-20 as they would enjoy the range of images and articles I have added. The audience would also

From the results in my questionnaire I found that the audience for my media product would be male/female as, it would relate to more people, and it would attract a bigger audience.

I aimed it to an age range of 16-20 as it think it would suit them the most as its aimed at people who enjoy gossip from the music industry.

It would mainly be read by lower/middle working class people or students (secondary school/college or university).

The language is formal but informal at the same time to be suitable to everyone as anyone can read it and understand it e.g. it isn't in colloquial language.

My media product represents the genre of R&B which is commonly liked my people that I aimed the age range at, I found this out while completing my questionnaire.

I attracted my audience by making sure I made my magazine look unique and interesting by adding various images and articles to get people interested. The range of colours that I used also helps to attract people because it doesn’t look simple and boring. I used bold fonts to make it eye catching especially as I added the stroke outlines to make it stand out.

The magazine uses a informal tone to address the audience however it is still suitable for everyone as it still uses formal English compared to other magazines like NME that use offensive language in their magazines.

I included a lot of stories and images that my target audience would like to see to make sure that they would enjoy reading it and looking at it. I made the layout interesting so that also would attract a lot of people.

To complete the task of creating a music magazine I had to familiarise myself to use: • A Mac• Photoshop• PreziTo do this I watched some tutorials on YouTube:Prezi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMHBNa5KGJ0&feature=related

Before starting the course I didn’t know how to use these items but gradually I learnt all the key features.Firstly I had to learn how to use a Mac as it operates differently to a Windows computer, with a different keyboard and onscreen options e.g. close, maximize, no start up

options etc. Learning how to use Photoshop was difficult at first as I had to learn how to edit photos,

backgrounds, merging/deleting layers, lighten/darken images, make things sharper or blurred, change sizes, crops images, adding stroke to text/images, getting rid of spots, making hair a different colour. Altogether this allowed me to create a front cover, contents page and double page spread.

I also had to learn how to use Prezi, which is a web based presentation all on one page rather than individual slides. I had to learn to create a colour scheme, add text boxes, upload images on to it, make it interactive by adding paths which allows it to move on to the next text.

Looking back at my preliminary task, I feel that I have majorly progressed as you can see from the images below. I learnt many skills on Photoshop than I knew at the beginning e.g. using the lasso tool to get the proper shape of the image outline. I learnt to put a background rather than using boxes. I also learnt to put effects on the fonts which makes it look much better in the music magazine. I also feel that I have learnt more about layout in the final product e.g. font on top of the image, and around. I also learnt to create a logo on Photoshop (the plug).

As you can see in the preliminary it looksrather basic and plain, I feel that in the finaltask I have really tried to make it look interesting and bright rather than a white background and an image, whereas I have put a nice colour, more images and text.

I also feel that I have improved a lot while producing my contents page, as I learnt to improve the layout of the images, title and text and different layers and effects that I could add to texts and images and shapes. It was due to Photoshop that I could edit images easily too make them look good.

As you can see there is a hugedifference between the two pages. I feel that I made the music magazine one look much moreinteresting and bold and not basicby using a variety of effects.