Storyboard

Evaluation Question 7-Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the main task?

Research and Planning

My research and planning skills have improved a lot from my prelim to my final product. For my prelim, my planning only involved a flat plan, with no research. However, for my final product I had researched magazines, audiences, demographics, fonts, photography and articles in order to produce a professional looking magazine that fittingly represented the genre of music I had chosen. I also collected secondary data about my audience (hobbies, interests and preferences) from the internet, and also did some research on how media publishers produce and market similar magazines.

Planning for my prelim magazine was very short, and involved producing a flat plan and constructing the magazine. The planning for my main product was a lot longer and covered a lot more areas, involving flat plans, research into articles, photography and models, and then constructing the product.

Construction


As you can see clearly from my two front covers and contents pages (prelim top, final product second), my software and hardware skills have largely improved. I have developed a lot more skills on Photoshop, as I started with simple text boxes and am now able to add embellishments and effects to my products. My skills on InDesign have also improved, as I am now able to create a more professional looking contents page with organised sections.

Evaluation Question 6-What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the production process, I used the Apple macs,and created my products with the programs Photoshop and InDesign. Using these programs have helped me create a product that looks professional, and one that I am pleased with.                                  

 

Photoshop
With Photoshop I have learnt how to add embellishments and banners to my magazine, rather than plain text boxes, as well as how to add downloaded fonts to use for my magazine. I have also learnt how to export a Photoshop file into a JPEG in order for it to be accessed on InDesign and uploaded onto my blog.

InDesign
Using InDesign to produce my contents page and double page spread, I have learnt a lot about putting texts into columns, adding headings and captions, and creating an organised product. Like Photoshop, I also learnt how to install downloaded fonts, and export files as a JPEG.

                                     

Blogger

I have used Blogger in order to upload my research and planning, evaluation, as well as my products. Using blogger I have learnt how to import my products from Photoshop and InDesign, as well as posting links to things such as presentations.

Prezi

I used Prezi in order to make a presentation of my research into similar magazines. I also used it in order to answer evaluation question 1. Using Prezi I have learnt how to make a better looking, more detailed presentation (as opposed to Microsoft Powerpoint) 

Google Images

I used Google Images during the research stage of my product, to find the front cover, contents page and double page spread of similar magazines.

Dafont

I used Dafont in order to find fonts that would suit my magazine and help give it a professional look. Using Dafont I have learnt how to download a font to use in Photoshop and InDesign.

Evaluation Question 5-How did you attract/address your audience?

For my front cover I have taken a lot of influence from similar music magazines like Q and NME. For example, I have used the same colour palette of black, red, white and black, as well as gold for some of the sell lines. I used different colour combinations for my sell lines, as done in Q, in order to prevent my magazine from looking too plain. I also placed an embelishment in the corner, as I noticed that it is a common feature in music magazines of any genre. I wanted to have my front cover model in the same style of pose as the models of similar music magazines-a close-up shot, showing the model form the shoulders up, and with the eyeline around the middle third of the page, in order to directly address the reader.

My contents page is based heavily on that of Q magazine, as my audience research showed that the layout was well received. I decided to have four sections to my contents page in order to show the magazine had a lot of content, but not too much. I used the same three colour palette I used for my front cover for continuity. I made the heading of the page 'This Month' rather than 'Contents' as I thought it would give the feel that the content of the magazine was the most important news of the month. 

For my Double Page Spread I took inspiration from this DPS from Q. Like Q and similar magazines, one page is taken up by an image, while the other page contains the heading and the beginning of the article. I decided not to make the heading for my article as big as the heading in this example, and instead use more space for the article itself. 

Evaluation Question 4-Who would be the audience for your media product?

I created this moodboard in order to give a visual representation of my target audience, and shows their taste and preferences in terms of music, brands, television and film. My target audience is mainly between the ages of 16-24 years old and would most likely fit into the 'Indie' or 'Alternative' social groups, with around 70% being male and 30% female.

Evaluation Question 3-What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

http://prezi.com/1igcfj9juhyx/evaluation-question-3/

Evaluation Question 2-How does your media product represent particular social groups?

With my products I have tried to represent the 'Indie' and 'Alternative' social groups. One of the ways I have done this is by displaying bands from these genres in my sell lines to represent these social groups.  Examples include Foster The People, Miles Kane, General Fiasco and Jack White.

 Another way I have represented these social groups is with costume. The Indie genre is usually represented with light hoodies, t-shirts and jeans, which is what my models are wearing in order to represent the indie genre.

Evaluation Question 1-In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

http://prezi.com/ijuvn9ejgkfp/evaluation-question-1/

Final Products

Rough Cut

Here, I have completed my front cover, but I haven't yet finished my contents page or my DPS. The reason I haven't finished is because I have missed a few lessons, and therefore have not had the time to finish everything I needed to.   

Test shots

Here are some test shots that I have taken in the photography studio:

Font Research

I went on www.dafont.com to look for some fonts in order to make my magazine look more professional. Taking the genre of my magazine into consideration, I decided that the type of font that would best suit the magazine would be a clean, modern looking style.

Some of the fonts I have chosen include:

Highway Gothic-I liked this font because it looks modern, which fits well with the genre of music and its target audience. I decided to use it as my masthead for my front cover, because although it doesn't stand out very much, it is a similar type of font that is used in magazines like Q and Mojo. I also used it in y contents page in two different varieties-wide (for the sell lines of the contents page) and condensed (for the sub-headings).

Code Bold-I decided to use this font for the masthead on my DPS, because it is a simple but effective looking font, which fits well with the genre of my magazine, and follows the same style of similar magazines.

Article Planning

The article:
My article will be an interview with a new band after releasing their debut album and just before going on tour to promote it. I will be asking them questions about their album, the reception it has received, and also about their upcoming tour.


Style:
The introduction to the article will be written in third person. However, the article itself will be written in a Q&A format, therefore the questions will be second person, and the answers will be written in first person. I will use language similar to that used by magazines of the same genre, such as slang terms as well as swearing.


Beginning:
The introduction to the article will be a summary intro. In order to get the readers' attention, I will use a rhetorical question at the start of the paragraph, as well as mentioning that it is an exclusive interview. This would make the audience want to read on, as they will not read this information anywhere else.


Extra text on the page:
As the article will feature questions on their tour, I will include a list of all the tour dates and venues. Also, I will include a link to the magazines website, where readers can listen to an 'exclusive' acoustic performance of one of their songs.

Image Analysis and Composition

In this image of Paolo Nutini, we can see that it is a medium shot, and that his eyeline is in the middle third, which shows a direct address with the audience, and allows us to empathise with him. However, he is looking down and away from the camera, and his shoulders are dropped, which suggests that he is shy and sensitive, and makes the audience sympathise with him. The lighting in the image is dark, which suggests that his music has dark connotations. On the other hand, we can still see a small area of light in the background is shining on him, which suggests that all eyes are on him, although he has his back to the light, which suggests that he is not interested in the fame and is more focused on his music. His costume and facial expression suggest he is moody, which further emphasises that his music may have deep meanings. The image is very open framed, which shows that he isn't controlled by anyone. This could help identify the genre of the artist.

In this image of The Goo Goo Dolls, we can see that the eyeline of the person in the centre and on the right is higher than that of the person on the left. This suggests that they are the more dominant members in the band, which can be further proven by the fact that he is stood slightly behind them. Their eyeline also suggests that they are dominant over the audience, whereas the reader can have more of a personal connection with the man on the left. The costumes are generally dark with some splashes of colour, suggesting that their music is slightly moody, but at the same time can have positive connotations.

Primary Audience Research

I conducted some primary audience research in order to:

• Find out what appeals to my target audience
• Discover any flaws or potential improvements that could be made to my magazines genre
• To identify any gaps in the market and place a refreshing new twist on the genre

These are the chosen products that I conducted my research on.


The questions I asked were:

• Who is the target audience?
• What do you think the genre of the magazine is? Why?
• What parts of the magazine appeal to you?
• What could be improved?
• How effective is the layout?
• How effective is the language?

From my target audience, I found that:

Secondary Audience Research

Magazine title: Q

http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Q/ -Accessed 26th January 2012

This is the link for the brand description and reader profile for Q magazine. The brand description states:

The UK's biggest selling monthly music magazine, Q is the arbiter of quality music. The magazine sits at the heart of a cross-platform brand that discovers great music of substance for its consumers. The Q brand has developed a worldwide reputation as a trusted and premium quality voice of musical authority amongst fans, musicians and the music industry alike - one that is founded upon Q's unrivalled access, world-beating exclusives and outstanding production values. This reputation is extended not only through the magazine but also across online, radio, TV and on into Q's unique events, which encompass exclusive, intimate live shows with major stars and the world famous annual Q Awards.

The reader profile for Q magazine says:

Q's audience is composed of passionate, engaged and open minded music fans driven to continually discover new music - and to use this lust for discovery to influence their friends. The audience is split 75% male to 25% female and is affluent (with 68% ABC1).

 http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/Q -Accessed 26th January 2012


This link shows a more detailed reader profile for  Q set out as a diagram, which focuses on the male/female ratio, age range, and ABC1 profile.

Magazine title: Mojo

http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Mojo/ -Accessed 26th January 2012

This is the link for the brand description and reader profile of Mojo. The brand description is:

MOJO is the world's biggest UK music magazine, delivering a monthly dose of world class journalism and iconic photography. It represents a carefully crafted musical archive, providing its audience with an authentic, independent and emotional connection to the music. Classic sits comfortably with cutting edge, with quality and integrity being constant.

The reader profile for Mojo says:

Discerning and passionate music aficionados, the MOJO audience is predominantly male (77%) and affluent (63% ABC1). These heavy consumers of music see their passion as discovery without boundaries, genre and decade being secondary to quality.

http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/mojo -Accessed 26th January 2012

This is a link to a diagram of the Mojo reader profile. As with the previous diagram for Q, this shows the male/female ratio, ABC1 profile, and the age range.

Research into institutions that distribute similar products

http://www.mediauk.com/owners/88/bauer-media - Accessed 23rd January 2012
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/ -Accessed 23rd January 2012

Bauer Media owns several magazines in a wide range of genres, including men's magazines, celebrity gossip magazines and music magazines. Big selling products include Closer, FHM, Kerrang!, Q and Zoo. However, they also sell lesser known 'niche' magazines like Angling Times (fishing). They also own a lot of radio stations all over the country, as well as in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Bauer Media owns three music magazines in total-Q, Kerrang!, and Mojo. Distributors tend to publish more than one music magazine in order to reach across different genres. If a distributor has several music magazines across different genres, then they are likely to attract a wider audience. I think Bauer Media would be interested in my magazine as although it contains features on popular artists and bands, it focuses more on newer, unsigned acts, which is a concept that other magazines owned by them don't really have.

Textual Analysis