Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression form it to the full product?

From making the school magazine to making my final design of a music magazine ive learnt how to create a more inviting product with better use of colour and pictures. When making my school magazine I used relativley little imagination to make it. I was using other school magazine conventions and nothing else. With my final product I learnt how to challenge or develop these conventions to create a better, more individual product.

Compared to my school magazine I also feel that I’ve learnt how to aim my magazine much more at my target audience. My school magazine was relativley plain and had nothing in it that really attracted a particular audience at school. With my magazine I’ve tried to aim my magazine at a much smaller group of people with a particular age group.  Compared to my school magazine my final product for my music magazine has features that are much more attractive to my target audience. With articles in my final product much more relatable to my target audince, ive developed skills that would help me focus on particular audiences.

With my designs for my music magazine having the majority of its features all on one side I had a slight problem with white space around the page. When making my magazine I developed my skills and was able to create much more inviting pages with the use of plugs and font/size of text.  Using different sizes of font enabled me to distract readers to the features on the pages and therefore make the magazine seem a lot more busier than if the features on the pages were all the same size.

On the conents page I’ve learnt how to make use of white space (gutters) to divide the page up and make it look a lot more attractive/ presentable. With my contents page using gutters to divide up the left and right hand side of the page, I’ve been able to make parts of my magazine stand out a lot more than others. With the left hand side being used to show all the important articles in the magazine I was able to have the right hand side designated to pictures about aritces. Doing this enabled me to attract the readers to these articles with inviting photos.

With my double page spread I’ve learnt how to make chunks of text seem a lot more inviting. With the use of quotes I’ve developed my page to make it a lot more attractive and as if theres a lot less text than there actualy is. With the use of pictures too I’ve learnt to make the double page spread more inviting with a big photo to the left and a smaller photo below showing the singer of which the article is about.

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

While making my magazine I learnt how to use the programmes and the processes that are involved in the production of magazines. Using the programmes enabled me to create a nicer magazine than if I was to use Microsoft Publisher. Using Serif Page Plus I was able to edit my photos with different amounts of brightness and contrast. I found that doing this was really simple and helped me evolve my magazine into something more likely to be sold on a shelf in shops.

With the use of Serif Page Plus I learnt how to create a more attractive page with use of colours and various conventions. With the use of this I was able to make my front cover photo which is on my final design.

On earlier versions of my final design I learnt how to use cut-out studio to help get rid of particular parts of the photo. With this I was able to make parts of the photo stand out creating a much more interesting photo.

Question 5: how did you attract/address your audience?

Using my research I found out that my target audience aren’t people who like to read a lot and instead will read the magazine with the intention of reading it quickly and not into detail. With this information i designed my cover, contents page and double page spread with inviting colours, pictures, big text and small amounts of text dotted over each page. The use of colours, pictures and size/amount of text means that they would have got attracted to it a lot more easily as they’ll know that it will be a relatively easy read. On the front cover i used big features with well known bands to attract the audience who are really into music. With some of the audience being into music a lot more than others having well known bands in it will attract them as it will tell them the magazine knows that their talking about when it comes to music. With a big picture on the front cover, it makes it look less daunting to the audience who are less keen on reading detailed articles.

With the contents page i attracted my audience by using articles that i found they would be interested in. with articles like “up-coming artists” they will be more attracted to reading it because from my research it was what they were into. I also used big pictures on my contents to make it obvious what the main articles were as they would be the ones they are most interested in.I also addressed my audience with the use of Facebook and Twitter. With people that age constantly on social network sites having a magazine page on them enables the audience to be a lot more interactive with the magazine not only through the magazine production but also online through other platforms of media.

The double page spread attracts the audience with the use of little text it as it will seem like a much less daunting read. The use of pictures addresses the audience and gives them a clearer idea of what is said in the article along with the quote. The use of columns attracts my audience also because it makes it look like there is less text and an even easier article to read. With columns also making it look neater and less daunting it entices my target audience.

question 4: Whwould be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my magazine is old teenagers/young adults (aged 16 to 24). I chose this age because when analysing magazines the music I planned to put in my magazine fitted in with music other magazines used for the same age range.  I chose to do the same age range because although there were already magazines in that age group i found that they were above the price range my survey suggested. with myself also in that age bracket i thought i would be able to give topics and articles that me and my friends would be interested in. Having friends to give me comments constantly enabled me to give a magazine that I felt was more relatable to the age group than other magazines.

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

With my magazine being relatively cheap to make and sell, a good media institution distribute my magazine would be a well rounded one with multiple music magazines already under its ownership already. A good example of this would be Rupert Murdoch’s media institution News International. The reason I think an institution like this would be so good is because I think with their distribution of their other media products my magazine would be spread out throughout loads of different shops and reach my target audience much quicker.  When researching cheap music magazines i found that there were relatively little around. With this research i know that compared to Mojo or Q my magazine would be a lot more attractive to buy with money being an issue for younger readers (my target audience). Another reason an institution like News International would distribute my magazine is because of the profit. With my magazine being so cheap to produce/sell more customers will come to buy the magazine. The profit may be little for each magazine but with so many customers buying it for its cheap price it will increase profit massively.

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

With my magazine aiming at 16 to 25 years old (teenagers and young adults) I tried to represent that with the topics and pictures used.  The picture used on the front cover is relatable to the younger audience. With Peter (the guy in the photo) looking so young and on his knees it is less intimidating to younger readers and shows a more welcoming look to the cover. With the audience being young adults or old teenagers, having a photo that relates to them gives them more of a reason to buy/read it. The reason for this is because the topics will be more relatable than if it was a superstar talking about how paparazzi follow them around. Having a topic that they can relate to e.g. starting out a band means they will understand what they’re going through and be much more enticed to know how they deled with their problems.

In my lifestyle questionnaires for the planning of my magazine i found out that my aimed target audience go out a lot. With this in mind my front cover appeals to those kinds of people because of how it is presented. The use of little text on the cover and one simple picture means they will be more attracted to the cover as it is a less daunting read. The use of features on just one side of the cover makes it much easier to read for people in a rush as they know they will all be in one place on the page.  The choice of features on the cover also helps. With my features being about guitar based/ electronic music it helps relate to my target audience as that is the kind of music my audience listen to.  The font used on the front cover is big, bold and clear. The use of this means the audience will find it very easy to read. As my target audience are teenagers and young adults the text can be used to represent them. With the text being so big and easy to read it’s relatable to the audience because they don’t want to feel like their reading a posh, important magazine but instead a laid back relaxed one which is very easy and simple to read (just like the text).

My contents page represents my target audience with use of features and chances to be interactive with the music magazine. The division of the page with the use of gutter separates the column of article names/page numbers with the pictures showing the main articles in this month’s issue. The articles in the bottom part of the column relate to the magazine questionnaire I did for my research. They include music rumours of artists and gigs and upcoming artists for the year. I chose articles like this because when I did my survey I found that my target audience were interested to know what new music and musical gossip is happening in the industry. The use of these articles in the magazine helps entice my target audience to buy the magazine. These articles represent what my target audience would like to read about. The use of Facebook and YouTube on my contents (the bottom right corner of the page) helps link to my audience because that is what they currently do a lot of the time. With my audience being so into texting, buying the latest gadgets and social networks having the option to interact with the magazine on Facebook and Twitter makes it more obvious to readers that this magazine represents this particular age of young adults/teenagers.

The double page spread is about my main cover line on the front cover.  It represents my target audience with the use of large pictures and relatable topics. With a massive picture on the left page and another of the lead singer, it makes it a much easier read which is what the target audience want. The band itself in the double page spread is the same age as my target audience. This helps represent my audience as someone a lot older than the band/target audience isn’t going to be so inclined to buy a magazine with articles about younger bands with a different genre of music.

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

With the use of convention’s and forms of established magazines, my magazine looks more professional and attractive if it were to be sold on shelves. For my front cover the presentation of my features on the left hand side was done due to the conventions of an average rolling stones magazine.  With all the features on one side of the magazine it makes it look much more organized and attractive. It also makes the photo become a much more dominant element of the magazine.  Using this convention I developed it to help make the cover line link with the picture much more evident and made the features stand out. I did this by enlarging the text size and width over the page, while keeping them all to the left of the page.

With other elements of the page I kept to the conventions. Another example of this was the masthead. With the masthead ive kept it on the top of the picture, emphasising that this is the name of the magazine and doing so makes it stand out over the photo. Compared to the conventions of The rolling stones magazine ive not changed or developed the convention of having it over the main photo. However like other  magazines e.g Rolling Stones or Mojo  ive chosen to ignore the conventions of those magazines with the masthead covering the whole width of the page and instead use the conventions of Q, with my masthead in the left corner giving it a much more neat look to the magazine.

The plugs on my cover grab the attention of customers from the shelf. With two on the cover it makes it even more likely that one of them is going to be of interest to a reader.  The conventions used on the NME cover with the plug going straight across the pages width means the plug is extremely hard to miss. I chose to develop this and have my page width plug at the bottom of the page. The reason for this was because i didnt want to take any attention away from the masthead and other plugat the top of the page. With my magazine advertising that its a brand new magazine having the masthead as visual as possible enables it to be remembered the easiest.

Evualating the use of conventions on my front cover i think having the features on the left hand side gives it a much better look to the cover than if they were to be spread over page on both sides and in the middle. It makes it much easier to read and with the target audience of my magazine being people always on the move a much more appealing magazine.

 

The other convention of magazines used on my magazine is the masthead. With this i think it suits the cover and the theme of the magazine. Having the masthead covering the whole page would have taken the attention away from not only the features but the picture which is the first thing you look at on a magazine. Whereas having the masthead in the corner makes the masthead a much more visual appealing look and much easier to recognise. The convention of having the photo over lapping the masthead (like the Mojo cover to the right) is the most poppular of all conventions for a music magazine. Doing this makes the picture stand out alot more than if it were to be blocked by the masthead lapping over it.  I chose not to do this becase it would take attention away from not only the features but other plugs. Having the photo over the top of the masthead makes the main cover line the most important  element of the magazine. In other issues i would have done it but because this was my first issue of the magazine i wanted to emphasise as much as possible what the name of the magazine is. I did this by having the masthead overlap the picture as if its even more important than the articles inside the magazine.

For my contents page one of the conventions followed was the use of white space around the pictures and article names and numbers.

This effect makes everything a lot more spaced out and gives the page a neater finish.

A good of this convention used is the contents page of a Rolling Stones magazine (shown to the right). The magazine separates the left of the page to the right with one simple line of white space. This separates the page and makes it obvious that all the main articles are in one column. It also creates room for a picture and small paragraph describing it. I chose not to change the use of the white space in any way. The reason for this was because I thought it split the page up, dividing it up into sections. With these different sections I was then able to put photos and other information on one side while emphasising all the article pages and information about them on the other. Compared to my first design (shown underneath) the use of white space on the page divides it up and makes the page just generally much easier to read.

Another convention used was the use of text inside the picture describing the photo or saying what page number the article will be on. Like the contents page of a Q magazine (shown on the right) the picture of the singer Adele as a small caption on it stating what page number it’s on and what it is briefly about. This small caption enables the reader to become straight away attracted to the article. With the artist being so big and the picture so obvious it attracts new readers to the article. With my contents page I used this convention and had my main article and a smaller feature on the right hand side of the picture using captions in the corner of them to inform readers of what and where the article is.

Like the contents page of Q magazine with Adele in the picture. I used my main cover line on my front cover to have the main spot on the contents. The use of this picture on my contents page helped emphasise the main articles on the contents and also enabled me to put even more articles on my left hand side column where the majority of page numbers and article numbers were. The use of captions on the photo also helps keep the contents page much more organised. Instead of having a picture just randomly placed and readers struggling to link the photo to a article, having the caption means the reader will know straight away what the picture shows and why it’s there.

The double page spread is very basic and uses conventions of a couple pictures and text on only one side of the spread. I used the conventions of the NME double page spread (shown below) to space out and organise the page. The use of one big main picture on the d.p.s was a convention in NME magazines. I chose to use the exact same formation of page as NME. Evaluating the use of it in NME pages it gives it a structured layout and enables the reader to read the text in an organised way without getting confused. In my magazine the main picture stays on just one side of the spread unlike the NME article. I found that it made it much easier to focus on and wouldn’t have the picture ruined by the fold at the end of the picture.  I feel having the text on one side and all of the photos on the other side makes it a lot easier to read and saves the reader trying to find the next part of the sentence because a picture is in the way. The convention of a quote being shown in bigger font was used as it split the page up, making it less dull compared to a boring long piece of text. The double page spread in NME uses the same conventions of quotes. I chose not to challenge or develop this convention and just keep it as it was. This was because I felt that it couldn’t be improved. With a whole article being written on one page the use of the quote split it up and make It much more enjoyable to read than if it were to be just one long, dull piece of text.

The conventions of pictures used in the double page spread shows every picture with a caption of what is happening and who is in it. For my magazine I chose to use this convention as it helps the reader know what is going on. The captions show how the pictures are related to the article and who and what is in them.