EVALUATION.Media.

EVALUATIONMedia.

Strap Line/Cover LineThe strap line underneath the masthead gives you a clear indication of what to expect in this music magazine before you’ve began to flick trough it.

Main ImageThe enlarged image centred in the middle of the magazine often attracts the reader to look through the magazine. Central image placed in the middle of magazines normally indicate that the person on the front of the magazine is the main focus/topic. This gives readers a clear view of who the main topic is without even opening the magazine.

MastheadThe masthead behind the Main Image shows a clear indication of the ownership and how much pride they have taken into representing as well as presenting their magazine. It also gives you an idea of what genre magazine this is. You can tell this by the colours used, the type of font used and the way it has been placed behind the main image.

BarcodeThe Barcode itself gives the magazine a professional look to it. Without the barcode and the other small details added onto the magazine, it would take away the seriousness and profession of the brand as well as the brand name itself. It would look like an upcoming magazine.

The word ‘Exclusive’ gives you the impression that the story written in this magazine has only recently been released which makes you want to grab a copy and read it as many people nowadays are interested in knowing what's Hot.

This shows that the names of the artists written at the top have the most importance as the colour font has been changed to make the name stand out well from all the others.

It seems different sized fonts represent the importance of each topic. (Font sizes roughly range from 8-26.

The names at the top also show the different artists that are featured in the magazine.

The DateThe date is shown so that you are aware when the issue was released and it gives you the time period in which this magazines information was released. In other words whether its new gossip or old. Dates are always shown on magazines

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

Mastheads.

Central ImageBarcode.

Features.

Quotes - That may interest the reader to read on

Eyebrow.

I have used many conventions in my magazine to show to show I have not only understood the task I was set, but to challenged it as well. My masthead that I have placed behind the main feature of the magazine (The Central Image)

My Masthead has been enlarged drastically compared to the other fonts to make the title on its own stand out from the rest of the smaller fonts. This symbolises the importance of the cover name itself. Putting the font to normal size would make the magazine, as a whole, look much more unprofessional as the Masthead would then match the same font size as the rest of the writing. Whilst making the masthead, I also made my own colour scheme so that the colours on its own give the readers a slight indication as to which genre my magazine is. Most music magazines, Especially in the particular genre I have chosen, use 2-3 Colours in the colour scheme so it doesn't look too untidy and all over the place. I used similar teqniques that both magazines ‘VIBE’ And ‘XXL’ did as I felt both magazines not only match my target audience but shows a clear examples of rappers that match my own as well as the style I Was looking to do for my own music magazine.

The Picture I Took Was Set in a Dark Background. This was so that the artist I used for this magazine would stand out as well as the main bits of text which shows us what to expect once you actually read the magazine. Also if I had taken a picture of the background setting then the featured artist on my magazine, it would have been much harder for me to combine the two images together so I Took the picture in a natural setting to bring out the artist in itself and to make it stand out.

The written content of my magazine was kept to a minimum. But the font and the importance of the writing made up for the Amount Of written content produced. However the detail I put into the small content of writing Made more of an affect to the front cover. You don’t normally see a huge amount of writing on a front cover as the you wouldn’t want to give too much away just by looking at it. You want to use persuasive words and include names of popular artists that would make you want to open the magazine and read on. The target audience I have chosen tend to be the age range that want to know the most about what's hot in the music industry and what is going on in a particular artists life which may interest them to read on. On the other hand, I chose to add the Issue Number, Date and the title to make it look professional as well as give my target audience a clear view of when this source of information had been produced and released. No one wants to know about topics that have already been spoken about numerous amounts of times. People aim to find out the latest gossip And feel they are the first to know all about it. Which is why I not only used bold lettering but persuasive teqniques to draw in the readers.

The background to this magazine is plain quite plain but the simplicity of the background gives the writing around it a clearer message. And it also makes the writing a lot more noticeable as the face is moving in the direction of the writing.

It is conventional to have magazine pages with numbers on it to notify which page shows what. You tend to see page numberings on all magazines to make it easier to direct you to the specific topic you are planning to look at.

A house style is shown and presented throughout my magazine. Which is conventional as the picture itself brings out the overall message and in my case, directs the readers to the main content which is the text located around the picture.

There is a particular pattern you will begin to acknowledge when looking at the different types of magazines that vibe produce. In most of their contents pages, There is a Larger image that seems to be focused on the most and the text is much smaller. However, the picture itself is positioned in a way in which both the picture and the text shares the same importance.

The stand first in VIBE and XXLs stands out as much as the picture does. I have used these ideas and slightly adapted the techniques used such as the big bold Stand first to relate it back to magazines similar to my own as well as making it unique.

For my double page spread, I made my picture a full bleed image on the left page of the double spread as I found my audience would find this much more attractive and appealing as the picture itself catches the eye of the readers. Seeing all text on a double page spread instead of pictures would not really appeal to my audience. And I also acknowledged the fact that you do tend to see big pictures on double page spreads in magazines such as XXL and VIBE. Using a Full bleed image is also conventional.

I have Included a pull quote to give my target audience a small hint about the things my artist will be saying. Without giving away too much in one go. I’ve found this technique also encourages readers to read the actual text on a double page spread depending on if the pull quote you have used is effective or not.

I used the same colour scheme throughout my work which also makes this conventional. The colour scheme Red, White And Black has been used throughout the magazine. This also attracts the readers attention because not everyone prefers to see the same colour throughout the magazine as it makes the overall presentation look boring and not as effective as it would look if you did include one or two colours (House Style). I had to cut out a huge amount of my interview to make it look short and simple and I also realised that using too much text in an interview double page spread is not always seen again, I had a look at other magazines which related to my own as well as my general knowledge and initiative to make the interview itself, shorter. This was aimed so that people in my target audience will find it much easier to read. Instead of reading A whole block of text. I kept the most important questions readers would most likely want to read/ find out about whilst reading this magazine.

The stand first is conventional as the artist that is being interviewed on the specific page is being notified and the audience this is targeted at, know who they are talking about.

House style and colour co-ordination/ colour scheme is used to bring out the text and attract the readers. Plain black font would not be as effective.

The pull quote used shows the reader that the artist is trying to signify a strong message. This also attracts the reader as the pull quote shown is in a larger font that the main text itself which also symbolises importance. Pull quotes are very conventional as you tend to find them on a range of magazines to attract the reader.

The big image is also conventional as it attracts the reader whilst giving off a big message showing by the position the model is standing in as well as the way the model is dressed. The fact that the model is looking toward s the camera (the audience) Itself would encourage the target audience to read on.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My music magazine represents my particular social group (Teenagers/Semi Adults) in a number of ways. I have reinforced the more dominant ideology as I got my model to stand in a way in which shows his overall attitude and genre all in one glance The way my model is presented as well as positioned in the centre middle of my magazine on its own shows a clear effect. And also the way he is dressed already attracts my target audience. The Pose he has attained presents a stronger message as a whole. The clothes he is wearing represents the genre and style people in the particular genre tend to wear. You will find that most rappers present their music through their fashion sense and often in the way they speak. Similar to a clothing brand. The style of clothing my model has worn in a way, advertises.

This image represents how teenagers are portrayed in the media today. The Clothes that the two models are wearing in this picture are the type of clothes the media would expect from teenagers. This represents my particular style of clothing my social group would often follow. My target audience tend to look up to artists as well as their sense of fashion. In ways, you could call my model a trendsetter as the people this magazine may attract would also agree the overall attire is cool and worth copying and making it into their own style. That style then becomes popular. A downfall to this is that teenagers as a whole today, get judged on simple things such as their clothing.

Stereotyped Teenagers.

My magazine was originally supposed to be aimed at 15-17 Year olds but then I thought, the age rage is not only too close together but the age range is not wide enough, realistically, to sell worldwide. On the market my group and I decided it was best to move our target audience (Age) Up to 16-25. The magazine I produced looks like it is more for teenagers/semi adults by the way it’s set out and The style of writing on the front cover as well as the contents and double paged spread. The front cover would attract male and female fans of rap/ hip-hop. I think the way the magazine is set out and presented would definitely attract my audience. I Used several techniques to make sure that this is the case as well. This magazine will also be aimed at people who enjoy reading about celebrity lifestyles, and their achievements in the process and nowadays, that is the case for most teenagers/semi adults that enjoy listening to music on a regular basis. I have decided not to make my magazine too price as many teenagers/Semi adults are either still in college or in university. Jobs are hard to find and many 16 year olds don’t have money which would also make it hard for this product to sell. Making the magazine expensive would be unnecessary as most income would be coming from their parents. And that on its own would make selling difficult because there isn’t much support from parents as teens would be relying on their parents to buy them the magazine and would not have jobs for themselves. In this case, Making the magazine too expensive would direct magazine buyers in my target audience to cheaper magazines with similar content. I have tried to make my magazine as unique as possible to prevent this small error. This is why I decided to make my magazine price low so that it is not only affordable but would bring in more sales because the price is cheap.

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

I think major distributors such as companies like Bauer might distribute my media because all the artists displayed on my magazine are signed artists rather than upcoming. Bauer is a very successful source of media which is another reason why I would choose this company. They have a large range of media from radio stations, Magazines, Music And Games to channels broadcasted on television. Another reason why I thing Bauer would be a suitable distributor is because they do not sell music magazines in my genre which means they have a big gap in the market. They don’t really sell magazines for teenagers/young adults. I know this because I previously worked out that the median age is 26. You will realise, most signed artists nowadays are signed to music groups rather than independent ones so it would make sense for me a major distributor to distribute my magazines. Also Major companies tend to distribute magazines from a varied number of genres not just one. Which makes them much more successful. There I would prefer someone major to publish my magazine. On the other hand, publishing my magazine and distributing it independently would make not only make it free but I would also make a lot of money from the advertisements. But then again putting it out to a major distributor will help my magazine go further not only because the artists on here are signed, but because the majority of the artists displayed are known which means people would also expect this magazine to be top quality. Selling music magazines to a younger audience will increase the profit drastically as the generation we live in today love their music.

The Advertisements that you would find in my magazine would consist of the following labels/icons displayed on this slide.

I would also like my magazine to be distributed at big events such as small/big gigs. Performances at big events and concerts along with music shops such as HMV. This would allow a range of people from even outside my target audience to view this magazine and maybe take an interest in doing so whilst looking at others around the area. Putting my magazine out to big companies would allow the name of my brand to be recognised but to be looked at by other people throughout my target audience. Which would make a big affect whilst selling as well. Venues this magazine could sell at are places like the O2 and Wembley as many big events take place in these particular places, Big concerts included . People tend to take a look at music shops and accessories whilst inside which means it is more likely for them to have a look at magazines whilst they wonder through the shops. I’d also make sure it is sold and distributes worldwide so that my target audience around the world have a chance to see it not just one particular area. This would increase sales as well.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

My music magazine is targeted and 15-23 year olds and it a Unisex magazine So it is aimed at both male and female viewers which Teenagers and young adults. It Doesn't Matter where you live it is targeted at all areas. If people like hip-hop/rap Music then this is the magazine to read. The ages in my target audience are the ages in which tend to listen to music the most. Whether that’s buying the music, watching music videos, reading about the latest gossip in the music industry and downloading music through the internet. Another reason why I have chosen to target my magazine at this audience is because around this age, teenagers and young adults know what type of music they enjoy listening too. Whether that’s hip-hop, Rap, R&B, Pop, Dancehall, Reggae, Rock And many others. My magazine is aimed at people around this age range that enjoy listening to urban, rap and hip hop music. And that tend to watch music channels such as MTV, Channel Aka, Flava and VH1. I felt that the connotations of magazine as a whole would fit the age range I had chosen.

I have used a bold font, colour and layout on my masthead on its own to make it stand out in confidence. I’ve made it bigger than the other fonts shown on my front cover so that it is the one of the first things that is noticed once you look at it. I’ve made sure it was big was so that the name of the brand is actually recognised. Even thought the colour seemed like a very plain colour to begin with. It seems to have taken the most affect as the colours in the background are much more darker. The lighter colours such as red and black make the magazine as a whole stand out as well as makes it a lot more noticeable.

Putting the date the magazine was released and the ‘issue’ makes the magazine stand out and look a lot more professional than it would look without it. This shows that very small details to a magazine can make a very big effect. I Have Compared This To Another magazine called VIBE. I used a few techniques from to produce this masthead and many other elements to my magazine as I feel it closely linked to my own magazine and seems to reach a similar target audience to my own.

On magazine front covers, people expect to see not only the name of the main artist, but the names of the features that will also be included in the magazine. Putting the names of various other artist would make people want to read more. It shows that your are not focusing all the attention on one artist. Some people may like an artist on the ‘eyebrow’ Or than the artist presented on the centre image so adding names of other artist will attract people in my target audience to read about more that one main topic.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I used a house style so that the magazine doesn't aim at only one gender. It’s aimed at both male and females. This means that I have made sure my magazine is unisex to prevent sexism as most people, male and females tend to enjoy the same types of music, regardless of what genre it may be.

I made sure that the model I chose was not only attractive for the female audience, but also made sure that the position he stood in, clothing and hand gestures symbolised and represented his style of music and genre as a whole. And I feel this worked very well.

I included an eyebrow to attract my audience and to give it a more professional look as well as seeing who else would be featuring on my magazine. Having one main name would not make the magazine stand out as you would not really find many magazines talking about one artist throughout the magazine. So adding names of other artists around the same category would encourage the people in my target audience to read the magazine to find out more about the successful artists shown around my front cover.

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

I have used a various number of programmes to make both my college and music magazine. Before we started this project. I had no idea how to use any of the programmes we used and I had not gathered much knowledge before hand either. so whilst making them, I had a chance to play around with the different tools so I had a slight understanding of the thing I would be working with during the project. I learnt different techniques and also watched my peers show. The Programmes that I used where Photoshop, In design, Microsoft Word And Indesign.

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

PhotoshopI used Photoshop to slightly edit the pictures that I have chosen to use for my front cover, contents page and double page spread. I used the crop tool to crop various pictures used throughout my magazine. At first I found Photoshop very difficult to grasp as it had so many different editing tools on the programme itself. I didn’t want to use any tools I wasn’t sure of which is why I took some time out of my spare time to play around with Photoshop and learn about the different tools and techniques before I started editing. This payed of because I became very familiar with the tools and found it a lot easier to understand. This made editing my pictures much easier as I now knew what I was doing.

IndesignI used this programme to produce my contents page and double page spread. This programme was also used to decide the particular type face I was going to use for my front cover. Indesign is another editing programme I wasn’t familiar with to start with as I had no experience with any editing programmes before I started this course. Again, this meant that I had to play around with the different tools and other effects which would make my overall presentation presentable. The majority of my coursework required Indesign whilst planning out what I was going to do. As the weeks went on, I began to realise that it wasn’t as hard as it seemed to be as I later got used to the fact there where many tools and effects which I grasped at a later stage which payed off as I managed to complete my contents page and double page spread learning new things in the process.

Microsoft Word

Microsoft word was not difficult to use at all as I am very familiar with this programme. I used word to construct my interview without any problems what so ever. I found word to be a programme that is easily accessible because It is easy to access from any monitor, laptop or PC. This made it easier and quicker for me to get my interview done.

Microsoft PowerPoint

I used Microsoft for my audience review as I felt this was the most appropriate way to present my work. PowerPoint is another programme which is easily accessible. You can use a range of techniques to present your work using PowerPoint making it look tidy and presentable. This is another programme that I am very familiar with. Which meant I did not waste time trying to figure out what the different icons meant because all of that was nothing new to me.

Nikon Camera

I used a Nikon camera to take all of my pictures throughout this project. I didn’t quite know how to use some of the buttons and features this camera had but as the weeks went on, it got easier to use. This high-tech professional camera gave all of my pictures an edge as the mega pixels is very high. I was happy with the overall outcome of the pictures after this camera was used. It came in good use.

A house style has not been shown on my preliminary exercise (front cover) does not show. As I have used a various amount of different colours. In the masthead. Although it does seem to stand out.

Since Doing the preliminary exercise and construction front covers, I have learnt a lot. Especially Whilst using Photoshop to construct both of these two front covers. You can see a big difference between the two magazines. Looking at them both now, I can clearly see that I have learnt a lot from what I did then to what I did now. Which shows my overall understanding. And how I have developed my skills on Photoshop in the process. Due to all the background research I did whilst looking at how other magazines have been made I used the knowledge whilst making my own to give it a professional look. Overall I think I have progressed a whole lot from my preliminary exercise. Again, looking at both magazines show how I have adapted skill used from other magazines, preliminary exercise and background knowledge.

I have included an eyebrow in my music magazine. I did not do this in my preliminary exercise as I didn’t fully understand what an eyebrow was at the time and the effects it would have on a magazine.

The main image on my preliminary exercise front cover does not look professional at all. It shows that my understanding whilst using the professional camera during the time was very basic and was something that needed to be worked on, Which is why My construction front cover shows I have grasped the idea of using Photoshop.

My current magazine front cover has a tidier colour scheme compared to the front cover in my construction .

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

Overall I think I have grasped the concept of making my magazine look professional. I have also learnt that adding small details contribute to making a magazine look more presentable and eye catching. My preliminary contents page is very plain and basic. The various colour schemes used show my lack of knowledge whilst making magazines because going back to general knowledge, I have learnt that most magazines do not use as many colour schemes as I have done here. However in my construction magazine contents, the colour schemes I have contained the simplicity throughout the writing. I used a gradient effect to bring out the colour in the magazine and to also make sure that the font is visible and easily noticeable. Page numberings have been added which give it a smarter look. This is something you would expect to see in a magazine. And that is not added in my preliminary contents.

My stand first stands out as I have used a clear, bold yet simple colour scheme to make it look presentational and stand out well inside my magazine.

My stand first in this magazine Is also bold and clear but not big enough for people to realise it is a stand first. Which I felt was something I needed to make sure I worked on whilst producing my actual music magazine.

The model I used for my preliminary exercise was not entirely effective as the model was not looking at the camera. It would have made more of an effect with the model was looking straight at the camera whilst turning a page in the book he was holding. However, To make up for this, The position he is standing in leads on to the text on the right hand side. This simple position directs the reader to the main topics of the magazine.

The model I used in my music magazine contents page was much more effective than my preliminary exercise contents page as the model is looking directly at you and his overall position Gives the actual writing around the picture a much more professional look. Which is what the readers are supposed to focus on the most on a magazine contents page.