Evaluation

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

From creating my school magazine I feel that I my skills of using Photoshop have improved. For example at the start of my school magazine I had never used Photoshop.  Some of the skills that I have learnt is how to cut photos and crop them to the size that I required. I have also learnt how to download different fonts from dafont.com, this is what I used for my title/logo. I feel that I had used more of a variety of techniques then what I did in my preliminary task. To my music magazine I added skylines, and more information that would appeal to my audience. The images that I took for my school magazine I feel didn't have a strong impact unlike the ones in my music magazine. Using the digital camera for my music magazine gave me much better quality photos rather then using a phone camera which I did for my school magazine. Overall from my school magazine to my music magazine I think that my understanding of different software's has improved throughout this project as I started barely knowing anything about InDesign or Photoshop and now I feel my knowledge has improves of Photoshop and this has helped me create a good quality product. I also feel that I have a better understanding and knowledge on how to product a music magazine as my main task is much more interesting and links much better to what it is mean to be and this is due to my improvement and development in the software Photoshop and this can clearly be seen in the comparison to my school magazine.

Evaluation 6.

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

When doing this piece of coursework I learnt how to use many different software's that I had never used before.

The programmes that I used were:

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

PicMonkey

Blogger

Different technologies I used were:

Digital camera

HP Scanner

I also use different search engines so I could research existing products for my planning and research.

I used Adobe Photoshop to create all 3 of my products. Front cover, Contents page and Double page spread.  I had never use this before so I was learning from scratch. At first it was tricky to use but by the time I got to my double page spread I had then got used to it and I was able to do some different things. By using Photoshop it allowed me to get the right scale of the page either A4 or A3.

I tried to use Adobe InDesign to create my double page spread but it was to complicated so I then decided to use Photoshop as I had got used to that.

I used Picmonkey to edit my photos as it allowed me to use a range of effects.

For my work to been seen I had to add it all to www.blogger.co.uk. By using blogger it allowed me to add photos, and links to my posts.

After finishing this piece of coursework I feel that my ICT skills have developed as I have different used different programmes and software's. I also feel that using all these has helped my produce a good quality front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Evaluation 5.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

When starting this piece of coursework I addressed my audience by giving out a questionnaire with questions that will relate to the making of my magazine. The reason why I sent out a questionnaire was to find out my customers wants and needs so then my magazine would attract to them. 

I attracted my audience by using a range of features in my magazine:

Language: I use informal language  to address my audience as it is the best way to grab their attention. As  if I put it in a chatty language then they would be able to relate to the magazine and its easier to understand it, rather then it being formal. I also used explanation marks to make it more informal and to address the audience as its a different way to attract their attention.

Font: The font I use was simple but bold and thick, I done it like this to it would attract my audiences attention rather then it being boring normal text.

Contents: The contents in the magazine reflects the results that I got from my questionnaire. As I added in interviews with well known pop artist and added in information about festivals. I also added in a free poster and things about the chart music, this content should attract my target audience as it is all the information I got from my questionnaire.

One more thing is the Masthead: For my magazine I used a unique one, so it stands out and is bold so it attracts the attention of my audience. I kept it black because I feel it will be bolder.

Evaluation 4.

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

The audience for my magazine would be both genders aged between 16-22.

I am assuming that the typical female that would read my magazine would wear casual clothing like jeans, t-shirts, pumps, ugg boots or converse. She would also go in the high street shops like River Island, Topshop or H&M. Her typical music style would be the chart music which is what is in my magazine, so the artists she would be interested in are people like Rihanna, Justin Timerlake or Bruno Mars. This is why my magazine will be an interest to this typical girl as she will enjoy reading the stories that my magazine provides. I would also assume that would listen to the music channels on the TV or watch programmes such as TOWIE, or american sitcoms.

I also assume that the typical male reader that will purchase my magazine will wear typical casual clothes like jeans, polos, desert boots or vans.converse. He would also shop in the high street shops like Topman, Burton or River Island. As well as the male he will also be interested in the latest chart music, so he would be interested in artists such as Drake, Macklemore or Calvin Harris. These type of people would again be featured in the magazine so this is what would interest them to buy my magazine. I would also assume that he would watch TV programmes like Sky Sports, Rules of Engagement or Big Bang Theory.

Evaluation 3.

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

I think that the different media institutions would sell my magazine would be places like supermarkets and newsagents all within the UK. By the magazine selling in the different places like Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and different Newsagents will let my target audience buy the magazine. As my target audience is 16-22 they are more likely to be at school, work or university so these different places will be the est place to sell it as they will convenient for my target audience.

Evaluation 2.

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

The social group that I have focused on is both teenage girls and boys that are aged between 16-22 year olds. I wanted to focus on both gender groups and I feel that I have done this is by the different stories on the front as both gender can pick it up and be interested in the genre of music. As on the front is the UK top 40 and most people are interested in the chart music. Also I feel that the colour scheme I used suits both gender as I tried to base it around the popular magazines NME and Q which my target audience might read. 

Evaluation 1.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

One way that my magazine uses conventions is by the style of my title/logo of my magazine. I have used it on both my front cover and contents page this is because I want to show continuity through out my magazine. I decided to keep the title in black because it is simple and bold which hopefully will catch the readers eye. The magazines NME and Q which I have taken inspiration from also have quite simple logos. The name is NM which stands for new music, I chose that because it mean new music relates to the genre of the magazine. I decided to put new music underneath the initials because then people will know what it stands for. 

 The font that I used on all my pages is another important convention. This is because the writing must be readable and clear for people to see. I have decided to keep the black writing on the white background so it is clear for the reader, this is on my contents page. I wanted to keep the writing big, thick and bold this is because I want it to stand out to people. Something I have done different is put the black writing on the maroon background the reason I done this is because many magazine put white writing on dark backgrounds and I wanted to do something different.

The final convention what I have stuck to is having a skyline and different puffs on the front cover. I decided to have the skyline as these always offer something that is free in the magazine and advertising something free might attract people to the magazine. I also decided to add puff this is because many magazine out there have puffs so it is an easy convention to follow also the puffs advertise things inside the magazine and this may attract people to the magazine.

FINAL DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

This is my final double page spread. The feedback that I got was positive the negatives that I got I could not act upon as I done it on Photoshop and I cant go back and edit single aspects of my page.

FINAL CONTENTS PAGE

This is my final contents page. The audience feedback that I got from this was mainly positive as they thought that I had good appealing story's one negative was the writing on the maroon background was a little dark but it was still readable and its not a big deal.

FINAL FRONT COVER

This is my final front cover. The audience feedback that I got was good but the one negative that everyone said was that the background was to white, but I could not act upon this as where I had done it on Photoshop I could not go back and edit the background colour so I had to leave it the way it was.

Audience feedback on doublepage spread

The audience feedback that I got for my double page spread was:
Person 1- WWW- The pictures are good, having them both sepretly and one together.
                  EBI- Bolder title, and maybe a little more colour
Person 2- WWW- The thing at the bottom is good and informative
                  EBI- Bolder title so its more eye catching
Person 3- WWW- I like it very much it is kind of simple but effective
                 EBI- Not much I things its good.

Doublepage spread 3

This is my final double page spread. The things that I added were the line around the article this added colour. I also added the box under the photos which is about the main people.

Doublepage spread 2

Now I have added the main article  and also put the website in the left hand corner and also a page number in the right bottom hand corner.

Doublepage spread 1

I have now started creating my double page spread. I have only put the heading of the story and the pictures on at the moment. I edited the pictures on an internet programme call "PICMONKEY"

Doublepage Spread

For my double page spread I have decided to create it in Adobe Photoshop. The reason for this is because I have use the sotfware for both my front cover and contents page and i feel i have learnt different skills to help me create my double page spread.

Audience feedback on Content Page

The audience feedback that I got for my contents page was:

Person 1- WWW- I think its good that the colours are continuous. Its very informative, attracts the eye

                  EBI- more pictures

Person 2- WWW- I like the colour scheme, good stories, 

                  EBI- Brighter writing

Person 3- WWW- I like it all really its good colours, very informative and the font is the same through out, good you can subscribe

                  EBI- Underline the other headings 

Contents Page 4

This is my final of my contents page. I have added in more stories on the right hand side. I have also changed the content title and added and underline and moved the subscription down into the space. The last things that i changed was the box under cover stories as it was rounded before but I feel that it didn't go well with everything else so I changed it to a rectangle.

Contents Page 3

Now to my contents I have added the stories that go under the sub heading and also added in the picture of Ne-Yo that goes next to Olly Murs to finish that part off.

Contents Page 2

Now to my contents page I have added in the detail about the competition that is on the front. I have also added in a photo of Olly Murs and  description about that. The other thing that I have added is a subheading that says "cover stories".

Contents Page 1

This the first stage in the process of my contents page. I have put the title of the magazine in the corner. I have also stuck to the colour scheme that I put on my front cover. Under the Contents title I added in the magazine website.

Contents Page

For my contents page I have decided that I would like to create it in Adobe Photoshop. The reason for this is because i feel that this particular programme will give me a lot of different tools to be able to create all different effects to my contents page.

Audience feedback on front cover

Front Cover 5

This is the final of my front cover, I have now finished adding everything. The last things that I have added is the sell lines down the right hand side and the puff which is at the top.

Front Cover 4

Now I have added the main image on the front and that related to the text on the left hand side. Another thing that I have added is the text which is under the skyline.

Front Cover 3

Now to my magazine I have added the anchorage text which will relate to the main image that I will put on my front cover. I have also added in a puff after the text which promotes the UK top 40.

Front Cover 2

To my front cover I have now added the barcode and price at the bottom, and changed the colour of the lines to make it more different.

Front Cover 1

I have now started to design my front cover. I decided to create it in Adobe Photoshop, the reason that I decided to do it in Photoshop is because I feel that it would give me a variety of tools to help me create my front cover.
Here I have just started to put in my skyline which promotes a free poster inside, I have also added in my masthead and underneath that is an issue number and date that I have made up.

Name of magazine

Now that I have decided the name of my magazine I then added the font underneath so people know what NM stands for. This is my final name for my magazine.

I decided to keep it black because that is the conventional for magazine name on the magazine that I have done research on.

Double page spread draft

This is my draft for my double page spread. I have tried to keep to the conventions of a double page spread layout. I have also left space so I can add other things to it

Contents page draft

This is my draft for my contents page again I have taken inspiration from the magazine Q and NME

Front cover draft

This is the draft for my front cover I have taken inspiration for the layout from the magazines Q and NME

Photos from photoshoot

When I done my photoshoot I took 6 photos, there are ones that are not too good but there are someone that could work for my magazine if I edit them and make them look better.

 These two photos I am not going to use. The one on the right is very blurry and they are not looking at the camera so it not very good. The one on the left does not look professional as it is outside and there is no plain background, also you cant really see one of the girls faces and that is not good for a magazine.

 These 4 photos are the best ones that I took during my photoshoot, I am going to edit them all and add some effects so it makes the photos better and also going to get rid of the background and make them more plain so it looks more professional.

Problem at photoshoot

When I arrived at the photoshoot my models were not dressed to what I asked them. They were dressed in white school shirts and jeans, I had no other time where I could take any pictures so I had to work with what I had and try and take some photos that will be suitable for my magazine.

Photography ideas and photoshoot for magazine

Model:

I am going to use 2 female models for my photoshoot; I am going to do this is because I want to aim my magazine at both genders. I am would like my model to come dressed in casual clothing. I want them to dress like this because I want the readers to see the softer side to the models and get to know them personally.
For my models I decided to use Bethany and Chloe both aged 14

Locations:

I want to take my main photo against a white background this will make the photoshoot look more professional. For the other photos in the magazine the location does not really matter as I want some of the photos to be different from other types of magazines.

Facial expressions:

For the front cover image I would like to have my models facing the camera because then it looks like they are engaging with the audience. For the other photos that will go inside the magazine I would like them to be happy and smiling this is then because people will think that they are fun and interesting and   will want to read their story.

Make-up, Hair styles and Clothing:

Makeup: I want my models to have very neutral make-up this is because this is not the norm for the front of magazines so I think that it will be good to do something different.

Hair styles: I now have decided that I want my models hair to be down and straight. This is because it makes the more models look older so it will help when doing the photoshoot.

Clothing: As above I said that I would like my models to come dressed in casual clothing. This mean that they would be casual which I fell is different from normal magazines.

Camera Angles:

For my photo shoot I am going to take different shots. I am going to try and get photos that are full length and get some close-up shots. The reason I want to take so many is because I want to pick the best ones out of the ones I take for all the page on my magazine.

Fonts for my magazine

Now i have done my questionnaire and see what will attract to my target audience i have started looking different fonts for the name of my magazine. I used the website DAFONT to make the different fonts. I did 6 prototypes and I am going to ask my target audience which one stands out the most and what one attracts them if it was on the magazine

Person 1) I like number 1 the best. This is because I think that it looks the most interesting and the edges are quite eye catching. The number that I dislike the most is number 5. this is because it is too thin and too plain.

Person 2) I like number 2 the best because it stands out and is very clear and readable. I dislike number 5 because I feel as if it looks too thin and not very clear.

Person 3) I like number 1 the most as I think that it stands out and it would catch the readers eye. It is very clear and easy to read. I dislike number 5 because I think it is deceiving and it is hard to tell what the actual letter are, they can be easily mistaken.

Person 4) Personally I like number 4 the best as i fell that it stands out more than the rest of the logos and is more eye catching towards the audience who would see it. I dislike number 5 the most as I feel that its not professional enough and is not as eye catching as the other logos on the page.

From the feedback that I got I am going to use number 1 as it is different from the other fonts on magazines that I have already researched. 2 out of the 4 people said it was better then the others and I also personally like that one so I am going to use it on my magazine.

My Music Magazine

With the results that i got back from my questionnaire my magazine will be the price of £1.25 and will appeal to both female and male. The main article will be about the latest chart music and have the single and chart albums as this is what my target audience would like to see in the magazine. The colour scheme will be mainly red and white with a bit of black incorporated into it. Also in the magazine i will have a balance of pictures and text so this will attract the reader as too much text might be too boring to read and then to many pictures many not be enough information about different things. Finally the name of the magazine will be NM as this was the most popular name from my questionnaire.

Questionnaire Results

I have now asked 15 people mixed between male and female to answer my questionnaire.

For the first question the highest amount was for the age of 22-26. For the next question it was more female then male but only by one person. For question three people more listen to chart music more then any other genre the second most popular was R&B.

For question four the main colour scheme that got the highest was red and white the second highest was black and white so i could incorporate this into my magazine. For question five the same amount of people answered for £1.00 and £1.50 so i could go in between this. Question six people said they they will prefer to have a balance between pictures and text in the magazine.

Question seven the most popular name choice was NM which stands for new music. For the last question people would prefer to see in the magazine the latest single/album charts. Other top things that they would like to see are celeb news and competitions for tickets for concerts.

Questionnaire

I have now made a questionnaire and will now give it out to my target audience to get their feedback. With the feedback that i get i will make my magazine to fit their needs of what they would like in a magazine.

1. What age range are you in?

• 10-16
• 17-21
• 22-26
• 27+

2. What gender are you?

• Male
• Female

3. Which type of music interests you?

• Pop
• Rock
• Hip hop
• Chart Music 
• R&B

4.Which colours do attract your eye when you see them

• Black and white
• Pink and white
• Red and white
• Black with a splash of colour
• A mixture of colours

5. Which price would you pay for a magazine?

• £1.00
• £1.50
• £2.00
• £2.50

6. What would you like to see in the magazine?

• More pictures
• More text
• Or a balance between each

7. Which name would attract you most to the magazine?

• WMN- (Weekly music News)
• MMN- (Monthly music News)
• LMN-(Latest music News)
• DMN-(Daily Music News)
• NM-(New Music)

8. What would you like to see in the magazine? (Choose as many as you want)

• Competitions
• Puzzles
• Latest singles/album chart
• Advice column
• Celeb news

Analysing existing double page spreads

The article title is in grey and gold which relates back to the clothing that the band in wearing in the photo. There is text underneath the title harder to see against the faded picture in the background. The text for the article is black and on a white canvas, but the most important parts or quotes have been put in bold or highlighted so they stand out. The questions have been put in bold to make clear the different parts of the article this also breaks it up a bit.The picture has been edited to show who the main person in the band. The others have just been faded in to the background. The one that has not been faded out his stance is strong and it is like showing that he is the main one in the band. The man on the right of him still has strong body language is saying yeah I’m in the back ground but I am as much part of this band as he is with the hand expression he is using. The women on his left her body language is very sexy and she seems relaxed around him as she seems like she is leaning on him. The man to her left he is just standing there like he has been put there and that he has done what he has told.

This is an unusual type of font that is normally used in normal magazines. The style draws people’s attention to it as it is very different. The effect of having a quote for a title makes the reader feel more as they are speaking to the celebrity. The main part of the interview is in smaller text and is structured in 4 columns to make it look like an article. The colours that Lily Allen is wearing relates to the colours used for the rest of the article, she is wearing red and her name has been printed in red. The image of Lily Allen fits in well with the concept of the article as it is all about her and it is not a conventional picture pose and this relates well with the title as that is also not conventional. They have used a big picture so it strikes peoples attention. The body language in the picture looks very confident as her hands on her hips. It suggests that she is demanding the reader’s attention.

Analysing existing contents pages

The title of the magazine is big and bold so people know what the name of the magazine is. the colour scheme is very modern and plain. The page numbers are in red this stands out against the plain background. The title of the stories is in bold and stands out to catch the readers eye and there is also a description of the stories under the title so the reader can get an idea of what the story might be. The picture of Alice Cooper looks very demanding and it seems like he is commanding the readers attention.The style of the picture is also very eye catching to the readers. Above left of the picture there is a personal quote from Alice Cooper this gives the reader an insight about the interview.

The magazine logo is on the top left hand corner so people still know what magazine it is. The word contents is in white and bold to the reader can easily see it as it stands out against the black background. on the right hand corner there is the date and also there is a  website address this is an alternate way to look at the same articles. The page numbers are in red which makes it more eye catching to the reader as they contrast with the black text next to the number and the white background. The magazine also stick with the colour scheme throughout. The article titles are in capital letters to separate them from the smaller explanatory text that gives the reader an insight of the article. There is a small picture down the bottom in the middle this relates to an article in the magazine. It is also an alternate way to list the contents as it breaks up the text. The large image is the main feature of the contents page.  It is presented in a way that it breaks up the page and makes it more appealing to the reader and the picture is in relation to the main article in the magazine. There is a quote from an article that is at the bottom of the main picture, this encourages the reader to go to that page and read the rest of the article.

Analysing existing front covers

I got two different front covers that are from different genres.

 

The picture on the front is very shocking.  The way that he is standing in the picture shows that he has has a lot of attitude and it looks like that he is looking down on everyone with power and that he does not care about what people think about him. The main headline of the magazine is “LIL WAYNE GOES TO JAIL”. This headline reflects the picture that is of him on the front as he is standing like he does not care whats going to happen to him or that he does not card that he is going to jail. The picture is also in front of the masthead which shows that him and his story is more important than the actual magazine. The genre of magazine is urban. There are a lot of sell lines to show the different stories that are within the magazine and they are all related to either the genre or the type of people that might read this magazine. I think that the main target audience for this magazine would be people in their late 20's to mid 30's.

This magazine's main target audience would be young girls and it is very different to the one before. The reason why it is very girly and will attract them is because of the bright pastel colour scheme they have used and also the different images of the boys and boy bands on the front cover. The main picture is of The Wanted which is a popular band at the moment and they will attract a lot of girls if they are interested in them. Again the picture is over the masthead which shows that the story is more important than the magazine. On this magazine there are not as many sell line but more puffs that tell the reader information about other things in the magazine. At the top of the magazine their is a skyline which offers to meet Zac Efron and it is free to enter this will attract girls as they would love to meet him.

Different music magazines

Today I done some research on the different music magazine that are available either in shops or online at the moment.
The different ones are:
-NME
-Kerrang
-Top of the Pops
-Q
-Rolling stone
-Vibe
-Smash Hits
-Clash

Brief Music Magazine

The task is to make a music magazine. The magazine we need to include a front page, a contents page and also a double page spread. All images and text used must be original, produced by myself. There must be a minimum of 4 original images.

Final cover and contents page

This is my final magazine front cover and contents page that i made in Microsoft Publisher.

Making the magazine

The sofware that i made my magazine was Microsoft Publisher. The reason that i made my magazine in this was because it was the only software that i could access as i did not have access to indesign.
I also edited one of my photos on picnik. i edited the picture by cropping it, adjusting the brightness and sharpness to make it more clearer and stand oout, this also adds a little effect.





















 

       Old Image                                          New Image 

Start of making magazine

After getting all my results from my questionnaire this influenced me to make my magazine very appealing to the young consumers. That is why i decided to make it nice and colourful for the consumer and to also make it appeal to the eye.
I put a lot of pictures on it because this makes it more brighter and a bit more interesting. The pictures also related to some of the stories in the magazine.
I did put in the stories that the consumers wanted but also added in some of my own which might make it more interesting.

Questionnaire Results

The feedback that i got back from my questionnaire results are that they would like the magazine to be a mixture of bright colours so it will attract the eye, the price of 50p-£1.00 was most popular and the catorgories they would like to see is gossip on celebrities, shopping page, advice page and events around the school. I might also add in a puzzle page for a bit of fun in the magazine and also a latest news page to keep everyone up to date with the local news.

Questionnaire

I have now drafted up a questionnaire that i am now going to hand to my target audience to get thier feedback aboout magazines.

Research

Today I analysed two school/college magazines to get the idea of how the majority of school magazines look and see what not to do to my front cover as I would not like it to look boring and also to get inspiration of what my cover should look like to make it interesting for the reader.

Brief

Today our teacher has given me the brief of what to do in our coursework.
The tasks that we have to do are:
A preliminary exercise which is to design a front cover for a school or college magazine including a close up shot we also design a mock-up of the layot of a contents page.