Magazine Evaluation1. Who would be the audience for your media product? 2. How did you attract/address your audience? 3. How does your media product represent particular social groups? 4. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and

conventions of real media products? 5. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and

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

this product? 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in

the progression from it to the full product?

Q1.Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience includes people who are relatively independent with a grungy style that holds a hint of rebellion.Through my planning I conveyed that they are fairly unique and unorthodox, standing out from society. My ideal reader would be somebody who takes an interest in alternative/rock music and have full freedom to live their lives however they want.

I had chosen this specific audience because there was a very large gap in the market for alternative/rock music magazines which possessed more of a sophisticated and stylish look. Magazines such as ‘Kerrang’ and ‘Rock Sound’ are two very influential products in the magazine industry, however I found very poor aspects of each of them: overcrowding of every page was an issue; neither looked stylish, but rather messy and put together; both magazines were compact with advertisements which distracts you from the music content. These all became factors in which I attempted to avoid at all times when creating my own magazine product. However, in my research I only found one magazine that caught my eye, Q. Q magazine linked to my idea that related alternative/rock music to style, therefore creating a real culture for this type of music.

The questionnaire I made gave me the greatest insight into the views of my target audience and I feel that this could not have been achieved any other way. I surveyed 40 different people all who I believe to be part of my target audience for my music magazine. It created information which helped me to create my magazine product such as: 60% of my target audience were male which is the reason that led me to use more masculine colours (black, white and red) for the colour scheme of my magazine; 50% would rather listen to Two Door Cinema Club than three other music choices. Two Door Cinema Club is a band worldly known for their intimate gigs with fans in smaller venues. This gave me an insight that my audience could be interested in smaller, more independent gigs/festivals such as the rock festival ‘2000 trees’.

All of the questions in my music magazine were suitable enough to give me a colossal insight into their likes and dislikes (e.g. Would they rather listen to Two Door Cinema Club or Ed Sheeran), and other questions were crucial such as deciding what the name for my magazine best suits the alternative/rock genre and what type of photo shots I should include in my magazine. But sometimes the questions didn’t fully relate to my own music magazine such as ‘What music magazines do you read?’.

I used ‘tumblr’ to research about alternative/rock music to give me a visual representation and understanding of my target audience’s lifestyle and music culture, as well as their ideologies and their aspirations in life.

Through my research I discovered that the lifestyle of an alternative/rock music listener was extremely carefree and independent, however clothing was a huge factor to relate to their persona. Because the foundation of my target audience was more popular to men, I decided to look up clothing brands which related to alternative/rock music such as ‘Fred Perry’. Through my research upon the history of this brand I found this quote: ‘In 2003 we sharpened up our fit and expanded the horizons of the brand attracting a new generation of young, talented music, TV and film stars. The Golden Eagle proved particularly popular amongst the noughties rock scene and could be regularly spotted on bands like Vampire Weekend, Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party.’ These bands are the bands which established the new era of alternative rock in which my magazine is based on. Therefore this brand fitted perfectly to my magazine product which led me to have my model wear a Fred Perry Jacket in one of my contents page photo shots.

Q2: How did you attract/address your

audience?

I used my questionnaire to ask the ideal reader whether the layout of the magazine was important. 100% of my interviewees believed the layout and design of the magazine was essential to the rock culture to make it visually pleasing. The audience said that my magazine will look more professional if it’s structured properly and that if the layout is cluttered then it is going to be harder for the reader to navigate their way around the magazine. I used the comments from the questionnaire as information to guide me closely through the developing stages of my music magazine, enabling me to make sure the layout was stylish and precise.

I wanted the body language of my model to possess a relaxed facial expression but illustrate seriousness to convey the ‘realness’ and ‘down to earth’ atmosphere, rather than the materialistic and fake pose that many magazines get their models to do.

I needed the model to make eye contact to the camera to establish a relationship with the audience as they will become more attracted to a magazine if they feel personally involved through this eye contact. For the other shots included into my magazine I instructed my model to act more comfortable, by looking down the model made a much more peaceful looking photo, however it also conveyed an atmosphere of carelessness which reflects rock music.

I chose to only incorporate 4 titles on to my front cover as this keeps it more organised and uses less space on the page, therefore reducing the chaos and making it easier for the audience to navigate their way around the page. Therefore this makes the page look more attractive and pleasing to the eye for the audience who said they prefer a neater and more professional looking magazine.

I chose ‘Franklin Gothic Heavy’ font for the masthead as it felt like a solid and elaborate font, which enhances its importance on the page, to attract the audiences attention. The audience from my questionnaire all ticked the box for me to use this font over 5 others used in different magazines, therefore this gives the suggestion the audience prefer this font over other competitive magazines, giving ‘Unplugged’ a bigger chance of getting bought. I designed the masthead with the audience and music culture in mind: rock music is very out there and stays away from materialism and social status, therefore I used no fancy, curled or thin fonts, just block letters to reflect rock culture.

I also chose the font ‘Belfast Heavy SF’ for some of the headlines as it expresses a unique print: much more stylish and sophisticated. I felt that this font would also draw in the audience as it’s carries a more unorthodox feel to it, something that rock music relates to. For the other headlines I decided to mix up both fonts as I felt it would bring originality.

I made sure that the price of my magazine was easily located on the front cover so that the audience are aware of the possibility of buying my product. This will address and attract my audience to the exclusivity of my magazine as it is priced high, this will attract the audience as it convinces them that the quality of the magazine is outstanding.

The date was also essential for me to include on the front cover as it is essential for informing the audience to know what issue they are about to buy. They do not want a magazine which is outdated and gives wrong information relating to dates.

I chose to have my model pose against a white background in my main image on the front cover because I wanted to create a monochrome style between the models clothes and his hair comparative to the white wall and his face. The white background also made it a lot easier for me to experiment with text and their colours but I chose to stick to the monochrome theme. I relatively struggled when it came to text that was layered over both the white background and the models black jacket as neither a block of white or black text would work because at least half of it would be lost. I also chose not to select it in another colour and it stood out of place which would be a negative impact on the audiences perception on the magazine. Therefore I chose to two tone the text which I believed worked very stylishly, also sticking to the monochrome theme.

I chose these clothes for the model the wear as I wanted the audience to be able to relate to magazine as much as they could. Due to the grungy scene and perhaps darkness of rock culture I chose black clothing so that I could gain potential customers. I also decided to select the clothing brand ‘Fred Perry’ as it relates to alternative/rock music.

I edited the photos pigments to suit to relate to rock music. As I found out through my research on tumblr, lots of rock photographs consist of either cold or dark pigments and shadows in the colour balance so I wanted to use this association to entice the audience and attract their attention when exploring the photo.

I used no makeup on the model as I planned on having enough spotlight to highlight and contour the features of his face. However I did use the ‘Spot Removal Tool’ in Photoshop to blend/cover up any acne or scars that the model possessed.

Un-edited photo

I chose to use only two contrasting colours (white and red) so that I didn’t distract the reader from the primary purpose of the contents page. I chose to set the information on the contents page along the left side only as I wanted it to look neat and sophisticated and create an easy page for the reader to navigate their way around the magazine. I did this all with the audience and music culture in mind as it affects the theme and the style of design – which primarily attracts the audience.

Relating to the front page, I chose short four short title for the pages so that it does not dominate the page and make it look messy, which would not be attractive for the reader. I stripped each titles information to a single sentence and the page numbers to entice the audience and to pry the readers into reading on into the magazine.

In addition to the title, I also used the same font as the headlines for the titles on the contents page therefore not introducing a different font which reduces the distraction and keeps the style that the audience are asking for.

I used the same font for the contents title as I did for the masthead as it shows style consistency and attracts the audience – making the page much more atheistically enjoyable to look at.

I chose to use an atmospheric photo for the background which I felt suited the rock theme – the cigarette case links to the rebellion and grunge them associated to rock culture. The main reason for this was to help the audience gain a clear understanding of the page which will attract them to the rest of the magazine.

The other photo I used on the contents page as a medium shot of my model to advertise their article in the magazine. The reason I chose to take a medium-long shot of my model was for the audience to gather a bigger opinion of the model and to provide more information about the model posing as a musician. The model is smoking a cigarette, therefore it is easy for the audience to relate to the rebellion associated with rock music and its lifestyle.

I want the model to create two contrasting poses in this double page spread. For the top image I asked my model to look directly into the camera holding the cigarette in his mouth to prevail the rebellion associated with rock music. For the bottom image I asked the model to look downwards, creating a very poignant atmosphere, as if the model isn’t even aware of the camera, relating to the carefree nature associated to rock music. To relate to the rock culture/lifestyle which is what the audience is looking for in the magazine.

The colour balance of this image is very similar to the main image on the front cover of the magazine (cold or dark pigments and shadows in the colour balance) so I wanted to use this association to entice the audience and attract their attention when exploring the photo. I also did this to express the importance of connecting the cover and the feature article as it helps the audience to get an overall idea of the magazine.

I chose this specific background of a white concrete wall as it gives a rock and grunge atmosphere and adds an artistic design to the DPS. The concrete wall gives a sense of urbanisation and relates to city life , hence why it may attract my target audience.

These are the same clothes on the model that featured on the front cover. I arranged to show the relation to the headline and article which is what the audience would be expecting.

I chose the font ‘Belfast Heavy SF’ for the article, strapline and quote (same font used for the front cover/contents page titles) as I found it suits the style and theme of the magazine, unique and independent – relating to rock music. Therefore this would please the audience and attract them to the magazine.

Through the process of creating my DPS, the left hand side never looked as extravagant as it should and looked relatively boring which is what we do not ever associate with rock music. Therefore I began researching music magazine DPS’s and I found that some magazines layered their articles over pictures and symbols therefore I tried ideas out. However I chose to layer a letter rather than a picture as it looked a lot more sophisticated. I changed the colour of the ‘D’ to red to suit the colour scheme and to enable the audience to become more attracted to its edginess.

I was very aware when writing my article to make sure it related to my target audience. Firstly I made a draft and gathered feedback from a couple of the target audience who filled out my questionnaire and then made a final version using their feedback to change any errors. I included jargon to relate to rock culture such as ‘grunge’ and ‘edgy’ and overall the interview seemed very relaxed and I portrayed the musician as very carefree and rebellious to also relate to rock music. The audience would be attracted to this due to its ease of reading as it is based on their understand and interests

I feel that the magazine meets the needs of its readers as I have taken action on the advice given to me through feedback. I made sure the structure and layout of my magazine was suitable, as influenced from the feedback on my questionnaires as well as being able to shape the way my magazine would look. An example of meeting their needs is their response to what fonts I should use for text and whether I should have a natural image or a structured shot.

Q3: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Gender

For my music magazine genre, the gender has been represented as male dominant which is one of the reasons I used a male as my model on my magazine. However 40% of my target audience (found out through my questionnaire) are women, therefore if other issues of my magazine were to be created I would incorporate both male and female music artists to create gender equality.

Age

The median age rage for my target audience was 16-18 which was what made me choose a model around that age (he was 18). This helps to sell the magazine as it is more relatable to the audience of the magazine.

Sexuality and Ethnicity

The model used in my magazine is white British and heterosexual but these areas of representation do not include any factors and meanings within my magazine as I believe they are extremely irrelevant when associated with music cultures.

Regional IdentityRegional identity is extremely irrelevant to my magazine which is revealed in my photographs where my model is posed against a white concrete wall to symbolise urbanisation and that my target audience is associated to the city life. This is because alternative/rock music is related to the city as rock was developed within an urban scene. The magazine represents people engaging with the rock culture, such as going to gigs and shopping in popular rock clothing brands like Fred Perry.

Physical Ability/Disability

Physical ability/disability is another representation that possesses no importance within the magazine I have made. This is because it holds no relevance to the music culture so I did not incorporate this representation into my magazine.

Social ClassThe social class that I would use to relate to my magazine would have to be working class/middle class. This is due to the pricing of the magazine, standing at £4.00, which is relatively expensive, therefore my audience would need to be set within a class which earns a big amount of disposable income. Another factor I would relate to social class is the branded clothing of my model which would influence my audience to buy to become part of the alternative/rock culture so they would, again, need a specific amount of disposable income.

Q4: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Magazines such a ‘Kerrang’ and ‘Vibe’ have their banner placed above their masthead however I decided to place the strapline for my magazine below the masthead because it gave the magazine an unorthodox vibe which relates to rock music.

My masthead, which suited the them of rock music and my magazine, uses the convention with the traditional layout of it being at the top third of the page. However, compared to other magazine I researched, such as vogue and billboard magazine, I chose to make my masthead was very chunky and set in capitals so that I could make the connection to the importance and the quality of my magazine.

The consistency of the fonts that I used relates to the music magazine convention which is commonly found on the majority of them. In addition it is also very common to have a headline in a different font to help it stand out to the audience.

A different magazine convention that I used was including less titles on the front cover but including more information about them, compared to conventional magazines such as ‘Vibe’ which uses many more short and snappy titles. I did this because it made my magazine look a lot more sophisticated and provide more information for my target audience.

The photo that I used for my front cover challenges to convention of other magazines (Q and Vibe) because it is edited to be black and white. I decided to edit my photo this way because it gave a unique and sophisticated look to it which reflects a quality in my magazine.

A bar code and price was essential to include in my magazine, as well as the date, as it expected from the audience which makes it extremely important. It is usually in an area that prevents distraction which is why I placed mine in the bottom right. Bar codes are conventionally placed horizontally but I decided to place mine vertically as it fitted neatly with the column of titles above.

I included a date on the issue as this is usually expected and a traditional convention so that the readers can keep track of the issue.

The contents page title is the same colour and font as the masthead to keep a consistency and house style. This is extremely common and shows I have used the conventions associated with the magazine publishing. Also, the contents title is almost always placed at the top of the page which is why I have placed mine in the same position.

I added the page numbers, always making sure they were the same font as the headline to the right of it to keep consistency. I thought this design suited the theme much better and makes the navigation simple but stylish.

The page titles are in a different font to the mast head and the contents page title to create divergence into my house style. This is often used in media magazines and are classed as a convention.

I added thin red lines as dividers to the page to help the readers establish which number is with the corresponding page. I did this to reveal clarity to the readers and make it easier for them to navigate their way around the magazine. Some magazine designs use this convention for the same reasons as I.

Compared to other magazines where the majority use one side for the article and the other for a single picture, I decided to layer two photos on top of each other to create a more diverse theme to my magazine.

For the DPS I chose to only use one font for the entire page (excluding the masthead branding at the bottom) because it enables the article to look more neat and makes it easier to read – a convention few magazines stick to.

The decision to take a quote from the article and layering it on to one of the photos was influenced by existing magazines as I noticed it worked well to entice the photos with the article. This popular convention is used a lot in music magazines to attract the audience and draw them into reading the magazine

I made sure the colour palette to the photo was the same to the photo on the front cover to show they are both in relation to the article (same article and model used). This is a convention I have used holds the magazine with more structure and allows the design to come across more fluently.

I made the decision to place the text of the article into three separate columns on the left page to enable it to look much more neat and less overcrowded or overlapping which will allow the reader to read much more clearly. This is a common convention among magazines.

I decided to layer an extremely large and transparent ‘D’ (the musicians first initial) across the article to add a touch of style. This goes against the conventions of most magazines as it is often not essential.

Q5: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Tangible Product

Physical copies of magazines which are sold in shops are much more authentic and links to the rock culture. If my magazine were to be printed I would chose and invest the money for it to be printed onto thick and glossy paper to elaborate its professionalism and to highlight its quality which would be revealed through the contents and price anyway. Not printed onto thin paper that magazines such as ‘Kerrang’ use but to resemble magazines such as ‘Q’. I would choose to distribute my magazine in independent music businesses such as ‘rise’ – elaborating the exclusivity of my magazine.

Digital Copy

Firstly I would attempt to market/distribute my magazine through the internet by having its own ‘Unplugged’ website which other music magazines, such as the ‘Rolling Stones’, have done.

Digital Copy

If the digital copy worked then an app would be the next step as it engages a wider target audience, not just based around the UK but globally. This cross media convergence can be a big advantage when advertising a magazine

Social Media

Social Media would be heavily used to advertise the magazine and share videos, snippets of articles and photos of the official magazine on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts. Supporters of the magazine share/like/tweet these pages which would help to attract more people to the magazine and increase audience awareness.

Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

SoftwarePhotoshopI used Photoshop to experiment with photos and discover designs I could elaborate on. Once I had decided all of the components I co-operated into my photos, I created a Photoshop file (psd.) and exported it into a jpg. Which enabled me to easily import the pictures into InDesign to create my magazine product. The secondary reason as to why I used Photoshop was because InDesign was extremely difficult when it came to editing photos and creating a better quality.

SoftwareInDesign

The reason I used InDesign to create my magazine product was because it was extremely relevant and suitable for the layout as it enabled me to stick to the conventional sizing that other magazines use for their pages. InDesign was also very helpful when it can to layering different element of my magazine together. For the finishing product I exported the InDesign file as a jpg. For all 4 pages.

Photo Editing

I used Photoshop to edit all five of my photos, included in my magazine pages. For all of the edits I decided to produce both a coloured and a black and white edit. I did this because each edits gave different dimensions and effects, therefore I have decided it would be good to use both sorts of edits in my magazine as it enables a more unorthodox, wider range of establishing photos.In the end I chose the black and white edits to use for the portrait photos of my model and the coloured edit for the cigarette Marlboro packet.

I used a Nikon D300 camera featuring a 12.1 million pixel CMOS sensor with a 36 x 23.9mm image area. I also used an 8 GB Mark 10 SD card. This was the only equipment that I needed to capture the pictures for my magazine.

All of the photographs were taken outside in the same location, a suburban garage scene in Gloucester. It was the most urban scene I could use and I felt that it related heavily rock culture/music.

The lighting was artificial as these photos were taken outside. For lighting I used a white 60-watt lamp bulb which I placed to the left of the model to create the shadows and contours of the right side of his face. I also used the flash of the camera to reach the best quality photo I could get.

The background was a white concrete wall to convey urbanisation to the reader which heavily relates to rock culture.

Skills Learnt

Throughout this project I have learnt how to use InDesign to create a publication of four pages in a magazine. I did recognise that the software existed before this task but now I see the benefits of using it. The margin outlines were extremely useful to me (a beginner) when creating my magazine and it was very easy to place elements of my magazine wherever I wanted do to InDesign’s flexible tools and steps.

In addition to this I also developed my skills within Photoshop with by experimenting with the colour balance of a picture by changing the pigments which challenged my designs for my magazine.

This project has expanded my knowledge into different technologies such as using different camera setting and shots, but also into different software's in making suitable decisions to guide me through my work.

Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

What have I done differently for my music magazine and why?

For my music magazine I decided to have a much more solid headline by using a word set in capitals instead of when I attempted to squish the mast head into a square like shape so that it resembled more of a logo rather than a masthead. I also decided to experiment with colour which was the best decision I made as it brought style to my music magazine.

In the planning I did incredible amounts more research for my music magazine such as who my target audience was going to be, how I would approach them, what genre/them is my magazine going to be as well as putting more thought into planning the layout of my magazine. Whereas for my school magazine I only researched colour schemes and fonts I was going to use. I also did a huge deconstruction of another music magazine to help design and establish my own.

Editing wise there is a huge difference between the photos from each project. For the school magazine the only edit I used was cropping, which was a shame because I didn’t really realise there much else to do. However for the music magazine I spent a great deal of time experimenting with different edits I could make on the photos. For each picture I used I experimented with the colour balance by changing the pigments and for each set of photos I made a coloured version and a black and white version.

When it came to planning my photoshoots for my school magazine I mad no preparation for it whatsoever, but for my music magazine I created a shot list to plan the location and the model for my photos.

My school magazine and music magazine are extremely different when looking at the styles theme. The school magazine was designed to inform more than anything, in my eyes, therefore I didn’t understand the importance of the layout and the style. However my music magazine was set into the category of rock music which sets it very unorthodox and enabled me to experiment with colours and layouts to relate to the rock genre.

I put much more effort into the aspect of representation when planning for my music magazine. The only area that I actually researched on representation for my school magazine was the age. However when planning for my music magazine I took great time into researching aspects of my target audience:

What age/gender they might beThe age would range between 16-28 year olds as this is the time people with their music tastes and when young people truly discover who they are and what they prefer. There is no dominance for male or a female audience as they can both be appealed by this magazine and its genre in music.

Their likes and dislikesAs my audience are quite unorthodox and unique, I thought that thing like tattoos, piercing and smoking would link to the age range as the rebellious stage and all these things are unique which links to my magazines music genre.

What clothes my audience may wear/ their appearanceI have a visual idea of what my target audience will wear in terms of their fashion taste. Wavering on the traditional hipster fashion through a contemporary interpretation – the PowerPoint includes images of ripped jeans and original graphic t-shirts to represent the fashion sense in indie-rock culture – the flower garlands on heads represent the chilled and relaxed atmosphere surrounded by my audience.

Music Taste

Their music tasteThe audience’s music taste is what ultimately links them to the magazine and involves bands such as, ‘The Catfish and the Bottleman’, ‘Two Door Cinema Club’ and ‘Vampire Weekend’. These bands are mostly alternative indie and may cross with the rock category

Their Interests

Their interests I thought that their interests may include activities such as surfing, camping, going to gigs with friends and photography as these are all interests that are unique and unorthodox which ultimately link to the alternative music genre.

What products may be featured in the magazine?Items include acoustic and electric guitars to attract the indie guitarists associated to the alternative music genre. I have also included other products like vintage record players as well as vinyl’s because it relates to the masthead of my magazine, ‘Unplugged’, which signifies the more physical sort of music playing rather than a contemporary ways such as iTunes.

What similar ideas have you used for both magazine projects?

The titles and the banner was the only similarity I felt between my school and music magazine. Both contents titles were extremely large and were easily witnessed by the readers which could have been seen as stylish as they both possessed quite chunky looking fonts. The banners for each magazine elaborates their exclusivity by naming then ‘Greatest’ and ‘Exclusive’ which attracts the audience.

The software that I used for my school magazine was exactly the same as my music magazine: Photoshop to edit the photos I took and InDesign to gather all the elements and create my magazine in a suitable layout.

What similar ideas have you used for both projects?

I have developed skills in InDesign on how to navigate my way around their software and usefully extended my knowledge on all their different tools and selection tools.

My skills and their importance when I comes to research, planning and designing have all definitely improved. I’ve learnt that it is less important to know yourself and your ideas but to know what your audience wants within their magazine.

In addition to this I have also learnt how crucial it is to gain feedback from others, especially you target audience. You cannot seek to make good improvements on your work if it is only from your opinion and no one else’s.