EVALUATION

IN WHAT WAY DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA

PRODUCTS?

Colour ThemeMy colour theme depended on my model, and the colour clothes she was wearing. I played around with different colours of my masthead first, the only colours which seemed to look good with my model were pink and purple. I thought pink would be too feminine – as I wanted my target audience to be both genders – so I used

purple instead. I stuck to the three colour rule, purple, blue and white so the cover was not too busy and you can clearly see the headlines.

I made Sian Strett one of the biggest fonts on the cover so the reader clearly knows that the image is of Sian Strett, and the main story is of her.

MastheadThe font of my masthead represents the word. Like a heart monitor which monitors your ‘pulse’ which allows me to correspond with the magazines masthead

The list of artists suggests the genre of my magazine. Alter changing colours looks neat and easy to read each name.

Competition with irresistible prize attracts my target audience.

Price

Barcode, date and issue number

Main ImageI went against the convention and used only one image on my cover as most front covers have pictures of different stories.

I made my magazine headlines either justified to the right or the left like this.

Front Cover

An interesting story line is what sells the magazine so I based my storyline on Take That getting back together, even though the story I made up is not the same it is similar. I did this because the Take That story got a lot of public attention, which is what I want my magazine to have.

Contents Page

Simple ImagesI used different images as I wanted to show there are different stories in the magazine, and it would of looked too much the same to my cover and double page spread.

I based my contents page on NME contents page. Instead of having one image in the centre I have a few to make the page look busier and to make the magazine seem

like its exciting and its got lots of stories

inside. I think that my contents page is in the form of minimalism as too much information is not appealing to my target audience. It looks easy to read and easy to find what you want to read

first.

The uneven edges of the purple inside the subscription box would appeal to an older teenager because its fun and not neat. A website makes this magazine current and reflects an older teenager – as a vast majority of older teenagers are compulsive users of modern technology. By having a subscription box I have made my magazine look very realistic.

I also took the Band Index idea from NME, I think that this is a good idea for a reader who wants to read an article about a certain artist, its quick and simple to find as it is alphabetised.

I went against the convention and did not write an editors letter on the contents page because it is in my opinion that my target audience would not be interested in an editors letter and would want more features of the magazine on the contents page to make the magazine seem exciting and full. I also kept to the same colours as my front cover or else there would have been nothing to link the two and make it look like a complete magazine.

I made the questions and answers different colours so it would be clear to read.The tone of my article is quite informal and light hearted, my target audience will find this easy and interesting to read.I also made the columns of writing the same width as this is an important element to make the page look professional.

Sian Strett is written like an autograph, as if she has signed it. This gives the page a special quality.

The large image of Sian is quite casual, as if she is lying across the page. This makes her seem laid back and down to earth, a photo that was too posed would have a risk of making her look fake and would not go with the genre of the magazine.

This filmstrip has different images of Sian, this shows a fun and quirky side to

her, and that she is not afraid to just be herself, so my target audience can relate to her.

Page number

I made the title a quote as well as dotting a few around the page like nearly all the magazines do. I did this so the readers can see what else is within this article. I included another band to draw readers in, as The Courteeners is a very popular band.I made the title quote powerful and influential to attract attention, also the font is interesting so this also attracts attention.

LOGO

Large main images

Double Page Spread

HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT

PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?The genre of my magazine determines the main social group it represents. The artists I have listed in my magazine are all either indie or alternative genre artists.

Fun and quirky pictures, like ones that you take when your with your friends.

The model I chose was to fulfil the looks of an indie artist. As Sian looks like an older teenager – which is probably the age of the people who enjoy this genre of music – the audience would like her image and relate to her. The way she is dressed and her hairstyle is in the typical style of an indie girl.

The colours which I used, light blue, purple and black are suitable for both genders – as is this genre of music. The interesting fonts that I used give my magazine the rock look I was going for, because if it looks boring and formal

people within this social group would not find this interesting.

The different colours, and interesting fonts here reflect the social group I am trying to represent, The uneven edges of the purple box suggest informal teenagers.

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR PRODUCT AND WHY?

N&S Oyster

House

Media

IPC Media

BAUER MEDIA

When I researched different media institutions I realised that it made sense that an institution without a broad variety of magazine types may want to distribute a new magazine, like mine. I came across Northern & Shell, who are a committed company who want their products to have the status of market leader. In July 2010 N&S moved into the world of television and bought Channel 5. This company does not currently have a music magazine all together so I think that this company would distribute my magazine to broaden their variety of magazine types. Their institution would become prominent as their are many indie artist fans who would buy this magazine.

IPC Media would probably be suitable as they only have one magazine in the – sort of – same genre as mine (NME). Even so this factor may stop this institution from distributing my magazine.

Bauer media would be an unsuitable institution as it

already distributes 3 different music magazines similar to mine.

Bauer media distribute many magazines which are similar, as they distribute a lot of fashion magazines as well as many music

magazines. My magazine would synchronize with these other

magazines but fans would probably stick to their usual.

This institution is exceptionally small, as it only distributes 3 magazines which are all different. I do not think my magazine would fit well in this institution.

WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

The people who are interested in indie/alternative genre music are aged around 16-24 and are male and female. This age group of people enjoy attending festivals and gigs and having fun which is what this music is about. They enjoy listening to new bands/solo artists because it makes them feel unique and different hearing new artists first, they can also introduce these artists to their friends.

The images on my contents page reflect the target audience as they are new, young artists.

This is an idiotic, fun page in my magazine which would appeal to a younger audience

HOW DID YOU ADDRESS OR/ATTRACT YOUR AUDIENCE?

All my models are all within the age range of my target audience, therefore connect/reflect who the magazine is aimed at.

As my main model on the cover is looking straight at the camera which is like she is looking at you when you pick up the magazine, making it personal.

As some of my models are holding instruments it shows its a music magazine. The genre of the magazine reflects through the sort of instrument – guitar.

A younger adult audience would find the font of my masthead interesting. I would keep the same font and position in every issue so the readers can recognise my magazine. The only thing I would change would be the colour as it would depend on what model is used in each issue.

By adding a competition this would attract naive teenagers. Glastonbury Festival is one of the most popular festivals making this a desirable prize.

Striking colours on cover lines on the cover would hopefully attract

attention. As these story lines are a

smaller font than the masthead and the main story bright colours are important for them

to be able to stand out.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS

PRODUCTPhotoshop

When removing the background from around my images, I

used the ‘Magic Wand’ tool. This selects an area of an image and deletes based on its colour. This saved me a lot of time, as it left neat

edges the person in my image, instead of me trying to cut around the person with my unsteady hand.

Layers in Photoshop allows you to adjust individual elements of your page. By ‘merging’ or ‘flattening’

all the images, shapes, text etc. You can make it all one

image to adjust it all together.

I used ‘surface blur’ filter tool to airbrush my models to make their skin look flawless. I also used the ‘spot healing’ tool to

smooth out the odd blemish and spot, so my model didn't end up looking fake/plastic.

Studio

To take my photos of my main cover model, I used a 3 point lighting

system in a fully lit working studio.

CameraI learnt how to take high quality photos on a photography camera. In the studio I learnt that when

you are taking photos for a magazine cover always take the

picture portrait and to always be eye level with the model. I also learnt how to link up the camera to the lights in the studio so the lights would flash when I took the photo. When I took

pictures outside of the studio I had to adjust the settings so the

pictures would look as professional as inside.

I kept my colour theme as light blue, purple, black and white on my cover, contents page and double page spread. To keep the exact same colours I would use the ‘eyedropper

tool’ and click on an object, shape, text which had the

colour I desired which then made that colour the

format colour on the ‘paint bucket’ tool and I could make my text the exact same

colour.

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE

PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?Masthead is not interesting or eye catching. Where as my masthead on my full product is colourful and has an attention-grabbing font.

Wasted printing space. There is no obvious blank spaces on my coursework, as professional publishers make most of the space that they have as it looks more appealing to the audience as they think the magazine is full of exciting story lines and they are getting their moneys worth.

I used too many different colours on the headlines, so it is not as visually attractive as my other product as I stuck to 4 definite colours.

I did not justify every headline to the left/right, doing this gives it a more professional finish.

I used a more photogenic model and suitable to the genre of the magazine. Also the image looks a lot better when the camera is eye level.

Time management when making a product like this is

important. Before I started my full

product I set aside allotted times for my research, photo shoots, magazine

cover, contents page and double page spread. I did my

best to stick to it. I learnt that research was an

important element to make my full product

better than my preliminary. I

looked closely at other magazines

similar to the genre of my magazine such

as: NME, Q and Kerrang to see what elements made them such big sellers.

The barcode is placed in an badly chosen place and the issue number and date do not look like they should be there. This area looks badly placed, and messy whereas on my other work the barcode is neatly tucked in the corner out of the way with the issue number, price and date.