Evaluation

In what ways does your Media product use,develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Throughout the production of my Music Magazine I researched many real magazines such as NME, Rolling Stone, and Rock Sound. I followed several conventions of these magazines to help me get a professional look to my magazine. The conventions I have used such as the mastheads, photos, sub-headlines, barcode, price and date issue have helped me to make my magazine as realistic as possible. I decided to follow some conventions from several music magazines however, I have put my own twist onto it making it looks unusual and unique as I believe it makes it more attractive and avoids it being boring. For my front cover I followed a convention from Rock Sound magazine by writing some singers names down the left hand side I decided to do this because it fills up space and looks effective. I used an unusual font to write the singers names out like Rock Sound has because it's unique. I also wrote the sub-headline above the singers names in yellow like the Rock Sound magazine because it's very colourful and eye catching. The photo I used on the front cover is of one female who is representing a singer, this is seen very often in real music magazines. Also when I have been researching magazines I have found out that a lot of them makes the main photo overlap the title so I decided to do the same making it looks realistic and effective. My double page spread is very basic and follows nearly all the conventions of real magazines as it contains a large photo which stretches over a full page and then onto the next and I have then wrote a story about the photo which most magazines do. For my contents page I decided to follow the conventions of Rolling Stones contents page as I think it looks well set out and effective. I have only put a few pages on the contents page which are the main features and then I have divided them from one another with a red line which is also used on the Rolling Stone contents page, I believe this creates a huge impact and makes it look realist.


How does your Media product represent particular social groups?
The social group I aimed to represent was young males and females who are interested in the musical industry and also those who have a musical talent and are searching for fame and stardom. I have represented the social groups through the photos for example using photos of a young audience which the readers can relate to and also using an acoustic guitar showing the musical genre of the magazine. The models I have used for my photos are dressed casual as I believe this represents the idea I am trying to create in my magazine that all 'normal' people can taste fame.

What kind of Media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I believe IPC might distribute my magazine as they distribute NME and my magazine is slightly the same as NME because the genre of music is the same. Also the age range of NME's audience is the same as my magazine so it will have a big impact for the audience like NME does.

Who would be the audience for your Media product?
The audience for my magazine is young males and females who have a born interest in the music industry. The main audience I wanted to attract was normal males and female artists who're searching for fame. The artist who have a natural talent for music and need to be recognised by record labels.

How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted and addressed my audience by the use of unusual and unique fonts as it creates a modern effect on the magazine with the audience being able to relate to modern day media. I also attracted them through my photos as I have used normal teenage models which the audience can relate to because they're just like themselves. I used models who're of the same age group as my audience so that they can relate to them and it makes the magazine more believable to them. I also used an acoustic guitar and this shows the musical genre of the magazines to the audience and shows that anyone can pick up a guitar and with dedicated practice can achieve success.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
In the process of constructing my magazine I have learnt a lot of techniques on how to make my magazine looks more professional and realistic. For example I have learnt how to edit photos so i can put them onto an effective background which gives impact for the audience. I have also learnt how to construct a double page spread and make it look like real music magazines like NME. I have learnt how to use Photoshop to make my photos look more professional and advanced from just an original photo.

Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
My progression from my preliminary task has advanced a lot. I believe I can now produce a magazine with the conventions of a real music magazine. I can also now edit photos to make them look professional using Photoshop which I couldn't do before. By researching magazines I have learnt where to place parts such as the masthead, barcode and sub-headlines and with this technique I can now produce a professional layout which follows the full conventions of a real music magazine. So now I am advanced with use Photoshop and Microsoft Publisher I can now create a magazine easily whereas when I was doing my Preliminary task I couldn't. With all this I have learnt I can now produce a well presented magazine.

Finished Contents Page for my Music Magazine

For my contents page I decided to use a blue background which I also did on my other two pages because this shows consistency throughout the magazine and shows it has been well published. For the title I decided to use a red font on a black background which is very modern and eye catching for the readers. It gives a instant impact for my audience. I also decided to use the title 'Unsigned' again because it fills some space and also because I have seen it in a magazine which i researched and I liked the way it has been presented.

I thought i would use a photo on the left hand side which I edited to how I wanted it look, I used this photo of a girl playing the guitar because again it implies that the magazine is specifically musical and aims to show the talent of unsigned artists. To fill more space I added some text at the bottom right near the photo, I used white text which stands out very well and is easy to read.

On the right hand side I decided to use only main features within the magazine and limit the amount of pages I would show. Firstly I have put a little insight into the 'cover story' for my magazine. I put a little sub-headline 'cover story' in a red font which I haven't done for the other stories this because the front cover story is the main story within the magazine and the most important so I wanted it to stand out and looks different to the rest of the brief story introductions. After each insight to the story I have divided it with a little red line because when I was researching Rolling Stone magazine they have done the same and I really liked the way it looked. For the introductions to the stories I have used white text which stands out and i have put the page numbers on where the stories can be found, I have put these in a bold text making them stand out more.

I believe the font colours I have used and the background colour are very bright colours and effective for the readers. I decided to use a normal font and keep it nearly all the same throughout the contents page because I believe this page is what the readers are less likely to read the most so I kept it basic and well set out. I think the use of the divided text makes it all looks professionally set out and easy to find the text for the readers.

Finished Double Page Spread for my Music Magazine

For my double page spread I decided to use a landscape photo of the same girl from my front cover. However, this time she is playing the acoustic guitar. I decided to show her playing an instrument because I wanted to show the musical background within the magazine. The main photo I used looks like she is playing in a little studio room which suits the magazine very well as it is called unsigned and it wouldn't be right to picture her in a real expensive studio. I also decided to use another photo of the same girl however, this time make it smaller just to give another insight into her playing the guitar. I think the photo represents the age range very well because many kids of that age are musical talented and this shows that if you're dedicated to it that you can also succeed.

I decided to use white text to overlay on the photo as it stands out for the reader and is very easy to read. I put the singers name at the bottom right hand corner of the photo to show who she is, I also used the same font for her name like the front cover my magazine because I think it shows consistency. I did the same with the title of the magazine as I have put it on the double page spread at the top left hand corner I did this because it fills space and is also authentic. For the smaller photo I have put a little black border around it which looks like it has a zoomed in effect of her playing the guitar for the magazine.

I have put at the bottom left hand corner of the photo, who has written the story and who has taken the photo's because when I was researching magazines I saw that Rock Sound magazine had done this and I liked the way it looked so I thought I would use this technique for my magazine.

On the right hand side of the photo I have wrote some text which gives a story behind the photo, I decided to use white text on a black background as it stands out and looks professional. I used a very unique and unusual font for my text because I think it adds a modern effect to the magazine and the age range can relate to it. I believe the different fonts used makes the magazine not boring because if I had used the same font for all the text it can become boring reading that over and over again.

Finished Front Cover for my Music Magazine

This is the end product for my Front Cover and overall I am very happy with how it looks. Through the production of this Front Cover I researched many magazine to help me figure out what I needed to make it appeal to my audience.

The title I went for was 'Unsigned' because I believe most of the amazing music these days is not heard of and a lot of unsigned bands or singers aren't getting the breakthrough they deserve. For the title I went for a white title on black background to make it stand out and also to catch the audiences eye. The font I used for the title was Chiller, I decided to use this font because I believe it looks very modern and also it looks like a kind of font which suit the audience of magazine. The magazines I researched didn't really have the same effect I used for my title and I like this because it is unique and makes it different to other magazines. I used a few different fonts on my front cover because I didn't want to use the same old boring font which wouldn't be effective at all for the readers. On the left hand side under 'Unsigned Presents' I have used several singers names and used an unusual font I did this because it looks very modern and a lot of magazines these days are using different and unique fonts to add effect to their magazines so I thought I would use this technique for mine. I decided to put the issue date and issue number on the right hand side of the title because it fills up a bit of space instead of leaving it blank. I also changed the positioning of the bar code from my original draft from the right hand side to the left because I had more space there and I also put the price above this in a white coloured font which stands out on the blue background.

The photograph I used is of a young girl. She represents the age group of my magazine as a young age group. For the front cover picture i didn't want to represent her as fully musical with an instrument because I want to represent music as a talent and show that anybody like this girl can be unique with or without a talent. When I researched NME magazine I saw that the photo's they use on their front cover always overlap the title so I wanted to use this effect as I think it has a big impact, so I used this technique with my front cover.

The colours I used for my text were white and yellow with background of black and blue. I decided to use these because I think it makes the whole front cover stand out and catches the eye of the readers instantly. I also think the colours give the front cover a modern edge. I believe my magazine is very eye catching and modern which suits the age range I wanted it to.

Possible names for my Music Magazine

Before I started to design my magazine I had to think of a unique and powerful name for my magazine. To do this I searched for words which I thought would fit to the genre of music i was trying to get. I want to find a name what showed the upcoming of new music and the search for amazing music. Some of the names i came up with are:

Talent - When I thought of the word music, talent always comes to mind. I think this is a good names for a music magazine because all singers have talent and it's a unique talent to have. The name talent is quite modern and suits the age range of my magazine. It can also be seen as upcoming talent and that is what I am aiming to achieve. All the audience for my magazine will know the word talent and what is truly means so this is a good candidate for my magazine title.

Chord - This is an appropriate title for my music magazine as it is a word which is associated to a music instrument. When my audience see this title they will instantly know it's a music magazine as it's a very well known musical word. However, this title has downfalls as it is very plain and boring. This is the title I least like.

Acoustic - The title 'Acoustic' is very suitable for my magazine because I am aiming for a magazine that specifically aims around acoustic music with just a voice and a guitar as this is my favourite genre of music. This is quite a good candidate for my magazine and may be used for my title.

Unsigned - The title 'Unsigned' is my favourite title. This is because throughout my full magazine production my first thought was that I wanted to produce a magazine that specified on upcoming music what my audience wouldn't have heard of before. So the word unsigned gives the meaning of bands/singers who have yet to be signed to a record company but have a very unique talent. Also when the word unsigned is used my audience will know that it means music because it is modern for my age range. The word unsigned might also make my audience think of the TV programme which searches for new musical talent. This is my favourite title for my magazine and I have chosen to use this one.

After I chose my Magazine title I wanted to test it with different fonts to see what it would look like best with, these are what I came up with.

Out of these 5 different font ideas I decided to use the 4th one for my Magazine title.

Original Images for my Music Magazine

These are the photo's I have taken myself for my Music Magazine. The models I used, I have represented in a certain way because it is for a music magazine for example I have used a guitar to show the musical background of the magazine. I will edit these photo's to make them look how I want them to for my magazine.

Draft of Content Page for my Music Magazine

This is a rough draft of my content page for my Music Magazine. I have decided to put a title 'Contents' at the top above the photo. I then decided to put a photo on the left hand side which will cover up space. On the right hand side I have decided just to put main features of the magazine and limit the amount of page numbers I will show. This is because I think it's unusual and effective.