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

The preliminary task I was giving was to create a front cover and contents page for a college magazine. In that task I was giving a Canon EOS 400D to take pictures on my own which I would include in my college magazine. I didn’t find the task easy but as a whole I think the music magazine was much harder. Although I have used photo-shop before I was still confused on certain areas. I had used other cameras before Canon EOS 400D but this camera was the most challenging, in making my music magazine I had to use such equipments as softbox and Canon EOS 400D. I was new to operating them however that did not turn out to be too much of a problem after a bit of practise.

Since the college magazine task, I believe that my organisation of time has improved. I am more cautious of deadlines and sticking to it. This has improved my end product has I didn’t need to rush my work last minute. I completed my research on time and was quick to book studio time to take pictures of my models. Organising props and equipment were easy to get a hold off because they were provided for me and the props that were used are of every day things such as headphones. I wanted my models to pose in a certain way as one of my drafts, meaning I came to the studio with an idea of the kind of photo I would take. This is the kind of preparation that was not used in the college magazine. 

By using the camera I learnt how to set up and use trigger from it to a soft box and also how to take pictures correctly. In addition, I took my pictures portrait so that my models bodies would fit into the frame as well as fitting correctly onto my magazine page.

For the main task I had to also make a double page spread and in order to do that I had to use an A3 canvas. I experienced some difficult at the start because the paper appeared in a portrait format, which was not what I wanted. So I had to rotate the canvas 90 degrees in order to get it to a landscape shape. Before I started my main task my skills at using photoshop were pretty basic so as I progressed with my work I learned how to use photoshop in more dept. Now I'm comfortable with using tools such as magic wand ans lasso. Furthermore, as I had to do a double page spread this required a lot of writing. This made me learn that what I needed to write should be very detailed, but also interesting to engage the reader. In addition since my target audience is black youths 16+, I need to include slang.

When creating my magazine I used a variety of different fonts as they have a major impact on the audience reaction. The majority of fonts that I used myriad pro, the impression that this helps to give my magazine is that it is modern, which is what my audience preferred. I didn't use the same font that I used in my college magazine because I felt it wouldn't be suitable for my audience. For my masthead I used a bold font so that it would be recognisable and eye catching for people to look at. Lastly for my main cover line 'Top 20 Best Artists Of The Month' I made the colour white as it goes with the colour scheme. Plus it stands out in that way to the reader. This enables them to understand that this is something that they most certainly have to read.

Overall, people liked my work I was also pleased with myself for creating a nice piece of work due to hard work and determination and also due to completing my work on time. I feel by working on this magazine my photo skills and photoshop skills have improved.

The weakness of my work is that some of the pictures I had taken were slightly out of focus so I had a small number of photos I could work with. If I was to do this again I would make sure that the focus on the camera would be better.

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

In this coursework unit, I had the chance to use many products of technology. One of the many pieces I used was the online account of Blogger.com - Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. 

This was my first time ever using blogger or any blogging system, but fortunately I found it easy to use and understand. Although it was very easy to use and understand, I found problems using it. One problem was that I could not change my design of my wallpaper; I struggled on this until I found it soon later. Another problem was with the images. I couldn’t just copy and paste an image but instead had to save it then go to blogger and upload it, this became time consuming and made posting on blogs much longer than it could have been. I have learnt that although blogs are open for people to look and comment on it is also possible to restrict to people who view it. This is an advantage as my coursework now can not be stolen and re-used.   

 The second piece I used was the internet in my researching. Google.com as a way of researching such things as publishing houses, different magazines in comparison to mine and etc. I found images for my analysis of a front cover, double page spread all in Google’s image browsing function. I used software on the computer such as Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007, which is a standard word processor to type up and store my word. I used it when writing my analysis as the blogger does not contain spell checks.

I also used Adobe Photoshop CS3; Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated, an advanced graphics editing software in which I made my front cover, content page and double page spread on.  I knew how to use Adobe Photoshop CS3 as I have used it before in my college magazine, but I was confused on certain things such as cropping around images, lay out etc. Fortunately I overcame those confusions and ended up with a good music magazine; looking at my college magazine and music magazine front covers I detected a lot of differences, such the way the images is cropping and the choice of colour scheme.   

The camera I used is called Canon EOS 400D, this was the first time ever using this kind of camera, but I found it easy to use. To get a good shot of my models all I had to do was focus on the eyes of the models. I have learnt the importance of flash and how condition such as day and night can affect the shot. Soft-boxes are used as opposed to standard in built pop-up camera flashes because camera flashes produce a very intense flash. This is firstly a disadvantage because there is no way to adjust the intensity of the flash, whereas soft-boxes have that feature.

Lastly, I learnt the models need to be positioned rightly for the shot to look good. The model has to stand between the camera and the background to allow the camera to focus on the subject. 

 I used software's on the computer such as Microsoft office powerpoint 2007, which is on presentational programme. Using powerpoint enable me to crop pictures which I then copied onto paint and saved as an image on my file (JPEG). This later lead to me uploading the images onto blogger. I used Microsoft word 2007 to create my audience questionnaire, which was beneficial towards understanding what people liked most about magazines. I finally used microsoft excel 2007 so that I could create graphs to represent my audience research results. Apart learning how to crop images on powerpoint, I didn't really learn anything new from these applications. 

Q5) How did you attract/address your audience?

My magazine attracts my audience by having a large image of a music artist on the front cover. He is around the age of 17 years old which attracts a very similar age group of readers. They are wearing casual clothes which would attract my audience due to them not wearing expensive branded clothes, which is what a lot of my target audience wear and therefore can relate to.

I used headphones as props in my front cover and double page spread to attract the musicians and DJ’s to my magazine. By having these props in the magazine, not only do they tell the audience something about the artist, but the audience can relate to the image as they too have a passion to music, for example a DJ would be more interested about reading about the music artist called 'Yung E-Lo'

The artists in the magazine front cover is attractive and scruffy – He isn’t well groomed with a clean and fresh haircuts/hairstyles, and so would easily appeal to the female audience who would are attracted to the rugged type, but they would also appeal to males because they would be able to relate to the artist as they are males also.Seeing as how my magazine is aimed at a hip hop audience which is an extremely popular genre, this will enable the majority of people to read my magazine. Also the model used in my front cover is roughly around the same age as the people who my magazine is targeted at, which is 16 - 20 years of age. By including advertisements this will enable my magazine to be more diverse and hopefully creating a great relationship with sponsers.

The colour scheme of my magazine is largely based on black and yellow. I chose this because the particular genre I am aiming my music magazine on is hip hop and r ‘n’ b, and there is a song which has been top 10 for 4months running called black and yellow by Wiz Khalifa. It also blends well with the image that is featured on the front cover. The front cover is relatively bright, making use of white and yellow in the large masthead, yellow/pale yellow cover lines and other pieces of text around the page. To attract more of a youthful audience I made a blackberry barcode which people with blackberries can scan and get exclusive pictures, in a way this is a ‘puff’. All in all, this creates very eye catching magazine which can easily get peoples attention, and in turn would attract audiences to its contents and themed look.

The contents page and double page spread follows the same colour scheme as the front cover. I was going for a cartoon kind of image, bright and playful. This would attract the age targets as the unique scenes, which have been created to support the image of the music artists is eye catching. For example the images being in front of the columns gives as good effect and also shows the importance of the image in the double page spread. The text is written in black as it goes well with the yellow background rectangle. The colours are easily on the eye allowing the reader to read for longer, unlike reading books there the text is a very harsh black throughout which is more preferable for older ages that tend to like reading more.
I have addressed my audience through the use of language that they can easily relate to. An example would be the use of the word “gassed up”. This is street/music language which acts as a pun in the context of its cover line. “I’m gassed up” is meant to mean “I’m over excited”

I have used repetition of the sentence structure and the different meanings of the word “gassed” to create a well expressed understanding of the artists’ excitement in the double page interview, which is easily understood and liked by my teenage and musical-minded audience

Q4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

I decided to aim my media product at a particular social class. The class that I chose is working class black boys ages 16 – 20. The reason I chose this is because there has been an increase in hip hop and r ‘n’ b music made by young black artists, but there are not that many music magazines made in the UK that acknowledge it.

The youthful age target would mean that they are in to music technology such as headphones (brands such as Skull candy, Beats by Dre.) or even mobile headphones such as blackberries (which most of the youth are using), music players (brands such as Apple iPod). The teenagers would be into watching TV, playing games consoles and music games such as Sony Playstation 3 and Xbox’s DJ hero. If they like making music, brands such as Image-Line, Digidesign, or Steinberg would appeal to them.



Ethnicity, The magazine is aimed at one ethnicity which is black people. To make the targeted ethnicity obvious I made sure that all my model were black. This means there is a restriction on the ethnicities, not all ethnicities of the world are targeted which means to them it is not relatable. The magazine does not have equally target males and females as males are targeted and not females. All religions are accepted, because anyone of a different religion can have an interest in the music. 

My magazine is aimed at people living in council estates that have a deep passion for music, the reason I chose to aim if at boys is because this particular type of music is mainly aimed at boys. I believe that this magazine would sell well due to the audience it is aimed at because as I mentioned earlier there isn’t much UK magazines; therefore there is a variety of American magazine with people wearing expensive things that the working class can not relate to as they are not as privileged as the people in the cover. This is why I made my model wear casual clothes as the audience that read it can relate to the music and stories, because the people in the magazine are just like them.

 I wanted my magazine to be appropriate for my ideal viewer as seen on my profile of audience; and I believe the magazine is appropriate, as the ideal viewer resembles my models, they dress very similar and lastly they are around the same age group.

Q3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Referring back to my case study of a publishing company, I have decided that a magazine publisher such as Harris Publications would be likely to distribute my music magazine. Link: http://www.harris-pub.com/

Harris Publications Inc. is a consumer magazine publisher located in New York that publishes over 75 titles including: Juicy, XXL, Small Business Opportunities, Start Your Own Business, Men's Workout, Exercise & Health, Celebrity Hairstyles, Tactical Knives, Combat Handguns, and many more. One major division, Harris Outdoor Magazines, publishes several titles on hunting, fishing, and firearms.

The media institution that might distribute my media product is ‘XXL’. The reason I picked XXL is because my magazine and their magazines have a lot of similarities.

There is no competition within this publisher’s titles as the magazines are similar but only to an extent. As ‘XXL’ tend to focus on American artists while my magazine focuses on UK artists. Also if you look at both the ‘XXL’ magazine and mine you will identify the various differences such as:

·         The main image of ‘XXL’ being a mid-shot while my magazine is a mid-close up

·         The masthead is on the left while my magazine masthead is in the middle

·         The importance of the main image is shown by my magazine ‘Play’ but not has boldly as it is doe in ‘XXL’. XXL cropped the masthead to make the image more seen while I did the opposite.

This would be financially beneficial to Harris Publications because they would be distributing a magazine to a similar audience to ‘XXL’ but it would be aimed at a different country. This could benefit there appeal as they are not just focusing on one countries talent but instead another countries talent. I believe this magazine will do well under Harris Publications as British artists are creating a wider fan base by promoting there albums in America. Therefore by Harris Publications having a British music magazine they can not only gain followers from Britain but in addition also gain more followers from America who are a fan of British rap. 

From my audience research, I have found out that a number of people order their magazines through subscription; therefore I would definitely encourage subscription to my magazine through Harris Publications which would prove its success with the fact that people are ordering it to their door, as opposed to picking it up off a shelf.

I encourage subscription to my magazine as that way it updates that audience on upcoming magazines. I would prefer to get my magazine distributed in such public magazine shops as WHSmiths and corner shops as I believe my target audience go to those places that most.

It would be sensible having my magazine distributed through music stores also, which are dedicated to attracting the technical type of music lovers, i.e. producers, music makers. The magazine will also be sold to all people and so I would distribute it through well known and respected retailers such as Costcutter.

Q2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product is aimed at the working class population; urban teenager preferably black. In the making of my magazine I looked at various magazines aimed at similar target audience such as ‘Vibe’ and added similarities into my magazine.

I made my magazine focus on a particular kind of music for a subculture, my magazine has mixed content because then the social groups represented might be a diverse group within a particular age group, meaning although  it is aimed at a particular subculture others of a different subculture can still purchase it. In order to make my media product represent my social group, I brought casual clothes for my model to wear such as hoodies and puffy jackets. The reason I did this is because my target audience are working class teenagers who don’t have a lot of money for designer clothes.



My main image for my music magazine front cover is of a black teenager listening to music on headphones. This represents my social group as the image is something the viewers can relate too, they love music and I’m providing a magazine that specializes in their area. This image represents every single black male teenager who dreams of making it big in the music industry. By doing so I also followed the conventions of the other magazines, by featuring someone dressed as a rapper on my front page.

I wanted the non verbal communication to be identical to the magazine front cover I analyzed, a photo of someone looking confident. His non verbal communication shows he is strong and confident as he is not posing but instead breaking the forth wall by looking directly into the camera.

The most obvious item I have used to represent the rapper is the 'nike hoody' that the model is wearing. This is very eye-catching as everyone in the social group I am targeting in this magazine knows this brand, and it is very likely that they wear this brand also. The posture of the model has his arms down and is standing firm, which conveys a sense of strength, and it is typical to see rappers having a very big build in magazines.  


I chose the models, clothes and props that seemed to fit with one particular subculture which are working class black boys.  I want the viewers to believe that the models; are just like them, dressing the same looking the same. Not knowing that I made that intentionally. I wanted my model to resemble my ideal viewer as seen on my profile of audience, and I believe my model does as they are dressed similar and they are around the same age group.

Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form + conventions of real media products?

My media product is a music magazine front cover, content and double page spread. To some extent my magazine challeges and develop the conventions of real media product.

Front Cover

Masthead (Logo): The convention of a music magazine is that it is placed on the top. I followed the typical conventions of music magazine, if I put it in the middle for example I could have been mistaken for the main coverline. Also the position and appearance of the masthead are important; the magazines I looked at in comparison to mine are ‘Vibe’ and ‘Q’ magazine. What I concluded is that ‘Vibe’ likes to have their masthead bold and in the middle like me, but ‘Q’ magazine prefer to have it on the top left (Left third). This is because of the way the distributors lay it out to be displayed; only the left side is shown.



Main Image: Photographic quality is accentual in making a realistic magazine as the photo needs to be of high quality. I took this into consideration which is why I took my images on a Canon EOS 400d, which gives quality to the photo taken. The convention of music magazines is to feature a medium close up, because this is more common. I decided to develop the convention because I thought I would have more room to fit coverlines, and also it would give it a more realistic outcome.

Selling Line and Puff: I decided to instead of a short description of the main marketing point, to put names of big artists. I got this idea from my analysis of a music magazine front cover. I believe this would suit my audience as it is easy to read and the big artists would attract attention. When contemplating whether to apply a puff I looked at some ‘Vibe’ and ‘Q’ magazines and concluded that although it is sometimes used in their magazines it is not very relevant.

Coverlines: Positioning, size and number of the coverlines are very important as too much could make it look messy while to little would make it seem unprofessional. To truly understand how much coverlines in the convention, I looked at ‘Vibe’ and ‘Q’ magazines. By looking at various magazines I realised not only the convention of the coverlines but also the use of the kicker and its impotents.

Contents Page

.

Choice of picture: When making a content page I had to decide on how many pictures I would include. I looked at ‘Q’ magazine in comparison and they tend to use one main image. I developed the convention on pictures; as I did use one images and like ‘Q’ magazine the picture is eye catching. I iintended to do this so attention is drawn to both issues of the contents page.

Mini front cover: The mini front cover follows the convention which is used in ‘Vibe’ magazines but not in ‘Q’. I chose to do this because it makes the overall design look better.

Font style + size: To find the convention in font styles and size I had to observe professional products, in terms of design. For products aimed at people of the similar age group as mine, the font style tends to be something easy to read e.g. Serif. This is why I picked a font easy to read, and a size that you can read clearly without squinting your eyes

Double page:

Main Image: The convention for a double page main image is half a size. I conformed top that convention by making my main image half a side, I believe this gives the double page a better affect to it.

‘Pull quote’: A pull quote is commonly used in double page spreads as it is one of the most important things the interviewee says. I chose to make it in the same colour but bolder, so it catches the eye of the reader, because it is bolder and larger than the other texts and therefore it stands out.

Music Magazine Front Cover

Music Magazine Content Page

Music Magazine Double Page Spread

Case study of a publishing house

Harris Publications Inc. is a consumer magazine publisher located in New York that publishes over 75 titles including: Juicy, XXL, Small Business Opportunities, Start Your Own Business, Men's Workout, Exercise & Health, Celebrity Hairstyles, Tactical Knives, Combat Handguns, and many more. One major division, Harris Outdoor Magazines, publishes several titles on hunting, fishing, and firearms.

Titles

• XXL
• Antenna
• Juicy
• Rides
• King
• Combat Handguns
• Special Weapons for Military & Police
• Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement
• Tactical Knives
• Tactical Weapons
• Guns of the Old West
• New Pioneer
• PC How-To Guide
• Quilt
• Quick Quilts
• Quilt Almanac
• Romantic Country
• Mopar Action
• Drag Racing Action
• Dog News
• Who's Who in Baseball
• Small Business Opportunities
• Start Your Own Business
• Harris Farmers' Almanac'
• Exercise & Health
• Men's Workout
• Bridal Star Hairstyles
• Celebrity Hairstyles

Sketches (Drafts)

Front Cover

Content Page

Double Page



Audience Research Questionnaire

Profiling your audience.

The magazine website that I looked at is called Vibe; this magazine has a similar genre to the one I intend to produce. I particularly looked at the ‘advertising info’ on the site. This helps me tell a lot about who the magazine is being targeted at. I believe this can help me identify the ‘demographic profile’ of the target audience for the magazine I intend to produce.

The new Vibe is the premier destination for urban music, entertainment, culture and lifestyle for the aspirational 18-34 year old. This magazine contains images of celebrities of a certain age group (18-34), Vibe magazine advertise such things as boxing matches to supermodels photo shoots.  This tells me two things; one that they focus on both gender and two, which is their target audience, are over the age of 16. Most under 18 year old would not be interested in boxing matches any other adverts in this site.

 This helps me in planning and how I intend to make my own magazine appeal to this type of audience. My magazine is going to be targeted at age 16 – 20.

<<< This is an image of my target viewer. The image is of a male teenager age 17 who wears nike jumpers and hoodies. I'm going to design a magazine that would intrest people like him.

Equipment used



Camera – Canon EOS 400 D. This was used to take pictures of my models

Bowen Gemini Esprit GM500. This was used to generate light to give my photos a nice affect. 

60cm Soft box. This was used to focus the lighting on a cartain area.



Bowens Radio Trigger. This was used to save my photos taken on the camera

Textual analysis of a music magazine double spread.

I will be analysing this magazine double page spread to help with the making of my music magazine.

Reading the introduction of the interviewer, I can tell that Jamelia is attempting a new image; she has been busy ‘having another child, winning awards’. It has been a long time since she was last interviewed and the interviewer is intending on having a little catch up

This is a double page spread of a singer called Jamelia. The picture of the singer shows she is of a mature age, most likely to be in her mid 20s.

Main Image:  The denotation of this image is the photograph of a black woman in the background; the setting colour is a dark brown which draws attention to the light complexion of her skin. Her clothes tell that she has matured since last interviewed; in the first picture she is wearing urban clothes which were mainly worn in the 90s. However, in the main image you see her wearing a nice smart shirt to show growth and maturity. The surrounding of the image connotes that she is calm and peaceful woman as the bedroom is a calm and peaceful environment. This also connotes the music she plays and how it can be depression and loud in a sense of the beat. The bedroom is calm and peaceful but it is also a place where arguments break out and fears are born, due to loneliness.

There is some high key lighting used in the image, in this main image the light seems to be coming from both sides, this is used to make her complexion lighter instead of her complexion looking to artificial. The singer is also breaking the forth wall as she is looking directly at the camera.

The singers name is written in a caption which is blended so I can see the original unedited image through the letters. This could symbolize truth; she is no longer how the media wanted her to be, she is now her own person.

The interviewer’s introduction is written in white and in bold, whereas the questions are written in red font. The response from the singer is written in white, this was done in so the reader can be able to identify who is speaking between the two.