Final Magazine

VOILA!

How did I attract my target audience?

(Between 15-27 years old
Interested in a variety of music genres
Interested in fashion)

When you first see my front cover, does it look like a magazine you would pick up off a shelf in a shop?
CHLOE (16): I think the magazine looks really trendy and modern. I'd probably be first of all attracted to it because you can tell by the clothes the model is wearing that it is going to have something to do with fashion in there and I like reading about fashion when I get magazines.
LOUISE (20): The way the model's standing looks really professional, I don't like magazines with papparrazzi photos on the front cover because you can tell it's a gossip magazine and is normally full of lies but this one you can tell is about clothes and the people in it because it has a music artist as the focus of the page.
JOE (18): Even though there's a girl on the front I would still want to buy this magazine because it's not girly and you can tell it's for boys aswell because of the colours.. if anything the girl makes me want to buy it more! She looks like a model so I know it's going to be about clothes and all the headines are about either fashion or music, which are my two fav' things!

What do you like about my contents page? Does it support your origional opinion of the magazine?
CHLOE: Because you can see that she is wearing different clothes it looks professional, as if it was a photoshoot with loads of clothes and also still makes me think it's to do with fashion. Even the pose makes her look like a fashion model but because its a photo of a singer, it still looks clearly like a music magazine.
LOUISE: I like the layout of this page, all the bit coloured numbers and white text makes the page look modern and is really easy to read. It still looks like a music magazine because you can see all the headlines about festivals and cocerts but also about fashion and even though you can't see much of her outfit, her pose makes her look like a catwalk model.
JOE: I don't think this looks like a normal contents page, they normally have a square picture and then the writing goes down the side, but this looks alot less boring. The numbers stand out and match the colour of the model's top and I think the page generally just looks really professional and modern.

Do you think my double page article suits my music magazine?
CHLOE: I like that the background is green which is a a different colour to the theme of the magazine because it makes it stand out and shows that this page is more about the artist that the magazine; like this is HER page. She also looks less "modelly" in the pictures on this page because she is smiling and more casual as if she's just relaxing and being herself in this article.
LOUISE: She looks really proud in her photos, like she likes what she's doing so looks like a genuine music artist and making the article look more interesting rather than someone who's vain. Having her take up a whole page makes it clear what the article is about and is almost like it's revealing, seeing her up close and like you're going to find out about her personally.
JOE: The little fact box adds interest to this article, its something you could easily read as you flick through the pages and is interesting so might make someone actually want to read the rest of the article, people always like finding out secrets and personal things about celebrities. Green is a really good colour because it's bright and happy and goes with the photos because she looks happy too.

What kind of media institustion might distribute my product and why?

I found out about a company called IPC Media which describes itself on its website as being "A Leading Magazine Publisher In The UK". It is known for comprising not only leisure and TV magazines, but also (more importantly to me) both women gossip, fashion and lifestyle magazine including a few music magazines. They may be interested in producing my magazine and I would like to have my magazine associated with others produced by this company such as NME, InStyle and Look as these magazines have good reputations and are well known.

What have I learnt about technologies from constructing my product?

When manipulating my photos to get the effect I wanted, I realised how much photoshop can completely change a picture. I managed to not only make my model clearer, brighter, and air brushed in all of the pictures to add a professional look to my photography, I completely changed the backgrounds to the colours I wanted and hid the background and imperfections on the backdrop to ensure maximum focus on the model and making sure it looks professional.


I also attempted to hide the shadow by moving around the lighting. The lights I used in my photoshoot changed the photos completely compared to my trail pictures I had taken before without them. The colours were alot clearer with the lights and it looked a lot more professional.
By having the light at different angles it also created different effects; having the light from below shining up on her face made the picture look spooky and made her pose look evil. By having it from above it looked like sun was shining on her and that she was outside. I used pictures where the light was directly on her face as I wanted it to look intense and to show her in the spotlight; the focus of the photo.


Although at first I struggled to get used to InDesign, I realised that it was the most suitable software for designing my magazine as the functions incuded tools for text and a large variety of options around it, ways of moving images and shapes and layering them however you want.
I enjoyed using this programme, and although I couldn't put my magazine name behind my model's head, I found an effect I could not have acheived anywhere else; where the text curves up the models leg on my contents page.

Blogger has allowed me to explain in detail the thought and improvements that went into making my magazine. I have been able to show my origional ideas and how my research has changed it to look so much better now and what research my inspiration has come from. By being able to include Prezi presentations and powerpoint slides through SlideShare, I was able to show visually my ideas and though processes through the creating of my magazine and makes my whole blog alot more varied and funner to read.

What have I learnt from my preliminary task?

After struggling to make layout of the front cover of my school magazine look professional, I realised it was becuase I had taken the wrong kind of pictures. Where I had a landscape picture with the focus all the way across leaving only space above and below, it made my magazine look alot less like a real life product as most magazines have text down either side of the photo which I couldn't do with the photo I had taken. Although this left a good amount of space where I could put part of an article at the bottom, which is a convention of a school magazine, it does not suit the purpose of my music magazine and so from this I knew that I would have to take my photos keeping in mind it needs to be portrait, taking up the whole page and leaving space either side of the model for headlines.

On the contents page I found it hard to fill up white space, I used alot of shapes and colours which made the page fuller but also more childish and although this meant it suited its purpose of being a school magazine, it was not the right way to fill space in a music magazine and so instead I decided that the most successful way to take up the page will be to again take a photo that fills the whole page and to include the text in spaces beside the model in the photo where the back ground would be faily plain.

I realised that font was an important way to set the tone for the magazine; if it's too plain it looks formal and business-like, if it's too curly and pretty it looks childish. For my music magazine I used a simple font but included a variation of colours and sizes to make sure it didn't look too plain and had some amount of fun and liveliness.

I think that planning the layout before I started preparation for my music magazine, so that I knew exactly what photos to take and what text I would need, was the best way to make sure it ended up working and looking professional.

How does your media product represent social groups?

Target Audience

In what ways does my media product use, develop or challenge forms and coventions of real media products?

Evaluation on Prezi

I don't think my contents page really looks like a normal contents page; I don't think they usually put as much focus into their photos as I have done. Although I did attempt to make the photo more like a plain background image like other magazines, mine turned out to be centered completely around my model but I decided to keep this effect as I liked it.
Like a real contents page, I followed the convention that the page numbers stood out more than anything else; I used large numbers that were coloured to match the house theme amungst the other text which was just black.


I think that my double page spread is very typical of that of a mordern magazine as it included a large picture of the model for those who aspire to them and want to see them exposed on a full page, posing. And like a usual article, I had it in two columns to make for an easier read than a big chunk of text which may put people off reading it.
I made the page a green colour to stop the white space behind her looking blank and boring. I chose green as it looked good next to the pale colour she was wearing and stood out in a magazine which consisted mainly of dark greys, black and mustard.

Photoshoot

I needed 4 main pictures when I went into the photoshoot; front cover, contents and 2 for my double page spread.


Knowing that I needed a midshot of my model for the front page I experimented with different poses which I thought would look most effective on the cover of a magazine- it was going to have text tightly fitted around it and the colour look good with the colour of the text and yellow masthead.
I chose green for my model to wear as I thought it was bold and neither blends in nor clashes with the yellow theme.
I tried to make the pose simple so that the text could tighly fit around it- with the concentration of the photo on her face and the large hair giving a dark space for the masthead to be placed over.

I wanted the picture in the background of my contents page to be a wide shot which included the models whole body, also being a simple pose so that the text could fit close but also with her back turned, to make a big change from the front cover rather than just a zoom out from her face from the first page to the next.
On the contents page I wanted her outfit to match the colour scheme so that she became part of the page rather than the main image, as this page was more about the articles than the model.

On the other hand, on the double page spread, she was the most important part of the page. I had her dressed in a less promenant colour here so that the background could be coloured instead without clashing as I wanted this page to be lively and knew I would struggle to fill the white space if it was not a colour.
I needed two photos for this page, I knew I wanted one of these to be my model laying down so I could place her above the text as if lying on it, and the other a midshot to focus on her face and beauty; I chose to have her facing the side as this again showed a difference as it was another different pose and view.
I also wanted this page to have a different tone, as the photos I used for the cover and contents were there to make the magazine look fashionable and professional, but this article was to show the model's personality and to fit the text that was about her so I had her smiling and looking more fun than as if pouting.

Final Contents

After playing around with my main photo for the contents page, I realised I was right to change my idea from having a square photo with text around it to the layout like Mojo where the text was tight around the model's body as it was easier to fill the page and stop it from looking empty and boring.
I didn't use Top of the Pops' idea of having separate categories on my contents page in the end as it was hard to distinguish between the different sections without making the page look too busy and hard to read and understand.
I tried to include as many pages as possible but did also use NME's idea of having some pages bigger, more important, than others on the contents page as it made it less boring and plain.

I am pleased with the way my contents page has turned out as I have improved it by adding more pictures after realising there wasn't alot of colour and continually rearraanged my texxt to ensure it suitably surrounded my model. I think it now looks proffessional and effective and meets my origional aim to have a fashionable music magazine that had a messy look. I think this works well in my final draft.

Talking through my drafts of my front cover

Contents Analysis

I like the layout of MixMag and am also planning to use a dark colour scheme similar to they have used; with a black background and a light text. I had originally planned to also have one large picture with the list of pages at the side but I have changed this idea as I don’t think it looks effective in MixMag’s contents page so instead I will be doing something more like Mojo, where the list of articles are tightly surrounding the figure in the photo down one side of his body.

I’d like to organise the layout of articles like Top of the Pops did as it has been put into useful categories making it easy to read and means I can add more colour to make it livelier with boxes, separators and other shapes to split up the groups.

Unlike Mojo’s contents page, I’d like to include a lot of pages because I don’t think this was a very successful contents page as it only informs you of 4 articles that included in the magazine where in opposition I could do something like MixMag where they have included as many articles as possible.

I also did not like the fact that NME used 7 different pictures on their contents page because although it does successfully explain a mixture of various articles that the magazine included. I thought that the quotes they used and a short sentence underneath on what the article was about was an effective way to list articles and by making the page number large it was clear what pages to find the articles that interest the audience. Top of the Pops also achieved this by labelling a diagram of the front page to show the reader which page to find the cover lines that they are interested in on, although I think this made the page look childish whereas I am trying to make my magazine appeal to a young-adult audience.

Well done Vicky – you have thought carefully about the contents pages of the magazines you have analysed and considered how to use these ideas when creating your own contents page.

Double Page Articles Analysis

My idea will be similar to the double page article that I studied from NME magazine; I will have a picture take up one whole page and on the opposite, half a page of article with a large title above.
I also liked the inclusion of a caption on the photo in Mojo's article which gives a small hint about what the article is about and possibly make them interested and want to read on.
I didn't want my article to be an interview as my questionnaire of my target audience proved that not many of them are interested to read articles.

Cover Analysis

By using a main photo to give the overall effect of the magazine, the genre, target audience and possibly even the content of the magazine can be conveyed. The technical aspects of the photo used vary depending on these factors of a magazine. For example, MixMag is an example of a dance music magazine in which the photo is of a DJ. The genre is demonstrated with this photo of a DJ because the use of a mid-shot shows the view of his body that can be seen by the audience when he is behind his decks. He is also surrounded by bright colour shadows which resemble the effect given by disco lights in a club he may play at.

By using the mid-shot on the cover of Drummer, it captures the positioning of a typical drummer, seated at his drum kit. The slight low angle of the shot gives the impression that he looks down onto audience, that his drum kit gives him the power over the music and whoever listens to it as this magazine focuses on the instrument and what effect they believe it has.

Another style that is successfully shown through their photo is Terrorizer, where a closer shot is used as the face is all that is need from this model to show his style and therefore the genre of the magazine. The dark colours in his hair, make up and clothing closely relate to the “Goth” or “Grunge” fashion so it portrays to the audience what style this magazine represents. The fact that the photo covers most of the masthead may also link, making him look evil or dangerous.

Oppositely, wide shot is used for Vive Le Rock where a band is shown from above. This gives the impression that the person taking the picture is high up and has focussed all the way down just to this band as they are the most important things on the street; the people who get the attention in this area because of their music/talent/fame.

Considering that I would like to have a focus on fashion in my magazine, I would like to have a shot which includes elements of it, like a wide shot to include a whole outfit in which the model is dressed in “fashionable” clothes, so that it is clear to the audience this will be included as part of the content of my magazine. But because I still want it to be clear that this is a music magazine, I will not have my model on a cat walk or with just a white backdrop; I do not want the focus just to be on the clothes but on the person, so I’d like to frame the person with other things that show their personality and genre of music.

Everything included on the front cover represents something; all colours and clothes have been carefully selected to covey the right message and chosen to symbolise particular themes/styles to the audience.

In MixMag, the clothes that the DJ is seen wearing are plain, he has not been done up as he wants to remain simple to show that the music is most important  to this artist and not his image, like Drummer also in which he is simply smart. On the other hand, Terrorizer has clearly chosen what he is wearing just to show his style and exaggerate it.

The fact that the photo on the cover of Vive Le Rock is in black and white is to represent the vibe that the band want to be associated with, like an old fashioned, classic rock look. They have used the setting of a normal street to show that they don’t want to look like they are trying to be fancy or in with fashion, just simply themselves. The fact that they can been seen standing casually with their hands in their pockets it’s as if they’re comfortable with their status and don’t care what people think, a confident band bringing their own style to music that look like a “cool gang” which hopefully will be a good message to show on a front cover as people want to find out more about them and what else they do.

To make evident the fact that I believe fashion is an important part to people who they are and want to prove it through experimenting with different styles accompanying music genres in my magazine. I will ensure that my models also look confident with their taste in clothes and will have the poised as if to show off their style; for example, dancing or strutting as if down a cat-walk or posing for a camera like a model as i think this makes it more proffesional than having people dressed in clothing in other settings. If I were to make more than one issue of my magazine, I would show a variation of fashion so that I prove that it isn’t for a specific group of people and hopefully I will be able to choose a look that doesn’t only appeal to one of these groups.

The cover lines and captions on the covers of magazines contribute to the way the magazine is seen by the audience, both through choice of wording and also colours and styles. The word “mix” in the name of the magazine MixMag was chosen specifically because it represents the art of “mixing” which DJs do in this dance genre of music. The other words highlighted on the page are those related to dance event at which you’d find these DJs and which attract people into this kind of music, including superlatives to make the audience believe it is about the “best” or “biggest” events.

Similarly, both Vive Le Rock and Terrorizer included the names of rock bands to attract the audience because bands are what most people who like rock are most interested in and looking to read about. By having this list on the front cover, it not old established what type of music this magazine is focussed on but also interests fans of these people who will then want to buy the magazine to find out about their favourite artists. Drummer includes some big names that would stand out to its target audience too.

I would like to include a lot of famous names, a collection of various types of artists so as to attract big fan groups from separate genre’s and also some key words about clothes and fashion, I think using big shop names would be a successful way of achieving this.

Colour Scheme

I agreed with the results I obtained from asking some people from my target audience what colour scheme looks most effective on a music magazine so I will be using a dark, plain colour scheme which includes one bright colour.

I did further research into which colour this should be and noticed that alot of music magazines, most being rock, include the colour red and so I would like to use something different. I want to ensure it doesn't look too rocky otherwise it may not appeal to people who like pop.

I concluded that to be unique, yellow would be a good colour; this is already used in some gossip magazines but this way, it is both unisex and already partly relates to the gossip and fashion side of the magazine as well as being more of a pop style to add in with the darker rock colours.

Music Artists

In my questionnaire, I asked my target audience what their favourite artists were so that I could decide who I would feature in my magazine. I would research these celebrities so that I could follow their newest music, fashion and gossip associated with them so that it may interest their fans and make them want to buy their magazine to keep up to date with their favourite singer/bands latest news and photos.
I found out that the most popular pop artists were Beyonce, Rihanna and Katy Perry, and in rock it was Foo Fighters, I will be doing more questionnaires to find out more popular rock bands for my target audience.

Questionnaire Results

After doing my questionnaire, I concluded that the majority of people between 12 and 27 like pop music. The second most popular was rock, so these are the two genres I will focus my magazine on.

To include the opinions of both people who like rock and those who like pop, I will include some dark colours to aquire the interest of rock lovers but also one bright colour to add some pop into the style of the magazine.

More than 50% of my target audience said that fashion insterests them the most in a magazine article so I am going to ensure this is what I focus on, although I will include the others as these were still chosen by some people.

Publication Plan CHANGES

Name of magazine: They

Positioning statement: “What they sing, what they do, what they wear.. keep up with your favourite music artists"

After I realised that the words "blend" and "variate" only suggest a mixture of song genres and don't include the focus on fashion, I re-thought what the magazine should be called that would explain that it was going to be about the artists in general, everything around the music included.

Publication Plan

PUBLICATION PLAN

Name of magazine: Eclect/ blend/ VARY8

Font:

Positioning statement: “No matter what music, the magazine that matters”

Frequency of publication: Every 2 weeks to show update in charts and new songs

Distribution: Anywhere, easy to get hold of

Rationale: (what is the thinking behind the magazine - have you identified a gap in the market?)

Meets the needs of people who are between genres and can’t choose between rock and pop magazines

Style: Messy, lively, young (up to date style), simple, bright

Regular content: Charts, lyrics to song at number featuring photos of artist,

Fashion tips from someone in the charts- favorite shops/item of clothing

Feature content in your issue: Photoshoot with female singer after her song goes to number one with lyrics

House style: what font will you use? will it be the same for articles/headings/captions?

Black background (dark), white writing, yellow details and highlighting.

To make it look messy, I will include more than one font, using something similar to the font that I write the magazine name in for main points (e.g. artist names/ big events)

Contents Pages

When studing both the Mojo magazine and MixMag, I decided that the same layout is commonly used and that I should consider using the same layout in my own magazine;

Both included a main picture which was a square- not cut/edited, which took up about a third of the page. They were both of people dancing/partying, so were both action shots. This was to give the magazine a sense of fun and action.

In both magazines, there was text to one side and underneath the photo. In MixMag, the list of pages was to the edge of the page with some other information about the magazine underneath and in Mojo it was the other way round.

The most effective colours used was in MixMag where they used a dark background with yellow text on top for the page numbers, as it stands out the most, and the rest of the text was white.
I think I will use a similar idea with my contents page as this looked effective.

Both contents pages included the page number next to the name of the story included on that page plus a brief description of the article (a short sentace).

MixMag



Target audience: young people between 18 and 25 who like festivals/concerts, unisex
You can tell this as all included articles are to do with concerts/parties/festivals, music featured is all dance music which is what is normally played at this events
Photo: mid shot of young male artist (name included in coverstory headline) in relaxed stance to show casual cool style, t-shirt included to show fashion, bottom of body unimportant as he is recognisable by his upper body and face
No other images included on front cover, simple, not over confusing
Colour: bright, highlighted headline and some other words on page, looks busy, shadows and colours behind cover model; like disco lights at club