Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Media evaluation 5-7 draft

Question 5

My genre for my magazine is rock, which I know quite a bit about and many people I know also like this genre. So using my knowledge on rock music I generated content that rock fans would want to see on the magazine. For my magazine I used quite bold colours like red, black and white as these colours are usually linked to rock music and are considered loud and expressive colours. By using these colours I was able to attract the attention of my audience with the choice of my colours scheme as rock fans usually look for these colours when looking for a rock magazine. Furthermore I added free content in my magazine like posters that would come with the magazine when brought and would be exclusive to only my magazine. This would interest any fans that are interest in the free gift that comes with the magazine, which may be from a certain artist or band, and would also peak any fans like that to collect merchandise. I put examples of the posters that were coming with the magazine on the front cover so readers can see the artists on the posters and whether they like it or not. This can also excite certain fans from seeing they favourite artists on the free posters and can make them buy the magazine on impulse. Fans of rock also like to buy things that fit in with the aesthetic of rock music. Therefore I made sure to make my front cover fit into the theme by using a picture of my cover star with a grey background on the front cover. In the photo I used low key lighting to create shadows so it looks dark and mysterious, which is what fans look for. By making my magazine fit into the aesthetics of rock fans will think that my magazine is genuinely knowledgeable about rock music. I mentioned many artist’s and band’s names in the cover lines on my front cover so that fans or these artists can quickly identify whether the magazine has artists they like featured in the magazine without having to pick it up and flip through the pages of the magazine. I also added a puff on the front cover of my magazine featuring tour dates, to advertise the artist and to catch the attention of the audience, to attract readers who may be interested in the artist.

On my contents page I added numerous pictures of different artists featured in my magazine so the readers can get excited about seeing their artists featured I the magazine and want to buy the magazine. For the photos of my contents page I used photos that are quite abstract and dark to represent the genre of my magazine. I separated the contents into different sections so that reader can easily navigate through the magazine and so they can see the content that is in the magazine and see whether they’re interest in it or not. I stuck to the same colour scheme and fonts so that it was consistent throughout the magazine and didn’t look too messy , which can often put the reader off as they may find it hard to read or difficult to navigate, as there is too much happening on each page. 

For my DPS I used a large image of the artist featured on both pages to make it stand out so the reader can definitely recognise the artist and know the article is about them. Furthermore I used consistent text and colours on this page so there wouldn’t be too many colours clashing as the photo already has quite a few colours. I also used a pull quote on my DPS so the reader can read it and become interested in the rest of the article. I made the article slightly casual so that it wasn’t all questions about the artist’s music, which makes it more interesting for the user to read as it is not a formal interview but an informal one like they’re reading a fun conversation. I also included an introduction to the artist so that reader’s that may not be a current fan of the artists may become interested in them.

Question 6:

From making my magazine I have learnt how to use various software and technology. I have been able to take pictures in a photography studio and learn how to set up lights and adjust them to my liking to create the effect I want in the photo I take. I learnt that there were 3 types of lights used, also known as 3 point lighting. These lights were the key/main light, the fill light and the back light. Furthermore there were soft boxes, which helps diffuse the light to soften the lighting. There were also different flash settings that you could adjust to control how much light you want in your photographs, as my magazine was based on rock I didn’t want too much light in my photos. Therefore I used low-key lighting in my shots to create a mysterious and dramatic atmosphere in my photos. Furthermore I have learnt how to use the DLSR camera and the different modes there are on the camera so I can take a picture to my liking. I was shown how to change the shutter speed on the camera so I could take continuous pictures if I wanted to capture movement, or for example my DPS picture where I took the picture of the model throwing the jacket mid-air. I have been able to use professional software, like Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator to help create my magazine. Through these programs I have been able to design my own fonts and make the front cover, and DPS of my magazine using these programs. I used Illustrator to help design my own fonts for my magazine. I wanted to create a rough brush effect for my masthead, and through the use of Illustrator I was able to produce this result by selecting a brush effect stroke for my text. I was also able to change the letter spacing to how I wanted it to look so the letters did not look too close or far apart from each other. I made two copies of the text and placed one copy behind the first piece of text to give it some depth so it looks more three-dimensional and stands out more. I used Photoshop to create my front cover and my contents page. I used multiple layers for the different elements on my magazine. To make the masthead look like it is behind the model I put the layer in front of the picture of the model and erased the part that went over her head. I used the brush tool and selected a brush with texture and drew rough lines for the background of my cover lines. I used the shape tool to create the skyline and the puff on the magazine. I selected the puff and added a strokes to it to make it stand out more. For my contents page I used the shape tool to draw out a background for my contents. I also gave one of the photos a stroke to make it stand out more. I made my double page spread on InDesign. I learnt how to use guidelines to make my layout more organised and neater. I found out how to do a drop cap and separating my text into columns, using the text options available on InDesign. InDesign and Photoshop were quite similar so I was able to use the skills I learnt from Photoshop on InDesign too.

I have also learnt how to use Blogger to keep track of my progress. As I used different platforms to upload my work I also learnt how to embed them onto my blog, using HTML, so they can stay in whatever format I made them in, but still appear on my blog. With the use of blogger I was able to keep track of my progress and retrace my steps if I ever forgot about something. I would type up what I wanted on word before I pasted it on to blogger so I would not any grammatical or spelling mistakes.

Question 7:

For my front cover instead of placing the skyline on the bottom, like I did for my preliminary, I placed the skyline at the top. I did this as I realised when magazines are displayed you can only see the top part of the magazine half the time. So even if my magazine gets placed behind others people can still see my magazine and the content inside my magazine from the skyline. Not only can you see pictures on my skyline but also the content inside the magazine, which may interest in anyone looking for rock magazines. I used a puff in both of my magazines, however in the preliminary task it did not stand out and the test inside was quite plan and too close to the edge of the puff. However in my music magazine I used two outlines on my puff to help make it stand out. I also made the text inside the puff a lot more interesting and centred it properly. Before in the preliminary task the masthead was placed to the left of the model and looked quite plain as it used the same font as the cover lines. I also placed the date in-between the box that was surrounding the masthead and this made it look unprofessional as it looked out of place. In my music magazine I placed the magazine behind the model, as I wanted the model to be the centre of attention. However I placed it on top of the examples of the posters as I still wanted the name of my magazine to stand out and not be completely hidden. Instead of using a default text font I customised and made my masthead on Illustrator so that it would stand out more and wouldn’t look like another cover line and be hidden amongst them. I learnt more about the placement of the cover star and instead of using a photo with the model standing at the side I used a photo with the model centred instead. From here I placed cover lines, puffs and other elements around the cover star making the cover star the centre of attention. I did this so that when you pick up my magazine the main focus will be on the cover star, which is one of the reason most people buy magazines, as people like to buy magazines that feature artists they like. I realised that some of the cover lines in my preliminary task were quite hidden and blended into the background of the photo. So for I chose a colour scheme that contrasted with the photo I was using, furthermore I used the brush tool and drew a few brush strokes and placed this behind the cover lines to make them stand out more and bring more attention to them. For my preliminary task I included a main cover line, however I did not include an anchor for my front cover, so this time I included an anchor to use so the reader could relate the text with the image that I use for my front cover. 

For my contents page I made a similar font to my masthead for my contents titles to make it stand out from the rest of the text on my contents. Similar to my preliminary task I placed all my contents inside a box for it looks more organised and is easy to see where all the contents of my magazine is. However instead of placing the box on the whole half of the pages I placed it partially to the right side of the page and used a full sized image for the background of the page. I also added other images of artists included in my magazine so the reader can clearly see and located which artists are featured in this magazine. Although I captioned the imaged I used in my preliminary task I did not add a page number so they could locate certain articles in my magazine. So for my music magazine I added a paged number to the caption in another colour to highlight which page the article the picture was featured on so it makes it easier for the reader to navigate through the magazine. For the images I used on the contents page in my preliminary task I used pictures where the model was facing away from the camera, but for my music magazine I took pictures where the artists was looking at the camera/reader so the reader could feel more connected with the magazine and artist. The pictures placed on my preliminary task looked like they were placed quite randomly and did not stand out, it made my magazine look messy. Therefore for my music magazine I used a stroke to highlight my images to make them look neater I also spaced them from other images so it did not look too close and messy. Unlike my preliminary magazine, which just listed the entire contents of my magazine, I separated my contents into different sections on my music magazine to make it easier for the reader to navigate. I also included social media logos on my music magazine to let the reader know how to stay connected with the magazine and feel more connected to the magazine.

For my DPS I decided to stick with the same colour scheme I used for my front cover and contents to make my magazine more consistent. From my front cover and contents page I decided to use the same fonts so it would look more professional and wouldn’t make my magazine look too messy with multiple fonts. I added a pull quote to my DPS to attract the attention of reader’s so they can have an insight on part of the article to capture their attention. I included an introduction to the artist in my article so that anyone that does not know the artists can discover more about them and maybe become a fan of them. I also included an outro to promote the artist’s new album to let any fans know about it and remind them that it is available for sale. I have learnt different ways to write an article and seeing as my target audience is mainly teenagers I wrote my article in a casual format so it is not too formal and serious, therefore teenagers won’t get bored of reading it. I also included the logo of m magazine at the bottom of the page to highlight the fact that this article was exclusive to my magazine. Originally I wanted to use two different pictures on each page as the background, however I discovered that this made my magazine tacky and unprofessional so I opted for a landscape picture for both pages. I was able to learn more about photography and have access to a photography studio so I could take better quality and professional pictures. Unlike my preliminary task, the photos I used for my music magazine were much better quality and made my magazine look more professional and refined.

Media Evaluation question 1-4 draft

Media evaluation

Question 1:

For my front cover I have added a masthead and barcode to follow the conventions of a magazine. With the masthead I have also placed it being the cover star to make the cover star stand out more. Furthermore for the barcode I placed the date and price of the magazine above it. This makes my magazine seem more realistic and professional, as it looks like an actual magazine. Furthermore I have added cover lines in the same format that magazines would lay them out. I have also included a skyline and a puff on the front cover to catch the audience’s attention to a certain topic just like other magazines would do. For example Kerrang uses skylines on their front covers to let their readers know more about what is included in the magazine, instead of having the reader having to pick up the magazine to look at the contents. They include some of the contents that are in the magazine on the skyline so the reader can instantly look at it and see what is included in the magazine. Like Q magazine and Kerrang I have used a photo taken at a photography studio for my front cover. This makes the magazine seem more professional and by using professional equipment to take the picture I have also used a good quality image, which makes the overall front cover look nicer. I used a mid-shot with the photo I took and centred the model to make them stand out. Many magazines usually have mid-shots of the cover star to make them stand out, so I have done the same for my magazine. I used low-key lighting in the photo to make the model look more mysterious with the use of shadows. The model is also wearing heavy make-up and quite a plain T-shirt with writing to create dark vibes, which relate to the genre of music my magazine is about. I have included an anchor for my main cover line to follow the conventions of magazines. By including an anchor with the cover line the reader will know that it is related to the image also it gives an insight about what the feature of the magazine will be about. 

For my contents page of my magazine I have included images of artists that have been featured in my magazine to excite the reader making them want to know more about the contents of the artists. I have added social media logos to suggest to the reader that they can follow the magazine’s social media pages if they would like more information. Furthermore I have sectioned the contents in my magazine into sub sections to help the reader navigate through the magazine easier. I have added page numbers where the content is located at and I made them a different colour to make them stand out so the reader can easily see them and navigate their way through the magazine. With the photos I have used I also added captions and page numbers to where they can find more information about them on the artist and I also added quotes with them to give the reader an insight on the article they are featured in. I have included the logo of my magazine at the bottom of the page next to the page number of the contents page to follows the conventions of a magazine. Like Kerrang I have used an image as the background of my magazine and half of the page is used to show off the image whilst content is written on the other half of the page. Also like Q magazine I did not add just one picture, I added multiple pictures of different artists on my contents page, so the readers can visually see the artists that are featured in the magazine. Like both magazines I have stuck with the same colour scheme for my contents page that I used for my front cover, this makes the magazine consistent and makes it look more professional instead of using random colour on each page. It keeps the magazine looking organised like it has been colour coded.

For my double page spread I did it in a similar layout as Kerrang and Q magazine. Following the conventions of a magazine I added a picture of the artist featured on the DPS. I used the same picture for both pages to make it look more professional, instead of using two pages which may make it look choppy and messy. The phot used here was taken in the photography studio to create a professional look. In this photo I took the photo from the side of the model and used low key lighting, which created shadows on the model’s face making them look mysterious. By doing this the reader will want to know more about the artist. I took the picture where the model was not centred but at the side to leave some white space, which is where the article is. The model is wearing quite dark and heavy make-up to represent the genre of music my magazine features. The model is also throwing a leather jacket up in the air in the photo to make them look cool to the reader. I have added page numbers at the bottom of the page so users can easily find the DPS from the contents page. Furthermore I added the logo of my magazine at the bottom of the page to so the reader knows the interview was done by my magazine. I added the artist’s name in a bold font and capital letters at the side of the page, so when the user turns the page they will see it and know which artist the article is about. The title of the article has also been put in a bold font in capital letters to make it stand out. I have added a pull quote underneath the title to catch the reader’s attention, so they may take an interest in the article. I wrote the article in a question and answer format to make it seem like a conversation going back and forth. I wrote the article in a casual format by writing questions that are not just asking about the artist and their music but also about their personal life. This can make the reader more interested in the article as they might learn something new about the artist that they did not know. To make my magazine consistent I have used the same fonts that I have used on my front cover. Using too many fonts would have made my magazine look messy and unprofessional, so I stuck to certain fonts that I have already used. Like most DPS articles in Kerrang and Q magazine I have added an introduction to the artist, so any reader’s that are interest in the artist can know more about them. I have also added a drop cap to show where the article starts. I have added an outro at the end of the article to advertise the artist and their product. I have also stuck with the colour scheme by making the titles black and white, and adding red lines under the title and pull quote.

Question 2:

The social group that is being shown in my magazine is mainly young white people that may still be in higher education or at the stage where they are at their first job. Their families will have an average income. As my magazine is UK based most of the artists featured in my magazine are UKK based too and located in London. London is known as an urban and diverse area with many young people. By featuring artists from the area, young readers from the area may also aspire to be like them too and pursue their dreams. My magazine portrays both genders, but my magazine will try to portray more female artists. Instead of just showing male artists and making them more inferior to female artists. My magazine will not portray females as objects like many other music magazines.  My magazine mainly features white people that are represented positively, as they inspire their audience with their musical talents. The artists are represented as young hard workers that chase after their dream of being famous and inspiring others.  My magazine focuses on rock music. Rock music is usually represented as negative and male dominated. The clothing that one my models is wearing is quite gender neutral giving off the impression that they are a strong character and they’re fighting against the stereotype of women. The main model on the contents page is also wearing a choker which fits into the genre of music. The choker gives of the impression of a collar but without a lead giving the impression that the artists does not need a leader because they’re their own leader. Another one of my models has red hair, which may be viewed as rebellious and wild to some people. These things give the impression that people of this age group are rebellious and do not cater towards society’s standards. The make-up that the models are wearing is quite dark and might lead people to think that people into rock music look a certain way. Most of my models are female models that strike quite strong poses, which shows that females are powerful too and not weak little girls that people stereotype them with. In my DPS there is a section which talks about the artists when she was younger, which creates an image of what younger fans are like and that it is a sort of phase that teenagers go through. Overall the representation of the social group in my magazine is positive and shows that rock music is not just a male dominated genre and that female artists are also musically talented without having to be treated like objects.

Question 3:

I would like my magazine to be published by Time Inc.UK, formally known as IPC Media. Time Inc.UK, a consumer magazine and digital publisher, was founded in 1968 in the UK. They are a successful company that has a large portfolio, which sells over 350 million copies a year. At the Professional Publishers Association, in April 2012, IPC won an award for the Best Production Team of the Year. From the four main publishers in the UK, EMAP Bauer, IPC, Conde and NatMag, I have chosen IPC. At first I was going to choose Bauer, however Bauer already publish Kerrang. So it would not be good to have my magazine published with them as both magazines would compete against one another. Instead I chose IPC as they are highly successful and have experience publishing music magazines, like the NME. Even though they publish a music magazine it would not compete against my magazine as my magazine is based on a different genre of music and the target audience is different. NME features numerous genres and is a music journalism magazine that is mainly aimed at young adults, whereas my magazine only features rock genre and is aimed at teenagers. Furthermore IPC has a lot of experience from publishing magazines for years and they have a lot of knowledge on different target audiences from other magazines they publish. Therefore they would know what the target audience want and is attracted by, so they could help further develop my magazine. My target audience is quite young and tend to use a bunch of social media and use mobile phones. IPC don’t only publish physical copies of magazines but also digital versions too, and they use a wide range of social media to advertise this. This is useful as my target audience can become aware of my magazine and access it on different platforms, so if they cannot afford a physical copy of the magazine they could buy a digital version instead, which would be cheaper. Seeing as less people are buying physical copies of magazines nowadays, as most people are moving towards digital platforms, it would benefit my magazine to have a digital copy too so it is more accessible to the audience. Also by making my magazine available online people will be able to share it on social media meaning that my magazine would be getting advertised for free. As a large company IPC would also be able to set up a subscription service for my magazine. By having a subscription service we would be able to keep track of how many readers are reading my magazine and on average how many more people are picking up my magazine when a new issue is released. This can help give a rough estimate of how many magazines should be published for the next release, which leads to less resources being wasted. Also by having a subscription service it guarantees and income for my magazine as the reader might have paid for a monthly subscription for a whole year. With a subscription my magazine would also earn more money instead of having my magazine sold in a shop. If my magazine was just sold in a shop it would earn less money as the shop keeps part of the money they earn from selling my magazine. Instead my magazine would be mailed directly to the reader meaning it won’t lose more money and it would be both convenient for the reader and my magazine. With a subscription there would be benefits for the reader too as the magazine would be less expensive and they may also get free gifts from subscribing to my magazine.

Question 4:

My target audience will be teenagers aged 14-20. They will still be in education, so due to this reason my magazine will be relatively cheap and affordable. My target audience will be into rock, metal, and punk music as my magazine is a rock magazine. They will mainly be located in the UK in big cities, like London or Birmingham, as my magazine is based in the UK. My magazine will have content for young teenagers to older teenagers. I have chosen to aim my magazine at this age group because people this age usually get into rock music, as they like to be rebellious and experiment a lot at this stage. My audience will be aimed at both genders, 50% male and 50% female, even though most of the cover stars I use for my magazine are female my magazine is aimed both equally at male and female. Usually rock magazines are aimed at people of white ethnicity, however I would like to broaden my target audience to all other ethnicities too.  My magazine will do its best by including artists of different ethnicities. My audience will be fans that are into going to live events and buying physical copies of albums and merchandise, therefore my magazine will advertise these things in it. By creating an audience profile I can use this to show to advertisers who may be interested in advertising their products in my magazine. With knowledge on the target audience my magazine is based on they can see whether their product would sell well with them or not. For example bands may want to advertise their gigs in my magazine as they know there will be 20 year old who have some money to spend on them and their merchandise.

Lily is 17 years old and lives in London. She loves going to lives and meet and greets. Her life is centred on music and she does her best to collect posters and albums of her favourite artists. She loves introducing her friends to new artists she discovers and arranges to go to concerts together. Lily has a part-time job and her parents also give her money once a week to spend. She saves up to go to these events and to buy merchandise and occasionally receives them as gifts. Lily is always up to date with the latest trends on social media and learns about new artists through platforms like YouTube and Twitter.

Zen is 16 years old and lives in Stratford. He spends most his time online and likes to listen to music on platforms like YouTube or Spotify. However occasionally if he sees his favourite band featured in magazine he will often go and buy it. He spends the majority of his money on merchandise from his favourite artists. To Zen, music is a way for him to escape from his workload and stress from school. Getting gig tickets is considered a luxury to Zen and so he usually enters competitions to try and win tickets. 

completed DPS

completed contents

completed front cover

DPS process

For my DPSI used the frame tool and placed the image I was using there. The image didn't fit the way I wanted so I fitted it to frame and dragged it into the position I wanted it to be. I placed the titles I made on illustrator onto my DPS. I then pasted the article I wrote onto the DPS.

At the beginning I placed the picture only on one side of the page and for the other side of the page I made it a solid colour similar  to the background of the photograph that I took. Although the layout looked nice I realised that the other page did not look right and it looked slightly off. Furthermore I did not include page numbers on the DPS. 

I later tried to add another picture on the other side of the page to make it look better and less off, however it still did not look right. I also designed a masthead on illustrator and had initially used it for my DPS however it did not fit the theme of the article and made it look less professional so I removed it from my DPS. At the time I did not finish writing my article so I did not place the article on my DPS.

I highlighted the first letter of my article and clicked the reversed P and added lines to the drop cap option. I also used the line tool to underline my headings and pull quote, to add more colour to my DPS.

On the final version of my DPS I changed the font of the titles and the text so that I did not use too many different fonts in my magazine. I also moved the title of the article further up to give the article more space and I changed some of the questions and answers to the article to make it more casual and less formal. I added the red underline under the title and the pull quote to make them stand out more.