Finished product

This is my finished product. after reflection on my previous finished products i realised that i needed to make some amendments to not only improve the quality, but also improve the appearance of my magazine. For my front cover i realised that at the bottom of the page it defiantly looked like it was lacking attention and detail, so instead of having a picture on the top half and plugs at the bottom i decided to have the main image dominating the entire page and plugs and sub headings going down the side of the page. this is also conventional of a music magazine. For my contents page, again, after reflecting on certain aspects that i could improve i decided that i needed to add more detail and make the page look more full, this will encourage people to think that they are getting more value for their money. i decided that i would have a short extract from the main story so people will be able to read it and be intrigued to read on. Along the right hand side of the contents page i have done a weekly section. This will not only give more reading to the purchaser, but this also indicates that the magazine has been around for so long they have already had to make certain popular subjects weekly. Along the top of my contents page i have put a title saying 'contents' i wanted to make this really big and dominating, therefore i made the title stretch across the entire page. i put two pictures of artists on the contents page, i did this to make the page not only look more interesting but also so the reader will know straight away what artists are in this magazine. For page '2' the title for the article was 'new band hits the street' and then goes on to write a small section on the new band and finishes off by a rhetorical question. this will again make the reader want to read on.

Evaluation

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

My music magazine challenges conventions because as apposed to other music magazine that are on the market i feel mine is slightly different because of the appearance. It looks different, because normally with magazines the background has one consistent colour, therefore mine fades up and ends up going from black and the bottom, to white at the top. My magazine appeals to a younger generation, the is represented by the image of the young band on my front cover. Apart from the background, the front cover is very typical in terms on conventions. I wanted my front cover to look full and have many different sub-headings and plugs to look like it was worth more than what is being charged for it. My title is very large because i wanted it to be noticeable and attract peoples attention. I wanted the main storyline image to dominate most of the page. My contents page continues with the same background as the front page, i wanted to carry on the dark theme. On the contents page I've separated all the different stories into separate boxes, this is because i wanted it to look simplistic. On my double page spread I have only filled one side of the pages in writing and the other page has a large image of the band, this is so people are aware of what the story is about, i have also got an image of the person i am interviewing and an image of the band together. Which is typical of a music magazine.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I wanted my music magazine to attract the younger generation. The story that i chose to write about will represent a lot of people situations because it is about affairs, and adultery is very common in modern day society, so many people will be able to connect with the situation in some way. Also younger people tend to be more music orientated. it represents particular social groups because younger people have a larger interest in music and also i think the appearance of my magazine represents the music and the fashion of the music and therefore the fashion that people who favour that type of music genre tend to wear.

What kind of music institution would distribute your media product and why?

after looking at some other magazines that focus on this music genre and that are similar to my magazine i looked at their distributers. The magazine that i feel my magazine in most similar to in Kerrang, which is distributed by Emap. i feel they would like my magazine because my magazine focuses on the same music genre and is similar in a lot of ways.


Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience that i would most like to attract would be the younger generation, perhaps people who are aged between around 15-20. the reason i would like to attract this audience is because aforementioned, younger people tend to be more music orientated and therefore pay a lot more attention to music and a bigger interest and are therefore more likely to buy my magazine. my audience would be similar to the audience that is attracted by Kerrang! magazine. because it generalises in the same music genre and therefore rock lovers will want to read the competition as well.

How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract my audience, i focused a lot on the appearance of my magazine. I made my main masthead very large and noticeable. I used a large dominating image that would also attract people attention because the band that i have shown on my front cover is a very famous band. i put a sub heading underneath the picture with says 'split up for good?' the reason i chose this sub heading is because it will take the potential buyer by shock, because the band is so popular and well known, they will immediately want to buy the magazine and read on to find out if the band is splitting up. in the bottom right hand corner is a plug advertising free posters. this will also attract the audience because not only will the potential buyer want to get a free poster, but also they will feel like they are getting good value for their money.

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

As i was making this product i was introduced to many different technologies and techniques. The main was photo shop. I was unaware of the ability of photo shop. discovering photo shop meant that i could now make my photos a lot more advanced and i could edit them to make them look more technical, and also make my magazine look more conventional. i did a lot of research into magazine conventions and was the able to transfer what i had learned about the conventions of magazines onto my own work. I also because very familiar with Microsoft publisher and found it extremely helpful with the planning of my magazine. Before doing this i was unfamiliar with publisher but i found it very helpful during the production of my magazine. I was able to plan how i was going to arrange certain aspects of my magazine and get a clear image of how it was going to look over all. this is a lot more advanced as apposed to drawing my plans. Another website that i used regularly was dafont.com. the reason i used this website is because i was able to chose different fonts for my writing. this helped a lot because i could now used fonts that were a lot more imaginative and unique. Another way in which photo shop was very useful was when i was focusing on achieving the most suitable background. the reason photo shop helped was because i could chose a background and if i didn't like it, i could easily change it or adjust it.

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

I think that the preliminary task helped me a lot because it introduced to to useful techniques. it also introduced me to the common conventions that are presented in magazines today. I feel i have made massive improvements since i completed my preliminary task, i was introduced to programmes such as photo shop and lunar pic, both picture editing programmes which helped be create a more original looking picture and magazine. I have learnt the full conventions of music magazines and learnt how and why the layout if presented the way in which it is. doing the preliminary task gave me a good opportunity for explore and experiment with different ways to present my magazine using all different programmes that i was previously unfamiliar with. this helped with the progression of my main task. i feel i have improved vastly since doing the preliminary exercise and feel i have learnt a lot since the beginning. I feel in comparison to my final task, my preliminary task shows how little knowledge i had in technology skills and conventions.

Finished article

this is my finished article of my magazine. overall i am happy with my final production. i think that if i had to improve anything then i would adjust the contents page and add more detail and more story lines. I am very happy with my double page spread because i haven't made it look too busy, so it looks quite simplistic and easy reading, also people will immediately establish that the story is about that band. i also added images of who the main story line is about. when i was taking the picture i wanted the two band members to look very stern, this is representative of the storyline. also on the right page i included and image of the band members looking happy and jumping into the air, this represents joy and success. This works well against the serious photo in the background. the reader can immediately see the contrast.

Double page spread story

For my double page spread i had to come up with a story. so i decided to brief the story at the beginning of my article and then continue on to show an interview.


We all know that STATIC FIX is the most rocking band on the streets, but we have recently discovered that they are on the verge of a break up, after an incident between Tim Harson (the drummer) and Mick reels’ (the singer) wife. Mash-up reveals all.
After static fix hit our speakers in 2006 we were instantly hooked. With their mix of heavy metal and punk rock, it took metal and punk lovers “who is this new band?” introduced by Warner brothers static fix made it to the radio, hitting the charts faster than a foot hits base. But sadly their fresh and inspiring new music has floored after Tim Harson sneaky affair with none only but the singer of the band and also best friends wife was discovered last month. We caught up with Mick over coffee in Las Vegas;
How do you feel about discovering this?:
“I don't know, I cant describe how I feel, my best friend and my wife...what are friends for eh?”
You don't seem too upset by this?:
“I’ve realised its probably better to laugh than to cry in life”
That’s a good motto… has this affected the band in anyways? I imagine things must be a bit tense?
“oh hell yeah, I mean, I cant even sit in the same room as him, or the rest of the guys at that. They all knew about it”
God that must be awful to know..
“yeah its pretty tough, as hard as it is, I’m determined to stick at this for the fans”
I hope so. So will we be expecting any new music soon?
“aha, I seriously doubt that, I don't know if were even going to be together much longer. I want to make this work though, music is my life”
Maybe in some ways this will help your song writing?
“Well yeah, maybe, I’ve always written about my feeling and things that have happened, so yeah. You may be right”
You have been getting a lot of support from your fans. has that helped you in any way?
“oh yeah definitely, id be really struggling if it wasn't for the support that I’ve been getting, its helping a lot”
We’re all really gutted to hear about the tour being cancelled, any chance of it happening?
“ well I don't know, given the circumstances I doubt it, but, if things were to progress then maybe”
That’s a shame to hear Mick.
“ yeah its tough, just give me time”
Oh we will, well Its been nice talking to you Mick, hope to see you some time soon.
“ yeah hopefully you can be interviewing me about my new album!’
Haha, good luck mick!


The reason i chose to do an interview is not only because its very conventional for magazines to have interviews with celebrities, but it is also a lot easier to read and to understand than large articles.

Photo shoot

For my photo shoot i got a group of my friends to pose for the picture. i chose to take these pictures against a gray brick wall. the reason i chose this background was because it looks dark and Gothic and fits in well with the music genre of the band. first of all I made them look into the camera whilst posing and then made them do an action shot of them all jumping up. The reason i took the picture like this is to show that the band used to have fun and be happy. I then took a picture of the man that my main story line is about 'mick reels' in this picture i made him look straight at the camera and look quite sincere. This is to show that the story line is serious. i want the photography to be representative to the story, and i want to portray the serious headline by the photography. i think i chose the best picture of the band to represent then. i chose this camera angle to make them look dominating and also casual and laid back.

This is my nearly finished front cover for my magazine. I have got my title of my magazine at the top in large writing. The font of my title is distorted and i found it on 'www.dafont.com' i thought this style suited the genre of my magazine because it looks distorted and really matches the Gothic look that i wanted my magazine to achieve. In the right hand corner i have put a large advertisement saying 'GIG updates.Leeds fest 2009' the reason i put it there was because the person who is going to be looking at the magazine is going to see the title and then look across and the second thing they are going to see will be the advertisement. this will immediately attract them to buy this because as music lovers, if they were interested in going to Leeds festival then they have easy access to finding out what bands are playing and when. My Main image is of my band 'Static Fix' The reason i made this image so large is so that potential buyers will see this image and know that the main story is going to be about that band. and i have portrayed static fix to be really famous and a really advanced, popular band. the reader will also be shocked when they read the sub heading 'split up for good?' and will immediately want to read on to find out if this popular band is splitting up and why. 'Split up for good' again i got this font from'dafont.com' i used the distorted font again. the reason i chose to have this sub heading in distorted writing is because the story line is quite shocking and the distorted look adds to the effect that i have tried to give off.

contents page

After making a plan of what my contents page is going to look like, i started making my actual contents page. This is what it is going to look like, i am going to add pictures to it also. after i have added my pictures i am going to then put the page numbers over the pictures. I chose this background because it is a light grey but it is not too dark, so it still has a grunge look to it. I got my title 'Contents' font from 'dafont' website.

Double page spreads

As i am going to be creating a double page spread, i did some research to see if i could get some ideas from existing double page spreads for how i wanted mine to look.

I got a lot of inspiration from this double page spread, because not only does the music match my music genre, but also the colours and the image looks very artistic together and this is set out in a way that i would like my double page spread to look.

On this double page spread they have used the image of the band as the main background, i like this idea because not only is the story about this band, there is also a very large image of them making the reader feel like the band is looking at us. The background colour on this is plain black, this contrasts well with the image as the image is light coloured and very large.

Contents page

I am going to be making a contents page for my magazine, in my contents page i am going to include images with captions, some more small pop up information and also page numbers to designate certain stories. i have made a rough idea of what i want my contents page to look like, not only so it gives the reader the information they need and also to look attractive.

For my mock up of my contents page, i have created a contents page that not only gives all of the information that the reader will need, but also that looks attractive.

As the contents page is only the second page into the magazine, it is likely that potential buyers are going to look at the front cover and then flip to the contents page to see what stories are in it. knowing this, i wanted to have a contents page that not only isn't too busy, but also looks attractive and fresh. the colours of my contents page is not yet on it, but for the main background, i plan to have a light grey colour, this is because i don't want it to look to dark, but also not too light, because i need to remember that i am having rock as the magazines music genre. i chose to list the contents in small boxes, this is so there is not too much writing packed into the page all together, and i am also going to have a small picture that is relevant to each storyline. i am going to have the page numbers in small boxes within the larger boxes. This will be better reading to the reader, because they will be able to look at the pictures, decide which band or topic they want to read about and then they will immediately see the page number. I wanted to make my contents page like this, because i didn't want it to look too complicated, and i wanted it to be easy reading. I have planned for the background to be light grey. I am not going to have the contents boxes and particular colour, because i don't want it to look too busy. so for this reason i am going to keep the boxes plain white. this makes the magazine, not only look fresh, but also simplistic and not too complicated. My main headline that says 'contents' is going to be in a big bold style. it is also going to be light grey, to contrast with the grey background. this will be distinguishable from the background because of the under shadow on the bottom of the title. For the font in the boxes i am going to have verdana in bold. The reason i chose this specific font, is because it is easy to read. I am going to have a different font for the numbers to designate the pages. this is because i want the numbers to stand out, because the page numbers is what a contents page is for. i decided to go with 'Courier' I chose this writing because in bold it looks cold and Gothic, which contrasts well with my chosen music genre.

LIIAR

So i know what direction i am heading in and i have a good idea of what i am going to do, i am going to use LIIAR. i already know that i am going to be making a front cover, and contents page and a double spread.

Language- The language that i will be using is going to be, not too punctual and fun. the reason i don't want the language to be too punctual is because my target audience is for people between the ages of 14-20. i want not only the genre and to appearance to attract the readers but also the language.

Institution- The institution of the magazine is going to be the publisher. I will look into different magazine publishers to get an idea of what i am going to do.

Ideology- The reason for my magazine is to not only inform the reader and update them, but also i want to do this in a way that is also entertaining the audience too. I don't want the magazine to be too formal and boring because this will not attract the reader. I am going to include a lot of images and articles.

Audiences- When magazines are produced they are adjusted and produced in a way which will suit their target audience. i want to aim my magazine at people who are within the age range of 17-20ish. this is because people who are within this age range are more music orientated.

Representation- The representation needs to fit in with my music genre, as i have chosen rock to be the main focus of my music magazine i am going to make the layout, and appearance look representative to the music genre by using colour and styles.

Photo breif

for my magazine i am going to need to take pictures to make the magazine look more realistic. i want my magazine to look fun and exciting, i don't want my music magazine to look too sophisticated as my targeted audience is going to be for people aged between 14-20ish, I'm not chosing an older target audience than this because people in the 14-20 age range are more music orientated.
Because my music genre is going to be rock, i am going to take photographs of a person dressed in darker clothing to give a sense of the rock influence on the people who listen to that music genre. Also rock music has a slightly more serious tone to it, this also influences the way people dress according to what music they listen to, for example, RnBmusic is more light hearted so people tend to dress wearing lighter clothing. i want my model to be looking happy when i take this picture to give the impression that my magazine is light hearted. i will be taking this picture outside, preferably with the sun in the background and green grass and trees. this will make the magazine, again look fun and light hearted. I want the picture to be naturalistic and fun, so to do this is am going to take pictures whilst my model/models are doing an activity, such as singing or dancing.
After i have taken my picture i will upload it onto photo shop and edit it, i might blur the background to make the people in my photograph the main attention and the focus of my picture. Also i will airbrush it to perfect the image.

I got the idea of taking a naturalistic picture from the NME magazine. the image that caught my attention was the front cover that is on this post, the reason i liked this picture was because it was very naturalistic and really captured the theme of rock. this is what i want my picture to capture.

front cover layout

On my font cover i want to make it stand out and look interesting and entertaining
one way i can do this is by choosing a suitable colour font that not only looks appealing and fits in with the music genre,but also fits in with the target age group.

I decided that the colour that i am going to have for the main heading will be bold and red, with a black background around the writing. the reason i chose a black background is because the main title (being red) will instantly stand out against the background. the dominating colour on the background behind all the images and the writing will be a very light grey.i chose grey because i want the images and writing to stand out and look more dominating against a light background, also i didn't want to chose white because i didn't want the cover to look too bland.

Because my chosen music genre is heavy rock, i want to colours to be dark, so the magazines appearance is dark and fits in well with the music genre i have chosen. i was to chose light and bright colours,it would not tie in with the type of music my magazine is focusing on. Each week, the background colour will change but will still remain light because i still want to keep the theme of the images and writing being dominating and standing out. i will keep the colour of the writing the same colour, this will be part of the magazines trademarks. with the dominating bright red title people will soon be able to distinguish my 'mash-up' magazine just by the appearance.

The main image will be covering the majority of the front cover, the main image will be an image of what the main story line is going to be about, for example, which ever band i put on the front cover, that band will have the main storyline, and will hold the main focus and attention.

names for my music magazine

Before i make my magazine i need to think of possible names to call my magazine, these names have to sound appealing, and self explanatory

variety- the reason i chose this name is because it is short and punchy, it is also self explanatory so the audience will read the title and instantly know that this specific magazine doesn't only focus on one type of music and has a variety of information and updates in different music genres.

Mash-up- the reason i chose this name is because the word mash implicates a mix up of all different things and because this is a music magazine, i would presume that this was a mix up of all different musics and therefore i would feel that with a wide variety of music genres i am getting more than my moneys worth.

Out of these two names, i chose to go with Mash-up. i decided that this name is more suitable for my magazine, because it implies that there is a variety of stories in the magazine, and there fore more value for the price of the magazine. I thought that Mash-up sounded better than variety. because 'Mash-up' seems a lot more slang, and more teenager orientated. it sounds short and snappy too. I think it suits the music genre very well because it sounds punky and fresh.

I need to pick a style for my title. to do this i am going to look on Dafont.com, this is a useful website because it comes with many choices of styles of writing including, rock style which is very convenient for me and my music genre is rock.

Contents Page

This is going to be my contents page. In the background i have an image of two people studying, i got one of the people to smile and look as if she is helping the other girl with her work. the reason i did this is because i wanted to represent the college as a place for work and friends and also so that people will get the impression that help is at hand if they are struggling. Also one of the girls have a pen in their hand, they reason she has a pen in her hand is to show that she is studying, otherwise it wouldn't look like an inspiring picture. At the top of my page i have wrote 'contents' i did this is a pink font, because it is light and soft looking. this is how i want to represent the college so people will want to come. At the bottom left of my contents page i have wrote what contents will be in my magazine. I simply did this by writing a list and bullet pointing them. the reason i wrote a simple list is because i didn't want the page to look too busy and i wanted it to look fresh and simplistic. the appearance of my magazine is all representative to the college its self. The main image is faded at all of the edges. the reason it is faded is because i wanted it to look as if it was fresh and dreamy. i was aiming for this page to look soft and fresh. because that is the impression i want to give off about the college. I think that the colour pink contrasts well with the main image because there are pink roses in the image its self and i wanted to bring it together by using a colour that was already existing with in the image.

Front Cover

This is going to be my front cover. My magazine is going to be called 'educate' the reason i chose this name is because it is simple and people will automatically know what the magazine is about and it is likely to attract students attention. My main background in multi coloured and goes from blue to orange the reason i chose this background is because it is colourful and represents fun and freedom, which is how i want to represent the college. In front of the multi coloured background is a large white box, the reason i chose to put a large white box in front of the background is so that the main image, plugs and the title will stand out a lot more. I chose for the title to be blue. the reason i chose this colour to be at the top is because the colour blue represents the sky and i want students to feel like the sky is their limit. The main image is a picture of two girls walking towards the college and they are talking. the reason i chose this image is because not only does it represent education, it also represents socialising and friends and when people see this image they will want to see more about this college because not only is it about the education, we can see by the image that it is also easy to make friends. In the bottom left corner of the white box i have put two medium sized yellow boxes and within this i have put plugs saying what is in this magazine. the reason i chose the colour yellow is because the title it blue, representing the sky, and the yellow is representing the sun. My whole idea in this was to create a feel of freedom and freshness. Also i didn't want to magazine to look too busy. so therefore i kept it simple and clear. Inside the first box i have written what is in the magazine in black. I did this because the black will stand out against the yellow background and also it looks simple, also i did the font large so it is noticeable. In the second box i have used white writing this is again because it stands out well against the yellow background and it looks simple and fresh.

layout

This is my basic layout that i am going to use. i like the layout because it looks very academic. The colour scheme will be blue , purple and black. i think this is a good contrast, and also it looks welcoming and fun. i want the front cover to look simplistic not only because of the appearance but i want the people who read this magazine to get the impression that the college is simple, fun and welcoming.

Names for my college magazine

Curriculum- i liked this name because it sounds posh and gives a clear indication that it has something to do with education.

Educate- i like this name because it's close to education which means that people will automatically know that the magazine is about education.

Campus- i like this name because it's modern, i think it's a great name because it catches student eyes.

from these three choices i am going to pick 'educate' the reason i have chose this particular name is because not only is it representative to what the magazine genre is, it is also simple and quick and catchy to say.

Preliminary exercise